Nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Nahum 3.
What city is No-amon?
No-amon is widely identified with Thebes in Upper Egypt, the great cult center of Amun. Its waterways, monumental temples, and international connections fit the comparison in Nahum 3:8–10.
Why is the fall of Thebes important for dating Nahum?
Ashurbanipal’s forces captured and plundered Thebes in 663 BCE. Because Nahum treats that defeat as a remembered example, the reference provides a strong earliest historical boundary for this part of the book.
How does the chapter’s gendered humiliation imagery function?
Ancient texts often personified cities as women and described conquest through stripping, exposure, and sexualized shame. Recognizing that rhetoric explains how the taunt works historically without minimizing its violence or turning the imagery into a judgment about women.
How does the chapter’s gendered humiliation imagery function?
Ancient texts often personified cities as women and described conquest through stripping, exposure, and sexualized shame. Recognizing that rhetoric explains how the taunt works historically without minimizing its violence or turning the imagery into a judgment about women.
How does the chapter’s gendered humiliation imagery function?
Ancient texts often personified cities as women and described conquest through stripping, exposure, and sexualized shame. Recognizing that rhetoric explains how the taunt works historically without minimizing its violence or turning the imagery into a judgment about women.
How does the chapter’s gendered humiliation imagery function?
Ancient texts often personified cities as women and described conquest through stripping, exposure, and sexualized shame. Recognizing that rhetoric explains how the taunt works historically without minimizing its violence or turning the imagery into a judgment about women.
Sources to ExploreCurated research paths for this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
- Ashurbanipal and the Assyrian Empire at Its HeightWorld History Encyclopedia
Historical profile of Ashurbanipal, whose reign combined military expansion, brutal suppression of revolts, royal propaganda, and the creation of Nineveh’s great library. This context illuminates the violent imperial culture condemned in Nahum 3 and the speed of Assyria’s collapse after its period of dominance.
Language & Literature1
- Nahum 3 with Hebrew Text and Jewish CommentarySefaria
Presents Nahum 3 in Hebrew and English with access to Jewish commentary. Useful for studying the “city of blood” accusation, cavalry and chariot sounds, prostitution and sorcery metaphors, public exposure, comparison with Thebes, locust imagery, and the closing taunt over Assyria’s incurable wound.
Artifacts & Manuscripts1
- Procession of Captives from an Assyrian CampaignThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Visible palace relief from Nineveh showing a procession of captives taken during an Assyrian military campaign. It documents the imperial practice of displaying defeated peoples and provides a powerful comparison for Nahum’s reversal, in which Nineveh itself is exposed, disgraced, and left without comforters.
WORTH A CLOSER LOOK
Meet Ashurbanipal through his own royal inscription
The Rassam Prism preserves Ashurbanipal’s Akkadian account of his campaigns, including his wars in Egypt against Taharqa and Tantamani and his advance to Thebes. The royal text gives the Assyrian ruler’s own highly propagandistic version of the historical world recalled in Nahum 3.
View the object
Public Discussion
Your display name and comment can be seen by anyone visiting this chapter. Do not include private or sensitive information. Read the Community Guidelines.
You must be logged in to post a comment.