Nahum 1:8

But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.

But - contrasting the safety of those, like Hezekiah, who "trust" in God (Nahum 1:7), with the "utter end" to which the ungodly foe, like Sennacherib, is doomed.

With an overrunning flood - i:e., with irresistible might, which overruns every barrier like a flood. This image is often applied to overwhelming armies of invaders. Also of calamity in general (Psalms 32:6, "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee ... surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him;" Psalms 42:7; Psalms 90:5). There is perhaps a special allusion to the mode of Nineveh's capture by the Medo-Babylonian army-namely, through a flood in the river, which broke down the wall twenty furlongs (see note, Nahum 2:6; Isaiah 8:8; Daniel 9:26, "The end thereof (of Jerusalem) shall be with a flood;" Daniel 11:10; Daniel 11:22; Daniel 11:40).

He will make an utter end of the place thereof. Nineveh is personified as a queen; 'and her place' [ mªqowmaah (H4725)] of residence (the Hebrew for 'thereof' is feminine) is the city itself (Nahum 2:8). (Maurer.) Or, He shall so utterly destroy Nineveh that its place cannot be found; Nahum 3:17 ("As the locusts ... when the sun ariseth, their place is not known where they are") confirms this (cf. Psalms 37:36, "Yet he passed away, and lo! he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found;" Daniel 2:35, "No place was found for them;" Revelation 12:8; Revelation 20:11).

Darkness shall pursue his enemies - "darkness," the severest calamities.