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;...

The Prophet goes on with the same subject, — that God can easily preserve his people, for he is armed with power sufficient to overcome the whole world. But the Prophet now includes the two things which have been mentioned: Having spoken in general of God’s wrath, and of his goodness towards the faithful, he now applies his doctrine to the consolation of his chosen people. It is then a special application of his doctrine, when he says, _By inundation, he, passing through, will make a consummation in her place _There is a twofold interpretation of this verse. Some make this distinction, — that God, as it were, in passing through, would consume the land of Israel and Judah, but that perpetual darkness would rest on his enemies. Hence they think, that the distress of the chosen people is distinguished from the overthrow of the kingdom of Asshur, for God would only for a time punish his own...

1-8 About a hundred years before, at Jonah's preaching, the Ninevites repented, and were spared, yet, soon after, they became worse than ever. Nineveh knows not that God who contends with her, but is told what a God he is. It is good for all to mix faith with what is here said concerning Him, which speaks great terror to the wicked, and comfort to believers. Let each take his portion from it: let sinners read it and tremble; and let saints read it and triumph. The anger of the Lord is contrasted with his goodness to his people. Perhaps they are obscure and little regarded in the world, but the Lord knows them. The Scripture character of Jehovah agrees not with the views of proud reasoners. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is slow to wrath and ready to forgive, but he will by no means acquit the wicked; and there is tribulation and anguish for every soul that doeth evil: but wh...

Verse 8. _BUT WITH AN OVERRUNNING FLOOD_] Bishop _Newcome_ thinks this may refer to the manner in which Nineveh was taken. The _Euphrates_ overflowed its banks, deluged a part of the city, and overturned _twenty_ stadia of the wall; in consequence of which the desponding king burnt himself, and his palace, with his treasures. - _Diodor. Sic_., Edit. Wessel., p. 140, lib. ii., s. 27. _DARKNESS SHALL PURSUE_] Calamity. All kinds of calamity shall pursue them till they are destroyed....

BUT WITH AN OVERRUNNING FLOOD HE WILL MAKE AN UTTER END OF THE PLACE THEREOF - that is, of Nineveh, although not as yet named, except in the title of the prophecy, yet present to the prophet’s mind and his hearers, and that the more solemnly, as being the object of the wrath of God, so that, although unnamed, it would be known so to be. Image and reality, the first destruction and the last which it pictures, meet in the same words. Nineveh itself was overthrown through the swelling of the rivers which flowed around it and seemed to be its defense (see the note at Nahum 2:6). Then also, the flood is the tide of the armies, gathered from all quarters, Babylonians , Medes, Persians, Arabians, Bactrians, which like a flood should sweep over Nineveh and leave nothing standing. It is also the flood of the wrath of God, in whose Hands they were and who, by them, should “make a

EXPOSITION NAHUM 1:1 Part I. THE JUDGMENT UPON NINEVEH DECREED BY GOD. NAHUM 1:1 § 1. _The heading of the book. _The book has a double title, the first giving the object of the prophecy, which otherwise would not be evident; the second, its author, added to give confidence in its contents. THE BURDEN; _massa _(Habakkuk 1:1)—a term generally used of a weighty, threatening prophecy (Isaiah 13:1), though translated by the LXX. λ

BUT WITH AN OVERRUNNING FLOOD HE WILL MAKE AN UTTER END OF THE PLACE THEREOF,.... Of Nineveh, against whom this prophecy was, and upon whom it lay as a burden, Nahum 1:1; and now though the Lord was good to them that trust in him, and a strong hold to them in a time of trouble; yet he was determined to destroy their enemies the Assyrians, and Nineveh their chief city; and that by the means of a powerful army, which, like a flood or inundation of water breaking in, overruns and carries all before it; and very fitly may the Medes and Babylonians, who joined together in an expedition against Nineveh, be compared to such a flood for their number and force; since, as the historian tells y us, they were no less than four hundred thousand men: though this may be literally understood; for as the same writer z observes, "there was an oracle received by the Ninevites from their ancestors, that Ni

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS CHAPTER 1 The Purpose of God in Dealing with the Assyrian Oppressor _ 1. The superscription (Nahum 1:1) _ 2. Jehovah's majesty in judgment (Nahum 1:2) 3. His people comforted and assured (Nahum 1:7) 4. The judgment of Assyria and the result (Nahum 1:14) Nahum 1:1. The burden of Nineveh; it means that there is to follow a weighty prophetic oracle concerning the great world city of Nineveh whose dimensions are given by Jonah, which have been confirmed by excavations. The next sentence gives us the definite i

THE AVENGING WRATH OF YAHWEH. Yahweh is a jealous and vengeful God sensitive to the honour of Himself and His people who marcheth through whirlwind and storm to save them from the enemy. Before His presence sea and rivers dry up, Bashan, Carmel, and Lebanon wither, the mountains quake and the earth itself is upheaved. How then can mortal man face the glow of His anger? To such as trust in Him He is a stronghold in the day of trouble; but His adversaries He thrusteth into darkness, taking not vengeance twice, but making a full end of them and all their devices. Though for a time He may remain silent, He is storing up wrath against them; and all of them shall be mown down like thorns, or burnt in the fire as stubble. NAHUM 1:2 B (the N stanza) ought clearly to follow Nahum 1:9_ a_, while...

BUT, &C. Note the transition in Nahum 1:8, which is explained by the Structure "8", above. THE PLACE THEREOF. Hebrew her place: i.e. Nineveh's. See note on title above (Nahum 1:1)....