Nahum 3:16

Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away. THOU HAST MULTIPLIED THY MERCHANTS - (Ezekiel 27:23, concerning Tyre, "Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things"). Nineveh, by large canals, had easy access to Babylon; and was one of the great routes for the people of the west and northwest to that city: lying on the Tigris, it had access to the sea. The Phoenicians carried its wares everywhere. Hence, its merchandise is so much spoken of. THE CANKER-WORM SPOILETH, AND FLEETH AWAY - i:e., spoileth thy merchants. The "canker-worm," or licking locust [ yeleq (H3218)], corresponds to the...

From these words we may learn what the Prophet before meant, when he said that the Assyrians were like locusts or chafers; as though he said, — “I know that you trust in your great number; for ye are like a swarm of chafers or locusts; ye excel greatly in number; inasmuch as you have assembled your merchants and traders as the stars of heaven.” Here he shows how numerous they were. But when he says, _The chafer has spoiled, and flies away, _he points out another reason for the comparison; for it is not enough to lay hold on one clause of the verse, but the two clauses must be connected; and they mean this, — that the Assyrians, while they were almost innumerable, gloried in their great number, — and also, that this vast multitude would vanish away. He then makes an admission here and says, by multiplying thy merchants, thou hast multiplied them; but when he says, as chafers and as locust...

8-19 Strong-holds, even the strongest, are no defence against the judgments of God. They shall be unable to do any thing for themselves. The Chaldeans and Medes would devour the land like canker-worms. The Assyrians also would be eaten up by their own numerous hired troops, which seem to be meant by the word rendered "merchants." Those that have done evil to their neighbours, will find it come home to them. Nineveh, and many other cities, states, and empires, have been ruined, and should be a warning to us. Are we better, except as there are some true Christians amongst us, who are a greater security, and a stronger defence, than all the advantages of situation or strength? When the Lord shows himself against a people, every thing they trust in must fail, or prove a disadvantage; but he continues good to Israel. He is a strong-hold for every believer in time of trouble, that cannot be st...

Verse Nahum 3:16. _THOU HAST MULTIPLIED THY MERCHANTS_] Like Tyre, this city was a famous resort for merchants; but the multitudes which were there previously to the siege, like the locusts, took the alarm, and fled away....

THOU HAST MULTIPLIED THY MERCHANTS ABOVE THE STARS OF HEAVEN - Not numerous only but glorious in the eyes of the world, and, as thou deemest, safe and inaccessible; yet in an instant all is gone. The commerce of Nineveh was carried back to prehistoric times, since its rivers bound together the mountains of Armenia with the Persian gulf, and marked out the line, by which the distant members of the human family should supply each others’ needs. “Semiramis” they say , “built other cities on the Euphrates and the Tigris, where she placed emporia for those who convey their goods from Media and Paraetacene. Being mighty rivers and passing through a populous country, they yield many advantages to those employed in commerce; so that the places by the river are full of wealthy emporia.” The Phoenicians traced back their Assyrian commerce (and as it seems, truly) to those same prehistoric times, i...

EXPOSITION NAHUM 3:1 Part III. THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENT—SINS OF THE CITY, WHICH BRING INEVITABLE PUNISHMENT. NAHUM 3:1 § 1. _The prophet specifies the crimes which have brought this ruin upon Nineveh._ NAHUM 3:1 THE BLOODY CITY; literally, _city of bloods_, where Mood is shed without scruple (comp. Ez

THOU HAST MULTIPLIED THY MERCHANTS ABOVE THE STARS OF HEAVEN,.... A hyperbolical expression, setting forth the great number of merchants that were in Nineveh, and in the land of Assyria; who either were the natives of the place, or came thither for the sake of merchandise, which serve to enrich a nation, and therefore are encouraged to settle; and from whom, in a time of war, much benefit might be expected; being able to furnish with money, which is the sinews of war, as well as to give intelligence of the designs of foreign princes, they trading abroad: THE CANKERWORM SPOILETH, AND FLIETH AWAY; or "puts off" c its clothes, disrobes and changes its form; or breaks out with force, as the Septuagint, out of its former worm state, and appears a beautiful butterfly, and then flies away. The word is rendered a caterpillar, Psalms 105:34 and what we translate "s

Nahum 3:1. _Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;_ Assyria became a great empire through violence, falsehood, and robbery. The soldiery had no respect for justice; they trod out the last spark of liberty, and crushed all nations under their feet. Nahum 3:2. _The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:_ When the Medo-Babylonian army came against the great city, it inflicted a terrible slaughter, killing the inhabitants without mercy, making a very h

CHAPTER 3 Nineveh's Guilt and Well-Deserved Judgment _ 1. The great wickedness of Nineveh (Nahum 3:1) _ 2. Her fate to be like the fate of No-Amon (Nahum 3:8) 3. Her well-deserved and complete judgment (Nahum 3:14) Nahum 3:1. Nineveh was a bloody city, for her kings never knew peace, but were constantly at war. The Hebrew Ir-Damim means “city of blood drops.” They boasted of making the blood of their enemies run like rivers. It was a city full of lies and rapine. Her word could not be trusted; she broke truces and covenants and deceived nations with lying promises of help and protection. As stated in the second chapter

Even so Nineveh shall be made drunk with the cup of God's wrath, and faint and staggering shall seek refuge from the enemy. Her outer fortresses shall fall like first-ripe figs (Isaiah 28:4 *) into the mouth of the destroyer, the gateways that barred the approach to the capital shall fly open at the touch of fire, her defenders shall prove weak as women, and despite all efforts to repair the breaches the whole city shall sink beneath the flames. Her people may be numerous as the locust-swarms that encamp on the garden walls in the day of cold; but they shall vanish as completely as these same swarms when the sun shines out. And while the people are scattered over the mountains, the king and nobles shall sleep their last sleep, amid manifestations of triumphant joy from all who hear the tale of doom. Nahum 3:11.