Nahum 3:5

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. I WILL DISCOVER THY SKIRTS UPON THY FACE - i:e., discover thy nakedness by throwing up thy skirts upon thy face (the greatest possible insult), pulling them up as high as thy head (Jer. 13:72; ). I will treat thee not as a matron, but as a harlot, whose shame is exposed, her gaudy finery being lifted up off her (Isaiah 47:2). So Nineveh shall be stripped of all her glory and defenses on which she prides herself....

The Prophet confirms here what he has said of the fall of Nineveh; but, as it was stated yesterday, he introduces God as the speaker, that his address might be more powerful. God then testifies here to the Assyrians, that they should have no strife or contention with any mortal being, but with their own judgment; as though he said, “There is no reason for thee to compare thy forces with those of the Chaldeans; but think of this — that I am the punisher of thy crimes. The Chaldeans indeed shall come; chariots shall make a noise and horses shall leap, and horsemen shall shake the earth; they shall brandish the flaming swords, and their spears shall be like lightning; but there is no reason for thee to think that the Chaldeans will, of themselves, break in upon thee: for I guide them by my hidden providence, as it is my purpose to destroy thee; and now the time is come when I shall execute...

1-7 When proud sinners are brought down, others should learn not to lift themselves up. The fall of this great city should be a lesson to private persons, who increase wealth by fraud and oppression. They are preparing enemies for themselves; and if the Lord sees good to punish them in this world, they will have none to pity them. Every man who seeks his own prosperity, safety, and peace, should not only act in an upright, honourable manner, but with kindness to all....

Verse 5. _I WILL DISCOVER THY SKIRTS UPON THY FACE_] It was an ancient, though not a laudable custom, to strip prostitutes naked, or throw their clothes over their heads, and expose them to public view, and public execration. This verse alludes to such a custom....

BEHOLD I AM AGAINST THEE, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS - Jerome: “I will not send an Angel, nor give thy destruction to others; I Myself will come to destroy thee.” Cyril: “She has not to do with man, or war with man: He who is angered with her is the Lord of hosts. But who would meet God Almighty, who hath power over all, if He would war against him?” In the Medes and Persians it was God who was against them. “Behold I am against thee,” literally, “toward thee.” It is a new thing which God was about to do. “Behold!” God in His long-suffering had seemed to overlook her. Now, He says, I am toward thee, looking at her with His all-searching eye, as her Judge. Violence is punished by suffering; deeds of shame by shame. All sin is a whited sepulchre, fair without, foul within. God will strip off the outward fairness, and lay bare the inward foulness. The deepest shame is to lay bare, what the sin...

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

BEHOLD, I [AM] AGAINST THEE, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS,.... Because her doings were against him; Nahum 2:13: AND I WILL DISCOVER THY SKIRTS UPON THY FACE; turn up the skirts of her garments over her head, and thereby discover what should be concealed, than which nothing is more disagreeable and abominable to modest persons; it is here threatened she should be used in character as a harlot, or as women oftentimes are by rude soldiers, when a city is taken by them: AND I WILL SHOW THE NATIONS THY NAKEDNESS, AND THE KINGDOMS THY SHAME; all her charms shall be taken away, and she become odious as a harlot to her former lovers; all her impostures, arts, and tricks, and shameful actions, will be discovered; and her aims and views at universal monarchy will be seen and her weakness to effect it made to appear; and, upon the whole, will become the object of the scorn

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

NAHUM 3. A FRESH PICTURE OF THE END OF NINEVEH. Nahum 3:1. Woe to that city of blood, full of lies and rapine, where the prey never ceased, nor was any end to the booty! Now nothing is heard in her but the crack of the whip and the rumbling of wheels, the gallop of steeds and the dashing of chariots, _with_ cavalry at the charge, while the sabres flash and the spears glitter, and underneath men stumble over corpses unnumbered. And all this is the fitting punishment of that mistress of harlotry, who fascinated the nations by her charms, and drew them into her chamber of death. Yahweh is against her, and will expose her like an harlot, and make her a gazing-stock to the nations, unwept for, unpitied, and dishonoured. NAHUM 3:2 F. A series of vivid exclamations: HARK! the sound of the whip, e