Amplified Bible
Nahum 2:5
5He remembers and summons his nobles; They stumble in their march [terrified because of the attack]. They hurry to the city wall, And the mantelet is prepared and firmly set up.
Nahum 2:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
- New International Version (NIV)Nineveh summons her picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He remembers his nobles; They stumble in their walk; They make haste to her walls, And the defense is prepared.
Context of Nahum 2:5
3The shields of his soldiers [of Media and Babylon] are colored red; The warriors are dressed in scarlet. The chariots blaze with fire of [flashing] steel When he is prepared to march, And the cypress spears are brandished [for battle]. 4The chariots race madly in the streets; They rush wildly in the broad plazas. Their appearance is like torches; They rush in various directions like forked lightning. He remembers and summons his nobles; They stumble in their march [terrified because of the attack]. They hurry to the city wall, And the mantelet is prepared and firmly set up. 6The gates of the rivers [surrounding Nineveh] are opened And the palace [of sun-dried brick] is dissolved [by the torrents]. 7It is decreed: Nineveh is stripped, and she is carried away, And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves, Beating on their breasts [in sorrow].
Read all of Nahum 2Nahum 2:5 word by word
יִזְכֹּר֙ אַדִּירָ֔יו יִכָּשְׁל֖וּ בַּהֲלִֽיכָתָ֑ם יְמַֽהֲרוּ֙ חֽוֹמָתָ֔הּ וְהֻכַ֖ן הַסֹּכֵֽךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- He shall recountזָכַרzâkar · to rememberH2142
- his worthiesאַדִּיר'addîyr · greatH117
- they shall stumbleכָּשַׁלkâshal · to stumbleH3782
- in their walkהֲלִיכָהhălîykâh · walkH1979
- they shall make hasteמָהַרmâhar · to hastenH4116
- to the wallחוֹמָהchômâh · wallH2346
- thereof, and the defenceסֹכֵךְsâkak ώâkak · protectorH5526
- shall be preparedכּוּןkûn · to establish: establishH3559
Cross-references for Nahum 2:5
- Isaiah 21:5They set the table [for the doomed banquet], they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains [of Belshazzar’s court], oil your shields [for battle, for your enemy is at the gates]!”
- Jeremiah 50:29“Call together many [archers] against Babylon, All those who bend the bow. Encamp against her on every side; Let no one from there escape. Repay her according to her actions; Just as she has done, do to her. For she has been proudly defiant and presumptuous against the Lord, Against the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 51:27Lift up a signal in the land [to spread the news]! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Dedicate the nations [for war] against her; Call against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a marshal against her; Cause the horses to come up like bristly locusts [with their wings not yet released from their cases].
- Nahum 3:3Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, No end of corpses— The horsemen stumble over the corpses!
- Isaiah 5:27No one among them is weary or stumbles, No one slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at their waist undone [as if unprepared for action], Nor is the strap of their sandal broken.
- Jeremiah 46:12The nations have heard of your disgrace and shame, And your cry [of distress] has filled the earth. For warrior has stumbled against warrior, And both of them have fallen together.
Commentaries on Nahum 2:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5He shall recount his worthies - Muster up his most renowned warriors and heroes. Shall make haste to the wall - Where they see the enemies making their most powerful attacks, in order to get possession of the city.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5He shall recount his worthies - The Assyrian king wakes as out of a sleep, literally, “he remembers his mighty men” (as Nahum 3:18; Judges 5:13; Nehemiah 3:5); “they stumble in their walk,” literally, paths, not through haste only and eager fear, but from want of inward might and the aid of God. These whom God leads stumble not Isaiah 63:13.: “Perplexed every way and not knowing what they ought to do, their mind wholly darkened and almost drunken with…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5The Assyrian king recovers from the surprise attack on Nineveh and calls out to his officers. He and the city are unprepared, so they hurry to the walls to stop the siege. the protective shield is set in place (literally the covering is prepared): The meaning of the Hebrew term here is unclear. Covering probably refers to something that attackers or defenders used for protection. It helped shield them from weapons thrown through the air.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. The Assyrian preparations for defense. He--the Assyrian king. shall recount his worthies--(Na 3:18). Review, or count over in his mind, his nobles, choosing out the bravest to hasten to the walls and repel the attack. But in vain; for they shall stumble in their walk--"they shall stumble in their advance" through fear and hurry. the defence shall be prepared--rather, the covering machine used by besiegers to protect themselves in advancing to the wall…Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Nahum 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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