Nahum 3:15

Nahum 3:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
• New International Version (NIV)There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down— they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts!
• English Standard Version (ESV)There will the fire devour you; the sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust; multiply like the grasshopper!
• New King James Version (NKJV)There the fire will devour you, The sword will cut you off; It will eat you up like a locust. Make yourself many—like the locust! Make yourself many— like the swarming locusts!

Context of Nahum 3:15

13Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars. 14Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; make strong the brickkiln. There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the canker-worm: make thyself many as the canker-worm; make thyself many as the locust. 16Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm ravageth, and fleeth away. 17Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

Nahum 3:15 word by word

שָׁ֚ם תֹּאכְלֵ֣ךְ אֵ֔שׁ תַּכְרִיתֵ֣ךְ חֶ֔רֶב תֹּאכְלֵ֖ךְ כַּיָּ֑לֶק הִתְכַּבֵּ֣ד כַּיֶּ֔לֶק הִֽתְכַּבְּדִ֖י כָּאַרְבֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear

• fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• devourאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• cutכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
• makeכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
• locustאַרְבֶּה'arbeh · locustH697

Cross-references for Nahum 3:15

• Nahum 3:13Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars.
• Nahum 2:13Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
• Zephaniah 2:13And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.
• Joel 1:4That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.
• Joel 2:25And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.
• Exodus 10:13And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

Commentaries on Nahum 3:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Make thyself many as the cankerworm - On the locusts, and their operations in their various states, see the notes on Joel 2 (note). The multitudes, successive swarms, and devastation occasioned by locusts, is one of the most expressive similes that could be used to point out the successive armies and all-destroying influences of the enemies of Nineveh. The account of these destroyers from Dr. Shaw, inserted Joel 2, will fully illustrate the verses where…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15There - where thou didst fence thyself, and madest such manifold and toilsome preparation, Shall the fire devour thee. - All is toil within. The fire of God‘s wrath falls and consumes at once. Mankind still, with mire and clay, build themselves Babels. “They go into clay,” and become themselves earthly like the mire they steep themselves in. They make themselves strong, as though they thought “that their houses shall continue forever” Psalm 49:11, and…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-19Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15The Old Testament often uses locusts as a metaphor for armies (see Joel 2:1–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. There--in the very scene of thy great preparations for defense; and where thou now art so secure. fire--even as at the former destruction; Sardanapalus (Pul?) perished with all his household in the conflagration of his palace, having in despair set it on fire, the traces of which are still remaining. cankerworm--"the licking locust" [Henderson]. make thyself many as the locusts--"the swarming locusts" [Henderson]; that is, however "many" be thy…Read the comment

Topics related to Nahum 3:15

• Cankerworm

In the dictionaries

• Depart
• Rattling
• Canker-Worm
• Games
• Locust
• Nahum; the Book of

Commentaries on Nahum 3

• 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