Christian Standard Bible
Nahum 3:13
13Look, your troops are like women among you; your land’s city gates are wide open to your enemies. Fire will devour the bars of your gates.
Nahum 3:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
- New International Version (NIV)Look at your troops— they are all weaklings. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed the bars of your gates.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Surely, your people in your midst are women! The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies; Fire shall devour the bars of your gates.
Context of Nahum 3:13
11You also will become drunk; you will hide. You also will seek refuge from the enemy. 12All your fortresses are fig trees with figs that ripened first; when shaken, they fall — right into the mouth of the eater! Look, your troops are like women among you; your land’s city gates are wide open to your enemies. Fire will devour the bars of your gates. 14Draw water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Step into the clay and tread the mortar; take hold of the brick-mold! 15The fire will devour you there; the sword will cut you down. It will devour you like the young locust. Multiply yourselves like the young locust; multiply like the swarming locust!
Read all of Nahum 3Nahum 3:13 word by word
הִנֵּ֨ה עַמֵּ֤ךְ נָשִׁים֙ בְּקִרְבֵּ֔ךְ לְאֹ֣יְבַ֔יִךְ פָּת֥וֹחַ נִפְתְּח֖וּ שַׁעֲרֵ֣י אַרְצֵ֑ךְ אָכְלָ֥ה אֵ֖שׁ בְּרִיחָֽיִך׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Behold, thy peopleעַם‛am · people: soldiersH5971
- in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
- womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
- the gatesשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
- of thy landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- shall be set wideפָּתַחpâthach · to openH6605
- unto thine enemiesאֹיֵב'ôyêb 'ôyêb · enemyH341
- the fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- shall devourאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- thy barsבְּרִיחַberîyach · barH1280
Cross-references for Nahum 3:13
- Isaiah 19:16On that day Egypt will be like women and will tremble with fear because of the threatening hand of the Lord of Armies when he raises it against them.
- Jeremiah 50:37A sword is against his horses and chariots and against all the foreigners among them, and they will be like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
- Jeremiah 51:30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their might is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, her gate bars are shattered.
- Nahum 2:6The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away.
- Psalms 107:16For he has broken down the bronze gates and cut through the iron bars.
- Isaiah 45:1The Lord says this to Cyrus, his anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and disarm kings, to open doors before him, and even city gates will not be shut:
- Psalms 147:13For he strengthens the bars of your city gates and blesses your children within you.
Commentaries on Nahum 3:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Thy people - are women - They lost all courage, and made no resistance. O vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges: "Verily, ye are Phrygian women, not Phrygian men." So said Numanus to the Trojans. Virg., Aen. ix.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women - Fierce, fearless, hard, iron men, such as their warriors still are portrayed by themselves on their monuments, they whom no toll wearied, no peril daunted, shall be, one and all, their whole “people, women.” So Jeremiah to Babylon, “they shall become, became, women” Jeremiah 50:37; Jeremiah 51:30. He sets it before the eyes. “Behold, thy people are women;” against nature they are such, not in tenderness…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
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. thy people--thy soldiers. women--unable to fight for thee (Is 19:16; Jr 50:37; 51:30). gates on thy land--the fortified passes or entrances to the region of Nineveh (compare Jr 15:7). Northeast of Nineveh there were hills affording a natural barrier against an invader; the guarded passes through these are probably "the gates of the land" meant. fire shall devour thy bars--the "bars" of the fortresses at the passes into Assyria. So in Assyrian remains…Read the comment
Topics related to Nahum 3:13
In the dictionaries
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
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