English Standard Version
Nahum 2:8
8Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry, but none turns back.
Nahum 2:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
- New International Version (NIV)Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry; But no one turns back.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir! The people are slipping away. “Stop, stop!” someone shouts, but no one even looks back.
Context of Nahum 2:8
6The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; 7its mistress is stripped; she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry, but none turns back. 9Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. 10Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale!
Read all of Nahum 2Nahum 2:8 word by word
וְנִינְוֵ֥ה כִבְרֵֽכַת־מַ֖יִם מִ֣ימֵי הִ֑יא וְהֵ֣מָּה נָסִ֔ים עִמְד֥וּ עֲמֹ֖דוּ וְאֵ֥ין מַפְנֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Nahum 2:8
- Genesis 10:11From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and
- Jeremiah 51:13O you who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.
- Revelation 17:1Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,
- Nahum 3:17Your princes are like grasshoppers, your scribes like clouds of locusts settling on the fences in a day of cold— when the sun rises, they fly away; no one knows where they are.
- Isaiah 13:14And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land.
- Isaiah 47:13You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you.
- Isaiah 48:20Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, "The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!"
- Jeremiah 50:16Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest; because of the sword of the oppressor, every one shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land.
- Jeremiah 51:30The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken.
Commentaries on Nahum 2:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water - מימי mimey, from days. Bp. Newcome translates the line thus: "And the waters of Nineveh are a pool of waters." There may be reference here to the fact given in the preceding note, the overflowing of the river by which the city was primarily destroyed. Stand, stand - Consternation shall be at its utmost height, the people shall flee in all directions; and though quarter is offered, and they are assured of safety…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water - that is, of many peoples Revelation 17:1, gathered from all quarters and settled there, her multitudes being like the countless drops, full, untroubled, with no ebb or flow, fenced in, “from the days that she hath been,” yet even therefore stagnant and corrupted (see Jeremiah 48:11), not “a fountain of living waters,” during 600 years of unbroken empire; even lately it had been assailed in vain; now its hour…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8The people would flee quickly, like water rushing from a broken reservoir (see study note on Nahum 2:6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. But--rather, "Though" [G. V. Smith]. of old--rather, "from the days that she hath been"; from the earliest period of her existence. Alluding to Nineveh's antiquity (Ge 10:11). "Though Nineveh has been of old defended by water surrounding her, yet her inhabitants shall flee away." Grotius, less probably (compare Na 3:8-12), interprets, the "waters" of her numerous population (Is 8:7; Jr 51:13; Re 17:15). Stand, stand, shall they cry--that is, the few…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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries