God’s Word Translation
Nahum 2:4
4Chariots are racing madly through the streets, rushing this way and that in the city squares. They look like torches, like lightning, as they dart about.
Nahum 2:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
- New International Version (NIV)The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The chariots rage in the streets, They jostle one another in the broad roads; They seem like torches, They run like lightning.
Context of Nahum 2:4
2The Lord will restore Jacob’s glory like Israel’s glory, although enemies have looted it and have destroyed its vines. 3The shields of his warriors are painted red. His soldiers have red uniforms. The metal on his chariots flashes fiery red, so do the spears when they are waved on the day he prepares for battle. Chariots are racing madly through the streets, rushing this way and that in the city squares. They look like torches, like lightning, as they dart about. 5He remembers his best fighting men. They stumble over themselves as they march. They hurry to Nineveh’s wall. The shield has been set up for the battering ram. 6The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melts away.
Read all of Nahum 2Nahum 2:4 word by word
בַּֽחוּצוֹת֙ יִתְהוֹלְל֣וּ הָרֶ֔כֶב יִֽשְׁתַּקְשְׁק֖וּן בָּרְחֹב֑וֹת מַרְאֵיהֶן֙ כַּלַּפִּידִ֔ם כַּבְּרָקִ֖ים יְרוֹצֵֽצוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The chariotsרֶ֫כֶבrekeb · chariotH7393
- shall rageהָלַלhâlal · to boast: rave madlyH1984
- in the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
- they shall justle one against anotherשָׁקַקshâqaq · to rushH8264
- in the broad waysרְחוֹבrechôb rechôb · street/plazaH7339
- they shall seemמַרְאֶהmar'eh · appearanceH4758
- like torchesלַפִּידlappîyd lappid · torchH3940
- they shall runרוּץrûts · to run: runH7323
- like the lightningsבָּרָקbârâq · lightningH1300
Cross-references for Nahum 2:4
- Nahum 3:2The sound of the whip! The sound of rattling wheels! Horses gallop! Chariots bounce along!
- Isaiah 37:24Through your servants you defy the Lord and say, “With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon. I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses. I’ll come to its most distant heights and its most fertile forests.
- Isaiah 66:15The Lord will come with fire and with his chariots like a thunderstorm. He will pay them back with his burning anger and punish them with flames of fire.
- Jeremiah 4:13The enemy comes up like clouds. His chariots are like a raging wind. His horses are faster than eagles. How horrible it will be for us! We will be destroyed!
- Ezekiel 26:10He will have so many horses that their dust will cover you. The noise from the war horses, wagon wheels, and chariots will shake your walls when he enters your gates. He will enter as people enter a conquered city.
- Daniel 11:40“In the end times the southern king will attack him. The northern king will rush at him like a storm with chariots, horses, and many ships. He will invade countries, overwhelm them, and pass through their land.
Commentaries on Nahum 2:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The chariots shall rage - Those of the besiegers and the besieged, meeting in the streets, producing universal confusion and carnage.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Chariots were almost impossible to stop in battle due to their speed and strength.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. rage--are driven in furious haste (Jr 46:9). justle one against another--run to and fro [Maurer]. in the broad ways--(2Ch 32:6). Large open spaces in the suburbs of Nineveh. they shall seem like torches--literally, "their (feminine in Hebrew) appearance (is)": namely, the appearance of the broad places is like that of torches, through the numbers of chariots in them flashing in the sun (Pr 8:26, Margin). run like the lightnings--with rapid violence (Mt…Read the comment
Topics related to Nahum 2:4
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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