God’s Word Translation
Nahum 2:5
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.
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 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. 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. He 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. 7The Lord has determined: “It will be stripped. It will be carried away. Its young women will be mourning like doves as they beat their breasts.”
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 21:5Set the table. Spread the rugs ⌞by the table⌟. Eat. Drink. Get up, you leaders! Prepare your shields for battle!
- Jeremiah 50:29“Call together the archers, the soldiers with bows, against Babylon. Set up blockades around it. Don’t let anyone escape. Pay the people of Babylon back for what they have done. Do to them what they did to others. They have disobeyed the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 51:27Raise your battle flag throughout the world. Blow the ram’s horn among the nations. Prepare nations to attack Babylon. Tell the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to attack it. Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Bring up horses like a swarm of locusts.
- Nahum 3:3Horses charge! Swords flash! Spears glitter! Many are killed! Dead bodies pile up! There is no end to the corpses! People trip over corpses
- Isaiah 5:27None of them grow tired or stumble. None of them slumber or sleep. The belts on their waists aren’t loose or their sandal straps broken.
- Jeremiah 46:12The nations have heard of your shame; your cry fills the earth. One warrior will stumble over another, and both will fall 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries