God’s Word Translation
Nahum 3:13
13Look at your soldiers; they’re women! The gates of your country are wide open to your enemies. Fire has destroyed 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
11Even you, Nineveh, will stagger like a drunk. You will disappear. Even you will look for a fortress ⌞to escape⌟ from the enemy. 12All your defenses will be like fig trees with the earliest figs. When shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater. Look at your soldiers; they’re women! The gates of your country are wide open to your enemies. Fire has destroyed the bars of your gates. 14Store water for the siege! Strengthen your defenses! Step into the claypits and trample the clay! Grab the brick mold! 15Fire will consume you there. A sword will cut you down. It will consume you like locusts. Multiply like locusts! Multiply like hungry locusts!
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 19:16At that time Egyptians will act like women. They will tremble and be terrified because the Lord of Armies will shake his fist at them.
- Jeremiah 50:37A sword will kill their horses, their chariots, and all the foreigners within their ranks. They will become women. A sword will destroy their treasures, and they will be looted.
- Jeremiah 51:30The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting. They stay in their fortified cities. Their strength has failed. They have become women. Their buildings are set on fire. The bars across their gates are broken.
- Nahum 2:6The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melts away.
- Psalms 107:16He shattered bronze gates and cut iron bars in two.
- Isaiah 45:1This is what the Lord says about Cyrus, his anointed one: I have held him by his right hand so he could conquer the nations ahead of him, strip kings of their power, and open doors ahead of him so that the gates would not be shut.
- Psalms 147:13He makes the bars across your gates strong. He blesses the 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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