New English Translation
Nahum 2:4
4The chariots race madly through the streets, they rush back and forth in the broad plazas; they look like lightning bolts, they dash here and there like flashes of lightning.
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
2For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob, as well as the majesty of Israel, though their enemies have plundered them and have destroyed their fields. 3The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments. The metal fittings of the chariots shine like fire on the day of battle; the soldiers brandish their spears. The chariots race madly through the streets, they rush back and forth in the broad plazas; they look like lightning bolts, they dash here and there like flashes of lightning. 5The commander orders his officers; they stumble as they advance; they rush to the city wall and they set up the covered siege tower. 6The sluice gates are opened; the royal palace is deluged and dissolves.
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 chariot drivers will crack their whips; the chariot wheels will shake the ground; the chariot horses will gallop; the war chariots will bolt forward!
- Isaiah 37:24Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ‘With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, its thickest woods.
- Isaiah 66:15For look, the Lord comes with fire, his chariots come like a windstorm, to reveal his raging anger, his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.
- Jeremiah 4:13Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. His horses move more swiftly than eagles.” I cry out, “We are doomed, for we will be destroyed!”
- Ezekiel 26:10He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses. Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls.
- Daniel 11:40“At the time of the end the king of the south will attack him. Then the king of the north will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and a large armada of ships. He will invade lands, passing through them like an overflowing river.
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries