Nahum 3:18

Nahum 3:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
• New International Version (NIV)King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, And no one gathers them.

Context of Nahum 3:18

16Increase your merchants more than the stars of heaven! They are like the young locust which sheds its skin and flies away. 17Your courtiers are like locusts, your officials are like a swarm of locusts! They encamp in the walls on a cold day, yet when the sun rises, they fly away; and no one knows where they are. Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria! Your officers are slumbering! Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains and there is no one to regather them! 19Your destruction is like an incurable wound; your demise is like a fatal injury! All who hear what has happened to you will clap their hands for joy, for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty!

Nahum 3:18 word by word

נָמ֤וּ רֹעֶ֙יךָ֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ אַשּׁ֔וּר יִשְׁכְּנ֖וּ אַדִּירֶ֑יךָ נָפֹ֧שׁוּ עַמְּךָ֛ עַל־הֶהָרִ֖ים וְאֵ֥ין מְקַבֵּֽץ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thy shepherdsרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
• slumberנוּםnûm · to slumberH5123
• O kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of Assyriaאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
• thy noblesאַדִּיר'addîyr · greatH117
• shall dwellשָׁכַןshâkan · to dwellH7931
• thy peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• is scatteredפּוּשׁpûsh · be scatteredH6335
• upon the mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
• and no man gatherethקָבַץqâbats · to gatherH6908

Cross-references for Nahum 3:18

• Nahum 2:6The sluice gates are opened; the royal palace is deluged and dissolves.
• Exodus 15:16Fear and dread will fall on them; by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone until your people pass by, O Lord, until the people whom you have bought pass by.
• Psalms 76:5The bravehearted were plundered; they “fell asleep.” All the warriors were helpless.
• Isaiah 56:9All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour, all you wild animals in the forest!
• Jeremiah 51:39When their appetites are all stirred up, I will set out a banquet for them. I will make them drunk so that they will pass out, they will fall asleep forever, they will never wake up,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 50:18So I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, say: ‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.
• Ezekiel 31:3Consider Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade, and extremely tall; its top reached into the clouds.
• Ezekiel 32:22“Assyria is there with all her assembly around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword.
• Isaiah 47:1“Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
• Revelation 6:15Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
• 1 Kings 22:17Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. Then the Lord said, ‘They have no master. They should go home in peace.’”
• Isaiah 13:14Like a frightened gazelle or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, each will run to his homeland.

Commentaries on Nahum 3:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Thy shepherds slumber - That is, the rulers and tributary princes, who, as Herodotus informs us, deserted Nineveh in the day of her distress, and came not forward to her succor. Diodorus Siculus says, lib. ii., when the enemy shut up the king in the city, many nations revolted, each going over to the besiegers, for the sake of their liberty; that the king despatched messengers to all his subjects, requiring power from them to succor him; and that he…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Thy shepherds - that is, they who should counsel for the people‘s good and feed it, and “keep watch over their flocks by night,” but are now like their master, the “King of Assyria,” are his shepherds not the shepherds of the people whom they care not for; these slumber, at once through listlessness and excess, and now have fallen asleep in death, as the Psalmist says, “They have slept their sleep” Psalm 76:6. The prophet speaks of the future, as already…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
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18shepherds: With the leaders gone, Nineveh’s people would scatter like sheep. sleep (see John 11:11–14): Assyria’s leaders, asleep during Nineveh’s crisis, would sleep in death. In contrast, Israel’s Protector does not slumber (Psalm 121:3), and he will gather Israel’s lost sheep (Jeremiah 23:3; Ezekiel 36:35).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Thy shepherds--that is, Thy leaders. slumber--are carelessly secure [Maurer]. Rather, "lie in death's sleep, having been slain" [Jerome] (Ex 15:16; Psa 76:6). shall dwell in the dust--(Psa 7:5; 94:17). thy people is scattered--the necessary consequence of their leaders being laid low (1Ki 22:17).Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Assyria
• Assyria, Assyrian, Assyrian Empire
• Depart
• Prophecy
• Rattling
• Shepherd
• Nahum; the Book of
• Noble; Nobles; Nobleman
• Nineveh

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