New International Version
Nahum 2:8
8Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
Nahum 2:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. "Halt! Halt!" they cry, but none turns back.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry; But no one turns back.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir! The people are slipping away. “Stop, stop!” someone shouts, but no one even looks back.
Context of Nahum 2:8
6The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses. 7It is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and carried away. Her female slaves moan like doves and beat on their breasts. Nineveh is like a pool whose water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back. 9Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures! 10She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale.
Read all of Nahum 2Nahum 2:8 word by word
וְנִינְוֵ֥ה כִבְרֵֽכַת־מַ֖יִם מִ֣ימֵי הִ֑יא וְהֵ֣מָּה נָסִ֔ים עִמְד֥וּ עֲמֹ֖דוּ וְאֵ֥ין מַפְנֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Nahum 2:8
- Genesis 10:11From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah
- Jeremiah 51:13You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed.
- Revelation 17:1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters.
- Nahum 3:17Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day— but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where.
- Isaiah 13:14Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, they will all return to their own people, they will flee to their native land.
- Isaiah 47:13All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.
- Isaiah 48:20Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.”
- Jeremiah 50:16Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land.
- Jeremiah 51:30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.
Commentaries on Nahum 2:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water - מימי mimey, from days. Bp. Newcome translates the line thus: "And the waters of Nineveh are a pool of waters." There may be reference here to the fact given in the preceding note, the overflowing of the river by which the city was primarily destroyed. Stand, stand - Consternation shall be at its utmost height, the people shall flee in all directions; and though quarter is offered, and they are assured of safety…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water - that is, of many peoples Revelation 17:1, gathered from all quarters and settled there, her multitudes being like the countless drops, full, untroubled, with no ebb or flow, fenced in, “from the days that she hath been,” yet even therefore stagnant and corrupted (see Jeremiah 48:11), not “a fountain of living waters,” during 600 years of unbroken empire; even lately it had been assailed in vain; now its hour…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8The people would flee quickly, like water rushing from a broken reservoir (see study note on Nahum 2:6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. But--rather, "Though" [G. V. Smith]. of old--rather, "from the days that she hath been"; from the earliest period of her existence. Alluding to Nineveh's antiquity (Ge 10:11). "Though Nineveh has been of old defended by water surrounding her, yet her inhabitants shall flee away." Grotius, less probably (compare Na 3:8-12), interprets, the "waters" of her numerous population (Is 8:7; Jr 51:13; Re 17:15). Stand, stand, shall they cry--that is, the few…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
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Commentaries