New International Version
Nahum 3:13
13Look 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.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Your troops will be as weak and helpless as women. The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy and set on fire and burned.
Context of Nahum 3:13
11You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy. 12All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater. 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. 14Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork! 15There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down— they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like 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 19:16In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them.
- Jeremiah 50:37A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.
- 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.
- Nahum 2:6The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.
- Psalms 107:16for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
- Isaiah 45:1“This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
- Psalms 147:13He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people 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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries