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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king; your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together.

Context of Nahum 3:18

16You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away. 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. 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. 19Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt 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 river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses.
• Exodus 15:16terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone— until your people pass by, Lord, until the people you bought pass by.
• Psalms 76:5The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands.
• Isaiah 56:9Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
• Jeremiah 51:39But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughter— then sleep forever and not awake,” declares the Lord.
• Jeremiah 50:18Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
• Ezekiel 31:3Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
• Ezekiel 32:22“Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword.
• Isaiah 47:1“Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate.
• Revelation 6:15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
• 1 Kings 22:17Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’ ”
• 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.

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