Nahum 3:16

Nahum 3:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
• New International Version (NIV)You 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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Your merchants have multiplied until they outnumber the stars. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and fly away.

Context of Nahum 3:16

14Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Make strong the brick kiln! 15There the fire will devour you, The sword will cut you off; It will eat you up like a locust. Make yourself many—like the locust! Make yourself many— like the swarming locusts! You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away. 17Your commanders are like swarming locusts, And your generals like great grasshoppers, Which camp in the hedges on a cold day; When the sun rises they flee away, And the place where they are is not known. 18Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, And no one gathers them.

Nahum 3:16 word by word

הִרְבֵּית֙ רֹֽכְלַ֔יִךְ מִכּוֹכְבֵ֖י הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם יֶ֥לֶק פָּשַׁ֖ט וַיָּעֹֽף׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thou hast multipliedרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
• thy merchantsרָכַלrâkal · to tradeH7402
• above the starsכּוֹכָבkôkâb · starH3556
• of heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• the cankerwormיֶ֫לֶקyeleq · locustH3218
• spoilethפָּשַׁטpâshaţ · to stripH6584
• and flieth awayעוּף‛ûph · to flyH5774

Cross-references for Nahum 3:16

• Genesis 15:5Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
• Genesis 22:17blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
• Nehemiah 9:23You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, And brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers To go in and possess.
• Jeremiah 33:22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

Commentaries on Nahum 3:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Thou hast multiplied thy merchants - Like Tyre, this city was a famous resort for merchants; but the multitudes which were there previously to the siege, like the locusts, took the alarm, and fled away.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven - Not numerous only but glorious in the eyes of the world, and, as thou deemest, safe and inaccessible; yet in an instant all is gone. The commerce of Nineveh was carried back to prehistoric times, since its rivers bound together the mountains of Armenia with the Persian gulf, and marked out the line, by which the distant members of the human family should supply each others‘ needs. “Semiramis”…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. 16Assyrian merchants spread across the Near East like locusts, bringing great wealth to Nineveh. However, like locusts that eat and leave, the merchants took their goods and departed during Nineveh's difficult times, leaving the people in need.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. multiplied thy merchants--(Eze 27:23, 24). Nineveh, by large canals, had easy access to Babylon; and it was one of the great routes for the people of the west and northwest to that city; lying on the Tigris it had access to the sea. The Phoenicians carried its wares everywhere. Hence its merchandise is so much spoken of. the cankerworm spoileth, and fleeth away--that is, spoiled thy merchants. The "cankerworm," or licking locust, answers to the…Read the comment

Topics related to Nahum 3:16

• Cankerworm
• Commerce
• Merchant

In the dictionaries

• Cankerworm
• Depart
• Rattling
• Canker-Worm
• Captivity
• Locust
• Nahum; the Book of
• 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