Nahum 2:4

4. Nah_2:3 referred to the aspect of the assailing army in the day of preparation; Nah_2:4 appears to describe an actual conflict before the city.

shall rage in the streets] rage in the outplaces. The reference is certainly to what is taking place outside the walls, not within the town. The term “streets” often means fields (Job_5:10), or what lies outside or abroad; it is parallel to “broad places” next clause, i.e. open ground in front of the walled city.

A suburb or outskirt of Nineveh called ribit Nina (broad place of Nineveh) lay probably on the N.E. of the city, or on the east, the side on which the great road to Arbela left the city. In such places there would no doubt be forts here and there and around these the battle would rage, for the defenders would not retreat within the walls without a conflict. Jer_46:9 also uses the word “rage” of the racing of chariots. Chariots were employed in sieges. Lay., Nineveh, II. 349.

They shall seem like torches] the appearance of them is like torches. The glitter of the mailed chariots and their furious racing is compared to torches and lightnings.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Nah 2:4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.

Ver. 4. The chariots shall rage in the streets] Shall run so fast, as if they were mad that drove them.

They shall jostle one against another] Coxabunt, they shall smite side to side, through haste and heat of fighting.

They shall seem like torches] Heb. Their aspect is as of torches; fire sparkleth out of their eyes that are in them; they look upon the Assyrians, as if they would look through them.

They shall run like the lightnings] Heb. They shall break through as the lightnings; that is, with incredible swiftness; as lightning in an instant cometh out of the east and shineth even to the west, Mat 24:27 Luk 10:18.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:4 Chariots were virtually unstoppable in battle because of their maneuverability and power.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

rage--are driven in furious haste (Jer 46:9).

justle one against another--run to and fro [MAURER].

in the broad ways-- (Ch2 32:6). Large open spaces in the suburbs of Nineveh.

they shall seem like torches--literally, "their (feminine in Hebrew) appearance (is)": namely, the appearance of the broad places is like that of torches, through the numbers of chariots in them flashing in the sun (Pro 8:26, Margin).

run like the lightnings--with rapid violence (Mat 24:27; Luk 10:18).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. The chariots shall rage] Those of the besiegers and the besieged, meeting in the streets, producing universal confusion and carnage.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He still goes on with the same subject, — that they shall be furious in the streets that is, that they shall he so turbulent, as though they were out of their minds: as furious men are wont to be who are impetuously carried away beyond all reason and moderation, so shall they also become mad in their tumult. He then says, They shall hasten. The verb is derived from the hips; for he who hastens shakes the hips, and moves them with a quick motion; and if it be lawful to coin a word, it is, they shall hip; Ils remueront les hanches. This is what the Prophet meant. And then, Their appearance shall be as lamps. He refers here to the chariots. They shall then be like lamps; that is they shall dazzle the eyes of beholders with their brightness. All these things are intended to set forth what is terrific. He says also, as lightning they shall run here and there.

In short, he intimates, that the impetuosity of the Chaldeans would be so violent as to surpass what is commonly witnessed among men, that it would be, as it were, a species of fury and madness sent down from above. Thus, then, they were to be like lightning and flames of fire, that they might exceed every thing human. But these forms of speech, though they are hyperbolical, were not yet used without reason; for we may easily conjecture how great was then the security of the city Nineveh, and how incredible was the event of its ruin. That monarchy was then preeminent over every other in the whole world, and no one could have thought that it could ever be assailed. Since then it was difficult to persuade the Jews that ruin was nigh the Assyrians, it was necessary for the Prophet to accumulate these various forms of expressions, by which he sets forth the power of God in the destruction of the Assyrians. It afterwards follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

The chariots shall rage in the streets,.... In the streets of Nineveh when taken; where they shall be drove in a furious manner from place to place, the men in them breathing out slaughter and death wherever they came. Kimchi understands this of the chariots of the Ninevites; who shall drive about in them in the streets of the city like madmen; not daring to go out to fight the enemy, being mightier and more numerous than they.

They shall justle one against another in the broad ways; because of their numbers, and the haste they shall make to spoil and plunder the city; or the Ninevites shall justle one against another, in their hurry and confusion to make their escape.

They shall seem like torches; either the chariots of the Medes and Chaldeans, for the reasons given in the preceding verse Nah 2:3; or they themselves, because of their fierceness and cruelty; or the faces of the Ninevites, being covered with shame, so Kimchi; see Isa 13:8.

They shall run like the lightnings; exceeding swiftly, with irresistible force and power; the above writer interprets this of the Ninevites also, running from one end of their city to the other in the utmost confusion, not knowing what to do; but the whole of these two verses Nah 2:3 seem to be a description of their enemies.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Streets. The Ninivites are disordered at the enemy’s approach. (St. Jerome)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The chariots of the Chaldean army, or the riders in the chariots, by their fierceness and carriage, by their cries and calls, heartening one another, and threatening the Assyrians.

Shall rage; shall seem to be more like madmen than well-ordered soldiers, and act as if they avert possessed with fruits, do more than man can do.

In the streets, either of the towns they pass through, or rather of Nineveh when taken.

They shall justle; by reason of their multitude, haste, and fury, they shall hit one against another.

In the broad ways; where is most room, shall be most of these chariots, and yet scarce room for them to move in.

They shall seem like torches; what with sparkling fire, caused by their horses and chariots shod with iron, and what with the glittering of the polished irons about the chariots, and what with the light of flaming torches carried in them, the chariots shall look like so malay great flambeaus, very dangerous and terrible.

They shall run like the lightnings, both for speed, irresistibleness, and terror, against which no defence, from which no flight or hiding.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The chariots shall rage in the streets. The chariots rave, dash (Jer_46:9) about the open ways in the suburbs, or in the plains of the country. The description still appertains to the besiegers, who are so numerous that to the Ninevites, looking from their walls, their chariots seem to dash against one another. They shall seem their appearance is like torches. Thus is described the gleaming of the chariots and the armour (see on ver. 3 /RAPC 1Ma 6:39, "Now when the sun shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the mountains glistered therewith, and shined like lamps of fire").

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the streets - Of Nineveh, when taken. Justle - By reason of their multitude and fury. In the broad ways - Where is most room, and yet scarce enough for them to move. Like torches - What with sparkling fire caused by their horses and chariots, what with the glittering of the polished irons about them, and what with the light of flaming torches carried in them. Like the lightnings - Both for speed, irrestibleness and terror.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The shields of his mighty men—The mighty of Nebuchadnezzar, who lay siege to Assyria.

are dyed red—They are dyed red, and the men of their army are in crimson, dressed in crimson.

the chariots are in the fire of torches on the day of his preparation Heb. פְּלָדֹת. On the day that he [Nebuchadnezzar] is prepared to go out in the army, he polishes his iron chariots, but I do not know what פְּלָדֹת means. I say that it is a material that polishes iron well. And some interpret פְּלָדֹת as an expression of a fiery torch (לַפִּיד), by transposing the letters.

and the cypresses are enwrapped—Jonathan renders: And the heads of the [Babylonian] camps are enwrapped in colored garments.

are enwrapped Heb. הַרְעָלוּ, enwrapped. Similar is (Isa. 3:19) “The necklaces and the bracelets and the shawls (הָרְעָלוֹת).” In the language of the Mishnah we learned “shawled (רְעוּלוֹת) Arabian women” in tractate Shabbath (65a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.