Nahum 3:7

Nah 3:7 And it shall come to pass, [that] all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

Ver. 7. And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee] Thou shalt be a very Magormissabib, a terror to all that are round about thee, so that they shall decline thee and stand aloof off. Resilient a te, they shall leap back from thee (saith the Vulgate translation), as if they had trod upon a snake. Ubi simul hominum mores exprimit, saith Gualther. This is the manner of most people: they measure friendship by profit, and shamefully forsake those in adversity whom they were wont to follow and fawn upon in prosperity. David complains of such dealing, and Ovid, and many others, Tempora si fuerint nubila solus eris. Cum fortuna petit nullus amicus erit.

And say, Nineveh is laid waste] Which most men held impossible, and never looked to have seen such a day. So Rome was called Aurea golden and Aeterna eternal, and the Romans once thought (as it is said Dionysius did) that the monarchy of the world had been tied unto them with chains of adamant. But God confuted their golden dreams by breaking their empire, and giving up their city six different times in one hundred and thirty-nine years into the hands of the barbarians, who exercised therein all kinds of cruelty. Besides that, it is observed that Rome since it became Papal was never besieged by any enemy, but it was taken. The final ruin of it is daily expected, according to that prophecy of St John, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen," Rev 18:2, and that other of Sibylla before recited,

“ Tota eris in cineres; quasi nunquam Roma fuisses. ”

Who will bemoan her?] Heb. Who will move (his lips) for her. Some perhaps will shake his head or shoot his bolt at her; but none open his mouth to bemoan her. It was the just hand of God to set off all hearts and shut up all mouths from her, that had been so unreasonably merciless and hard hearted, Lam 2:13.

Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?] q.d. So odious thou art that none will do thee that good office; or if they would, so calamitous thou art that no comfort will fasten. For as to sore eyes the gentlest medicine is troublesome, so is comfort ministered to such as are in a hopeless condition. The ear that tasteth words as the mouth doth meat is at such a time embittered and out of taste.

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.

all . . . that look upon thee--when thou hast been made "a gazing stock" (Nah 3:6).

shall flee from thee--as a thing horrible to look upon. Compare "standing afar off," Rev 18:10.

whence shall I seek comforters for thee?--Compare Isa 51:19, which Nahum had before his mind.

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 7. Who will bemoan her?] In such cases, who pities the delinquent? She has been the occasion of ruin to multitudes, and now she is deservedly exposed and punished. And so it should be thought concerning Nineveh.

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

When he says, כל-ראיך, cal-raik, ‘whosoever sees thee,’ we hence learn again that רואי, ruai, at the end of the last verse, is to be taken for example or spectacle; for the Prophet proceeds with the same subject: I will make thee, he says, an example, or a spectacle. — For what purpose? that whosoever sees thee may depart from thee And it was an evidence of horror, though some think it to have been a reward for her cruelty, that no one came to Nineveh, but that she was forsaken by all friends in her desolation. And they take in the same sense what follows, Who will condole with her? and whence shall I seek comforters for thee? For they think that the Ninevites are here reproached for their cruelty, because they made themselves so hated by all that they were unworthy of sympathy; for they spared none, they allowed themselves full liberty in injuring others, they had gained the hatred of all the world. Hence some think that what is here intimated is, that the Ninevites were justly detested by and so that no one condoled with them in so great a calamity, inasmuch as they had been injurious to all: “It shall then happen, that whosoever sees thee shall go far away from thee and shall say, Wasted is Nineveh; who will condole with her? Whence shall I call comforters to her?”

But I know not whether this refined meaning came into the Prophet’s mind. We may explain the words more simply, that all would flee far away as a proof of their horrors and that the calamity would be such, that no lamentation would correspond with it. Who will be able to console with her? that is, were the greatness of her calamity duly weighed, though all were to weep and utter their meanings, it would not yet be sufficient: all lamentations would be far unequal to so great a calamity. The Prophet seems rather to mean this. Who then shall condole with her? and whence shall I seek comforters, as though he said, “The ruin of so splendid a city will not be of an ordinary kind, but what cannot be equaled by any lamentations.” It then 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.

(7) Shall flee from thee.—As in the case of the destruction of Korah, men flee from the stricken city lest they share her punishment. Nor is she an object of compassion whose cruelties have been as extensive as her empire. Hers is the fate of the fallen tyrant—left to

__________“vainly groan.

With pangs unfelt before, unpitied and alone.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. flee from thee] In terror at her judgment.

Whence shall I seek comforters] The words imply that none will be found to pity her, as Jer_15:5; Isa_51:19.

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.

And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee,.... As something loathsome and abominable, not fit to be come near unto, or touched; and as astonished and amazed at an object so forlorn and miserable, and lest they should partake of the same punishment:

and say, Nineveh is laid waste; utterly destroyed; its walls broke down, its houses demolished, its substance plundered, and its inhabitants killed, or carried captive; who could have thought it, when it was once so stately, rich, and powerful? but so it is indeed!

who will bemoan her? there are none left in her to do it; and as for others, her neighbours, whom she has oppressed and cruelly used, these will laugh and rejoice, instead of lamenting her case:

whence shall I seek comforters for thee? none from among her inhabitants, being destroyed, or carried into a foreign land; and none from among the nations round about, who will rather deride and insult than pity and comfort; so wretched and miserable would her case be!

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

All they that look upon thee shall flee from thee - through terror, lest they should share her plagues, as Israel did, when the earth swallowed up Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and they who “had been made rich by Babylon, stand ajar off, for the fear of her torment. All they who look on thee” Rev 18:15. She was set as a thing to be “gazed at.” He tells the effect on the gazers. “Each one who so gazed” at her should flee; one by one, they should gaze, be scared, flee (compare Psa 31:11; Psa 64:8). Not one should remain. “Who will bemoan her?” Not one should pay her the passing tribute of sympathy at human calamity, the shaking of the head at her woe (compare Job 16:4-5). Whoever had no compassion shall find none.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Bemoan. Literally, "shake his head:" the latter words are not in [the] Hebrew. (Haydock) --- Some supply, move his lips: but head will answer as well. This is a sign of derision or of pity, Job xlii. 11., and Matthew xxvii. 39. (Calmet)

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).

It shall come to pass; it will most certainly be. All they that look upon thee, so soon as ever thou art seen and discovered, O Nineveh, in thy vileness,

shall flee from thee, with hatred, loathing, and abhorrence for thy former pride and wickedness. and for thy present miseries.

And say, with wonder, scorn, rejoicing, and spreading the news,

Nineveh is laid waste; taken, sacked, emptied of inhabitant, yea, utterly subverted, that it may be no more a rival with Babylon: it is certain that it is not now where it once stood.

Who will bemoan her? whose bowels will be moved for her that had no bowels for any one; who will move foot or, hand toward her relief?

Whence? from what place? She hath wronged all her neighbours, and ruined, some of them; from amidst these surely not one may be fetched to speak comfortably to her; these do with reason upbraid her former cruelty and pride, and rejoice in her present calamity and ruin, and strangers will not be concerned for her.

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

Shall flee from thee. As an object of disgust, or fearing to be involved in thy ruin. (Rev_18:10, Rev_18:15) Who will bemoan her? No one will pity her for her well deserved chastisement. (Jer_15:5) Whence shall I seek, etc.? Truly, nowhere in all the world. (comp. Isa_51:19)

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

Shall flee - With loathing and abhorrence. Will bemoan - Whose bowels will be moved for her that had no bowels for any one.

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

Nineveh

(See Scofield "Nah 1:1")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

shall wander away from you—Shall distance himself from you.

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.