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Selected Verse: Nahum 1:8 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Na 1:8 |
King James |
But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
with an overrunning flood--that is, with irresistible might which overruns every barrier like a flood. This image is often applied to overwhelming armies of invaders. Also of calamity in general (Psa 32:6; Psa 42:7; Psa 90:5). There is, perhaps, a special allusion to the mode of Nineveh's capture by the Medo-Babylonian army; namely, through a flood in the river which broke down the wall twenty furlongs (see on Nah 2:6; Isa 8:8; Dan 9:26; Dan 11:10, Dan 11:22, Dan 11:40).
end of the place thereof--Nineveh is personified as a queen; and "her place" of residence (the Hebrew for "thereof" is feminine) is the city itself (Nah 2:8), [MAURER]. Or, He shall so utterly destroy Nineveh that its place cannot be found; Nah 3:17 confirms this (compare Psa 37:36; Dan 2:35; Rev 12:8; Rev 20:11).
darkness--the severest calamities. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof - that is, of Nineveh, although not as yet named, except in the title of the prophecy, yet present to the prophet's mind and his hearers, and that the more solemnly, as being the object of the wrath of God, so that, although unnamed, it would be known so to be. Image and reality, the first destruction and the last which it pictures, meet in the same words. Nineveh itself was overthrown through the swelling of the rivers which flowed around it and seemed to be its defense (see the note at Nah 2:6). Then also, the flood is the tide of the armies, gathered from all quarters, Babylonians , Medes, Persians, Arabians, Bactrians, which like a flood should sweep over Nineveh and leave nothing standing. It is also the flood of the wrath of God, in whose Hands they were and who, by them, should "make a full end of it," literally, "make the place thereof a thing consumed," a thing which has ceased to be. For a while, some ruins existed, whose name and history ceased to be known; soon after, the ruins themselves were effaced and buried . Such was the close of a city, almost coeval with the flood, which had now stood almost as many years as have passed since Christ came, but which now defied God. Marvelous image of the evil world itself, which shall flee away from the face of Him who sat on the throne, "and there was found no place for it" Rev 20:11.
And darkness shall pursue His enemies - Better, "He shall pursue His enemies into darkness" Darkness is, in the Old Testament, the condition, or state in which a person is, or lives; it is not an agent, which pursues. Isaiah speaks of the "inhabitants of darkness" Isa 42:7, "entering unto darkness" Isa 47:5; "those who are in darkness" Isa 49:9. "The grave is all darkness" Psa 88:12; Job 17:13, "darkness, and the shadow of death" Job 10:21. Hence, even Jews rendered , "He shall deliver them to hell." Into this darkness it is said, God shall pursue them, as other prophets speak of being "driven forth into darkness" . The darkness, the motionless drear abode, to which they are driven, anticipates the being cast into "the outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Rup.: "The vengeance of God on" these who remain "His enemies" to the last, "ends not with the death of the body; but evil spirits, who are darkness and not light, pursue their souls, and seize them." They would not hear Christ calling to them, "Walk, while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you" Joh 12:35. "They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof" Job 24:13. "They loved darkness rather than light" Joh 3:19. And so they were driven into the darkness which they chose and loved. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| An over - running flood - His judgments like a mighty flood that overflows all banks, shall swallow up Assyria. Thereof - Of Nineveh, that is Nineveh itself. Darkness - Troubles, and desolating afflictions. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
But with an overrunning flood - Bishop Newcome thinks this may refer to the manner in which Nineveh was taken. The Euphrates overflowed its banks, deluged a part of the city, and overturned twenty stadia of the wall; in consequence of which the desponding king burnt himself, and his palace, with his treasures. - Diodor. Sic., Edit. Wessel., p. 140, lib. ii., s. 27.
Darkness shall pursue - Calamity. All kinds of calamity shall pursue them till they are destroyed. |
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.