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Selected Verse: Nahum 2:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Na 2:1	Strong Concordance	He that dasheth in pieces [06327] is come up [05927] before thy face [06440]: keep [05341] the munition [04694], watch [06822] the way [01870], make thy loins [04975] strong [02388], fortify [0553] thy power [03581] mightily [03966].
	King James	He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
THE ADVANCE OF THE DESTROYING FORCES AGAINST NINEVEH, AFTER IT WAS USED AS GOD'S ROD FOR A TIME TO CHASTISE HIS PEOPLE: THE CAPTURE OF THAT LION'S DWELLING, ACCORDING TO THE SURE WORD OF JEHOVAH. (Nah 2:1-13) He that dasheth in pieces--God's "battle axe," wherewith He "breaks in pieces" His enemies. Jer 51:20 applies the same Hebrew term to Nebuchadnezzar (compare Pro 25:18; Jer 50:23, "the hammer of the whole earth"). Here the Medo-Babylonian army under Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, that destroyed Nineveh, is prophetically meant. before thy face--before Nineveh. Openly, so that the work of God may be manifest. watch the way--by which the foe will attack, so as to be ready to meet him. Ironical advice; equivalent to a prophecy, Thou shalt have need to use all possible means of defense; but use what thou wilt, all will be in vain. make thy loins strong--The loins are the seat of strength; to gird them up is to prepare all one's strength for conflict (Job 40:7). Also gird on thy sword (Sa2 20:8; Kg2 4:29).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

THE ADVANCE OF THE DESTROYING FORCES AGAINST NINEVEH, AFTER IT WAS USED AS GOD'S ROD FOR A TIME TO CHASTISE HIS PEOPLE: THE CAPTURE OF THAT LION'S DWELLING, ACCORDING TO THE SURE WORD OF JEHOVAH. (Nah 2:1-13)

He that dasheth in pieces--God's "battle axe," wherewith He "breaks in pieces" His enemies. Jer 51:20 applies the same Hebrew term to Nebuchadnezzar (compare Pro 25:18; Jer 50:23, "the hammer of the whole earth"). Here the Medo-Babylonian army under Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, that destroyed Nineveh, is prophetically meant.

before thy face--before Nineveh. Openly, so that the work of God may be manifest.

watch the way--by which the foe will attack, so as to be ready to meet him. Ironical advice; equivalent to a prophecy, Thou shalt have need to use all possible means of defense; but use what thou wilt, all will be in vain.

make thy loins strong--The loins are the seat of strength; to gird them up is to prepare all one's strength for conflict (Job 40:7). Also gird on thy sword (Sa2 20:8; Kg2 4:29).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
He that dasheth in pieces - Rather, "the Disperser," the instrument of God, whereby he should "break her in pieces like a potter's vessel, or should scatter" her in all lands, is come up against thy face, O Nineveh, i. e., either, over against thee" , confronting her as it were, face to face, or directed against thee . From the description of the peace of Judah, the prophet turns suddenly to her oppressor, to whom, not to Judah, the rest of the prophecy is directed. Jacob and Israel are spoken of, not to . The destroyer of Nineveh "went up against the face of Nineveh," not in the presence of Judah and Jacob, who were far away and knew nothing of it. "Keep the munition." While all in Judah is now peace, all in Nineveh is tumult. God whom they had defied, saying that Hezekiah could not "turn away the face of one captain of the least of his servants" Isa 36:9, now bids them prepare to meet him whom He would send against them. "Gird up thy loins now, like a man" Job 40:7. Thou who wouldest lay waste others, now, if theft canst, keep thyself. The strength of the words is the measure of the irony. They had challenged God; He in turn challenges them to put forth all their might. Fence thy defenses - we might say. Their strong walls, high though they were, unassailable by any then known skill of besiegers, would not be secure. The prophet uses a kindred and allusive word, that their protection needed to be itself protected; and this, by one continued watchfulness. Watch, he adds, the way: spy out (as far as thou canst), the coming of the enemy; strengthen the loins, the seat of strength. Elsewhere they are said to be girded up for any exertion. "Fortify thy strength exceedingly." The expression is rare : commonly it is said of some part of the human frame, knees, arms, or mind, or of man by God. The same words are strong mockery to those who resist God, good counsel to those who trust in God. "Keep the munition, for He who keepeth thee will not sleep Psa 121:3; watch the way," by which the enemy may approach from afar, for Satan approacheth, sometimes suddenly, sometimes very stealthily and subtly, "transforming himself into an angel of light." Jerome: "Watch also the way by which thou art to go, as it is said, 'Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein;' Jer 6:16, so that, having stood in many ways, we may come to that Way which saith, 'I am the Way.'" Then , "make thy loins strong," as the Saviour commands His disciples, "Let your loins be girded about" Luk 12:35, and the Apostle says, "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth" Eph 6:14; for nothing so strengthens as the Truth. For Christ being the Truth, whose with his whole heart hath belived in Christ, is strong against himself, and hath power over the loins, the seat of the passions. Then, since this warfare is hard, he adds, be strong, "fortify thy power mightily;" resist not listlessly, but vehemently; and that, in His strength who hath strengthened our nature, taking it to Himself and uniting it with the Godhead. For without Him, strong though thou be, thou wilt avail nothing.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
With Nah 2:1 the prophecy turns to Nineveh. Nah 2:1. "A dasher in pieces comes against thee. Keep thy fortress! Look out upon the way, fortify the loins, exert thy strength greatly! Nah 2:2. For Jehovah returneth to the eminence of Jacob as to the eminence of Israel; for plunderers have plundered them, and their vines have they thrown to the ground." על־פּניך cannot be addressed to Judah, as in Nah 1:15 (Chald., Rashi, etc.). It cannot indeed be objected that in Nah 1:15 the destruction of Asshur has already been announced, since the prophet might nevertheless have returned to the time when Asshur had made war upon Judah, in order to depict its ruin with greater precision. But such an assumption does not agree with the second clause of the verse as compared with Nah 2:2, and still less with the description of the approaching enemy which follows in Nah 2:3, since this is unquestionably, according to Nah 2:5, the power advancing against Nineveh, and destroying that city. We must therefore assume that we have here a sudden change in the person addressed, as in Nah 1:11 and Nah 1:12, Nah 1:13 and Nah 1:14. The enemy is called מפיץ, "a dasher in pieces;" not a war-hammer (cf. Pro 25:18), because עלה, the standing expression for the advance of a hostile army, does not agree with this. על־פּניך, against thy face, i.e., pitching his tent opposite to the city (there is no good reason for altering the suffix into פּניך, as Ewald and Hitzig propose). Against this enemy Nineveh is to bring all possible power of resistance. This is not irony, but simply a poetical turn given to the thought, that Nineveh will not be able to repulse this enemy any more. The inf. abs. nâtsōr stands emphatically for the imperative, as is frequently the case, and is continued in the imperative. Metsūrâh is the enclosure of a city, hence the wall or fortification. צפּה־דרך, looking watchfully upon the way by which the enemy comes, to repulse it or prevent it from entering the city. הזּק מ, make the loins strong, i.e., equip thyself with strength, the loins being the seat of strength. The last clause expresses the same thought, and is merely added to strengthen the meaning. The explanatory kı̄ in Nah 2:2 (3) does not follow upon Nah 2:1 in the sense of "summon up all thy strength, for it is God in whose strength the enemy fights" (Strauss), but to Nah 2:1 or Nah 1:15. The train of thought is the following: Asshur will be utterly destroyed by the enemy advancing against Nineveh, for Jehovah will re-establish the glory of Israel, which Asshur has destroyed. שׁב (perf. proph.) has not the force of the hiphil, reducere, restituere, either here or in Psa 85:5 and Isa 52:8, and other passages, where the modern lexicons give it, but means to turn round, or return to a person, and is construed with the accusative, as in Num 10:36; Exo 4:20, and Gen 50:14, although in actual fact the return of Jehovah to the eminence of Jacob involves its restoration. גּאון יעקב, that of which Jacob is proud, i.e., the eminence and greatness or glory accruing to Israel by virtue of its election to be the nation of God, which the enemy into whose power it had been given up on account of its rebellion against God had taken away (see at Amo 6:8). Jacob does not stand for Judah, nor Israel for the ten tribes, for Nahum never refers to the ten tribes in distinction from Judah; and Oba 1:18, where Jacob is distinguished from the house of Joseph, is of a totally different character. Both names stand here for the whole of Israel (of the twelve tribes), and, as Cyril has shown, the distinction is this: Jacob is the natural name which the people inherited from their forefather, and Israel the spiritual name which they had received from God. Strauss gives the meaning correctly thus: Jehovah will so return to the eminence of His people, who are named after Jacob, that this eminence shall become the eminence of Israel, i.e., of the people of God; in other words, He will exalt the nation once more to the lofty eminence of its divine calling (כּ used in the same manner as in Sa1 25:36). This will He do, because plunderers have plundered (bâqaq, evacuare) them (the Israelites), and destroyed their vines, cast them to the ground; that He may avenge the reproach cast upon His people. The plunderers are the heathen nations, especially the Assyrians. The vines are the Israelites; Israel as a people or kingdom is the vineyard (Isa 5:1; Jer 12:10; Psa 80:9.); the vines are the families, and the branches (zemōrı̄m from zemōrâh) the members.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
He - The Medes or Chaldeans, that dash Nineveh in pieces. The munition - The forts. Make thy loins strong - Strengthen thyself.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
He that dasheth in pieces - Or scattereth. The Chaldeans and Medes. Keep the munition - Guard the fenced places. From this to the end of the fifth verse, the preparations made at Nineveh to repel their enemies are described. The description is exceedingly picturesque. Watch the way - By which the enemy is most likely to approach. Make thy loins strong - Take courage. Fortify thy power - Muster thy troops; call in all thy allies.

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²⁹ Then he said [0559] to Gehazi [01522], Gird up [02296] thy loins [04975], and take [03947] my staff [04938] in thine hand [03027], and go thy way [03212]: if thou meet [04672] any man [0376], salute [01288] him not; and if any [0376] salute [01288] thee, answer him not again [06030]: and lay [07760] my staff [04938] upon the face [06440] of the child [05288].

⁸ When they were at the great [01419] stone [068] which is in Gibeon [01391], Amasa [06021] went [0935] before [06440] them. And Joab's [03097] garment [04055] that he had put on [03830] was girded [02296] unto him, and upon it a girdle [02289] with a sword [02719] fastened [06775] upon his loins [04975] in the sheath [08593] thereof; and as he went forth [03318] it fell out [05307].

⁷ Gird up [0247] thy loins [02504] now like a man [01397]: I will demand [07592] of thee, and declare [03045] thou unto me.

²³ How is the hammer [06360] of the whole earth [0776] cut asunder [01438] and broken [07665] ! how is Babylon [0894] become a desolation [08047] among the nations [01471]!

¹⁸ A man [0376] that beareth [06030] false [08267] witness [05707] against his neighbour [07453] is a maul [04650], and a sword [02719], and a sharp [08150] arrow [02671].

²⁰ Thou art my battle axe [04661] and weapons [03627] of war [04421]: for with thee will I break in pieces [05310] the nations [01471], and with thee will I destroy [07843] kingdoms [04467];

¹ He that dasheth in pieces [06327] is come up [05927] before thy face [06440]: keep [05341] the munition [04694], watch [06822] the way [01870], make thy loins [04975] strong [02388], fortify [0553] thy power [03581] mightily [03966].
² For the LORD [03068] hath turned away [07725] the excellency [01347] of Jacob [03290], as the excellency [01347] of Israel [03478]: for the emptiers [01238] have emptied them out [01238], and marred [07843] their vine branches [02156].
³ The shield [04043] of his mighty men [01368] is made red [0119], the valiant [02428] men [0582] are in scarlet [08529]: the chariots [07393] shall be with flaming [0784] torches [06393] in the day [03117] of his preparation [03559], and the fir trees [01265] shall be terribly shaken [07477].
⁴ The chariots [07393] shall rage [01984] in the streets [02351], they shall justle one against another [08264] in the broad ways [07339]: they shall seem [04758] like torches [03940], they shall run [07323] like the lightnings [01300].
⁵ He shall recount [02142] his worthies [0117]: they shall stumble [03782] in their walk [01979]; they shall make haste [04116] to the wall [02346] thereof, and the defence [05526] shall be prepared [03559].
⁶ The gates [08179] of the rivers [05104] shall be opened [06605], and the palace [01964] shall be dissolved [04127].
⁷ And Huzzab [05324] shall be led away captive [01540], she shall be brought up [05927], and her maids [0519] shall lead [05090] her as with the voice [06963] of doves [03123], tabering [08608] upon their breasts [03824].
⁸ But Nineveh [05210] is of old [03117] like a pool [01295] of water [04325]: yet they shall flee away [05127]. Stand [05975], stand [05975], shall they cry; but none shall look back [06437].
⁹ Take ye the spoil [0962] of silver [03701], take the spoil [0962] of gold [02091]: for there is none end [07097] of the store [08498] and glory [03519] out of all the pleasant [02532] furniture [03627].
¹⁰ She is empty [0950], and void [04003], and waste [01110]: and the heart [03820] melteth [04549], and the knees [01290] smite together [06375], and much pain [02479] is in all loins [04975], and the faces [06440] of them all gather [06908] blackness [06289].
¹¹ Where is the dwelling [04583] of the lions [0738], and the feedingplace [04829] of the young lions [03715], where the lion [0738], even the old lion [03833], walked [01980], and the lion's [0738] whelp [01482], and none made them afraid [02729]?
¹² The lion [0738] did tear in pieces [02963] enough [01767] for his whelps [01484], and strangled [02614] for his lionesses [03833], and filled [04390] his holes [02356] with prey [02964], and his dens [04585] with ravin [02966].
¹³ Behold, I am against thee, saith [05002] the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], and I will burn [01197] her chariots [07393] in the smoke [06227], and the sword [02719] shall devour [0398] thy young lions [03715]: and I will cut off [03772] thy prey [02964] from the earth [0776], and the voice [06963] of thy messengers [04397] shall no more be heard [08085].

¹⁴ Stand [2476] therefore [3767], having [4024] your [5216] loins [3751] girt about [4024] with [1722] truth [225], and [2532] having on [1746] the breastplate [2382] of righteousness [1343];

³⁵ Let [2077] your [5216] loins [3751] be [2077] girded about [4024], and [2532] your lights [3088] burning [2545];

¹⁶ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Stand [05975] ye in the ways [01870], and see [07200], and ask [07592] for the old [05769] paths [05410], where is the good [02896] way [01870], and walk [03212] therein, and ye shall find [04672] rest [04771] for your souls [05315]. But they said [0559], We will not walk [03212] therein.

³ He will not suffer [05414] thy foot [07272] to be moved [04132]: he that keepeth [08104] thee will not slumber [05123].

⁷ Gird up [0247] thy loins [02504] now like a man [01397]: I will demand [07592] of thee, and declare [03045] thou unto me.

⁹ How then wilt thou turn away [07725] the face [06440] of one [0259] captain [06346] of the least [06996] of my master's [0113] servants [05650], and put thy trust [0982] on Egypt [04714] for chariots [07393] and for horsemen [06571]?

⁹ Thou preparedst [06437] room before [06440] it, and didst cause it to take deep [08328] root [08327], and it filled [04390] the land [0776].

¹⁰ Many [07227] pastors [07462] have destroyed [07843] my vineyard [03754], they have trodden [0947] my portion [02513] under foot [0947], they have made [05414] my pleasant [02532] portion [02513] a desolate [08077] wilderness [04057].

¹ Now will I sing [07891] to my wellbeloved [03039] a song [07892] of my beloved [01730] touching his vineyard [03754]. My wellbeloved [03039] hath a vineyard [03754] in a very fruitful [01121] [08081] hill [07161]:

³⁶ And Abigail [026] came [0935] to Nabal [05037]; and, behold, he held a feast [04960] in his house [01004], like the feast [04960] of a king [04428]; and Nabal's [05037] heart [03820] was merry [02896] within him, for he was very [03966] drunken [07910]: wherefore she told [05046] him nothing [01697], less [06996] or more [01419], until the morning [01242] light [0216].

¹⁸ And the house [01004] of Jacob [03290] shall be a fire [0784], and the house [01004] of Joseph [03130] a flame [03852], and the house [01004] of Esau [06215] for stubble [07179], and they shall kindle [01814] in them, and devour [0398] them; and there shall not be any remaining [08300] of the house [01004] of Esau [06215]; for the LORD [03068] hath spoken [01696] it.

⁸ The Lord [0136] GOD [03069] hath sworn [07650] by himself [05315], saith [05002] the LORD [03068] the God [0430] of hosts [06635], I abhor [08374] the excellency [01347] of Jacob [03290], and hate [08130] his palaces [0759]: therefore will I deliver up [05462] the city [05892] with all that is therein [04393].

¹⁴ And Joseph [03130] returned [07725] into Egypt [04714], he, and his brethren [0251], and all that went up [05927] with him to bury [06912] his father [01], after [0310] he had buried [06912] his father [01].

²⁰ And Moses [04872] took [03947] his wife [0802] and his sons [01121], and set [07392] them upon an ass [02543], and he returned [07725] to the land [0776] of Egypt [04714]: and Moses [04872] took [03947] the rod [04294] of God [0430] in his hand [03027].

³⁶ And when it rested [05117], he said [0559], Return [07725], O LORD [03068], unto the many [07233] thousands [0505] of Israel [03478].

⁸ Thy watchmen [06822] shall lift up [05375] the voice [06963]; with the voice [06963] together [03162] shall they sing [07442]: for they shall see [07200] eye [05869] to eye [05869], when the LORD [03068] shall bring again [07725] Zion [06726].

⁵ Wilt thou be angry [0599] with us for ever [05769]? wilt thou draw out [04900] thine anger [0639] to all [01755] generations [01755]?

¹⁵ Behold upon the mountains [02022] the feet [07272] of him that bringeth good tidings [01319], that publisheth [08085] peace [07965]! O Judah [03063], keep [02287] thy solemn feasts [02282], perform [07999] thy vows [05088]: for the wicked [01100] shall no more [03254] pass through [05674] thee; he is utterly cut off [03772].

² For the LORD [03068] hath turned away [07725] the excellency [01347] of Jacob [03290], as the excellency [01347] of Israel [03478]: for the emptiers [01238] have emptied them out [01238], and marred [07843] their vine branches [02156].

¹⁸ A man [0376] that beareth [06030] false [08267] witness [05707] against his neighbour [07453] is a maul [04650], and a sword [02719], and a sharp [08150] arrow [02671].

¹⁴ And the LORD [03068] hath given a commandment [06680] concerning thee, that no more of thy name [08034] be sown [02232]: out of the house [01004] of thy gods [0430] will I cut off [03772] the graven image [06459] and the molten image [04541]: I will make [07760] thy grave [06913]; for thou art vile [07043].

¹³ For now will I break [07665] his yoke [04132] from off thee, and will burst [05423] thy bonds [04147] in sunder [05423].

¹² Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; Though they be quiet [08003], and likewise many [07227], yet thus shall they be cut down [01494], when he shall pass through [05674]. Though I have afflicted [06031] thee, I will afflict [06031] thee no more.

¹¹ There is one come out [03318] of thee, that imagineth [02803] evil [07451] against the LORD [03068], a wicked [01100] counsellor [03289].

⁵ He shall recount [02142] his worthies [0117]: they shall stumble [03782] in their walk [01979]; they shall make haste [04116] to the wall [02346] thereof, and the defence [05526] shall be prepared [03559].

³ The shield [04043] of his mighty men [01368] is made red [0119], the valiant [02428] men [0582] are in scarlet [08529]: the chariots [07393] shall be with flaming [0784] torches [06393] in the day [03117] of his preparation [03559], and the fir trees [01265] shall be terribly shaken [07477].