mh_parser/vol_split/34 - Nahum/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Nah.iv" n="iv" next="Hab" prev="Nah.iii" progress="89.42%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Nah.iv-p0.1">N A H U M.</h2>
<h3 id="Nah.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Nah.iv-p1" shownumber="no">This chapter goes on with the burden of Nineveh,
and concludes it. I. The sins of that great city are charged upon
it, murder (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.1" parsed="|Nah|3|1|0|0" passage="Na 3:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), whoredom
and witchcraft (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.4" parsed="|Nah|3|4|0|0" passage="Na 3:4">ver. 4</scripRef>), and
a general extent of wickedness, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.19" parsed="|Nah|3|19|0|0" passage="Na 3:19">ver.
19</scripRef>. II. Judgments are here threatened against it, blood
for blood (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.2-Nah.3.3" parsed="|Nah|3|2|3|3" passage="Na 3:2,3">ver. 2, 3</scripRef>), and
shame for shameful sins, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.5-Nah.3.7" parsed="|Nah|3|5|3|7" passage="Na 3:5-7">ver.
5-7</scripRef>. III. Instances are given of the like desolations
brought upon other places for the like sins, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.8-Nah.3.11" parsed="|Nah|3|8|3|11" passage="Na 3:8-11">ver. 8-11</scripRef>. IV. The overthrow of all those
things which they depended upon, and put confidence in, is
foretold, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.12-Nah.3.19" parsed="|Nah|3|12|3|19" passage="Na 3:12-19">ver. 12-19</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Nah.iv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3" parsed="|Nah|3|0|0|0" passage="Na 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Nah.iv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.1-Nah.3.7" parsed="|Nah|3|1|3|7" passage="Na 3:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Nah.iv-p1.10">
<h4 id="Nah.iv-p1.11">The Judgment of Nineveh. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.iv-p1.12">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Nah.iv-p2" shownumber="no">1 Woe to the bloody city! it <i>is</i> all full
of lies <i>and</i> robbery; the prey departeth not;   2 The
noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and
of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.   3 The
horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear:
and <i>there is</i> a multitude of slain, and a great number of
carcases; and <i>there is</i> none end of <i>their</i> corpses;
they stumble upon their corpses:   4 Because of the multitude
of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of
witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and
families through her witchcrafts.   5 Behold, I <i>am</i>
against thee, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.iv-p2.1">Lord</span> of
hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will
shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.  
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile,
and will set thee as a gazing-stock.   7 And it shall come to
pass, <i>that</i> 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?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.iv-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. Nineveh arraigned and indicted.
It is a high charge that is here drawn up against that great city,
and neither her numbers nor her grandeur shall secure her from
prosecution. 1. It is a <i>city of blood,</i> in which a great deal
of innocent blood is shed by unrighteous war, or under colour and
pretence of public justice, or by suffering barbarous murders to go
unpunished; for this the righteous God will make inquisition. 2.
<i>It is all full of lies;</i> truth is banished from among them;
there is no such thing as honesty; one knows not whom to believe
nor whom to trust. 3. It is all full of <i>robbery</i> and rapine;
no man cares what mischief he does, nor to whom he does it: <i>The
prey departs not,</i> that is, they never know when they have got
enough by spoil and oppression. They shed blood, and told lies, in
pursuit of the prey, that they might enrich themselves. 4. There is
a <i>multitude of whoredoms</i> in it, that is, idolatries,
spiritual whoredoms, by which she defiled herself, and to which she
seduced the neighbouring nations, as a well-favoured harlot, and
sold and ruined <i>nations through her whoredoms.</i> 5. She is a
<i>mistress of witchcrafts,</i> and by them she <i>sells
families,</i> <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.4" parsed="|Nah|3|4|0|0" passage="Na 3:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
That which Nineveh aimed at was a universal monarchy, to be the
metropolis of the world, and to have all her neighbours under her
feet; to compass this, she used not only arms, but arts, compelling
some, deluding others, into subjection to her, and wheedling them
as a harlot by her charms to lay their necks under her yoke,
suggesting to them that it would be for their advantage. She
courted them to join with her in her idolatrous rites, to tie them
the faster to her interests, and made use of her wealth, power, and
greatness, to draw people into alliances with her, by which she
gained advantages over them, and made a hand of them. These were
her whoredoms, like those of Tyre, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.23.15 Bible:Isa.23.17" parsed="|Isa|23|15|0|0;|Isa|23|17|0|0" passage="Isa 23:15,17">Isa. xxiii. 15, 17</scripRef>. These were her
witchcrafts, with which she unaccountably gained dominion. And for
this that God has a quarrel with her who, having <i>made of one
blood all nations of men,</i> never designed one to be a nation of
tyrants and another of slaves, and who claims it as his own
prerogative to be universal Monarch.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.iv-p4" shownumber="no">II. Nineveh condemned to ruin upon this
indictment. Woe to this bloody city! <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.1" parsed="|Nah|3|1|0|0" passage="Na 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. See what this woe is.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.iv-p5" shownumber="no">1. Nineveh had with her cruelties been a
terror and destruction to others, and therefore destruction and
terror shall be brought upon her. Those that are for overthrowing
all that come in their way will, sooner or later, meet with their
match. (1.) Hear the alarm with which Nineveh shall be terrified,
<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.2" parsed="|Nah|3|2|0|0" passage="Na 3:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. It is a
formidable army that advances against it; you may hear them at a
distance, the <i>noise of the whip,</i> driving the chariot-horses
with fury; you may hear the noise of the <i>rattling of the wheels,
the prancing horses, and the jumping chariots;</i> the very noise
is frightful, but much more so when they know that all this force
is coming with all this speed against them, and they are not able
to make head against it. (2.) See the slaughter with which Nineveh
shall be laid waste (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.3" parsed="|Nah|3|3|0|0" passage="Na 3:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), the sword drawn with which execution shall be done,
<i>the bright sword lifted up and the glittering spear,</i> the
dazzling brightness of which is very terrible to those whom they
are lifted up against. See what havoc these make when they are
commissioned to slay: <i>There is a great number of carcases,</i>
for the slain of the land shall be many; <i>there is no end of
their corpses;</i> there is such <i>a multitude of slain</i> that
it is in vain to go about to take the number of them; they lie so
thick that passengers are ready to stumble <i>upon their
corpses</i> at every step. The destruction of Sennacherib's army,
which, in the morning, were <i>all dead corpses,</i> is perhaps
looked upon here as a figure of the like destruction that should
afterwards be in Nineveh; for those that will not take warning by
judgments at a distance shall have them come nearer.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.iv-p6" shownumber="no">2. Nineveh had with her whoredoms and
witchcrafts drawn others to shameful wickedness, and therefore God
will load her with shame and contempt (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.5-Nah.3.7" parsed="|Nah|3|5|3|7" passage="Na 3:5-7"><i>v.</i> 5-7</scripRef>): <i>The Lord of hosts</i> is
<i>against her,</i> and then she shall be exposed to the highest
degree of disgrace and ignominy, shall not only lose all her
charms, but shall be made to appear very odious. When it shall be
seen that while she courted her neighbours it was with design to
ruin their liberty and property, when all her wicked artifices
shall be brought to light, then her <i>shame is discovered to the
nations.</i> When her proud pretensions are baffled, and her vain
towering hopes of an absolute and universal dominion brought to
nought, and she appears not to have been so strong and considerable
as she would have been thought to be, then <i>to see the nakedness
of the land do they come,</i> and it appears ridiculous. Then do
they <i>cast abominable filth upon her,</i> as upon a carted
strumpet, and <i>make her vile</i> as the offscouring of all
things; that great city, which all nations had made court to and
coveted an alliance with, has become a gazing-stock, a laughing
stock. Those that formerly looked upon her, and fled to her, in
hopes of protection from her, now <i>look upon her and flee from
her,</i> for fear of being ruined with her. Note, Those that abuse
their honour and interest will justly be disgraced and abandoned,
and, because miserable, will be made contemptible, and thereby be
made more miserable. When Nineveh is laid waste <i>who will bemoan
her?</i> Her trouble will be so great, and her sense of it so deep,
as not to admit relief from sympathy, or any comforting
considerations; or, if it would, none shall do any such good
office: <i>When shall I seek comforters for thee?</i> Note, Those
that showed no pity in the day of their power can expect to find no
pity in the day of their fall. When those about Nineveh, that had
been deceived by her wiles, come to be undeceived in her ruin,
every one shall insult over her, and none bemoan her. This was
Nineveh's fate, when she was made a spectacle, or gazing-stock.
Note, The greater men's show was in the day of their abused
prosperity the greater will their shame be in the day of their
deserved destruction. <i>I will make thee an example;</i> so Drusus
reads it. Note, When proud sinners are humbled and brought down it
is designed that others should take example by them not to lift up
themselves in security and insolence when they prosper in the
world.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Nah.iv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.8-Nah.3.19" parsed="|Nah|3|8|3|19" passage="Na 3:8-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Nah.iv-p6.3">
<h4 id="Nah.iv-p6.4">The Judgment of Nineveh. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Nah.iv-p6.5">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Nah.iv-p7" shownumber="no">8 Art thou better than populous No, that was
situate among the rivers, <i>that had</i> the waters round about
it, whose rampart <i>was</i> the sea, <i>and</i> her wall
<i>was</i> from the sea?   9 Ethiopia and Egypt <i>were</i>
her strength, and <i>it was</i> infinite; Put and Lubim were thy
helpers.   10 Yet <i>was</i> she carried away, she went into
captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top
of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and
all her great men were bound in chains.   11 Thou also shalt
be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength
because of the enemy.   12 All thy strong holds <i>shall be
like</i> fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken,
they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.   13 Behold,
thy people in the midst of thee <i>are</i> women: the gates of thy
land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall
devour thy bars.   14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify
thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong
the brick-kiln.   15 There shall the fire devour thee; the
sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm:
make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the
locusts.   16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the
stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.  
17 Thy crowned <i>are</i> as the locusts, and thy captains as the
great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day,
<i>but</i> when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is
not known where they <i>are.</i>   18 Thy shepherds slumber, O
king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell <i>in the dust:</i> thy
people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth
<i>them.</i>   19 <i>There is</i> no healing of thy bruise;
thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap
the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed
continually?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.iv-p8" shownumber="no">Nineveh has been told that God is against
her, and then none can be for her, to stand her in any stead; yet
she sets God himself at defiance, and his power and justice, and
says, <i>I shall have peace.</i> Threatened folks live long;
therefore here the prophet largely shows how vain her confidences
would prove and insufficient to ward off the judgment of God. To
convince them of this,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.iv-p9" shownumber="no">I. He shows them that other places, which
had been as strong and as secure as they, could not keep their
ground against the judgments of God. Nineveh shall fall unpitied
and uncomforted (for miserable comforters will those prove who
speak peace to those on whom God will fasten trouble), and she
shall not be able to help herself: <i>Art thou better than populous
No?</i> <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.8" parsed="|Nah|3|8|0|0" passage="Na 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. He takes
them off from their vain confidences by quoting precedents. The
city mentioned is <i>No,</i> a great city in the land of Egypt
(<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.46.25" parsed="|Jer|46|25|0|0" passage="Jer 46:25">Jer. xlvi. 25</scripRef>),
<i>No-Ammon,</i> so some read it both there and here. We read of
it, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.30.14-Ezek.30.16" parsed="|Ezek|30|14|30|16" passage="Eze 30:14-16">Ezek. xxx. 14-16</scripRef>.
Some think it was <i>Diospolis,</i> others <i>Alexandria.</i> As
God said to Jerusalem, <i>Go, see what I did to Shiloh</i>
(<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.12" parsed="|Jer|7|12|0|0" passage="Jer 7:12">Jer. vii. 12</scripRef>), so to
Nineveh that great city, <i>Go, see what I did to populous No.</i>
Note, It will help to keep us in a holy fear of the judgments of
God to consider that we are not better than those that have fallen
under those judgments before us. We deserve them as much, and are
as little able to grapple with them. This also should help to
reconcile us to afflictions. Are we better than such and such, who
were in like manner exercised? Nay, were not they better than we,
and less likely to be afflicted? Now, concerning No, observe, 1.
How firm her standing seemed to be, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.8" parsed="|Nah|3|8|0|0" passage="Na 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. She was fortified both by nature
and art, was <i>situate among the rivers.</i> Nile, in several
branches, not only watered her fields, but guarded her wall. <i>Her
rampart was the sea,</i> the <i>lake of Mareotis,</i> an Egyptian
sea, like the sea of Tiberias. Her <i>wall was from the sea;</i> it
was fenced with a wall which was thought to make the place
impregnable. It was also supported by its interests and alliances
abroad, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.9" parsed="|Nah|3|9|0|0" passage="Na 3:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>.
<i>Ethiopia,</i> or Arabia, <i>was her strength,</i> either by the
wealth brought to her in a way of trade or by the auxiliary forces
furnished for military service. The whole country of Egypt also
contributed to the strength of this populous city; so that it was
<i>infinite, and there was no end of it</i> (so it might be
rendered); She set no bounds to her ambition and knew no end of her
wealth and strength; people flocked to her endlessly, and she
thought there never would be any end of it; but it is God's
prerogative to be infinite. <i>Put and Lubim were thy helpers,</i>
two neighbouring countries of Africa, Mauritania and Libya, that
is, Libya Cyrenica, a country that Egypt had much dependence upon.
No, thus helped, seemed to sit as a queen, and was not likely to
see any sorrow. But, 2. See how fatal her fall proved to be
(<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.10" parsed="|Nah|3|10|0|0" passage="Na 3:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>Yet was
she carried away,</i> and her strength failed her; even she that
was so strong, so secure, yet <i>went into captivity.</i> This
refers to some destruction of that city which was then well-known,
and probably fresh in memory, though not recorded in history; for
the destruction of it by Nebuchadnezzar (if we should understand
this prophetically) could not be made an example to Nineveh; for
the reducing of Nineveh was one of the first of his victories and
that of Egypt one of the last. The strength and grandeur of that
great city could not be its protection from military execution.
(1.) Not from that which was most barbarous; for <i>her young
children</i> had no compassion shown them, but were <i>dashed in
pieces at the top of all the streets</i> by the merciless
conquerors. (2.) Not from that which was most inglorious and
disgraceful: <i>They cast lots for her honourable men</i> that were
made prisoners of war, who should have them for their slaves. So
many had they of them that they knew not what to do with them, but
they made sport with throwing dice for them; <i>all her great
men,</i> that used to be adorned on state-days with chains of gold,
<i>were</i> now <i>bound in chains of iron;</i> they were
<i>pinioned</i> or <i>handcuffed</i> (so the word properly
signifies), not only as slaves, but as condemned malefactors. What
a mortification was this to <i>populous No,</i> to have her
honourable men and great men, that were her pride and confidence,
thus abused! Now hence he infers against Nineveh (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.11" parsed="|Nah|3|11|0|0" passage="Na 3:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), "Thou also shalt be
intoxicated, infatuated; thou also shalt reel and stagger, as drunk
with the cup of the Lord's fury, that shall be put into thy hand"
(see <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p9.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.25.17 Bible:Jer.25.27" parsed="|Jer|25|17|0|0;|Jer|25|27|0|0" passage="Jer 25:17,27">Jer. xxv. 17, 27</scripRef>);
"<i>Thou shalt fall and rise no more.</i> The cup shall go round,
and come to thy turn, O Nineveh! to drink off at last, and shall be
to thee as the waters of jealousy."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Nah.iv-p10" shownumber="no">II. He shows them that all those things
which they reposed a confidence in should fail them. 1. Did the men
of Nineveh trust to their own magnanimity and bravery? Their hearts
should sink and fail them. <i>They shall be hid,</i> shall abscond
for shame, being in disgrace, abscond for fear, being in distress
and danger, and not able to face the enemies, because of whose
strength and terror, having no strength of their own, they shall
<i>seek strength,</i> shall come sneaking to their neighbours to
beg their assistance in a time of need. Thus God can <i>cut off the
spirit</i> of princes, and <i>take away their heart.</i> 2. Did
they depend upon their barrier, the garrisons and strongholds they
had, which were regularly fortified and bravely manned? Those shall
prove but paper-walls, and <i>like the first-ripe figs,</i> which,
if you give the tree but a little shake, will <i>fall into the
mouth of the eater</i> that gapes for them; so easily will all
their strongholds be made to surrender to the advancing enemy, upon
the first summons, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.12" parsed="|Nah|3|12|0|0" passage="Na 3:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>. Note, Strongholds, even the strongest, are no fence
against the judgments of God, when they come with commission.
<i>The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and a high wall,</i>
but only <i>in his own conceit,</i> <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.18.10" parsed="|Prov|18|10|0|0" passage="Pr 18:10">Prov. xviii. 10</scripRef>. They are supposed to make
their strongholds as strong as possible, and are challenged to do
their utmost to make them tenable, and serviceable to them against
the invader (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.14" parsed="|Nah|3|14|0|0" passage="Na 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>):
<i>Draw thee water for the siege;</i> lay in great quantities of
water, that that which is so necessary to the support of human life
may not be wanting; it is put here for all manner of provision,
with which Nineveh is ironically told to furnish herself, in
expectation of a siege. "Take ever so much care that thou mayest
not be starved out, and forced by famine to surrender, yet that
shall not avail. <i>Fortify the strongholds,</i> by adding
out-works to them, or putting men and arms into them," as with us
by planting cannon upon them. "<i>Go into clay, and tread the
mortar,</i> and <i>make strong the brick-kiln;</i> take all the
pains thou canst in erecting new fortifications; but it shall be
all in vain, for (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.15" parsed="|Nah|3|15|0|0" passage="Na 3:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>) there shall even <i>the fire devour thee</i> if it
be taken by storm." It is by fire and sword that in time of war the
great devastations are made. 3. Did they put confidence in the
multitude of their inhabitants? Were they, from their number and
valour, reckoned their strongest walls and fortifications? Alas!
these shall stand them in no stead; they shall but sink the sooner
under the weight of their own numbers (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.13" parsed="|Nah|3|13|0|0" passage="Na 3:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Thy people in the midst of
thee are women;</i> they have no wisdom, no courage; they shall be
fickle, feeble, and faint-hearted, as women commonly are in such
times of danger and distress; they shall be at their wits' end,
adding to their griefs and fears by the power of their own
imagination, and utterly unable to do any thing for themselves; the
valiant men shall become cowards. <i>O verè Phrygiæ, neque enim
Phryges</i>—<i>Phrygian dames, not Phrygian men.</i> Though they
<i>make themselves many</i> (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.15" parsed="|Nah|3|15|0|0" passage="Na 3:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>), as the <i>canker-worm</i> and <i>as the locust,</i>
that come in vast swarms, <i>though thou hast multiplied thy
merchants above the stars of heaven,</i> though thy exchange be
thronged with wealthy traders, who, having so much money to stand
up in defence of and so much to lay out in the means of their
defence, should, one would think, give the enemy a warm reception,
yet their hearts shall fail them too; though they be numerous as
caterpillars, yet the fire and sword shall eat them up easily and
irresistibly as the canker-worm, <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.15" parsed="|Nah|3|15|0|0" passage="Na 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. They are as numerous as those
wasting insects, but their enemies shall be mischievous like them.
He adds (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.16" parsed="|Nah|3|16|0|0" passage="Na 3:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>),
<i>The canker-worm spoils,</i> or <i>spreads herself, and flies
away.</i> Both the merchants and the enemies were compared to
canker-worms. The enemies shall spoil Nineveh, and carry away the
spoil, without opposition, or any hope of recovering it. Or the
rich merchants, who have come from abroad to settle in Nineveh, and
have raised vast estates there, out of which it was hoped they
would contribute largely for the defence of the city, when they see
the country invaded and the city likely to be besieged, will send
away their effects, and remove to some other place, will <i>spread
their wings</i> and <i>fly away</i> where they may be safe, and
Nineveh shall be never the better for them. Note, It is rare to
find even those that have shared with us in our joys willing to
share with us in our griefs too. The canker-worms will continue
upon the field while there is any thing to be had, but they are
gone when all is gone. Those that men have got by they do not care
to lose by. Nineveh's merchants bid her farewell in her distress.
Riches themselves are as the canker-worms, which on a sudden <i>fly
away as the eagle towards heaven,</i> <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.5" parsed="|Prov|23|5|0|0" passage="Pr 23:5">Prov. xxiii. 5</scripRef>. 4. Did they put a confidence
in the strength of their gates and bars? What fence will those be
against the force of the judgments of God? <scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.10" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.13" parsed="|Nah|3|13|0|0" passage="Na 3:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. <i>The gates of thy land shall
be set wide open unto thy enemies,</i> the gates of thy rivers
(<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.11" osisRef="Bible:Nah.2.6" parsed="|Nah|2|6|0|0" passage="Na 2:6"><i>ch.</i> ii. 6</scripRef>), the
flood-gates, or the passes and avenues, by which the enemy would
make his entrance into the country, or the gates of the cities;
these, though ever so strong and well-guarded, shall not answer
their end: <i>The fire shall devour thy bars,</i> the bars of thy
gates, and then they shall fly open. 5. Did they put a confidence
in their king and princes? They should do them no service
(<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.12" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.17" parsed="|Nah|3|17|0|0" passage="Na 3:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>Thy
crowned heads are as the locusts;</i> those that had pomp and
power, as crowned heads, were enfeebled, and had no power to make
resistance, when the enemy came in like a flood. "<i>Thy
captains,</i> that should lead thy forces into the field, are great
indeed, and look great, but they are as the great
<i>grasshoppers,</i> the <i>maximum quod sic—the largest
specimens</i> of that <i>species;</i> still they are but
grasshoppers, worthless things, that can do no service. <i>They
encamp in the hedges, in the cold day,</i> the cold weather,
<i>but, when the sun arises, they flee away,</i> and are gone,
nobody knows whither. So these mercenary soldiers that lay
slumbering about Nineveh, when any trouble arises, flee away, and
shift for their own safety. <i>The hireling flees, because he is a
hireling.</i>" The <i>king of Assyria</i> is told, and it is a
shame he needs to be told it (who might observe it himself), that
<i>his shepherds slumber;</i> they have no life or spirit to appear
for the flock, and are very remiss in the discharge of the duty of
their place and the trust reposed in them: Thy <i>nobles shall
dwell in the dust,</i> and be buried in silence. 6. Did they hope
that they should yet recover themselves and rally again? In this
also they should be disappointed; for, when the shepherds are
smitten, the <i>sheep are scattered;</i> the people are dispersed
<i>upon the mountains</i> and <i>no man gathers them,</i> nor will
they ever come together of themselves, but will wander endlessly,
as scattered sheep do. The judgment they are under is as a wound,
and it is incurable; there is no relief for it, "<i>no healing of
thy bruise,</i> no possibility that the wound, which is so grievous
and painful to thee, should be so much as skinned over; thy case is
desperate (<scripRef id="Nah.iv-p10.13" osisRef="Bible:Nah.3.19" parsed="|Nah|3|19|0|0" passage="Na 3:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>) and
thy neighbours, instead of lending a hand to help thee, shall
<i>clap their hands over thee,</i> and triumph in thy fall; and the
reason is, because thou hast been one way or other injurious to
them all: <i>Upon whom has not thy wickedness passed
continually?</i> Thou hast been always doing mischief to those
about thee; there is none of them but what thou hast abused and
insulted; and therefore they shall be so far from pitying thee that
they shall be glad to see thee reckoned with." Note, Those that
have been abusive to their neighbours will, one time or another,
find it come home to them; they are but preparing enemies to
themselves against their day comes to fall: and those that dare not
lay hands on them themselves will <i>clap their hands over
them,</i> and upbraid them with their former wickedness, for which
they are now well enough served and paid in their own coin. <i>The
troublers shall be troubled</i> will be the burden of many, as it
is here <i>the burden of Nineveh.</i></p>
</div></div2>