Nahum 1:13
in Nahum 1For I will now break their yoke from your neck and tear away your shackles.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
KJV
For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
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This verse in Nahum 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 13) And now I will break his rod from your back, and I will break your chains. LXX: And now I will break his rod from you: and I will break his chains. Finally, He says: And now I will break his rod, that is, the Assyrian's, from your back, and I will snap your chains: either by metaphor, signifying his power, or certainly, the rod with which he was trying to strike, and the chains which he was preparing for captives: although it can also be understood as the siege of a closed multitude in place of chains.
This site's exposition
Though they be quiet, and likewise many
on Nahum 1:12-13
Nineveh's present quiet and her numbers count for nothing when the Lord passes through to cut her down, the security of an empire at its height set against its coming end in one sentence. The oracle turns directly to Judah with the comfort the prophet's own name means, I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more, the yoke Assyria had laid on Judah under tribute now promised broken. Wesley and the older bench read the yoke and bonds as the literal Assyrian tribute Ahaz and Hezekiah's kingdom had carried, not a figure without a history behind it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For now will I break his yoke from off thee,....
Let each take his portion from it; let sinners read it and tremble; let saints read it and triumph. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against him enemies, his favour and mercy are here assured to his faithful loyal subjects, and his almighty power in both, making his wrath very terrible and his favour very desirable.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For now will I break his yoke from off thee - God, lest His own should despair, does not put them off altogether to a distant day, but saith, now. Historically, the beginning of the fall is the earnest of the end. By the destruction of Sennacherib, God declared His displeasure against Assyria; the rest was matter of time only.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
In the height of their pride and power, they shall be clean cut off. The same Hebrew stands for "likewise" and "yet thus." So many as they are, so many shall they perish. when he shall pass through--or, "and he shall pass away," namely, "the wicked counsellor" (Na 1:11), Sennacherib. The change of number to the singular distinguishes him from his host.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
will I break his yoke--the Assyrian's yoke, namely, the tribute imposed by Sennacherib on Hezekiah (2Ki 18:14). from off thee--O Judah (Isa 10:27).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Now will I break his yoke from off thee - This refers to the tribute which the Jews were obliged to pay to the Assyrians, 2Ki 17:14.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And now I will break off his yoke from you —The Shechinah says this to the prophet, who is of Israel: I will break off the yoke of Assyria from you and from My people.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And the Lord shall command concerning you —Now the king of Assyria is being addressed.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֕ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | |
| אֶשְׁבֹּ֥ר | ʾeshbor | I will break | H7665 → | |
| מֹטֵ֖הוּ | motehu | yoke-bar his | H4132 → | |
| מֵֽעָלָ֑יִךְ | mealayikh | from on <the> you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וּמוֹסְרֹתַ֖יִךְ | umosrotayikh | and fetters your | H4147 → | |
| אֲנַתֵּֽק׃ | ʾanatek | I will tear apart | H5423 → |
וְעַתָּ֕הand now
veatahH6258 →
אֶשְׁבֹּ֥רI will break
ʾeshborH7665 →
מֹטֵ֖הוּyoke-bar his
motehuH4132 →
מֵֽעָלָ֑יִךְfrom on <the> you
mealayikhH5921 →5755 times
וּמוֹסְרֹתַ֖יִךְand fetters your
umosrotayikhH4147 →
אֲנַתֵּֽק׃I will tear apart
ʾanatekH5423 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 10:27On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.
it leads to
- Isaiah 9:4
For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 14:25
I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight…
- Psalms 105:15
“Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”
- 1 John 2:20
You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
- Isaiah 9:4
Through
Psalms 107:14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.
it leads to
- Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These…
- Psalms 116:16
Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have broken my bonds.
- Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Isaiah 42:16
Where this verse is studied
About Nahum
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Nahum; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.