Nahum 1:9
in Nahum 1Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
What do ye devise against Jehovah? he will make a full end; affliction shall not rise up the second time.
KJV
What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
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This verse in Nahum 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 9) What are you planning against the Lord? He himself will bring about the consummation: there will not arise a double tribulation. LXX: What are you planning against the Lord? He himself will bring about the consummation: he did not avenge twice on the same in tribulation. Symmachus more openly: They will not withstand the attack of a second distress: Theodotion, A second tribulation will not arise.
This site's exposition
What do ye imagine against the Lord
on Nahum 1:9-11
The question is put directly to Nineveh's own plotters, and the answer follows in the same breath, he will make an utter end, no second affliction needed. Folded together as thorns and drunken as drunkards pictures a tangled, stupefied mass consumed as fast as dry stubble catches fire, an image of how quickly the apparent strength collapses. The one come out of thee, a wicked counsellor against the Lord, is read by much of the bench as Sennacherib or the Rabshakeh who mocked the Lord's power before the walls of Jerusalem in Hezekiah's day, though the verse names no one and the reading is held as a reading.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
According to the law, for example, the adulterer and the adulteress were punished with an immediate death. Because of the fact that he bore the penalty for his sin and paid punishments which fitted the evil committed, what will be after this that threatens their souls with revenge, if they transgressed no more, if there is not another sin which condemns them, but they committed only this single fault when they were punished and bore for this the punishment of the law? "The Lord will not punish twice for the same thing," for they took their sin and their penalty for the crime was taken away. And for this reason, this kind of precept is not found unmerciful, as the heretics assert, accusing the law of God and denying that there is human feeling contained in it. But it is full of mercy by virtue of the fact that through this more people would be cleansed from sins than would be condemned.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " What do you imagine against the Lord? What a foolish wicked thing it is for you to plot against God, as if you could outwit divine wisdom and overpower omnipotence itself!" Note, There is a great deal imagined against the Lord by the gates of hell, and against the interests of his kingdom in the world; but it will prove a vain thing, Ps. ii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
What do ye imagine against the Lord?....
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 Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The prophet had in few words summed up the close of Nineveh; he now upbraids them with the sin, which should bring it upon them, and foretells the destruction of Sennacherib. Nineveh had, before this, been the instrument of chastising Israel and Judah. Now, the capture of Samaria, which had cast off God, deceived and emboldened it.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Parallel to Isa 37:23-29; compare Ps 1:1. he will make an utter end--The utter overthrow of Sennacherib's host, soon about to take place, is an earnest of the "utter end" of Nineveh itself. affliction shall not rise up the second time--Judah's "affliction" caused by the invasion shall never rise again.
Affliction shall not rise up the second time - There shall be no need to repeat the judgment; with one blow God will make a full end of the business.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For, while the thorns are entangled —I.e., their destruction will come upon them suddenly, and they will not descend from their honor gradually, but while the thorns and the briers are [yet] entangled; i.e., strongly rooted.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | whatever | H4100 → | |
| תְּחַשְּׁבוּן֙ | techashevun | you will plot ! | H2803 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כָּלָ֖ה | kalah | complete destruction | H3617 → | |
| ה֣וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| עֹשֶׂ֑ה | ʾoseh | [will be] making | H6213 → | |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָק֥וּם | takum | it will arise | H6965 → | |
| פַּעֲמַ֖יִם | paamayim | two times | H6471 → | |
| צָרָֽה׃ | tzarah | trouble | H6869 → |
מַה־whatever
mah-H4100 →
תְּחַשְּׁבוּן֙you will plot !
techashevunH2803 →
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כָּלָ֖הcomplete destruction
kalahH3617 →
ה֣וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
עֹשֶׂ֑ה[will be] making
ʾosehH6213 →
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָק֥וּםit will arise
takumH6965 →
פַּעֲמַ֖יִםtwo times
paamayimH6471 →
צָרָֽה׃trouble
tzarahH6869 →
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
Psalms 33:10The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
it leads to
- Psalms 21:11
Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.
- Job 5:12–13
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Isaiah 44:25
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
- Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 15:31
Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Psalms 21:11
Through
2 Corinthians 10:5We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
- 1 Peter 1:14–15
As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- Hebrews 4:12
Where this verse is studied
About Nahum
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Nahum; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 11:5.