Nahum 2:8
in Nahum 2Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Nahum 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verses 8, 9.) And Nineveh is like a pool of water; its waters are fleeing. Stand! Stand! But there is no one who can turn back. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold; there is no end to the treasures, the desirable vessels. LXX: And Nineveh is like a pool of water; and they who flee do not stand; there is no one who looks back. They plunder silver, they plunder gold, and there is no end to its ornaments; it is burdened with all the vessels of its desire.
This site's exposition
The gates of the rivers shall be opened
on Nahum 2:6-8
The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved: the chapter's exactest stroke, and the evidence lane carries it, since the accounts of Nineveh's fall record the river turned against the city and a stretch of wall carried away, water doing what siege engines could not. Huzzab led away with her maids mourning as with the voice of doves takes the readings named, the queen, or the city personified, or a name; the bench does not settle it and neither does the note. Nineveh of old like a pool of water, and now the pool drains: stand, stand, shall they cry, but none shall look back.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Nineveh is of old like a pool of water, replenished with people as a pool with water (and waters signify multitudes, Rev. xvii. 15 ), or as those waters with fish; it was long ago a populous city; in Jonah's time there were 120,000 little children in it ( Jonah iv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water - מימי mimey, from days. Bp. Newcome translates the line thus: “And the waters of Nineveh are a pool of waters.” There may be reference here to the fact given in the preceding note, the overflowing of the river by which the city was primarily destroyed. Stand, stand - Consternation shall be at its utmost height, the people shall flee in all directions; and though quarter is offered, and they are assured of safety it they remain, yet not one looketh back.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Stand, stand, shall they cry--that is, the few patriotic citizens shall cry to their fleeing countrymen; "but none looketh back," much less stops in flight, so panic-stricken are they.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water - that is, of many peoples Rev 17:1, gathered from all quarters and settled there, her multitudes being like the countless drops, full, untroubled, with no ebb or flow, fenced in, “from the days that she hath been,” yet even therefore stagnant and corrupted (see Jer 48:11), not “a fountain of living waters,” during 600 years of unbroken empire; even lately it had been assailed in vain ; now its hour was come, the sluices were broken; the waters poured out. It was full not of citizens only, but of other nations poured into it. An old historian says , “The chief and most powerful of those whom Ninus settled there, were the Assyrians, but also, of other nations, whoever willed.” Thus, the pool was filled; but at the rebuke of the Lord they flee. “Stand, stand,” the prophet speaks in the name of the widowed city; “shut the gates, go up on the walls, resist the enemy, gather yourselves together, form a band to withstand,” “but none shalt look back” to the mother-city which calls them; all is forgotten, except their fear; parents, wives, children, the wealth which is plundered, home, worldly repute. So will men leave all things, for the life of this world. “All that a man hath, will he give for his life” Job 2:4. Why not for the life to come?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִינְוֵ֥ה | venineveh | and Nineveh | H5210 → | 17 times |
| כִבְרֵֽכַת־ | khivrekhat- | [was] like a pool of | H1295 → | |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִ֣ימֵי | mimei | from [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הִ֑יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וְהֵ֣מָּה | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | |
| נָסִ֔ים | nasim | [are] fleeing | H5127 → | |
| עִמְד֥וּ | ʾimdu | stop | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עֲמֹ֖דוּ | ʾamodu | stop | H5975 → | 521 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מַפְנֶֽה׃ | mafneh | [is one who] turns back | H6437 → |
וְנִינְוֵ֥הand Nineveh
veninevehH5210 →17 times
כִבְרֵֽכַת־[was] like a pool of
khivrekhat-H1295 →
מַ֖יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
מִ֣ימֵיfrom [the] days of
mimeiH3117 →2304 times
הִ֑יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
וְהֵ֣מָּהand they
vehemahH1992 →
נָסִ֔ים[are] fleeing
nasimH5127 →
עִמְד֥וּstop
ʾimduH5975 →521 times
עֲמֹ֖דוּstop
ʾamoduH5975 →521 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מַפְנֶֽה׃[is one who] turns back
mafnehH6437 →
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
Revelation 17:1Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:13
You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
- Revelation 17:1–17
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
- Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
- Revelation 21:9
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
- Jeremiah 51:13
Through
Jeremiah 51:30The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
it leads to
- Nahum 3:13
Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.
- Jeremiah 50:36–37
A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.
- Nahum 3:13
Through
Revelation 17:15Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
it leads to
- Revelation 17:1
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
- Revelation 17:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Nahum
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Nahum; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.