Nahum 3:18
in Nahum 3O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
KJV
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
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This verse in Nahum 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThy shepherds slumber - That is, the rulers and tributary princes, who, as Herodotus informs us, deserted Nineveh in the day of her distress, and came not forward to her succor.
This site's exposition
Thy shepherds slumber
on Nahum 3:18-19
The book closes by naming the king of Assyria directly, his shepherds asleep, his nobles in the dust, his people scattered on the mountains with no one left to gather them, the same abandonment the locusts pictured now stated plainly of the throne itself. There is no healing of thy bruise answers the question left open at verse 7, no comforters are found because none exist to be found, the wound past any remedy. The last line turns outward to every nation that had felt Assyria's cruelty, all that hear the report clap their hands, for her wickedness had passed over all of them continually, the burden ending not in triumph but in the relief of the whole world she had oppressed.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 18 onwards) Your shepherds have fallen asleep, O king of Assyria; your princes shall be buried, your people are scattered on the mountains. There is no one to gather them, your injury is not hidden, your wound is severe. All who hear of your downfall clap their hands over you, for against whom has your evil not passed continually?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thy shepherds - Thy rulers and counsellors. Slumber - Are remiss, heartless, or dead. No man gathereth - No one will concern himself to preserve thy dispersed ones.
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Rather, "lie in death's sleep, having been slain" [JEROME] (Ex 15:16; Ps 76:6). shall dwell in the dust-- (Ps 7:5; 94:17). thy people is scattered--the necessary consequence of their leaders being laid low (1Ki 22:17).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thy shepherds - that is, they who should counsel for the people’s good and feed it, and “keep watch over their flocks by night,” but are now like their master, the “King of Assyria,” are his shepherds not the shepherds of the people whom they care not for; these slumber, at once through listlessness and excess, and now have fallen asleep in death, as the Psalmist says, “They have slept their sleep” Psa 76:6. The prophet speaks of the future, as already past in effect, as it was in the will of God. All “the shepherds of the people” , all who could shepherd them, or hold them to together, themselves sleep “the sleep of death;” their mighty men dwelt in that abiding-place, where they shall not move or rise, the grave; and so as Micaiah, in the vision predictive of Ahab’s death, “saw all Israel scattered on the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd” 1Ki 22:17, so the people of the Assyrian monarch shall be “scattered on the mountains,” shepherdless, and that irretrievably; no man gathers them.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נָמ֤וּ | namu | they are slumbering | H5123 → | |
| רֹעֶ֙יךָ֙ | roeikha | shepherds your | H7462 → | |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | O king of | H4428 → | |
| אַשּׁ֔וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | |
| יִשְׁכְּנ֖וּ | yishkenu | they settle down | H7931 → | |
| אַדִּירֶ֑יךָ | ʾadireikha | nobles your | H117 → | |
| נָפֹ֧שׁוּ | nafoshu | they are scattered | H6335 → | |
| עַמְּךָ֛ | ʾamekha | people your | H5971 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הֶהָרִ֖ים | heharim | the mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְקַבֵּֽץ׃ | mekabetz | [is one who] gathers [them] | H6908 → |
נָמ֤וּthey are slumbering
namuH5123 →
רֹעֶ֙יךָ֙shepherds your
roeikhaH7462 →
מֶ֣לֶךְO king of
melekhH4428 →
אַשּׁ֔וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →
יִשְׁכְּנ֖וּthey settle down
yishkenuH7931 →
אַדִּירֶ֑יךָnobles your
ʾadireikhaH117 →
נָפֹ֧שׁוּthey are scattered
nafoshuH6335 →
עַמְּךָ֛people your
ʾamekhaH5971 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הֶהָרִ֖יםthe mountains
heharimH2022 →546 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מְקַבֵּֽץ׃[is one who] gathers [them]
mekabetzH6908 →
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 13:14Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:17
So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
- Jeremiah 50:16
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to…
- 1 Kings 22:36
As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”
- 1 Kings 22:17
Through
1 Kings 22:17So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
it leads to
- Numbers 27:17
who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
- Matthew 9:36
When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
- 1 Kings 22:34–36
However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and…
- Numbers 27:17
Through
Jeremiah 51:57I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 46:18
As surely as I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, there will come one who is like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea.
- Jeremiah 48:15
Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
- Jeremiah 46:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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, 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.