Nahum 3:7
in Nahum 3Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass, that 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?
KJV
And it shall come to pass, that 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?
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This verse in Nahum 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 7) And it shall come to pass, that whoever sees you will flee from you, and say: Nineveh is laid waste; who will mourn for her? In Hebrew, there is no 'head', but we have added it to make the meaning clearer. Finally, Symmachus interpreted it as follows: And whoever sees you will depart from you and say: Nineveh is dispersed, who will mourn with her? Moreover, the Seventy: And it shall come to pass, that whoever sees you will descend from you and say: Wretched Nineveh, who will lament for her?
This site's exposition
Behold, I am against thee
on Nahum 3:5-7
The sentence already given at 2:13 returns here as the chapter's own hinge, behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, the Lord himself the party bringing the shame the empire spread on others back onto her. Discovering her skirts and showing her nakedness to the nations is the ancient penalty for the very harlotry just named, public exposure answering secret seduction. The result is total isolation, all that look on her flee, and the question who will bemoan her, whence shall I seek comforters for thee, is left standing unanswered until the book's own final verse answers it in full.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Instances of like judgments for like sins, ver. 18-11. The overthrow of all wherein they trusted, ver. 12-19.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-18/12-anchored-1-7
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. 8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:31w-of-65
And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
All they that look upon thee shall flee from thee - through terror, lest they should share her plagues, as Israel did, when the earth swallowed up Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and they who “had been made rich by Babylon, stand ajar off, for the fear of her torment. All they who look on thee” Rev 18:15. She was set as a thing to be “gazed at.” He tells the effect on the gazers. “Each one who so gazed” at her should flee; one by one, they should gaze, be scared, flee (compare Psa 31:11; Psa 64:8).
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2322: “When Can We Find Comforters?” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT is the business of the Prophet of God and of the minister of Christ to seek comfort for those who are in distress. "Comfort you, comfort you My people, says your God." It is a part of our calling to seek, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to bring words of consolation to those who are heavy in heart. We have other work to do, but, still, this is a part of our commission. God would not have His people's heads hang down. He would have their hearts full ofjoy and peace in believing, so He sends us, with tender, sympathetic words, to strive to comfort all that mourn. I can truly say that while this is our duty, when we succeed in it, it is also our delight. To take the burden from the heavy heart is a great joy. Whenever I have comforted any mourners, I think that I have had even more comfort than the comforted ones! You cannot impart consolation to others without, at the same time, enjoying it, yourself, in some measure, at any rate. You put out your hands to open the door into the King's banqueting house for another and, lo, your own fingers drip with sweet-smelling myrrh, from the handle of the door! Try to cheer another heart and you will go the nearest way to cheer your own. So then, I am glad that I have a text like this—only the gladness is sobered and saddened by the connection in which it stands and by the almost hopeless character of the question—"Where shall I seek comforters for you?" I shall have only two divisions, tonight. First, sometimes, our work is very easy. Secondly, at other times, it becomes so hard as even to be impossible. I. First, SOMETIMES OUR WORK IS VERY EASY, especially to those long practiced in it. To a young surgeon, a case of a broken bone may be a difficulty, but to one who has long been in his profession, it is a simple matter and he soon sets the bone.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2322: “When Can We Find Comforters?” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT is the business of the Prophet of God and of the minister of Christ to seek comfort for those who are in distress. "Comfort you, comfort you My people, says your God." It is a part of our calling to seek, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to bring words of consolation to those who are heavy in heart. We have other work to do, but, still, this is a part of our commission. God would not have His people's heads hang down.
Who will bemoan her? - In such cases, who pities the delinquent? She has been the occasion of ruin to multitudes, and now she is deservedly exposed and punished. And so it should be thought concerning Nineveh.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֤ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רֹאַ֙יִךְ֙ | roayikh | [those who] see you | H7200 → | |
| יִדּ֣וֹד | yidod | he will flee | H5074 → | |
| מִמֵּ֔ךְ | mimekh | from you | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וְאָמַר֙ | veamar | and he will say | H559 → | |
| שָׁדְּדָ֣ה | shadedah | it is devastated | H7703 → | |
| נִֽינְוֵ֔ה | ninveh | Nineveh | H5210 → | 17 times |
| מִ֖י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יָנ֣וּד | yanud | will he show sympathy | H5110 → | |
| לָ֑הּ | lah | to it | ||
| מֵאַ֛יִן | meayin | from where? | H370 → | |
| אֲבַקֵּ֥שׁ | ʾavakesh | will I seek | H1245 → | |
| מְנַחֲמִ֖ים | menachamim | comforters | H5162 → | |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | for you |
וְהָיָ֤הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
רֹאַ֙יִךְ֙[those who] see you
roayikhH7200 →
יִדּ֣וֹדhe will flee
yidodH5074 →
מִמֵּ֔ךְfrom you
mimekhH4480 →1188 times
וְאָמַר֙and he will say
veamarH559 →
שָׁדְּדָ֣הit is devastated
shadedahH7703 →
נִֽינְוֵ֔הNineveh
ninvehH5210 →17 times
מִ֖יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יָנ֣וּדwill he show sympathy
yanudH5110 →
לָ֑הּto it
lah
מֵאַ֛יִןfrom where?
meayinH370 →
אֲבַקֵּ֥שׁwill I seek
ʾavakeshH1245 →
מְנַחֲמִ֖יםcomforters
menachamimH5162 →
לָֽךְ׃for you
lakh
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 18:10In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
it leads to
- Revelation 18:19
Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her…
- Revelation 18:8
Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”
- Revelation 18:15–17
The merchants who sold these things and grew their wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn,
- Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Revelation 18:19
Through
Jeremiah 15:5Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:19
These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?
- Psalms 69:20
Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 51:19
Through
Jeremiah 51:9“We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”
it leads to
- 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…
- Jeremiah 50:16
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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2322: “When Can We Find Comforters?” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Commentary on Nahum; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.