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The Destruction of the Wicked City2 A shatterer has come up against you. Guard the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength.
2 (For the L ord is restoring the majesty of Jacob, as well as the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their branches.)
3 The shields of his warriors are red; his soldiers are clothed in crimson. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day when he musters them; the chargers prance. 4 The chariots race madly through the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares; their appearance is like torches, they dart like lightning. 5 He calls his officers; they stumble as they come forward; they hasten to the wall, and the mantelet is set up. 6 The river gates are opened, the palace trembles. 7 It is decreed that the city be exiled, its slave women led away, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. 8 Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!”— but no one turns back. 9 “Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of treasure! An abundance of every precious thing!”
10 Devastation, desolation, and destruction! Hearts faint and knees tremble, all loins quake, all faces grow pale! 11 What became of the lions’ den, the cave of the young lions, where the lion goes, and the lion’s cubs, with no one to disturb them? 12 The lion has torn enough for his whelps and strangled prey for his lionesses; he has filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh.
13 See, I am against you, says the L ord of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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Some interpreters explain this also of the Chaldeans: The king of Babylon then shall remember his mighty men; that is, shall recount his forces and whatever strength he will have under his power; all this he will collect to make war with Nineveh and the Assyrians. Others think that there is here a transposition in the words, (which is too strained,) “Mighty men shall remember,” as though it were a change of number. But I take the words of the Prophet simply as they are, — that he will remember mighty men: but this, as I think, refers to the Assyrians. He then, that is, either the king of Nineveh, or the people, will remember the mighty men; that is, he will gather from every quarter his forces and will omit nothing which may avail for defense; as it is usually done in great danger and in extremities: for they were noted then as warlike men; and every one who had any skill, every one who was endued with courage, every one who was trained up in arms, all these were mustered, that they might give help. So then the Prophet says, that such would be the dread in the land of Assyria, that they would collect together whatever force they had, to defend themselves against their enemies. The king then shall remember his mighty men, that is, he will muster all the subsidies within his reach. Then he says, They shall stumble in their march; that is, the mighty men, when gathered, shall tremble and stumble like the blind: and this will be occasioned by fear; so that like men astounded, they will move to and fro, and have no certain footing. The Prophet then declares here two things, that the Assyrians would be diligent in gathering forces to repel the assault of their enemies, — but that yet they would effect nothing, for trembling would seize the minds of all, so that mighty men would stumble in their marches. They shall stumble, and then it is said, they shall hasten to its wall, that is, they shall ascend the wall; and it is added, Prepared shall be the covering, as it is usual in defending cities. Some apply this to the Chaldeans; prepared shall be the covering, that is, when they shall come to the wall. It was indeed usual, as it is well known from histories, for those who approached a wall to defend themselves either with turrets or hurdles. But the Prophet, I doubt not, intimates, that the Assyrians would come with great trembling to meet their enemies, but without any success. However then they might defend themselves, their enemies would yet prevail. 229229 This verse is applied by Grotius and Newcome to the Babylonian and not to the Assyrian king. The last clause seems to favor this opinion, but the second, the other. To render יכשלו as a Hiphil, “They cast down,” without an objective case, cannot be approved; but they may have been said to “stumble,” as the word means, from their great haste, afterwards mentioned. Piscator, Marckius, and Henderson, agree in the view given here. — Ed. He therefore subjoins — |