Nah 3:18-19 | KingComments | STEP | are addressed directly to the “king of Assyria”. He is the soul of the evil of Nineveh. In him all evil is concentrated and he is the executor of it. It is said to him that also the cohesion of the noble class – the “shepherds” or rulers and the “nobles” – collapses. Their fate is described with ironic ambiguity by Nahum. “Lying down” has the meaning of lying down dead (cf. ; ; ). The shepherds of the king of Assyria only pastured themselves. They led the flock, the Assyrian people, into evil and scattered them. The mountains of northern Assyria will be filled with scattered inhabitants (cf. ; ; ). “He will come to his end, and no one will help him” ( ).

‏ Nahum 3:18-19

The Leaders Killed, the People Scattered

Nah 3:18-19 are addressed directly to the “king of Assyria”. He is the soul of the evil of Nineveh. In him all evil is concentrated and he is the executor of it. It is said to him that also the cohesion of the noble class – the “shepherds” or rulers and the “nobles” – collapses. Their fate is described with ironic ambiguity by Nahum. “Lying down” has the meaning of lying down dead (cf. Psa 76:6; Isa 56:10; Jer 51:39).

The shepherds of the king of Assyria only pastured themselves. They led the flock, the Assyrian people, into evil and scattered them. The mountains of northern Assyria will be filled with scattered inhabitants (cf. Num 27:17; 1Kgs 22:17; Zec 13:7). “He will come to his end, and no one will help him” (Dan 11:45).

Nineveh Is Irreparably Destroyed

The book ends (cf. Nah 1:15) with the reaction of those who hear of these events. About half a century after Nahum’s prophecy his prophecy was fulfilled. The city fell in 612 BC and was destroyed by the alliance of Medes and Babylonians. There will be joy over the destruction of Nineveh among all those who have suffered from her. And who did not suffer from her? But it will never happen again, because the “evil” that has “continually” passed on everyone has come to an end.