Verses 1-13

2:1-3:19 THE DESTRUCTION OF NINEVEH

Destroyed because of cruelty (2:1-13)

Chapters 2 and 3 consist of two separate poems on the same subject, the destruction of Nineveh and the reasons for it. Nahum begins his graphic description of the attack on Nineveh by calling upon the watchman on the city wall to alert the city that the enemy is approaching. God is now going to destroy those who destroyed Israel and oppressed Judah (2:1-2).

The prophet pictures the brightly uniformed soldiers, the gleaming chariots and the prancing horses as the enemy army approaches the city walls. The officers who lead the attack are so keen for battle that they stumble in their haste (3-5). Enemy soldiers break open the water gates, flooding the city and throwing it into confusion. Some of the soldiers capture the queen and the palace harem, while others plunder the city (6-9).

So ruthless and cruel were the Assyrians in their treatment of the nations they attacked, that the prophet likens them to wild animals. They are like ferocious lions that savagely attacked smaller helpless animals and then dragged them back to their den. But now the lions are dead and the den is empty. The few surviving Ninevites look with horror on their devastated city (10-13).