Bible Strands
Nahum 1:12
This is what the LORD says: “Though they are allied and numerous, yet they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no longer.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks to Judah immediately after declaring that the Ninevish plotter will fall. He addresses the afflicted nation to shift focus from the enemy's coming destruction to His own promised cessation of discipline.
The words — The Hebrew אִם־ שְלֵמִים (im-shleimim) translates literally as "though complete" or "though allied," describing the enemy's fortified coalition. רַבִּים (rabim) means "numerous," directly qualifying the size of the opposing force.
The thread — The text states that God will cease His affliction once He breaks the oppressor's yoke, a pattern repeated in Isaiah 30:19 where He promises grace to Zion, and Joel 2:19 where He answers His people with provision. The immediate context of Nahum 1:13 confirms this movement from discipline to deliverance.
Why it lands — The verse states that human alliances and numbers will be cut down regardless of their strength, while God's past discipline on Judah will not continue indefinitely. It requires the reader to accept that divine judgment on the wicked is absolute and that God's correction of His people is finite and purposeful.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 30:19 O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you.
- Joel 2:19 And the LORD answered His people: “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and by them you will be satisfied. I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
- Isaiah 7:20 On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.
- Isaiah 17:14 In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
- Isaiah 31:8 “Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor.
- Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Isaiah 8:8 It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!
- Isaiah 10:32 Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
- Isaiah 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.