Bible Strands
Nahum 2:1
One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses the city of Nineveh as an invading force approaches its perimeter. The command is issued at the moment of imminent military assault, directing the inhabitants to prepare for defense.
The words — The Hebrew מֵפִיץ (me.Fitz) literally means one who scatters or disperses, describing the advancing enemy. The verb נָצ֣וֹר (na.Tzor) commands the active guarding of a fortification, establishing the immediate physical task required.
The thread — The mobilization order parallels Joel 3:9, which commands nations to prepare for war and advance, and Jeremiah 51:20, which depicts God using a war club to shatter kingdoms. These passages share the pattern of divine judgment executed through coordinated military action.
Why it lands — The text requires a direct response to an approaching threat through concrete defensive preparation. It asks the reader to recognize that physical readiness and strategic vigilance are the necessary actions before judgment arrives.
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
He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
Cross-references
- Joel 3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
- 2 Chronicles 25:8 Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.”
- Jeremiah 51:20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Jeremiah 51:11 Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.
- Jeremiah 50:23 How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
- Jeremiah 46:3 “Deploy your shields, small and large; advance for battle!
- Isaiah 14:6 It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution.
- Nahum 3:14 Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.