Bible Strands
Nahum 2:5
He summons his nobles; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Nahum describes the final siege of Nineveh, depicting the moment Assyrian leadership mobilizes as enemy forces approach the city gates. The scene captures the king summoning his commanders while the besieging army races toward the walls.
The words — יִכָּשְׁל֖וּ (yi.ka.she.Lu) translates literally as "they stumble," and הַ/סֹּכֵֽךְ (ha./so.Khekh) means "the cover" or shield. These terms anchor the verse’s depiction of military preparation and sudden failure.
The thread — The theme of stumbling warriors appears in Jeremiah 46:12 and Isaiah 5:27, while the preparation of shields echoes Isaiah 21:5. These texts collectively track a pattern of martial readiness followed by divine interruption.
Why it lands — The verse records a defensive mobilization that fails, demonstrating that human fortifications cannot withstand divine judgment. It asks the reader to observe the contrast between organized resistance and sovereign intervention.
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 shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 46:12 The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles over warrior and both of them have fallen together.”
- Isaiah 5:27 None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.
- Isaiah 21:5 They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!
- Jeremiah 50:29 Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 51:27 “Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.
- Nahum 3:3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over their dead—
- Nahum 3:18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.