Bible Strands
Nahum 2:8
Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet announces the imminent collapse of Nineveh as its inhabitants panic and flee during the city’s final siege.
The words — The Hebrew כִּבְרֵכַת־מַיִם (ki-berēḵat-mayim) literally means “like a pool of water,” while עִמְדוּ (ʿimḏû) issues the command “stop!” or “stand!”
The thread — The image of sudden flight and draining resources parallels Isaiah 13:14, while the city’s foundational history is recorded in Genesis 10:11.
Why it lands — The text states that prolonged stability does not prevent sudden collapse, and the demand asks the reader to acknowledge that panic overrides any command to stand firm.
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
But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
Cross-references
- Genesis 10:11 From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
- Isaiah 13:14 Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
- Isaiah 47:13 You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate.
- Isaiah 48:20 Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
- Jeremiah 46:5 Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 50:16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land.
- Jeremiah 51:13 You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.
- Jeremiah 51:30 The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
- Nahum 3:17 Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.
- Revelation 17:1 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.