Bible Strands
Nahum 3:11
You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Nahum addresses Nineveh, declaring its imminent collapse immediately after describing the destruction of Thebes in the preceding verse. This pronouncement falls at the moment of divine judgment when the Assyrian capital faces total military defeat.
The words — The Hebrew term תִּשְׁכְּרִי (tishkəri) literally means "you will become drunk," describing a state of stupor or disorientation. The phrase נַעֲלָמָה (naʿălamâ) translates as "hidden," paired with the verb תְּבַקְשִׁי (teḇaqšî) for "you will seek" in the directive to find concealment.
The thread — The motif of seeking refuge from terror appears in Isaiah 2:10, where people are told to hide in rocks and dust from the terror of the LORD. Jesus later echoes this desperate plea for cover in Luke 23:30, while Isaiah 49:26 contrasts the enemy's drunkenness with divine retribution.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that political power and military fortifications cannot shield a nation from divine judgment. It requires the reader to recognize that flight and concealment offer no escape when the sovereign will of God executes judgment.
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
Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 2:10 Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty.
- Isaiah 49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
- Luke 23:30 At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- Isaiah 2:19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
- Jeremiah 4:5 Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’
- Hosea 10:8 The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
- Nahum 1:10 For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.
- Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
- 1 Samuel 13:6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.