Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses the king of Assyria, announcing the collapse of his command structure and the dispersion of his subjects. This declaration follows the description of his guards fleeing like locusts and immediately precedes the statement that his injury admits no healing.
The words — The Hebrew נָמוּ (na.Mu) literally means "they are slumbering," applied to the royal shepherds, while נָפוֹשׁוּ (na.Fo.shu) means "they are scattered," describing the movement of the people across the mountains.
The thread — The image of a population scattered like sheep without a shepherd appears in 1 Kings 22:17 and Isaiah 13:14, while the motif of warriors falling into an irreversible sleep matches Psalm 76:5.
Why it lands — The text states that military and administrative power fails when its leaders abandon their posts, leaving the population defenseless and unorganized. It requires the reader to recognize that structural collapse follows directly from neglected duty and unaddressed oppression.
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
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 22:17 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
- Psalms 76:5 The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 50:18 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
- Jeremiah 51:57 I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
- Exodus 15:16 and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.
- Isaiah 47:1 “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Isaiah 56:9 Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
- Jeremiah 51:39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
- Ezekiel 31:3 Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.