Bible Strands
Nahum 3:7
Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Nahum delivers YHWH’s declaration of judgment against Nineveh, addressing the Assyrian capital directly as its impending destruction is announced. The speech occurs within a sequence of oracles detailing the city’s complete humiliation and isolation.
The words — The Hebrew root רֹאֶה (ro'eh) combined with יִדּוֹד (yiddod) conveys those who see fleeing from the target, while שָׁדַד (shadad) denotes thorough devastation. These terms anchor the verse’s claim that observation of Nineveh’s fall triggers immediate abandonment rather than mourning.
The thread — This motif of abandoned judgment appears in Isaiah 51:19 and Jeremiah 15:5, where ruined cities face the same rhetorical question about mourners. Revelation 18:10 extends the pattern to the fall of a great city, where distant observers cry out in fear rather than compassion.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment leaves no room for human sympathy or intervention. Readers must confront the reality that confirmed destruction terminates all appeals for comfort or intercession.
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
And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 51:19 These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?
- Jeremiah 15:5 Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
- Revelation 18:10 In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
- Numbers 16:34 At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!”
- Jeremiah 51:9 “We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”
- Lamentations 2:13 What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can ever heal you?
- Nahum 1:1 This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
- Nahum 2:9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
- Jeremiah 51:41 How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
- Revelation 18:16 saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!