Nahum 2:10
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.
9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
11 Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away?
12 The lion mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- KJV
- She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
- WEB
- She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.
- ASV
- She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.
- DARBY
- She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and writhing pain is in all loins, and all their faces grow pale.
- BLB
- Emptiness, an empty place and laid waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake, and [there is] anguish in all loins, and the faces of all of them are gathered to paleness!
- ÅB
- Tomt, tømt, uttømt! - forferdede hjerter og vaklende knær og verk i alle lender, og alles ansikter er blussende røde.
- OTB
- Hun er tømt! Ja, hun er øde og ødelagt!
Hjerter smelter og knær vakler!
Skjelving er i alle lender!
Alle ansikter har blitt bleke! - B1930
- Tomt, tømt, uttømt! - forferdede hjerter og vaklende knær og verk i alle lender, og alles ansikter er blussende røde.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Joel 2:6
Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
Read in contextDaniel 5:6
his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
Read in contextPsalms 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
Read in contextJeremiah 30:6
Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
Read in contextIsaiah 13:7–8
Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
Read in contextIsaiah 24:1
Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
Read in contextIsaiah 21:3
Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
Read in contextZephaniah 2:13–15
And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
Read in context