Keraia
Nahum 3

Nahum 3:9

Judgment on Nineveh · Nahum 3:1–19
Read Nahum 3

Translations

Modern
Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.
Traditional
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
Literal
Cush was her strength, and Egypt, and there was no end; Libya and Lubim came to be for your help.
Latin
Æthiopia fortitudo ejus, et Ægyptus, et non est finis; Africa et Libyes fuerunt in auxilio tuo.

Original

Hebrew
English
Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.

Notes

Nahum 3:9–10

  • The Assyrians, led by King Ashurbanipal, conquered Thebes in 663 BC. Before this, Thebes seemed unbeatable with strong defenses and support from Egypt and its allies:

    • Ethiopia,

    • Put (possibly the legendary land of Punt, located near what is now coastal Somalia), and

    • Libya.

    However, these allies did not protect Thebes effectively.

  • infants were dashed to pieces: In the ancient world, conquering armies sometimes killed the infants of their enemies. This cruel practice was meant to wipe out a people completely and prevent future resistance (2 Kings 8:12; Psalm 137:9; Isaiah 13:16, 18).

  • Soldiers cast lots to divide the goods taken in war. At the same time, the leaders of the defeated people were tied with chains and taken away as prisoners (see 2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 40:1, 4; Joel 3:3; Obadiah 1:11).

Theme notes and profiles

Assyria

Events

Places

Cush: Ancient region in Africa; associated with Egypt and Babylon Egypt: Ancient nation; Israelites enslaved there; plagues and Exodus Libya: A country in North Africa

Glossary

Assyria, Assyrians Book of Nahum Lehabim, Lehabites Libya, Libyans Lubim Put (Place)

Topics

Lubims: The Region They Inhabited Was Called Phut In Phut: The Descendants of Phut, or the Country Inhabited by Them