13 "Behold, I am against you," says Yahweh of Armies, "and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
To give more effect to what he says, the Prophet introduces God here as the speaker. Behold, he says, I am against thee He has been hitherto, as it were, the herald of God, and in this character gave an authoritative command to the Chaldeans to plunder Nineveh: but when God himself comes forward, and uses not the mouth of man, but declares himself his own decrees, it is much more impressive. This then is the reason why God now openly speaks: Behold, I am, he says, against thee. We understand the emphatical import of the demonstrative particle, Behold; for God, as if awakened from sleep, shows that it will be at length his work, to undertake the cause of his people, and also to punish the world for its wickedness, Behold, I am against thee, he says. We have elsewhere seen a similar mode of speaking; there is therefore no need of dwelling on it here. I will burn, he says, with smoke her chariots Here by smoke some understand a smoky fire; but the Prophet, I think, meant another thing, -- that at the first onset God would consume all the chariots of Nineveh; as though he had said, that as soon as the flame burst forth, it would be all over with all the forces of Nineveh; for by chariots he no doubt means all their warlike preparations; and we know that they fought then from chariots: as at this day there are employed in wars horsemen in armor, so there were then chariots. But the Prophet, by taking a part for the whole, includes all warlike forces: I will burn then the chariots [1] -- How? By smoke alone, that is as soon as the first flame begins to emerge; for the smoke rises before the fire appears or gathers strength: in short, the Prophet shows that Nineveh would be, as it were, in a moment, reduced to nothing, as soon as it pleased God to avenge its wickedness. He then adds in the third person, And thy young lions shall the sword devour He indeed changes the person here; but the discourse is more striking, when God manifests his wrath in abrupt sentences. He had said, Behold, I am against thee; then, I will burn her chariots, he now hardly deigns to direct his speech to Nineveh; but afterwards he returns to her, and thy young lions shall the sword devour Then God, by speaking thus in broken sentences, more fully expresses the dreadful vengeance which he had determined to execute on the Ninevites. He then says, And I will exterminate from the earth thy prey; that is, it will not now be allowed thee to go on as usual; for I will put a stop to thy inhuman cruelty. Thus prey may be taken for the act itself; or it may be fitly explained of the spoils taken from the nations, for the Ninevites, by their tyrannical ravening, had everywhere plundered; and thus it may be applied to the pillaging of the city. I will then exterminate from the land, that is from thy country, those riches which have been hitherto heaped together as though a lion had been everywhere gathering a prey. And heard no more shall be the voice of thy messengers They who understand ml'kym, melakim, to be messengers, apply the word to the heralds, by whom the Assyrians were wont to proclaim wars on neighboring nations. As then they sent here and there their heralds to announce war, and as their terrible voice sounded everywhere, the words of the Prophet have this meaning given them, -- that God would at length produce silence, so that they should not hereafter disturb all their neighboring countries with the clamor of war. But as this explanation is strained, I am inclined to adopt what others think, -- that the grinding teeth are here intended. The word is not written, if it be taken for messengers, according to grammar; it is ml'kkh, melakke; there ought not to have been the h, he at the end, and y, jod, ought to have been inserted before the last letter but one: and if it be deemed as meaning the king, it ought then to have been written mlkk, melkak. All then confess, that the word is not written according to the rule of grammar; and as the Persians call the grinders ml'kkh, melakke, we may give this version, which well suits the context, No more shall be heard the sound of grinders.' For since lions seize the prey with their teeth, [2] and also break the bones, and thus make a great noise when they tear an animal or a man with their teeth, this rendering seems to be the most suitable, Heard no more shall be the sound of teeth, that is, heard shall not be the noise made by thy teeth; for when thou now tearest thy prey, thy teeth make a noise. No more heard then shall the noise from that breaking, or the clashing or the crashing of the teeth. But as to the chief point, this is no matter of importance. The Prophet simply teaches us here that it could not be, but that God would at length restrain tyrants; for though he hides himself for a time, he yet never forgets the groans of those whom he sees to be unjustly afflicted: and particularly when tyrants molest the Church, it is proved here by the Prophet that God will at length be a defender; and hence we ought to consider well these words, Behold, I am against thee For though God addresses these words only to the Assyrians, yet as he points out the reasons why he rises up with so much displeasure against them, they ought to be extended to all tyrants, and to all who exercise cruelty towards distressed and innocent men. But this is more clearly expressed in the following verse.
1 - Jerome renders the clause, "Succendam usque ad fumum -- I will burn to smoke" the chariots: and the version of Henderson is the same. But the most natural supposition is, that smoke here is mentioned instead of fire. And so Dathius renders it -- "igni -- with fire." -- Ed.
2 - The context undoubtedly favors this rendering. The Septuagint has "ta erga soi -- thy works," which cannot consist with the word, "voice," which precedes, though Newcome, following the Septuagint, renders it, "the fame of thy deeds." There is but one different reading, except as to points, and that is, ml'kkm, "their messenger," in two copies, and this comes nearest to the received text of any that has been conjectured: and to render "messenger" in the singular number comports better with the usual style of the Prophets, than in the plural. Perhaps the h may be deemed redundant at the end of the sentence; and then it would be literally, "thy messenger," taken in a collective sense. -- Ed.
Behold I, Myself, am against thee - (Literally, "toward thee"). God, in His long-suffering, had, as it were, looked away from him; now He looked toward (as in Psalm 37:20) him, and in His sight what wicked one should stand? "Saith the Lord of hosts," whose power is infinite and He changes not, and all the armies of heaven, the truly angels and evil spirits and men are in His Hand, whereto He directs or overrules them. "And I will burn her chariots in the smoke." The Assyrian sculptures attest how greatly their pride and strength lay in their chariots. They exhibit the minute embellishment of the chariots and horses . Almost inconceivably light for speed, they are pictured as whirled onward by the two or, more often, three powerful steeds with eye of fire , the bodies of the slain (or, in peace, the lion ) under their feet, the mailed warriors, with bows stretched to the utmost, shooting at the more distant foe.
Sennacherib gives a terrific picture of the fierceness of their onslaught. "The armor, the arms, taken in my attacks, swam in the blood of my enemies as in a river; the war-chariots, which destroy man and beast, had, in their course, crushed the bloody bodies and limbs" . All this their warlike pride should be but fuel for fire, and vanish in smoke, an emblem of pride, swelling, mounting like a column toward heaven, disappearing. Not a brand shall then be saved out of the burning; nothing half-consumed; but the fire shall burn, until there be nothing left to consume, as, in Sodom and Gomorrah, "the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And the sword of the vengeance of God shall devour the young lions" Genesis 19:28, his hope for the time to come, the flower of his youth; "and I will cut off thy prey," what thou hast robbed, and so that thou shouldest rob no more, but that thy spoil should utterly cease from "the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall be no more heard," such as Rabshakeh, whereby they insulted and terrified the nations and blasphemed God.
In the spiritual sense, Nineveh being an image of the world, the prophecy speaks of the inroad made upon it through the Gospel, its resistance, capture, desolation, destruction. First, He that "ruleth with a rod of iron," came and denounced "woe to it because of offenses;" then His mighty ones in His Name. Their shield is red, "the shield of faith," kindled and glowing with love. Their raiment too is red, because they wash it in the Blood of the Lamb, and conquer through the Blood of the Lamb, and many shed their own blood "for a witness to them." "The day of His preparation" is the whole period, until the end of the world, in which the Gospel is preached, of which the prophets and apostles speak, as the day of salvation Isaiah 49:8; 2-Corinthians 6:2; to the believing world a day of salvation; to the unbelieving, of preparation for judgment. All which is done, judgments, mercy, preaching, miracles, patience of the saints, martyrdom, all which is spoken, done, suffered, is part of the one preparation for the final judgment. The chariots, flashing with light as they pass, are "the chariots of salvation" Habakkuk 3:8, bearing the brightness of the doctrine of Christ and the glory of His truth throughout the world, enlightening while they wound; the "spears" are the word of God, slaying to make alive.
On the other hand, in resisting, the world clashes with itself. It would oppose the Gospel, yet knows not how; is "maddened with rage, and gnashes its teeth, that it can prevail nothing" . On the broad ways which lead to death, where "Wisdom uttereth her voice" and is not heard, it is hemmed in, and cannot find a straight path; its chariots dash one against another, and yet they breathe their ancient fury, and run to and fro like lightning, as the Lord saith, "I beheld Satan, as lightning, fall from heaven" Luke 10:18. Then shall they "remember their mighty ones," all the might of this world which they ascribed to their gods, their manifold triumphs, whereby in pagan times their empire was established; they shall gather strength against strength, but it shall be powerless and real weakness. While they prepare for a long siege, without hand their gates give way; the kingdom falls, the world is taken captive by a blessed captivity, suddenly, unawares, as one says in the second century ; "Men cry out that the state is beset, that the Christians are in their fields, in their forts, in their islands!" These mourn over their past sins, and beat their breasts, in token of their sorrow; yet sweeter shall be the plaint of their sorrow, than any past joy.
Sit they shall mourn as doves, and their mourning is as melody and the voice of praise in the ear of the Most High. One part of the inhabitants of the world being thus blessedly taken, the rest are fled. So in all nearness of God's judgments, those who are net brought nearer, flee further. "They flee, and look not back, and none heareth the Lord speaking, "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings" Jeremiah 3:22. So then, hearing not His Voice, stand, stand, they flee away from His presence in mercy, into darkness for ever. Such is the lot of the inhabitants of the world; and what is the world itself? The prophet answers what it has been. A pool of water, into which all things, the riches and glory, and wisdom, and pleasures of this world, have flowed in on all sides, and which gave back nothing. All ended in itself. The water came from above, and became stagnant in the lowest part of the earth. "For all the wisdom of this world, apart from the sealed fountain of the Church, and of which it cannot be said, the streams thereof make glad the city of God nor are of those waters which, above the heavens, praise the Name of the Lord, however large they may seem, yet are little, and are enclosed in a narrow bound" Luke 10:18.
These either are hallowed to God, like the spoils of Egypt, as when the eloquence of Cyprian was won through the fishermen , or the gold and silver are offered to Him, or they are left to be wasted and burned up. "All which is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, all under the sun," remain here. : "If they are thine, take them with thee. When be dieth, he shall carry nothing away, his glory shall not descend after him" Psalm 49:17. True riches are, not wealth, but virtues, which the conscience carries with it, that it may be rich forever." The seven-fold terrors Nahum 2:10, singly, may have a good sense , that the stony heart shall be melted, and the stiff knees, which before were not bent to God, be bowed in the Name of Jesus. Yet more fully are they the deepening horrors of the wicked in the Day of Judgment, when "men's hearts shall fail them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth" Luke 21:26, closing with the everlasting confusion of face, "the shame and everlasting contempt," to which the wicked shall rise.
As the vessel over the fire is not cleansed, but blackened, so through the judgments of God, whereby the righteous are cleansed, the wicked gather but fresh defilement and hate. Lastly, the prophet asks, "Where is the dwelling of those who had made the world a den of ravin, where the lion," even the devil who is "a roaring lion," and all antichrists 1-John 2:18, destroyed at will; where Satan made his dwelling in the hearts of the worldly, and "tore in pieces for his whelps," i. e., killed souls of men and gave them over to inferior evil spirits to be tormented, and "filled his holes with prey," the pit of hell with the souls which he deceived? . The question implies that they shall not be. "They which have seen him shall say, Where is he?" Job 20:7. God Himself answers, that He Himself will come against it to judgment, and destroy all might arrayed against God; and Christ shall "smite the Wicked one with the rod of His Mouth" Isaiah 11:4, and the "sharp two-edged sword out of His mouth shall smite all nations" Revelation 1:16; Revelation 19:15, Revelation 19:21, "and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever" Revelation 14:11; and it should no more oppress, nor "any messenger of Satan" go forth to harass the saints of God.
Behold, I am against thee - Assyria, and Nineveh its capital. I will deal with you as you have dealt with others.
The voice of thy messengers - Announcing thy splendid victories, and the vast spoils taken - shall no more be heard - thou and thy riches, and ill-got spoils, shall perish together.
Behold, I [am] against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the (m) smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy (n) messengers shall no more be heard.
(m) That is, as soon as my wrath begins to burn.
(n) Signifying the heralds, who were accustomed to proclaim war. Some read, "of you gum teeth", with which Nineveh was accustomed to bruise the bones of the poor.
Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts,.... Against Nineveh, and the whole Assyrian empire, for such rapine, violence, and oppression, their kings had been guilty of; and if he, who is the Lord of hosts, of all the armies of heaven and earth, was against them, nothing but ruin must inevitably ensue: or, "I come unto thee" (s); or will shortly come unto thee, and reckon with thee for all this; will visit thee in a way of wrath and vengeance. The Targum is,
"behold, I will send my fury upon thee:''
and I will burn her chariots in the smoke; either those in which the inhabitants of Nineveh rode in great splendour about the city; or those which were used in war with their enemies; and this he would do "in the smoke"; or, "unto smoke", as the Vulgate Latin version; or, "into smoke", as the Syriac (t); easily, quickly, at once, suddenly, so that they should evaporate into smoke, and be no more; or, with fire, as the Targum; that is, as Kimchi interprets it, with a great fire, whose smoke is seen afar off; and may be figuratively understood of the smoke of divine wrath, as Aben Ezra explains it:
and the sword shall devour thy young lions; the swords of the Medes and Chaldeans shall destroy the princes, the sons of their king. The Targum interprets this of towns or villages destroyed thereby:
and I will cut thy prey from the earth; cut them off that they should no more prey upon their neighbours; and what they had got should be taken away from them, and be of no use to them:
and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard; in foreign courts, demanding homage and subjection; exacting and collecting tribute; blaspheming the God of heaven, and menacing his people, as Rabshakeh, a messenger of one of these kings, did; and which is mentioned by most of the Jewish commentators as being then a recent thing. Some render it, "the voice", or "noise of thy jaw teeth" (u); alluding to the lion's breaking the bones of its prey, which is done with a great noise; signifying that such cruelty and oppression the Assyrians had been guilty of should be used no more; or rather, as R. Judah ben Balaam observes, as it signifies the noise of the teeth devouring the prey, it is as if it was said, I will cut off thy prey from the earth; and Ben Melech says that, in the Persian language, grinding stones are expressed by this word, and teeth are called grinders; see Ecclesiastes 12:3.
(s) "ad te venturus sum", Vatablus; "ego ad te venio", Drusius. (t) "in fumum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (u) "vox dentium molarium", Calvin.
burn . . . in the smoke--or (so as to pass) "into smoke," that is, "entirely" [MAURER], (Psalm 37:20; Psalm 46:9). CALVIN, like English Version, explains, As soon as the flame catches, and the fire smokes, by the mere smoke I will burn her chariots.
cut off thy prey from the earth--Thou shalt no more carry off prey from the nations of the earth.
the voice of thy messengers . . . no more . . . heard--No more shall thy emissaries be heard throughout thy provinces conveying thy king's commands, and exacting tribute of subject nations.
I will burn her - Nineveh. In the smoke - The city being first plundered, then burnt; these chariots were burnt in that smoke. Thy prey - Cause thee to cease from making a prey any more. Thy messengers - Embassadors or muster - masters. Probably this refers to Rabshaketh who had blasphemed the living God. Those are not worthy to be heard again, that have once spoken reproachfully against God.
*More commentary available at chapter level.