Albert Barnes Commentary Nahum 1:4

"He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth." — Nahum 1:4 (ASV)

He rebukes the sea and makes it dry—delivering His people, as He did from Pharaoh (Psalms 106:9), the type of all later oppressors and of antichrist. His word is with power, able to destroy them at once with one rough word . The restlessness of the barren and troubled sea is an image of the wicked.

He dries up all the rivers (Isaiah 57:20), as He did with the Jordan. His coming will be far more terrible than when all the hearts of the inhabitants of the land melted. Bashan languishes and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes (Joshua 2:11).

Bashan was richest in pastures; Carmel, true to its name, was rich in gardens and vineyards; Lebanon was known for vines and fragrant flowers (Hosea 14:7; Song of Solomon 4:11), but chiefly for its cedar and cypress. Lebanon also derived its name from the whiteness of the snow that rests on its summit.

These mountains, then, together are emblems of richness, lasting beauty, fruitfulness, and loftiness. Yet all of it—even that which by nature is not accustomed to fade with the changing seasons—dries up and withers before the rebuke of God.

But if these things are done in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? All freshness, beauty, comeliness, and outward display of nature will fade like grass. All adornment of men’s outward graces or gifts, all mere show of goodness, will fall off like a leaf and perish.

If the glory of nature perishes before God, how much more the pride of man! Bashan also was the dwelling-place of the race of giants, and near Lebanon was Damascus; yet their inhabitants became like dead men, and their power shrank to nothing at the word of God.