Albert Barnes Commentary Nahum 2:5

"He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared." — Nahum 2:5 (ASV)

He shall recount his worthies – The Assyrian king wakes as if from a sleep, literally, “he remembers his mighty men” (Judges 5:13; Nehemiah 3:5); they stumble in their walk, literally, paths, not only because of haste and eager fear, but from a lack of inward might and the aid of God. Those whom God leads do not stumble (Isaiah 63:13): “Perplexed in every way and not knowing what they ought to do, their mind wholly darkened and almost drunk with ills, they reel to and fro, turn from one thing to another, and in all” labor in vain.

They shall make haste to the walls thereof, and the defense – (literally, “the covering”) shall be prepared. The Assyrian monuments leave no doubt that a Jewish writer is largely correct in describing this as a covered shelter, under which an enemy approached the city; “a covering of planks with skins upon them; under it those who fight against the city come to the wall and mine the wall underneath, and it is a shield over them from the stones, which are cast from the wall.”

The monuments, however, show this shelter connected not with mining but with a battering ram, usually with a sharp point, by which they loosened the walls. Another covering was employed to protect individual miners who picked out single stones with a pick-axe. The Assyrian sculptures show, by the means employed against or in defense of their engines, how central a part of the siege they formed. Seven of them are represented in one siege. The “ram” (Ezekiel 4:2) is mentioned in Ezekiel as the well-known and ordinary instrument of a siege.

Thus, Nahum 2:3 describes the attack, and Nahum 2:4 describes the defense. The first two clauses of Nahum 2:5 describe the defense; the last two clauses describe the attack. This quick interchange only makes the whole account more vivid.

: “But what does it avail to build the house, unless the Lord builds it? What good does it do to shut the gates, which the Lord unbars?” On both sides, the full strength of man is put forth; there seems to be a standstill to see what will happen, and God brings about His own work in His own way.