Albert Barnes Commentary Nahum 2:8

"But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, [they cry]; but none looketh back." — Nahum 2:8 (ASV)

But Nineveh has long been like a pool of water—that is, of many peoples (Revelation 17:1), gathered from all quarters and settled there. Her multitudes were like countless drops: full, untroubled, with no ebb or flow, fenced in, "from the days that she has been."

Yet, for this very reason, she was stagnant and corrupted , not a fountain of living waters, despite 600 years of unbroken empire. Even lately, it had been assailed in vain.

Now its hour had come: the sluices were broken, and the waters poured out. It was full not only of citizens but also of other nations poured into it.

An old historian says, "The chief and most powerful of those whom Ninus settled there were the Assyrians, but also, from other nations, whoever wished." Thus, the pool was filled; but at the rebuke of the Lord, they flee.

"Stand, stand," the prophet speaks in the name of the widowed city: "Shut the gates, go up on the walls, resist the enemy, gather yourselves together, form a band to withstand; but none shall look back" to the mother-city that calls them. All is forgotten except their fear: parents, wives, children, the wealth that is plundered, home, worldly reputation.

So men will leave all things for the life of this world. All that a man has, will he give for his life (Job 2:4). Why not for the life to come?