Charles Ellicott Commentary


Charles Ellicott Commentary
"Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off." — Nahum 1:15 (ASV)
Behold upon the mountains. —It is not clear why this verse has been made the first of Nahum 3 in the Hebrew. It is evidently the finale of the proclamation against the Assyrian invader, and rightly stands in the Septuagint as the last verse of Nahum 2. It portrays the announcement of Sennacherib’s fate to the towns and villages of Judah. “From mountain-top to mountain-top by beacon fires they spread the glad tidings. Suddenly the deliverance comes, sudden its announcement.”
Behold, Judah, before hindered by armies from going up to Jerusalem, its cities taken, may now again keep the feasts there, and pay the vows which in trouble she promised; for the wicked one, the ungodly Sennacherib, is utterly cut off; he shall no more pass through you” (Pusey). The opening clause necessarily reminds one of the description of deliverance in Isaiah 52:7. The one author probably borrows the language of the other; but which passage we regard as the original must depend on the view taken of the Book of Isaiah.