Charles Ellicott Commentary Nahum 3:19

"There is no assuaging of thy hurt: thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?" — Nahum 3:19 (ASV)

Clap the hands over thee. — All who hear the report of the fall of Nineveh clap their hands with joy (Psalms 47:1), for where has her oppressive rule not been felt? The verse is addressed to the king (second person masculine) as the representative of the empire, perhaps also in view of his terrible end.

The cruelty of the Ninevite régime is illustrated, as Kleinert remarks, in the sculptures, “by the rows of the impaled, the prisoners through whose lips rings were fastened, whose eyes were put out, who were flayed alive. Consequently, it would be a joy to all nations to hear the voice of the messengers of the tyrant no more (Nahum 2:13), but to hear that of the messengers of his destruction.”