John Calvin Commentary Nahum 1:8

"But with an over-running flood he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness." — Nahum 1:8 (ASV)

The Prophet continues with the same subject—that God can easily preserve His people, for He is armed with power sufficient to overcome the whole world. But the Prophet now includes the two things that have been mentioned. Having spoken in general of God’s wrath and His goodness towards the faithful, he now applies his doctrine to the consolation of His chosen people. It is then a special application of his doctrine when he says, By inundation, he, passing through, will make a consummation in her place. There is a twofold interpretation of this verse.

Some make this distinction: that God, as it were, in passing through, would consume the land of Israel and Judah, but that perpetual darkness would rest on His enemies. Hence they think that the distress of the chosen people is distinguished from the overthrow of the kingdom of Asshur, for God would only for a time punish His own people, while He would give up profane and reprobate men to endless destruction.

Then, by passing through, according to these interpreters, is to be understood a temporary distress or punishment; and by darkness, eternal ruin, or, so to speak, irreparable calamities. But the Prophet, I doubt not, in one connected sentence, denounces ultimate ruin on the Assyrians. By inundation, then, he, in passing, will make a consummation in her place; that is, God will suddenly overwhelm the Assyrian, as though a deluge should rise to cover the whole earth.

He intimates that God would not punish the Assyrians by degrees, as men sometimes do, who proceed step by step to avenge themselves, but suddenly. God, he says, will suddenly thunder against the Assyrians, as when a deluge comes over a land.

Hence this passing of God is opposed to long or slow progress, as though he said: “As soon as God’s wrath shall break forth or come upon the Assyrians, it will be all over, for a consummation will immediately follow: by inundation, he, passing through, will make a consummation in her place.” By 'place' he means the ground, as though he had said that God would not only destroy the surface of the land but would also destroy the very ground and utterly demolish it.

A feminine pronoun is added here because he speaks of the kingdom or nation, as is usual in Hebrew. But it should especially be noted that the Prophet threatens the Assyrians that God would entirely subvert them; that He would not only demolish the surface, as when fire or waters destroy houses, but that the Lord would reduce to nothing the land itself, even the very ground.

He adds, And pursue His enemies shall darkness. He has designated the Assyrians only by a pronoun, as the Hebrews are accustomed to do; for they use a relative or demonstrative pronoun, and it is uncertain of whom they are speaking, but they afterwards explain themselves.

The Prophet does so in this place. He directs his discourse to the Israelites and the Jews, and he begins by announcing God’s vengeance on Nineveh and its monarchy; but now he speaks as of something sufficiently known and adds, Pursue shall darkness the enemies of God. By this second clause, he intimates that the ruin of that kingdom would be perpetual.

As he had said then that its destruction would be sudden, as God would, as it were, destroy the whole land in a moment, so now he cuts off every hope from them, that they might not think they could after a while gather strength and rise again, as is the case with the wicked, who always contend against God.

The Prophet then shows that the evil that God would bring on them would be without remedy. Some render the verb יררף (iredaph) transitively in this form: “He will pursue His enemies by darkness.” But as to the Prophet’s meaning, there is little or no difference; I therefore leave the point undecided.

On the subject itself there is nothing ambiguous; the import of what is said is this: that God would, by a sudden inundation, destroy His enemies, and that He would destroy them without affording any hope of restoration, for perpetual darkness would follow that sudden deluge. He afterwards adds: