John Calvin Commentary Nahum 3:11

"Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a stronghold because of the enemy." — Nahum 3:11 (ASV)

Nahum, after having cited the example of Alexandria, now shows that nothing would be able to resist God, preventing him from dealing with Nineveh in the same manner. He declares that this would be the case: You also, he says, shall be inebriated. Well known is this metaphor, which often occurs in Scripture: for the Prophets frequently call punishment a cup, which God administers.

But when God executes a heavy punishment, he is said to inebriate the wicked with his cup. The Prophet says now that the chastisement of Nineveh would make her like a drunken man who, being overcome with wine, lies down, as it were, stupefied. Therefore, by this metaphor, he intended to portray a most severe punishment: You then shall also be inebriated. The particle גם, gam, is here emphatic; it was introduced so that the Ninevites might know that they could not possibly escape the punishment which they deserved, for God continues ever like himself.

You then shall also be inebriated. This would not be consistent if God were not the judge of the world to the end. There is, then, a common reason for this proceeding; therefore, it necessarily follows that since God punished the Alexandrians, the Assyrians cannot escape his hand and be exempt from punishment.

He adds, You shall be hidden. Some refer this to shame, as though the Prophet had said: “You indeed show yourself now to be very proud, but calamity will force you to seek hiding-places in which to conceal yourself.” But I am more inclined to this meaning: that Nineveh would vanish away, as though it never had been, for to be hidden is often taken in Hebrew in the sense of being reduced to nothing.

He afterwards says, You shall also seek strength, or supplies, from the enemy. The words מעוז מאויב, meouz meavib, may admit of two meanings: either that she will humbly solicit her enemies, or that on account of her enemies she will flee to some foreign aid, for the preposition מ, mem, may be taken in both senses.

If we adopt the first meaning, then I think that the Prophet speaks not of the Babylonians, but of the other nations who had previously been harassed by the Assyrians. You shall then humbly pray for the aid of those who have until now been your enemies—not because they had provoked you, but because you have treated them as an enemy. Now it is an extreme misery when we are constrained to seek the help of those by whom we are hated, and hated because we have provoked them by wrongs.

But the other sense is more favored, for it is less strained: You shall also seek aids on account of the enemy; that is, as strength to resist will fail you, you will seek assistance from your neighbors.