John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a stronghold because of the enemy." — Nahum 3:11 (ASV)
You also shall be drunken
This is said to Nineveh, whose turn would be next to drink of the cup of the wrath of God, and be inebriated with it, so that they should not know where they were, or what they did; and be as unable to guide and help themselves as a drunken man. So the Targum, ``you also shall be like to a drunken man;'' this was literally true of Nineveh when taken; see (Nahum 1:10) : you shall be hid ;
or, "you shall be", as if you were not; as Nineveh is at this day, "hid" from the sight of men, not to be seen any more. So the Targum, ``you shall be swallowed up or destroyed.'' The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it "despised"; or the meaning is, she should "hide herself" F23 ; or be lurking about through shame, as drunken, or through fear of her enemies: you also shall seek strength because of the enemy ;
seek to others to help them against the enemy, not being able with their own strength to face them: or, seek strength "of the enemy" F24 ; beg their lives of him, and their bread; pray for quarter, and desire to be taken under his protection; to so low and mean a state and condition should Nineveh and its inhabitants be reduced, who had given laws to all about them, and had been a terror to them.