Teks -- Nahum 3:13 (NET)

3:13 Your warriors will be like women in your midst; the gates of your land will be wide open to your enemies; fire will consume the bars of your gates.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Nah 3:13 - Are women

Were very cowards.

Wesley: Nah 3:13 - The gates

The strong frontiers.

Wesley: Nah 3:13 - Wide open

Either through fear or treachery.

Wesley: Nah 3:13 - Thy bars

With which the gates were shut and strengthened.

JFB: Nah 3:13 - thy people

Thy soldiers.

JFB: Nah 3:13 - women

Unable to fight for thee (Isa 19:16; Jer 50:37; Jer 51:30).

JFB: Nah 3:13 - gates on thy land

The fortified passes or entrances to the region of Nineveh (compare Jer 15:7). Northeast of Nineveh there were hills affording a natural barrier against an invader; the guarded passes through these are probably "the gates of the land" meant.

JFB: Nah 3:13 - fire shall devour thy bars

The "bars" of the fortresses at the passes into Assyria. So in Assyrian remains the Assyrians themselves are represented as setting fire to the gates of a city [BONOMI, Nineveh, pp. 194, 197].

Clarke: Nah 3:13 - Thy people - are women

Thy people - are women - They lost all courage, and made no resistance. O vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges : "Verily, ye are Phrygian women, not Phrygian men."So said Numanus to the Trojans. Virg., Aen. ix.

Calvin: Nah 3:13 - By opening, opened shall be thy gates,

The Prophet declares here, that the hearts of them all would become soft and effeminate when God would proceed to destroy Nineveh. We have said before that the hearts of men are so in the hand of God, that he melts whatever courage there may be in them, whenever he pleases: and God prepares men for ruin, when he debilitates their hearts, that they cannot bear the sight of their enemies. God indeed can leave in men their perverseness, so that they may ever run furiously into ruin, and not be able, with a courageous heart, to repel the attacks of their enemies; but he often softens their hearts and deprives them of power, that he may make more evident his judgment: God does not, however, always work in the same way; for variety in his judgments is calculated to do us good, for thereby our minds are more powerfully awakened. Were his proceedings uniformly the same, we could not so well distinguish the hand of God, as when he acts now in this way, and then in another. But, as I have already said, it is what is well known, that God enervates men and strips them of all courage, when he gives them over to destruction.

So now the Prophet speaks of the Ninevites, Behold, he says, thy people are women ²⁴⁷ The demonstrative particle, Behold, is here emphatical: for the Assyrians, no doubt, ridiculed, as a fable, the prediction of the Prophet; and it was what the Israelites found it difficult to believe. This is the reason why the Prophet pointed out, as by the finger, what surpassed the comprehensions of men. By saying, in the midst of thee, he intimates, that though they should be separated from their enemies and dwell in a fortified city, they should yet be filled with trembling. This amplification deserves to be noticed: for it is nothing wonderful, when an onset frightens us, when enemies join battle with us, and when many things present themselves before our eyes, which are calculated to deprive us of courage; but when we are frightened by report only concerning our enemies, and we become fainthearted, though walls be between us, it then appears evident, that we are smitten by the hand of God; for when we see walls of stone, and yet our hearts become brittle like glass, is it not evident, that we are inwardly terrified by the Lord, as it were, through some hidden influence, rather than through intervening and natural causes? We now then perceive the Prophet’s meaning, when he says, that the people would become women, or effeminate, in the midst of the city, in its very bowels; as though he had said, that they would not cease to tremble, even while they were dwelling in a safe place.

By opening, opened shall be thy gates, he says, to thy enemies. He shows again, that though the Assyrians were fortified, every access would be made open to their enemies, as though there was no fortress. By saying, the gates of thy land, it is probable that he speaks not only of the city, but of all their strongholds. The Assyrians, no doubt, fortified many cities, in order to keep afar off the enemy, and to preserve the chief seat of the empire free from danger and fear. I therefore understand the Prophet as referring here to many cities, when he says, By opening, opened shall be the gates of thy land to thine enemies and fire shall consume thy bars He means, that though they had before carefully fortified the whole land around, so that they thought themselves secure from all hostile invasion, yet all this would be useless; for the fire would consume all their bars. By fire, the Prophet understands metaphorically the judgment of God. For as we see that so great is the vehemence of fire, that it melts iron and brass, so the Prophet means, that there would be no strength which could defend Nineveh and its empire against the hand of God. It follows —

TSK: Nah 3:13 - thy people // the gates // thy bars

thy people : Isa 19:16; Jer 50:37, Jer 51:30

the gates : Nah 2:6; Psa 107:16; Isa 45:1, Isa 45:2

thy bars : Psa 147:13; Jer 51:30

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Nah 3:13 - Behold // Thy people // In the midst of thee // Are women // The gates of thy land // Thine enemies // The fire shall devour // Bars

Behold this may seem strange, but attend diligently, thou shalt see how this will be.

Thy people those thou hirest, and are thine for pay; those that are born thine, all thy warriors.

In the midst of thee where very cowards use to be valiant, or where necessity makes cowards valiant, where they should show most valour.

Are women weak, afraid, flee away, and hide themselves, Jer 48:41 41 30 . God would fill them with terror, and they shall not dare to keep their gates shut against the enemy.

The gates of thy land the cities, but especially the strong fortified frontiers which should keep out the enemy,

shall be set wide open shall either through fear or treachery be opened, wide opened to admit the enemy.

Thine enemies Chaldeans, and their confederates.

The fire shall devour when the enemy is thus admitted, he shall burn either the city or the gates and bars, he will never trust nor spare thee.

Bars with which the gates were both shut and strengthened, 1Sa 23:7 Psa 147:13 .

Gill: Nah 3:13 - Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women // the gates of thy land shall be set wide open to thine enemies // the fire shall devour thy bars

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women,.... Or like women, weak and feeble, fearful and timorous; frightened at the first approach of the enemy; run away, and run up and down in the utmost consternation and distress, having neither skill nor courage to oppose them; some regard may be had to the effeminacy of their king; see Nah 2:7. The sense is, they should be at once dispirited, and lose all strength of mind and body, and have neither heads nor hearts to form schemes, and execute them in their own defence; and thus should they be, even in the midst of the city, upon their own ground, where, any where, it might be thought they would exert themselves, and play the man, since their all lay at stake: this was another thing they trusted in, the multitude of their people, even of their soldiers; but these would be of no avail, since they would lose all their military skill and bravery:

the gates of thy land shall be set wide open to thine enemies: instead of guarding the passes and avenues, they would abandon them to the enemy; and, instead of securing the gates and passages, they would run away from them; and the enemy would find as easy access as if they were thrown open on purpose for them; perhaps this may respect the gates of the rivers being opened by the inundation, which threw down the wall, and made a way into the city; see Nah 2:6,

the fire shall devour thy bars; with which their gates had been shut, but now opened, and in the enemies' hands; who would set fire to them, that the way to go in and out might be open and free.