Nahum 2:6
What does Nahum 2:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Nahum 2:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nahum 2:6 means
The “gates of the rivers” open, and the palace dissolves. Nahum points to a water-borne breach that undermines the city’s strength at its very core. Whether floodgates fail or river defenses are forced, the effect is the same: foundations give way, and the royal house—symbol of Assyrian power—collapses. The language is stark and final. What rulers imagined immovable proves perishable in a moment. God uses creation itself as an instrument of judgment; the elements turn against human pride. The king’s citadel, once a refuge, becomes a ruin. The verse marks the turning point where defense ends and capitulation begins, confirming that Nineveh’s fall is both sudden and inescapable.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
KJV
King James Version · 1611The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949The river doorways are forced open, and the king's house is flowing away.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Gates of the rivers have been opened, And the palace is dissolved.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752The gates of the rivers are opened, and the temple is thrown down to the ground.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melteth away.
Context
After the nobles’ frantic preparations in verse 5, this verse delivers the decisive breach. It explains why the hurried defense fails: the city’s structural protections are compromised. The following verse (7) will portray the humiliating aftermath—captivity and mourning—while verses 8–10 expand the image to flight, plunder, and desolation. The flow clarifies that the collapse is not just military but symbolic of the downfall of Assyrian sovereignty.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Isaiah 45:1
Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
- 2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
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