Nahum 3:17
What does Nahum 3:17 mean?
A plain-English look at Nahum 3:17 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nahum 3:17 means
Nineveh’s princes and marshals resemble locusts or grasshoppers that cluster in hedges on a cold day, only to take flight when the sun warms them. In calm conditions, they appear numerous and steadfast; under pressure, they disappear, leaving no trace. Authority that depends on favorable weather is no authority at all. The rulers’ loyalty is thin, their courage conditional. This is the collapse of governance: at the first rise of heat—real crisis—they scatter. The people look for leadership and find only empty perches. God’s judgment exposes leaders who were present for privilege but absent for protection.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Your crowned ones are like the locusts, and your scribes like the clouds of insects which take cover in the walls on a cold day, but when the sun comes up they go in flight, and are seen no longer in their place.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Thy crowned ones <FI>are<Fi> as a locust, And thy princes as great grasshoppers, That encamp in hedges in a day of cold, The sun hath risen, and it doth flee away, And not known is its place where they are.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Thy guards are like the locusts: and thy little ones like the locusts of locusts which swarm on the hedges in the day of cold: the sun arose, and they flew away, and their place was not known where they were.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Thy chosen men are as the locusts, and thy captains as swarms of grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day: when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Context
After the merchants in verse 16, verse 17 targets the officials. Both groups share the ephemeral, self-preserving behavior of insects that vanish when conditions change. This leads naturally to verse 18’s direct word to the king of Assyria about sleeping shepherds and a scattered flock. The flow highlights that Nineveh’s downfall is not only military but administrative: when the pressure mounts, the structures of rule dissolve, leaving the nation unled and vulnerable.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Revelation 9:7
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men’s faces.
- Jeremiah 51:27
Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm.
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