Nahum 3:18
What does Nahum 3:18 mean?
A plain-English look at Nahum 3:18 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nahum 3:18 means
Now the king of Assyria is addressed: his shepherds sleep, his nobles lie at rest, and the people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. Whether the leaders are apathetic, exhausted, or fallen, the effect is the same—there is no shepherd to guide, defend, or restore. The empire that once organized the movements of other nations cannot even assemble its own remnant. This is divine judgment striking at the heart of leadership. Without vigilant shepherds, sheep wander into danger. The king stands before a scene of irretrievable dispersion, emblematic of a nation whose cohesion and care have been taken away.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Sorrow! how are the keepers of your flock sleeping, O king of Assyria! your strong men are at rest; your people are wandering on the mountains, and there is no one to get them together.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Slumbered have thy friends, king of Asshur, Rest do thine honourable ones, Scattered have been thy people on the mountains, And there is none gathering.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Thy shepherds have slumbered, O king of Assyria, thy princes shall be buried: thy people are hid in the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles lie still; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
Context
Verse 18 consolidates the leadership crisis depicted in verses 16–17 and intensifies it with direct address to the king. It prepares the final verdict in verse 19: the wound is incurable and the world rejoices at Nineveh’s fall. The transition from metaphor (locusts and grasshoppers) to pastoral imagery (shepherds and scattered sheep) underscores the relational failure of rule and hints that there will be no recovery, setting up the book’s closing line of finality.
v.17Thy 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.
v.18This passage
v.19There is no assuaging of thy hurt; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Jeremiah 51:57
And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.
- Ezekiel 31:3
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.
- Exodus 15:16
Terror and dread falleth upon them; By the greatness of thine arm they are as still as a stone; Till thy people pass over, O Jehovah, Till the people pass over that thou hast purchased.
- Ezekiel 32:22
Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;
- 1 Kings 22:17
And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and Jehovah said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.
- Jeremiah 51:39
When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah.
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