What Does Nahum 2:5 Mean in the King James?

He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.

Nahum 2:5 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The “defence” is literally a covering, so protection is a screen being raised while the defenders themselves are still stumbling.

THE MEANING

A threatened people calls its strongest defenders into motion, yet they stumble as they hurry to the wall and a covering is set in place. This is the exposed interval in a crisis: protection is being assembled while the people meant to hold it are already losing their footing.

THE ROOT

הַסֹּכֵךְ

ha-sōkhēkh

GROWS FROM

ס־כ־ך

s-k-k

⁨סָכַךְ⁩ (sākhakh) means to cover, screen, or hedge in.

“defence” in this verse is ha-sōkhēkh. The word pictures a cover or screen, rather than defense as an abstract quality. Protection here is a physical layer hurried into place while the defenders’ footing is failing.

ALSO GROWS

sukkāh: Booth or shelter

סֻכָּה

A shelter is a covering, keeping the word’s concrete image of protection in view.

sākhakh: To cover or screen

סָכַךְ

This is the same verb behind “He shall cover thee” in Psalm 91:4, where covering becomes shelter beneath wings.

יִכָּשְׁלוּ

yikkāshəlū

GROWS FROM

כ־ש־ל

k-sh-l

⁨כָּשַׁל⁩ (kāshal) means to stumble, totter, or falter.

“stumble” in this verse is yikkāshəlū. The root depicts a faltering step, and its related noun can name what trips the foot. Their movement is marked by broken footing even as they rush to prepare the covering.

ALSO GROWS

kāshal: To stumble or falter

כָּשַׁל

This verb supplies the verse’s image of defenders losing steadiness as they move.

mikhshōl: A stumbling block or obstacle

מִכְשׁוֹל

The related noun shows the root can describe either the faltering step or what obstructs it.

THE PATTERN

A threat exposes the difference between steady preparation and protection assembled in a rush.

And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.

Isaiah 22:10 · KJVThe people turn to urgent wall-building under threat, echoing Nahum’s image of protection being readied as danger closes in.

If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

Proverbs 24:10 · KJVAdversity makes the condition of one’s strength visible, as the defenders’ faltering does in Nahum.

Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

Luke 14:31 · KJVThe question makes preparation before conflict part of the picture, sharpening the contrast with Nahum’s hurried defense.

THE THREAD

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 91:4 · KJV

Nahum’s word for “defence” shares the ⁨סכך⁩ (s-k-k) root with “He shall cover thee.” In Nahum the covering is a screen being prepared amid stumbling; Psalm 91 uses the same root for shelter beneath wings.

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