What Does Nahum 3:8 Mean in the King James?
Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The sea that looks like a wall cannot make a city untouchable.
THE MEANING
This question places you beside a city ringed by waters, with the sea named as its strength and wall. Its defenses are real, but they do not settle whether it can stand. The verse turns apparent security into a question.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that enough natural protection or resources can make a city, or a life, untouchable.
THE ROOT
חֵיל
ḥēl
GROWS FROM
ח־י־ל
ḥ-y-l
Strength, force, capacity.
Underneath “rampart” is a word for strength and force. Its wider range includes military power and material resources, so the image reaches beyond a wall: everything that looks like power can become part of a city’s defense, yet still cannot guarantee safety.
ALSO GROWS
ḥayil: Force or an armed host.
חַיִל
The city’s apparent defense is framed as strength and force, not just a physical barrier.
ʾeshet ḥayil: A woman characterized by strength and capability.
אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל
The same word can name admired strength, as in Proverbs 31:10; Nahum’s question is not whether strength is real, but whether strength alone can secure a city.
THE PATTERN
A strong defense does not by itself make anyone secure.
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?THE THREAD
Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.The next verse answers the question by naming what follows: captivity, the killing of children, and the binding of leaders. The continuation shows that even the city’s water-bound defense does not spare it from violence and defeat.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us