What Does Nahum 3:5 Mean?
Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts. I will uncover your hem over your face, and I will let the nations see your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.THE KEY
Its judgment is exposure before witnesses: the covering is dragged up, and the nations are made to see.
THE MEANING
The power that stands against the LORD is forcibly stripped and displayed before nations and kingdoms. The verse speaks now wherever power hides its violence behind an image of invulnerability: what it conceals is made visible, and its disgrace is public.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that status or intimidation can make abusive power untouchable and keep its shame unseen.
THE ROOT
וְגִלֵּיתִי
wĕgillîtî
GROWS FROM
גלה
גלה (galah) means to uncover, expose, or reveal.
“uncover” in this verse is wĕgillîtî. English “discover” can sound like finding something unknown, while גלה names the act of uncovering it. The same root appears in גָּלָה and נִגְלָה, tracing the movement from concealment to exposure.
ALSO GROWS
galah: to uncover or reveal
גָּלָה
This verbal form shares all three root consonants and makes clear that the verse’s “discover” is an act of exposure.
niglah: to be revealed or become visible
נִגְלָה
This form carries the same root into the state of being exposed, echoing the verse’s removal of concealment.
וְהַרְאֵיתִי
wĕharʾētî
GROWS FROM
ראה
ראה (raʾah) means to see or perceive; in this form, to cause someone to see, to show.
“let the nations see” in this verse is wĕharʾētî. The verse moves from uncovering to making the exposure visible. This root turns the unveiling into a witnessed act: the nations are made to see.
ALSO GROWS
raʾah: to see or perceive
רָאָה
The basic verb names the seeing that the verse forces into view.
marʾeh: appearance or vision
מַרְאֶה
This noun from the same root names what is presented to sight, the exposed image the nations witness.
THE PATTERN
Power’s concealed shame is made publicly visible before witnesses.
Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will not meet you as a man.Behold, therefore I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those you have loved, with all those you have hated; I will gather them from every side against you, and I will uncover your nakedness to them, so that they see all your nakedness.And the ten horns that you perceived upon the beast, these hate the harlot, and make her empty and naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.THE THREAD
Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will not meet you as a man.Isaiah uses the same Hebrew root, גלה (galah, uncover), for the exposure Nahum names with וְגִלֵּיתִי. The shared verb reveals a recurring movement: the covering comes off, and concealed shame is made visible.
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