We begin the Book of Nachum, a short book comprising only three chapters. The prophecy before us was delivered concerning Nineveh, the capital of the king of Assyria, as it is written: "Out of that land went forth Ashur, and built Nineveh." The king of Assyria was a wicked ruler who inflicted great harm upon Israel and exiled them from their land. The Holy One, blessed be He, avenged Israel's cause through Nevuchadnezzar, who waged war against Assyria and destroyed its empire. Chazal state: In the first year of his reign, Nevuchadnezzar conquered Nineveh; in his second year, he conquered Yehoyakim. From this we learn that Nevuchadnezzar exacted retribution from Assyria for what they had done to Israel.
מַשָּׂא נִינְוֵה סֵפֶר חֲזוֹן נַחוּם הָאֶלְקֹשִׁי׃ - The burden of Nineveh; the book of the vision of Nachum the Elkoshite.
The Radak notes that Scripture does not record in which generation Nachum prophesied. It states only that he was "the Elkoshite," which refers either to his hometown or the ancestral city of his forefathers. However, Seder Olam states that Yoel, Nachum, and Chavakuk prophesied during the days of Menasheh. This raises a question: Why does the verse not say, "The burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nachum the Elkoshite, who prophesied in the days of Menasheh," as we find with other prophets whose eras are explicitly mentioned? Chazal explain that because Menasheh was not righteous, the prophecy was not associated with his name. Therefore, for all three of them - Nachum, Yoel, and Chavakuk - the text does not mention that they lived in his days, because Menasheh was wicked. Even though he repented at the end of his life, his repentance was not complete, and Scripture therefore preferred not to mention his name.
The Malbim explains that the book is divided into two distinct sections: the first is called "the burden of Nineveh," comprising the prophecies of Chapters 1 and 2; and the second is called "the book of the vision of Nachum," which is the prophecy in Chapter 3. This explains why two terms are used here - first a "burden" and then a "vision" - because the first part of the book is indeed a burden, while the second part is a vision.
The difference between them is that Nineveh was destroyed twice. The "burden" describes the first downfall of Nineveh, which occurred prior to the days of the prophet Nachum or during his lifetime. A "vision," by contrast, always refers to events foreseen for the distant future; thus, in the vision, Nachum foresees Nineveh's second destruction. Consequently, Chapters 1 and 2 describe the first downfall, while the third chapter is a future vision of Nineveh's second destruction, which occurred in the first year of Nevuchadnezzar's reign, when it was wiped out completely.
The Malbim notes that Nineveh's second destruction, carried out by Nevuchadnezzar, is explicitly documented in the words of Chazal. By contrast, the first downfall is not mentioned in our Sages' writings; rather, it is a well-established account recorded throughout the chronicles of antiquity. The Malbim cites the narrative as it appears there:
Sardanapalus was the king of Assyria - a vile, gluttonous, and drunken man, given over to depravity, foolish and thoroughly corrupt. A conspiracy was formed against him: the commander of Babylon, Belesys, who was subjugated under Assyrian rule, allied with the commander of Media, Arbaces. Together with other military commanders, they assembled an army of about four hundred thousand men to march against Nineveh. The king went out to meet them, fought them, and pursued them all the way to the border of the land of the Chaldeans, where the rebels stood their ground, but the king of Assyria prevailed. It then became known that a vast army had set out from a region called Bactria to reinforce the king of Assyria. What did the conspirators do? They sent a delegation to that approaching army to win them over: "Come join us in our rebellion against the king; it will be far more advantageous for you to help us overthrow the king of Assyria."
The king of Assyria, Sardanapalus, was complacent. First, he had already routed them and chased them to the border; second, a massive army was on its way to reinforce him. He therefore sat down to feast, and they drank and became intoxicated. The conspirators attacked by night and struck down the king's entire host. The force sent out to counter them, led by his commander Shalman, the king's brother-in-law, fell in battle, and all the officers allied with him rebelled and threw off his yoke.
Afterward, they laid siege to Nineveh. Nineveh was a fortified city, surrounded by the Tigris River (Chidekel), and the king barricaded himself inside. For three years the rebels besieged it and could not prevail over it. The sorcerers said to the king: As long as the Tigris River is not your enemy, you can remain calm; the moment you see the Tigris River become an adversary and an enemy to you - know that this is the end of the story. Therefore, he remained calm and continued to hold out during the siege.
After three years, the river breached its banks and made a breach in the city walls measuring approximately half a parsah. When the king saw that the prophecy of his sorcerers and astrologers was coming true and the river had become his enemy, he panicked greatly and fell into despair. He ordered a pyre of wood and fire to be erected in his palace, placed all his wealth upon it, and the queen, his concubines, and he himself all ascended the pyre and were consumed by fire - a mass suicide of him and everything that was his. And as we have already mentioned: a very foolish and corrupt king.
It is worth noting that the Assyrians were known as an extremely cruel nation, far beyond anything the world had known before them. One of the Assyrian kings, Ashurnasirpal II, describes his deeds as follows: I burned many of their captives with fire; I cut off the noses, ears, and fingers of some; I gouged out the eyes of many; I built one pillar of living people and another of severed heads; their young men and maidens I burned in fire. This is only one example of horrific cruelty the likes of which history had never known.
From here, one can also understand how that king was capable of taking his entire family, his relatives, his wives, and his concubines, and burning them together with himself. If a person wants to commit suicide, let him do so alone; what sense is there in burning his entire household? There is no logic to it. Rather, as we have said, these were terrifyingly tyrannical and depraved kings, and so he had no qualms about compelling everyone to perish with him on the pyre.
The enemies waited for this moment, entered and captured the city, and did not lay their hands on plunder. They had no desire to harm the city's inhabitants; they came only to destroy the royal house and had no interest in waging war against the general population as well. In reality, however, the inhabitants did not trust this. Panic fell upon them; they fled, ran away, and abandoned the city, leaving it like a desolate wasteland. The enemy erected a monument and memorial of contempt and disgrace to King Sardanapalus as a sign of his evil deeds. All the monuments of glory that the kings used to erect for themselves, including those of Sardanapalus, they smashed and shattered, "and made it a sign and a proverb" - meaning this city became a prime example of a corrupt king deposed from his throne.
The Malbim notes that this is the essence of the account found across all historical chronicles, yet we do not know precisely when it occurred, nor can we place this king with certainty in relation to the Kingdom of Israel. "We cannot extract from them a definitive and clear matter"; we have no conclusive evidence. Some explain that King Sardanapalus is the figure who appears in our Scripture under the name Esarhaddon (Esar-chaddan), who reigned in place of Sennacherib, and concerning whom it is written that his sons struck him down with the sword. Scholars also sought to find allusions in the names: "Sar" corresponds to "Esar," and "Napal" corresponds to "Chaddon," connected to the name "Pul" mentioned in Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles).
If we accept this premise, it follows that this event took place at the end of the days of Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) or at the beginning of the days of Menasheh, which fits very well with what we noted earlier - that the era of Nachum, who depicts the downfall of Assyria and Nineveh, belongs to the era of Menasheh. Thus, there is chronological harmony between secular historical chronicles and what appears in our sacred texts. However, the Malbim points out that one who examines the historical chronicles gets the impression that this took place much earlier. In simple terms, the matter cannot be definitively decided. Therefore, we seek to explain the verses in a way that accommodates both possibilities - whether this occurred many years earlier or in the days of Nachum during the reign of Menasheh, as Chazal state.
Accordingly, if we say that this occurred in his own time, Nachum is witnessing the downfall of Sardanapalus, when his city of Nineveh was destroyed and the wicked king committed suicide along with his entire household and palace - and it is regarding this that Nachum says, "The burden of Nineveh." Nineveh was subsequently destroyed a second time in the days of Nevuchadnezzar, which is indeed recorded in our Scripture - and regarding that he says, "The book of the vision," for a vision pertains to the future. Now one can understand why the verse uses a dual expression: there is a "burden" regarding what he currently sees (a massa being a spoken discourse, an address, or an exposition on the matter), and there is also a "book of the vision," a prophecy concerning what is destined to occur when Nineveh will be destroyed in the future.
Targum Yonatan translates "The burden of Nineveh" as: "The burden of the cup of curse to give Nineveh to drink" - a prophecy concerning the cup of poison with which Hashem would make Nineveh drink, meaning a prophecy of impending calamity for Nineveh. He continues: "In former times, Yonah ben Amittai, the prophet from Gat Chefer, prophesied against it and it repented of its sin" - previously, Yonah ben Amittai, familiar to us from Sefer Yonah, was told: "Arise, go to Nineveh," and then it repented. "And now that it has continued to sin, Nachum of Beit Koshi returned and prophesied against it" - once it reverted to sin, Nachum returned to prophesy against it. Thus, according to the Targum, "HaElkoshi" is not a place name; rather, "El" is a preposition, meaning Nachum from Beit Koshi. We see that following the prophecy of Yonah in his time, Nachum now prophesies. And so it is cited in Chazal that Nineveh was ultimately destroyed: the prophecy uttered by Yonah ben Amittai, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown," was indeed granted a deferral and was not fulfilled immediately, but after time it was truly destroyed.
אֵל קַנּוֹא וְנֹקֵם יְהֹוָה נֹקֵם יְהֹוָה וּבַעַל חֵמָה נֹקֵם יְהֹוָה לְצָרָיו וְנוֹטֵר הוּא לְאֹיְבָיו׃ - Hashem is a jealous and avenging God; Hashem takes vengeance and is full of wrath; Hashem takes vengeance on His adversaries and bears a grudge against His enemies.
Rashi explains that these words were spoken concerning the descendants of Sancheiriv, as we mentioned took place in the days of Menasheh. "A jealous and avenging God" - ever since He began exacting retribution for Israel from their enemies; and now too, He is destined to take vengeance and be full of wrath against His adversaries who destroyed His land and exiled His people; and He harbors the enmity against the Babylonians. Thus, there are three time periods here: Hashem has always been zealous and avenging against those nations; now as well He will be zealous and take vengeance against Assyria, for the Babylonians will come against them; and do not worry - He will settle the score with the Babylonians as well, and this is the meaning of "He bears a grudge against His enemies."
Rabbi Shimon asks: Why are these three expressions of vengeance mentioned? He answers: They correspond to the three exiles that Sancheiriv exiled Israel, as we find in Seder Olam. Here we have an additional explanation for the threefold vengeance mentioned here - that Hashem will exact retribution from them three times, corresponding to the three exiles.
The Malbim opens here with an introduction to the book, explaining: Know that there are two attributes at work here. The first is that Hashem is zealous for the honor of His Name that has been desecrated, and this is "zealous" (kanno). The second is that Hashem avenges the harm done to His people or done against Him. There is an essential difference between them: when it comes to actual evil committed by the wicked, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not delay His anger; rather, He exacts punishment from them immediately. The reason is simple - the moment the wicked commit evil, immediate retribution must be brought upon them so that they do not persist in their wickedness and destroy the world. But regarding Hashem being zealous for the honor of His Name that was desecrated, here He does not take vengeance immediately, but rather He is "full of wrath" (ba'al cheimah).
What is the difference between "avenging" (nokem) and "full of wrath" (ba'al cheimah)? Wrath (cheimah), as the Malbim explains in several places, is internal anger that is not expressed outwardly - "and his wrath burned within him" (Esther 1:12), meaning it remains inside. Anger that bursts outward, however, is called "fury" (af) - "For a fire is kindled in My nostril and burns down to the depths of the Netherworld" (Devarim 32:22); the nostrils flare red, and figuratively fire issues from the nose. That represents actual vengeance and an act of retribution against the enemies. Wrath, so to speak, means: I harbor wrath inside against them, but I have not yet put it into action.
To understand why the verse uses "avenges" (nokem) regarding adversaries (tsarim) and "bears a grudge" (noter) regarding enemies (oyvim), we must understand the difference between an enemy (oyev) and an adversary (tsar). We have already addressed this in Megillat Esther: "An adversary and an enemy, this wicked Haman" (Esther 7:6). A tsar is one who actively oppresses and causes distress, while an oyev is one who harbors ill will in his heart but does not cause active harm. If you will: the Palestinians are a tsar, while the Europeans are an oyev. The former come here with knives to slaughter, while the latter have harbored, suppressed hatred (though one could to some degree call them a tsar as well, since they send all their delegates here to film, document, and draft reports against us).
The Malbim adds that there can be a tsar who is not an oyev - he actively causes harm, but not out of deep-seated hatred, rather simply due to a corrupt character trait, "for the fun of it." The reverse is also possible: an oyev who is not a tsar - he hates in his heart, but takes no action to cause harm. The same applies toward Heaven: one who commits active evil in interpersonal matters (bein adam lachaveiro) is considered among Hashem's oppressors (tsarav), and he may not be an oyev at all, but merely acting for his own pleasure; whereas those who willfully deny the Holy One, blessed be He, and reject faith in Hashem are called Hashem's enemies (oyvei Hashem), for the enmity is in their heart, even though in interpersonal relations they might do no harm whatsoever. Thus: a tsar relates to interpersonal conduct, causing distress to one's fellow; an oyev is one who wages war against the Holy One, blessed be He, not through physical action against others, but in his heart, with harbored hatred.
Now consider the difference between avenging (nekimah) and bearing a grudge (netirah), as we know from Chazal on the verse, "You shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge" (Vayikra 19:18). To avenge means taking active revenge - "You did this to me, so I will do the same to you: you did not lend to me, so I will not lend to you." To bear a grudge means saying, "I am not like you; you did not lend to me, but I will give to you" - and even this is forbidden, called noter, related to shomer, guarding the animosity in one's heart.
From here, the verse is wonderfully explained: "Hashem takes vengeance on His adversaries (le'tsarav)" - the tsar actively oppresses, and therefore the vengeance against him is active and immediate, for one who commits active evil must be stopped at once. "And He bears a grudge against His enemies (le'oyvav)" - the oyev hates only in his heart and does not actively cause harm, so Hashem waits for him, extends His patience, and does not exact retribution from him right away. According to this, it is magnificent why the verse defines Hashem regarding the latter as "full of wrath" (ba'al cheimah) - cheimah is internal anger that has not yet been executed in action; whereas against those who commit active evil, the tsar, Hashem takes vengeance and brings retribution into actual reality.
יְהֹוָה אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וּגְדָל־כֹּחַ וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה יְהֹוָה בְּסוּפָה וּבִשְׂעָרָה דַּרְכּוֹ וְעָנָן אֲבַק רַגְלָיו׃ - Hashem is slow to anger and great in power, and He will by no means clear the guilty; Hashem, His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust of His feet.
The Malbim explains that the prophet now comes to clarify the matter of harboring resentment: since Hashem keeps it in His heart against the enemy and does not exact retribution immediately, it emerges that He is slow to anger and does not punish right away. And toward whom is He slow to anger? Toward what was stated at the end of the previous verse: "and He bears resentment against His enemies."
And who can afford not to take retribution immediately? Only the Holy One, blessed be He, which is why the verse continues: "and great in power." After all, why do we feel the urge to strike back immediately? For two reasons. First, we have a short fuse - "He did this to me? Unacceptable! Immediate retaliation is required"; it is hard for us to endure, hard for us to be patient. And second, a person tells himself: today I have power, but who knows what will happen tomorrow; I have the opportunity right now - let me strike him now. With the Holy One, blessed be He, neither of these concerns exists.
There is no impatience before Him. The Gemara asks: what is "quickly" for the Holy One, blessed be He? Eight hundred and fifty years, as it says, "and you will perish quickly from upon the good land," and they went into exile after eight hundred and fifty years. It follows that if a person wants Hashem to do something quickly - within eight hundred and fifty years, that is considered quick. And when Hashem does things slowly, it can take two or three thousand years, but do not worry - it will come in the end. Did you ever think the postal service was slow? Suddenly it becomes clear what is considered slow and what is considered fast in the terms of the Holy One, blessed be He. There is a story of a man who once met an angel and asked him: How long is a second in Heaven? The angel replied: A second in Heaven is a million years. He asked: And how much is a shekel in Heaven? He replied: A shekel in Heaven is a million shekels. The man said: Do me a favor, give me a shekel. The angel said: No problem, wait a second.
Therefore, He is "slow to anger and great in power": the Holy One, blessed be He, can afford not to exact punishment immediately because He is great in power, and one who is great in power does not worry that his strength will diminish and he will be unable to punish. Furthermore, "great in power" means that He has the strength to overcome His anger. We lack patience; we are short-tempered and cannot endure distress, but the Holy One, blessed be He, is long-suffering and has immense power to restrain His will. The Gemara says: "These are His mighty deeds, these are His awesome deeds" - gentiles carouse in His Sanctuary, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, remains silent before them. This is His greatness and this is His awesomeness, and it demonstrates the greatness of His strength, for "who is mighty? He who conquers his impulse." True strength is not striking immediately, but knowing how to say "no" to oneself and exercise restraint.
Yet do not mistakenly assume that because He is slow to anger, He will never exact retribution in the end. Therefore, the verse immediately continues: "and He will by no means clear the guilty" - ultimately, the Holy One, blessed be He, will punish and destroy the enemies when their measure of guilt is full, repaying them as they deserve.
From here stems the message: know that although the Holy One, blessed be He, granted Nineveh a reprieve ever since Jonah prophesied about it, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown," and even though their repentance was incomplete - as we learned there in Sefer Yonah according to the Malbim, that they repented from the robbery in their hands but did not abandon their idolatry - ultimately, the Holy One, blessed be He, exacted retribution from them.
And the explanation: idolatry, heresy, and denial of faith - this is the category of an "enemy" (oyeiv), which resides in the heart and causes no overt, active oppression. The people of Nineveh continued in idolatry, and toward an enemy, "He bears resentment against His enemies" - harboring resentment means keeping it in reserve and waiting, which is why He is "slow to anger." But "He will by no means clear the guilty" - in the end, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not acquit, and He demands full reckoning.
And regarding the violence and robbery - for this He no longer exacted retribution from them, for robbery is in the category of an "adversary" (tzar), since when people rob and oppress one another, they cause distress, as it were, to the Holy One, blessed be He, whereas an enemy is one who denies Hashem. Nineveh ceased being adversaries and remained only enemies: they were no longer robbing and oppressing, having repented of the violence in their hands, yet they still remained enemies. Therefore, vengeance did not strike immediately, for the Holy One, blessed be He, brings immediate vengeance when dealing with an adversary - as we saw with Nineveh itself when Jonah was dispatched to them immediately, and as we saw with Sodom which He overturned right away, and as we saw with the Generation of the Flood where the earth was filled with violence and He brought a flood upon them. In the case of an adversary, the Holy One, blessed be He, leaves no open account; He settles it immediately. But here, where they remained only in the category of an enemy, toward whom there is stored wrath - anger kept restrained within - Hashem bears resentment, waits, and does not execute punishment immediately. Once their measure of guilt was full, Nachum explains that the Holy One, blessed be He, would take retribution from them and destroy Nineveh completely. Thus far, the prophet has provided an introduction: how Hashem showed patience to the people of Nineveh, why He was patient with them, and how He was ultimately destined to exact retribution from them.
Now the prophet begins to describe how He will exact retribution from them: "Hashem, His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust of His feet." The Malbim explains that the description is structured in three successive stages, and each stage is depicted with vivid imagery conveying the magnitude of the trouble and calamity, corresponding to the four elements of the world. The ancients divided the physical world into four elements; today science speaks of over a hundred elements, and there is no contradiction here, for it all depends on how much you group together and trace back to a single root. The four most fundamental elements are fire, air (wind), water, and earth, and from them the world is composed, and from them many further elements branch out.
Here the prophet describes how these four elements go forth like four primal forces of nature to lay waste and destroy the face of the earth. At first, it is described that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, descends from the heights of heaven down to the earth to devastate it, accompanied by the two elements that constantly accompany Him: the element of wind and the element of water. "His way is in the whirlwind and the storm" - this is the element of wind. "And the cloud is the dust of His feet" - this is the element of water, the moisture within the cloud; He rides upon a swift cloud, and the dust it raises is the cloud itself (this does not refer to the element of earth). These are the two elements that destroy human settlements to this day: a raging tempest - like a hurricane sweeping in, destroying mountains and shattering rocks; or a torrent of floodwaters - extraordinary rains that flood the rivers and submerge entire cities. Through these two elements, the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts retribution.
גּוֹעֵר בַּיָּם וַיַּבְּשֵׁהוּ וְכָל־הַנְּהָרוֹת הֶחֱרִיב אֻמְלַל בָּשָׁן וְכַרְמֶל וּפֶרַח לְבָנוֹן אֻמְלָל׃ - He rebukes the sea and dries it up, and dries out all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel languish, and the blossom of Lebanon withers.
Now the prophet describes that the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring ruin both on sea and on dry land: He rebukes the sea and dries it up, and has also desolated the rivers. The Malbim explains that there is a striking paradox here: we just spoke of a cloud, and a cloud brings rain, and rain causes a flood, and during a flood all the streams flow into the sea and the sea fills up, and all the rivers fill with water - yet here, on the other hand, "He rebukes the sea and dries it up" and "all the rivers He dried out." Consider how the Holy One, blessed be He, performs two paradoxical actions that seem to contradict one another.
And so too on dry land: "Bashan and Carmel languish" - through the tempest and "a tempest of hail, a destructive storm." This phrase from the Malbim is difficult to understand at first glance, until one examines it closely and sees his usual method, his gaze encompassing the entire Tanach with vast mastery, citing a verse in Yeshayahu: "Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail, a destructive storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, casting down to the earth with force." The reference is to a tempestuous wind that shatters and cuts down everything.
The word umlal ("languishes" or "withers") denotes cutting off, as in "in the name of the Lord I will cut them down (amilam)" - I will destroy them. This is also related to the term milah (circumcision), which is the cutting off of the foreskin. Thus, the meaning here is that all the grain fields and the blossoms of the trees will be cut down. This corresponds to the order in Tehillim: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters" corresponds to "He rebukes the sea and dries it up, and dries out all the rivers"; "The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars" corresponds to "Bashan and Carmel languish, and the blossom of Lebanon withers" - for both the cedars in Lebanon and the blossoms and trees will all be cut down by the voice of Hashem. And let us not forget the context: this is a description of the devastation that will befall Nineveh, how the Holy One, blessed be He, will cut it off for its wicked deeds.
Rashi cites the homiletic teaching of Chazal that the words "and the blossom of Lebanon withers" refer to the delicacies that King Solomon planted in the Beit HaMikdash. For it is taught that in the Beit HaMikdash there was a golden vine that miraculously yielded golden fruit, and so it was throughout the First Temple era. When the enemies came and destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, "the blossom of Lebanon withered." "Lebanon" refers to the Beit HaMikdash, either because the builders constructed it using cedar trees from Lebanon, or because it whitens (malbin) the sins of Israel. That very blossom that grew in Lebanon, in the Beit HaMikdash, was withered and cut off: the moment the Babylonians entered the Sanctuary, the fruits dried up and that blossom ceased to bloom.
הָרִים רָעֲשׁוּ מִמֶּנּוּ וְהַגְּבָעוֹת הִתְמֹגָגוּ וַתִּשָּׂא הָאָרֶץ מִפָּנָיו וְתֵבֵל וְכָל־יוֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ׃ - The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt; the earth is burned before Him, the world and all who dwell in it.
"The mountains quake before Him" - the kings and princes of the Chaldeans will tremble before Hashem's decree. "And the earth is burned before Him" - Rashi explains that vatisa is related to fire, as in "a column of smoke" (mas'at ashan), meaning that the land will be entirely scorched and no vegetation will grow upon it, like Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Malbim continues the line of thought he explained earlier, that these events unfold in three stages, like three waves. Here begins the second wave: the Holy One, blessed be He, and His chariot, having gone forth from heaven to exact retribution from Nineveh, now descend upon the high mountain peaks and draw closer to the earth. Here the third destructive agent is described - the element of earth. When Hashem stands upon the mountaintops, the mountains quake before Him, and the lower hills likewise melt away. This means that the Holy One, blessed be He, will shake the element of earth, causing an earthquake and turmoil in the land. This begins with the mountains, because typically an earthquake begins in the high mountains and spreads from there to the hills.
To this the verse adds, "and the earth lifts up before Him" (vatissa ha'aretz mippanav). The Malbim does not interpret this like Rashi and the Radak as an expression of burning (as in "and David carried them away [vayissa'em David]," meaning he burned them), but rather in the sense of lifting and rising: the earth as it were rises and stands up before Him, like a person standing up before a great personage, and with it rise the world and all who dwell therein. That is to say, the earth as a whole will quake, and this is a depiction of total destruction, for when an earthquake occurs, everything is destroyed.
לִפְנֵי זַעְמוֹ מִי יַעֲמוֹד וּמִי יָקוּם בַּחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ חֲמָתוֹ נִתְּכָה כָאֵשׁ וְהַצֻּרִים נִתְּצוּ מִמֶּנּוּ׃ - Before His fury who can stand, and who can rise up in the heat of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and rocks are shattered by Him.
The Malbim showed us the orderly progression: the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were progressively descends and arrives, until here we have reached the third level, where the Judge has already arrived, judging the earth and passing sentence upon them according to their deeds; He therefore pours upon them fury, wrath, and distress. And the destructive agent here is the fourth element - the element of fire. We saw earlier the element of wind, the element of water, and in the previous verse the element of earth; now we see the element of fire, through which the Holy One, blessed be He, will also exact retribution from them.
The Malbim explains the distinction between af (anger), cheimah (wrath), and za'am (fury), as all three are mentioned here. Cheimah is always internal: "and his wrath burned within him." Af is anger manifested externally, when the nostrils flare or flush red: "for a fire is kindled in My nostril." And za'am is already the actual curse, when the Holy One, blessed be He, vents His indignation and exacts retribution, producing tangible consequences. Therefore, "Before His fury who can stand?" - for it is impossible to withstand it at all, since this is fury translated into action, the punishment itself. The verse continues: "and who can rise up in the heat of His anger?" - even when He has not yet poured out His fury but His anger is merely kindled, who can stand? Furthermore, even His wrath, which is merely internal, "is poured out like fire," like a blazing flame: "For a fire is kindled in My nostril, and burns unto the depths of the netherworld." The Malbim explains that this fire is fueled by sulfur and other combustible materials found in the depths of the earth, just as we saw with Sodom and Gomorrah.
The earth spews out the substances within its belly - a depiction of a volcano. Lava is heat poured out like fire, rocks and stones that have melted and turned molten; hence, "His wrath is poured out like fire." These matter melt to the point that "rocks are shattered by Him" - a rock (tzur) is always a symbol of strength, "he moves a rock from its place," firm as flint - yet even the boulders are severed and shattered before Him, rising like flying dust to devastate and destroy everything around them.
Notice the dual phrasing of "who can stand (ya'amod)" and "who can rise (yakum)." The Malbim explains: when they appear alongside one another, rising (kimah) is easier than standing (amidah), as it is written: "and the aged rose and stood" - to rise is the mere act of getting up, whereas to stand is to remain firmly established in a stable posture. Similarly, "He leans upon his house, but it does not stand; he holds on to it, but it does not rise" - he leans on the house and it does not stand firm, and he holds fast to it and it cannot even stay upright, for rising is easier than standing, conveying that the house will be exceedingly frail.
So too is the sequence here: "Before His fury who can stand?" - za'am is wrath actualized into deed, and who can stand firm then? "And who can rise up in the heat of His anger?" - even when it is only anger, before the fury has been carried out in action, who can even manage to get up? And afterwards, "His wrath is poured out like fire" - which is more internal, yet even under it they cannot endure.
We opened with the Book of Nachum, consisting of three chapters, which divides into two parts: "the burden of Nineveh" in chapters 1 and 2, depicting the first downfall of Nineveh, and "the book of the vision" in chapter 3, foreseeing its second destruction in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. We examined the account of Sardanapalus's fall as recorded in the chronicles of history, the cruelty of the Assyrian kings, and the chronological uncertainties. We learned the fundamental principles of the Malbim's introduction: the distinction between a persecutor (tzar), who actively oppresses, and an enemy (oyev), who harbors hatred in his heart; between immediate vengeance (nekamah) and nursing anger while delaying punishment (netirah); and among anger (af), wrath (cheimah), and fury (za'am). From this we understood why the Holy One, blessed be He, exercised patience toward Nineveh - since they repented of their robbery and remained merely enemies through their idol worship - and why nonetheless "He will by no means clear the guilty," for in the end the measure is filled and the reckoning is settled. Finally, we observed the depiction of retribution across the four elements of the world: wind and water accompanying the descent of the Divine Presence, earth in the earthquake, and fire in the melting of rocks - all to teach us that the Holy One, blessed be He, is slow to anger and great in power, but ultimately exacts full retribution from the wicked.