Chapter 3 concludes the book of Nachum. The Malbim explains that we now transition to a new stage in the prophecy. The book opens with two prophetic terms: "The burden of Nineveh; the book of the vision of Nachum the Elkoshite," and there the Malbim already addresses the distinction between a "burden" (massa) and a "vision" (chazon). Nineveh was destroyed twice. Chapters 1 and 2 constitute the "burden", the depiction of the first destruction that the prophet envisions before his eyes (a destruction not explicitly recorded in Scripture, which the Malbim cites from historical chronicles regarding Sardanapalus and all that befell them). Chapter 3, however, is the "vision" - what the prophet envisions from afar regarding the distant future: the second destruction of Nineveh at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, after which the city was left a perpetual desolation.
הוֹי עִיר דָּמִים כֻּלָּהּ כַּחַשׁ פֶּרֶק מְלֵאָה לֹא יָמִישׁ טָרֶף׃ - Woe to the bloody city, entirely full of deceit and robbery; prey never departs!
"Hoy" is an exclamation of lament, akin to "oy" (woe), as Radak explains. "A city of blood" - a city in which blood is routinely shed. "Entirely full of deceit (*kachash*)" - Radak interprets this as falsehood, that they lie to and deceive one another. The Malbim, however, notes that the term *kachash* throughout Scripture typically denotes a denial of faith: they deny Hashem and the existence of the Creator, refusing to submit to His sovereignty.
"Full of robbery (*perek*)" - according to the simple meaning, full of plunder, as *perek* implies tearing away and forcibly seizing what belongs to another, as in "and you shall break (*u-farakhta*) his yoke" and "tearing in pieces (*porek*) with none to deliver." The Malbim explains this in connection with the continuation of the verse, which speaks of prey: a lion first tears the beast and kills it, and then dismembers and rends it into parts (*mefarek*). In like manner, Nineveh is filled with torn flesh, "prey never departs" - they constantly hunt prey anew without ceasing, destroying lives.
קוֹל שׁוֹט וְקוֹל רַעַשׁ אוֹפָן וְסוּס דֹּהֵר וּמֶרְכָּבָה מְרַקֵּדָה׃ - The crack of a whip, and the rattling noise of wheels, and galloping horses, and bounding chariots!
"The crack of a whip" - the horsemen strike their horses with whips, and the cracking sound resounds. "The rattling noise of wheels" - the chariot wheels produce an immense racket, for these were not rubber tires but metal rims grinding over stone, echoing from afar. "And galloping horses" - the pounding gallop of mighty steeds as their hooves strike the earth with force. "And bounding chariots" - as they charge ahead, the chariots bounce violently, appearing to dance. The Malbim explains that two elements are portrayed here: both the deafening din heard across the city, and the constant danger within it, as galloping horses and bounding chariots continuously rush through its midst.
Ibn Ezra presents a fascinating interpretation, which he notes is the one he considers most accurate: "Whip" (*shot*) refers to a whip used to strike a noisemaking instrument, as was the custom of the Philistines, similar to our *tanbur* (drum). A *tanbur* is akin to the familiar darbuka, made of clay (and nowadays plastic) with stretched hide over it. However, this was no pocket-sized drum, but a vast and massive instrument; ten or more soldiers would gather around to strike it with whips, emitting a deafening din to terrify the enemy. This was psychological warfare: as the army drew near, an overwhelming uproar sounded, causing those who heard it from afar to lose heart, imagining that an immense force was advancing upon them, and they would flee in panic.
פָּרָשׁ מַעֲלֶה וְלַהַב חֶרֶב וּבְרַק חֲנִית וְרֹב חָלָל וְכֹבֶד פָּגֶר וְאֵין קֵצֶה לַגְּוִיָּה וְכָשְׁלוּ בִּגְוִיָּתָם׃ - Charging horsemen, flashing swords, glittering spears, a multitude of slain, a heap of corpses, countless dead bodies - they stumble over their corpses!
The Malbim explains: "Charging horsemen" (*parash ma'aleh*) - ascending the heights of the mountains, places previously unreachable by chariot or horse; now, cavalry can be seen climbing even there, with flashing swords and glittering spears, as warriors take their positions. Consequently, there is "a multitude of slain" - masses of people are put to death in the city streets from the immense slaughter the invaders bring through those vantage points.
"And a multitude of corpses" (וְכֹבֶד פָּגֶר) - an expression related to sweeping (כיבוד), as they would sweep away the corpses with a broom just like sweeping garbage. A broom is indeed mentioned in Scripture: "And I will sweep it with the broom of destruction" (וְטֵאטֵאתִיהָ בְּמַטְאֲטֵא הַשְׁמֵד) (a verse people are sometimes surprised to discover is authentic), and in the language of Chazal a broom is called a machbed, as in date-palm brooms, and "they sweep the house" (מכבדין את הבית). But do not think that the matter ends there: "and there is no end to the bodies" - it is impossible to clear away all the corpses; the bodies fill the streets without end, so much so that "they stumble over their corpses" - pedestrians trip over the bodies and stumble. This will be the devastation of Nineveh.
The Malbim offers an additional explanation for "and there is no end to the bodies," linking it to the following verse: There was no end or limit to what they pursued for the needs of the physical body (geviyah) - that is, pleasures, lusts, and bodily indulgences. Therefore, "and they stumble over their corpses [bodies]" - they will grow weak and sick in their own bodies from the abundance of harlotries. There was no limit to their lust, and their lust is precisely what brings them down and causes them to stumble.
מֵרֹב זְנוּנֵי זוֹנָה טוֹבַת חֵן בַּעֲלַת כְּשָׁפִים הַמֹּכֶרֶת גּוֹיִם בִּזְנוּנֶיהָ וּמִשְׁפָּחוֹת בִּכְשָׁפֶיהָ׃ - Because of the multitude of the harlotries of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, who sells nations through her harlotries, and families through her witchcrafts.
The Malbim explains that here the prophet describes the vast multitude that gathered in Nineveh. Nineveh was a merchant to the nations, a place to which throngs and merchants arrived from all over the world, and the prophet explains why so many flocked to it. The "harlot" here is not literal but an allegory: Just as people turn to a harlot to seek pleasure and gain, so did they come to the city to enjoy and profit from it. She possessed two magnetic forces of attraction: "well-favored" on the one hand, and a "mistress of witchcrafts" to ensnare souls through sorcery on the other.
And the meaning of the allegory: The nations would gather in Nineveh because of the wealth and commerce found there, which was akin to gathering around a harlot - a gathering for self-interest, like a harlot's hire: "who sells nations through her harlotries." And distinguished families would be drawn to her through sorcery and cunning schemes, blinding their eyes into subjugation, as sorcery represents an influence that seems beyond nature: "and families through her witchcrafts." In simple terms: it was a central metropolis that knew how to lure everyone to itself.
הִנְנִי אֵלַיִךְ נְאֻם יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת וְגִלֵּיתִי שׁוּלַיִךְ עַל־פָּנָיִךְ וְהַרְאֵיתִי גוֹיִם מַעְרֵךְ וּמַמְלָכוֹת קְלוֹנֵךְ׃ - Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will uncover your skirts over your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
"Your skirts" refers to the hems of the garments, which become soiled and filthy from the ground. Hashem says: I will lift the dirty hems of your garments over your face, and they will foul your face. "And I will show the nations your nakedness" - to those very nations enticed by harlotry, I will expose your nakedness; ma'ar denotes nakedness, as in "like the bare space of a man and wreaths" (כְּמֵעַר אִישׁ וְלֹיוֹת). "And the kingdoms your shame" - to those kingdoms seduced by sorcery, I will reveal your shame. In the very ways you lured others after you - through those very things I will humiliate you.
וְהִשְׁלַכְתִּי עָלַיִךְ שִׁקֻּצִים וְנִבַּלְתִּיךְ וְשַׂמְתִּיךְ כְּרֹאִי׃ - And I will cast abominable filth upon you, and disgrace you, and make you like refuse.
"And I will cast abominable filth upon you" - filthy garments that will degrade you. This too aligns beautifully with the allegory: just as a harlot adorns herself in fine garments to attract and entice others, in measure-for-measure retribution He will cast filthy garments upon her and disgrace her. "And make you as refuse (כְּרֹאִי)" - re'i means dung and refuse, akin to "and he shall remove its crop with its feathers" (וְהֵסִיר אֶת מֻרְאָתוֹ בְּנֹצָתָהּ), where the mar'ah is the crop, an organ containing refuse. That is to say: I will degrade you and render you something repulsive, so that all will despise you.
וְהָיָה כׇל־רֹאַיִךְ יִדּוֹד מִמֵּךְ וְאָמַר שׇׁדְּדָה נִינְוֵה מִי יָנוּד לָהּ מֵאַיִן אֲבַקֵּשׁ מְנַחֲמִים לָךְ׃ - "And it shall come to pass, that all who see you shall flee from you, and say: 'Nineveh is plundered; who will bemoan her? From where shall I seek comforters for you?'"
The word yiddod comes from the root of yindod (will wander or flee), where the letter nun assimilates into the dagesh in the dalet, just as one says yitor instead of yintor (he will bear a grudge). Everyone who sees you - those who until now sought your favor and allied themselves with you - will flee and distance themselves from you.
"Nineveh is plundered / Nineveh has plundered" (shadeda Ninveh) - there are two ways to read this. The Malbim explains, contrary to the other commentators, reading it with an active kamatz: Nineveh was the one that constantly plundered others, as the Assyrian Empire ruled over the world. If so, "who will bemoan her (mi yanud lah)"? When a person hears of another's misfortune, he shakes his head in pain and empathy; but for such a wicked empire, which plundered everyone, there is no one who will shake his head in sorrow and mourning over its downfall, for all detest it. According to the Radak and other commentators, however, the meaning is passive (shuddada) - that Nineveh has now been plundered by Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon.
"From where shall I seek comforters for you?" - The prophet addresses her: I would wish to comfort you, but from where could I bring you comforters? After all, in order to console someone, one tells him that what befell him has happened to many others as well and that it is not unprecedented, and this brings solace. But here, who could I say experienced such a catastrophe to console you with that? The Malbim also notes a precise distinction between "bemoan" (yanud) and "comforters" (menachamim): those who bemoan are the close friends and loved ones who come to shake their heads in grief with him, like Job's companions, whereas comforters include even distant acquaintances who come to offer solace. Yet Nineveh has neither of these.
הֲתֵיטְבִי מִנֹּא אָמוֹן הַיֹּשְׁבָה בַּיְאֹרִים מַיִם סָבִיב לָהּ אֲשֶׁר־חֵיל יָם מִיָּם חוֹמָתָהּ׃ - "Are you better than No-Amon, that was situated among the rivers, that had waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and of the sea was her wall?"
Now the prophet replies to her: I could perhaps comfort you by asking, "Are you better than No-Amon?" This refers to Alexandria of Egypt (Thebes), which was likewise destroyed just as you will be. Rashi explains that Amon is related to the word for a tutor and nurturer (omein), as in "And he brought up (veyehi omein) Hadassah" - a premier city that nurtured the kings of Egypt, where the monarchs were raised.
And how great was the resemblance between her and you: she was populous and mighty, and just as you, Assyria and Nineveh, sit along the Tigris River, so she sat among the channels of the Nile, surrounded by water. Furthermore, the sea encircled her so completely that it served as her fortification. "Whose rampart was the sea, and of the sea was her wall" - cheil refers to a lower outer wall, like the Cheil surrounding the Beit HaMikdash, while chomah is the high main wall. Since both are mentioned here, it means that the sea served as both her outer rampart and her inner wall, in the words of the Gemara, "a wall and an outer wall" (shura u-var shura). We similarly find, "Rampart and wall languish together (cheil ve-chomah yachdav umlalu)" - the small wall and the large wall were both severed and cut down together, related to the root meaning to cut off (amilam).
כּוּשׁ עׇצְמָה וּמִצְרַיִם וְאֵין קֵצֶה פּוּט וְלוּבִים הָיוּ בְּעֶזְרָתֵךְ׃ - "Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Lubim were your helpers."
The Radak notes that the word otzmah is read with a chataf kamatz. The prophet continues the comparison between Nineveh and Egypt: Cush was her power, might, and support, and Egypt likewise possessed boundless multitudes. What is more, the very same peoples of Put and Lubim who are your allies today were the ones who aided Egypt back then. And did it help her?
גַּם־הִיא לַגֹּלָה הָלְכָה בַשֶּׁבִי גַּם עֹלָלֶיהָ יְרֻטְּשׁוּ בְּרֹאשׁ כׇּל־חוּצוֹת וְעַל־נִכְבַּדֶּיהָ יַדּוּ גוֹרָל וְכׇל־גְּדוֹלֶיהָ רֻתְּקוּ בַזִּקִּים׃ - "She too went into exile, she went into captivity; her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains."
The Malbim explains the distinction between golah (exile) and shevi (captivity): There is an exile who is not a captive. A person who is in exile, even in a country he cannot leave, is still free to move about within it. "In captivity" means that not only is he in exile, but they took him captive and cast him into prison. "She too went into exile, into captivity" - she went into exile, and even within exile she was held captive.
"Were dashed in pieces" - the Malbim consistently explains that ritush denotes defacing a person's features through severe blows until he is unrecognizable (even in modern Hebrew, the expression refers to a body that has been mangled beyond recognition). "And for her nobles they cast lots" - they took them as slaves by casting lots. "And all her great men were bound in chains" - her prominent leaders were bound in iron shackles, and the expression rutku indicates knot upon knot, bound with doubly reinforced chains.
גַּם־אַתְּ תִּשְׁכְּרִי תְּהִי נַעֲלָמָה גַּם־אַתְּ תְּבַקְשִׁי מָעוֹז מֵאוֹיֵב׃ - You too shall become drunk, you shall be hidden; you too shall seek a stronghold against the enemy.
The Malbim explains: Just as she drank from the cup of poison, you too will become drunk from the cup of wrath. Some commentators explain that this refers to the cup of consolation, which was given to a mourner to help him forget his grief; you too will have to drink a cup of consolation over your destruction. "You shall be hidden" - you will hide yourself and seek concealment from the enemy. "You too shall seek a stronghold against the enemy" - you will desperately search for shelter and a fortress to save yourself from the foe.
כׇּל־מִבְצָרַיִךְ תְּאֵנִים עִם־בִּכּוּרִים אִם־יִנּוֹעוּ וְנָפְלוּ עַל־פִּי אוֹכֵל׃ - All your strongholds are like fig trees with first-ripe figs: if shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
Your fortresses will fall in a single instant, like the Bar Lev Line. And what is unique about these figs? "First-ripe figs" (bikkurim) are the earliest figs that have already fully ripened. An unripe fig is still firmly attached to the tree, but a first-ripe fig drops at the slightest rustle of the branch. A person opens his mouth, gives the tree a gentle shake, and the fig drops straight into his mouth, lock, stock, and barrel. In the same way, your fortresses will fall in a single moment into the mouths of the conquerors as effortless prey.
The Radak adds another layer to this parable: Figs were a highly coveted delicacy, which is why the fortresses are compared to them, and especially first-ripe figs, which are the earliest fruit and craved all the more intensely. Similarly, the enemy yearns to conquer your cities and is only waiting for the moment he can seize them.
הִנֵּה עַמֵּךְ נָשִׁים בְּקִרְבֵּךְ לְאֹיְבַיִךְ פָּתוֹחַ נִפְתְּחוּ שַׁעֲרֵי אַרְצֵךְ אָכְלָה אֵשׁ בְּרִיחָיִךְ׃ - Behold, your people in your midst are women; the gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed your bars.
Moreover, there is no one left to fight for these fortresses. Ordinarily, armies and warriors stand before a fortress to prevent the enemy from ever drawing near, but here that will not be the case, because "your people in your midst are women" - your troops are not acting like men, but like women who are unaccustomed to warfare, in the sense of Moshe's words, "You have weakened my strength like that of a female" (and in those days, women were not drafted into combat units). Therefore, "the gates of your land are wide open" - for who is there to stand at the gate and fight off the invaders? The Radak notes the emphasis in the doubled phrasing, pato'ach niftechu: it is as if the gates opened on their own, allowing the enemy to breach them with effortless ease.
מֵי מָצוֹר שַׁאֲבִי־לָךְ חַזְּקִי מִבְצָרָיִךְ בֹּאִי בַטִּיט וְרִמְסִי בַחֹמֶר הַחֲזִיקִי מַלְבֵּן׃ - Draw for yourself water for the siege, strengthen your fortresses; go into the clay and tread the mortar, take hold of the brick mold!
The Malbim explains that here the prophet is mocking Nineveh: You exert yourselves to fortify your strongholds and build palaces so that when Babylon lays siege to you, you can find refuge and be saved there. In those times, it was standard practice that whoever wished to shut themselves in against a siege would dig a canal or body of water around the fortress, which served as an obstacle to an invader; when they wanted to exit, they had a drawbridge that would be lowered over that canal. The prophet says to them: You have no water prepared to defend you, so I tell you, "Draw water for the siege" - like someone drawing water in a vessel during a siege, with great difficulty, and how much can one really manage to draw? Moreover, even this water will not keep, but will rot and spoil. "Strengthen your fortresses" - your fortresses are simply not strong enough.
And with this the mockery continues: "Go into the clay and tread the mortar." Tit is mere mud, which is unfit for brickmaking; bricks are properly made from chomer, which is clay, producing durable bricks that last. But mud trampled by human feet, if you make bricks from it, will crumble and turn to dust. And you, Nineveh, have no clay from which to make bricks; therefore, step into the mud and tread upon it as if it could somehow become strong like clay. "Lay hold of the brick mold" - the malben is the rectangular frame into which the clay is poured to form bricks for building; here, since the brick is made of mud rather than clay, you must hold the brick mold tightly so that the brick does not crumble into pieces.
שָׁם תֹּאכְלֵךְ אֵשׁ תַּכְרִיתֵךְ חֶרֶב תֹּאכְלֵךְ כַּיָּלֶק הִתְכַּבֵּד כַּיֶּלֶק הִתְכַּבְּדִי כָּאַרְבֶּה׃ - There fire will consume you, the sword will cut you down; it will devour you like the cankerworm. Multiply yourself like the cankerworm, multiply yourself like the locust!
"There" - in the very place where you tread the mud to fortify your strongholds, there the enemy's fire will consume you, and there the sword will cut you down, like a cankerworm consuming the grass of the field.
And what is "Multiply yourself like the cankerworm"? The Malbim explains: The yelek (cankerworm) is a species of locust. At the beginning of its life cycle it is a worm-like larva, and afterwards it encases itself in a cocoon - the pupa - just as most crawling creatures enclose themselves in a shell (much like children's silkworms, whose cocoon resembles a Bamba peanut snack). After a time, it emerges from its casing as a winged creature; and here, being a yelek, it emerges as a full-fledged locust.
The metaphor is this: the multitude of merchants and nations who resided in Nineveh were within you like the crawling yelek, scurrying from place to place without venturing beyond the borders of the country. But now, "the cankerworm has stripped off" - it shed its cocoon, emerged from its shell, became a winged locust, and will fly off to another land. In simple terms: all those merchants through whom you grew so prestigious and wealthy are now abandoning you, and this is part of Nineveh's ultimate humiliation.
הִרְבֵּית רֹכְלַיִךְ מִכּוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמָיִם יֶלֶק פָּשַׁט וַיָּעֹף׃ - You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven; the cankerworm has stripped off and flown away.
מִנְּזָרַיִךְ כָּאַרְבֶּה וְטַפְסְרַיִךְ כְּגוֹב גֹּבָי הַחוֹנִים בַּגְּדֵרוֹת בְּיוֹם קָרָה שֶׁמֶשׁ זָרְחָה וְנוֹדַד וְלֹא־נוֹדַע מְקוֹמוֹ אַיָּם׃ - Your crowned ones are like the locusts, and your marshals like swarms of grasshoppers encamping in the fences on a cold day; when the sun shines, they wander off, and their place is unknown where they are.
"Your crowned ones" (minzerayich) - from the word nezer, a crown, referring to the governors, prefects, and ministers whom you adorned with crowns and coronets. They too are compared to locusts flying off to another place; they too will rebel against you and fly to seek shelter in the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar, refusing to remain in Nineveh. Likewise, "your marshals" (tafsarayich), who were in charge of the military forces, are compared to "swarms of grasshoppers" (ke-gov govai) - govai is a species of locust, and gov denotes a swarm and multitude of them. And such is their nature: "encamping in the fences on a cold day" - when it is cold, they embed themselves in the stone fences and sleep all winter, but when the sun shines, each one wanders off on its own, "and their place is unknown where they are."
The application is clear: throughout the war, they hide in the fences and crevices, doing nothing; but as soon as the sun shines even a little - meaning, when the gates of the city open - they will all flee at once. You have no reason to expect help and no one to rely on: neither your princes, nor your marshals, nor your crowned officials, for all of them will take flight in your time of distress. Just as happened with the merchants, the moment the sounds of war begin to be heard, everyone flees.
נָמוּ רֹעֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר יִשְׁכְּנוּ אַדִּירֶיךָ נָפֹשׁוּ עַמְּךָ עַל־הֶהָרִים וְאֵין מְקַבֵּץ׃ - Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria; your nobles dwell in their abodes; your people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
"Your shepherds slumber" - the shepherds are the leaders and commanders of the army, on whom you wished to rely, yet behold, they fell asleep on watch and retired to bed. Consequently, "your nobles dwell" - the warriors remain in their quarters and do not go out to battle, for without leadership and command, why would a warrior leave his post to fight? Therefore, no one stands up to fight and save Nineveh.
"Your people are scattered [nafoshu]" - the Malbim explains this as an expression of rest, as in "He ceased work and was refreshed [vayinafash]" and "that the son of your maidservant may be refreshed [veyinafesh]": the entire army has stood down from war; in short, they have gone on vacation. And where are they? "Upon the mountains, and there is no one to gather them" - the entire battle force is strolling across the mountains, and there is no one to assemble them to fight against the king of Babylon. This is the meaning behind the phrase above, "the sun rises and he flees" - everyone is scattered, and there is no one to gather them.
Rashi explains nafoshu as meaning nafotzu ("scattered"), noting the well-known grammatical principle that phonetic groups of letters interchange: lingual, labial, guttural, and dental letters. The labial letters (Beit, Vav, Mem, Peh) interchange among themselves, as do the dental letters (Zayin, Samech, Shin, Reish, Tzadi). Therefore, the Shin of nafoshu interchanges with a Tzadi to become nafotzu: the people - that is, the soldiers - are scattered across the mountains, and there is no one to gather them to battle against the king of Babylon.
אֵין־כֵּהָה לְשִׁבְרֶךָ נַחְלָה מַכָּתֶךָ כֹּל שֹׁמְעֵי שִׁמְעֲךָ תָּקְעוּ כַף עָלֶיךָ כִּי עַל־מִי לֹא־עָבְרָה רָעָתְךָ תָּמִיד׃ - There is no healing for your breach, your wound is grievous; all who hear report of you clap their hands over you, for upon whom has your wickedness not passed continually?
"There is no healing [kehah] for your breach" - Rashi explains kehah in the sense of aching, meaning that no one grieves or hurts over your downfall, Nineveh; rather, everyone rejoices. It also carries the connotation of dimness or dulling, as the word keheh is commonly used. The Malbim explains: there is no subdued or grieving spirit over your breach - no aching spirit or heavy heart. You will not find a single soul who mourns your ruin. Not only that, but "your wound is grievous [nechlah]" - there is no spirit that falls ill with grief over the fall and shattering of Nineveh.
"All who hear report of you clap their hands over you" - on the contrary, everyone who hears of your downfall claps their hands in joy that Nineveh has finally been broken. "For upon whom has your wickedness not passed continually?" - for you caused harm to so many nations, and so your fall brings joy to all: at last, the one who harmed us so relentlessly has met its end.
Chapter 3 is the central vision of Sefer Nachum - the prophecy of the ultimate destruction of Nineveh at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet opens with an account of its sins (a city of blood, betrayal of faith, prey, and plunder), moves on to depict the din of war and the endless heaps of corpses, and exposes the secret of its power: a city that seduced nations through its wealth and commerce like a charming harlot, and ensnared families with its sorceries. In response comes its measure-for-measure retribution - the public exposure of its shame and degradation, until no one grieves and there are no comforters. The prophet admonishes it by pointing to the downfall of No-Amon, which was stronger and more fortified, yet was still carried away into exile and captivity; and he mocks Nineveh's frantic efforts at fortification, which are nothing more than crumbling clay. Its merchants, princes, officials, and commanders - all will take flight like locusts and abandon it in its hour of calamity, and its fortresses will drop like early ripe figs directly into the mouth of the devourer. Finally, because its evil touched all nations continually, no one aches over its ruin, and all who hear of it clap their hands in celebration. With the help of the Merciful God, Sefer Nachum is complete; just as we have merited to conclude it, so may we merit to study and to teach, to observe and to fulfill, Amen and Amen.