The Meaning of Nahum 1:10 Explained

Nahum 1:10

KJV: For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

YLT: For while princes are perplexed, And with their drink are drunken, They have been consumed as stubble fully dried.

Darby: Though they be tangled together as thorns, and be as drenched from their drink, they shall be devoured as dry stubble, completely.

ASV: For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For while [they be] folden together  [as] thorns,  and while they are drunken  [as] drunkards,  they shall be devoured  as stubble  fully  dry. 

What does Nahum 1:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Tangled (Heb. sebukim) thorns are tough to penetrate, but they are no match for fire. Likewise the Ninevites, as confused as they would be when their city was under attack, would be no match for the consuming fire of Yahweh"s wrath (cf. Nahum 1:6). Many of the Ninevites were confused because they were drunk (Heb. sebu"im). Yahweh would destroy them as easily and quickly as fire burned up the dead stalks left in fields after harvest.

Context Summary

Nahum 1:1-15 - God's Goodness And Righteous Anger
The native city of Nahum was Elkosh, near the Lake of Galilee. The name Capernaum means literally "the village of Nahum." He lived about 150 years after Jonah, who also had been especially concerned with the sins and doom of Nineveh. Though as a Jew he must have dreaded Nineveh, which had already carried Samaria into captivity and was now menacing Jerusalem, he accounted its fate a grievous burden-"the burden of Nineveh." We must never speak of the doom of the ungodly, save from a broken heart.
Nahum 1:1-8 forms a magnificent preamble combining the goodness and severity of God. His dealings with mankind are wrapped in mystery, but He is good and the stronghold of His saints. In Nahum 1:9-15 we see how mad Assyria was to enter into conflict with Jehovah. The fate of thorns in fiercely burning flame is the emblem of their doom. Compare Nahum 1:14 with Isaiah 37:38. When the hour of anguish is past, let us not forget to pay our vows. [source]

Chapter Summary: Nahum 1

1  The majesty of God in goodness to his people, and severity against his enemies

What do the individual words in Nahum 1:10 mean?

For while [like] thorns tangled and while drunken [like] drunkards they shall be devoured like stubble dried fully
כִּ֚י עַד־ סִירִ֣ים סְבֻכִ֔ים וּכְסָבְאָ֖ם סְבוּאִ֑ים אֻ֨כְּל֔וּ כְּקַ֥שׁ יָבֵ֖שׁ מָלֵֽא

עַד־  while 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
סִירִ֣ים  [like]  thorns 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: סִיר 
Sense: pot.
סְבֻכִ֔ים  tangled 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine plural
Root: סָבַךְ  
Sense: to interweave.
וּכְסָבְאָ֖ם  and  while  drunken 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: סׄבֶא  
Sense: drink, liquor, wine.
סְבוּאִ֑ים  [like]  drunkards 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine plural
Root: סָבָא 
Sense: to drink heavily or largely, imbibe.
אֻ֨כְּל֔וּ  they  shall  be  devoured 
Parse: Verb, QalPass, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
כְּקַ֥שׁ  like  stubble 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular
Root: קַשׁ  
Sense: stubble, chaff.
יָבֵ֖שׁ  dried 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: יָבֵשׁ  
Sense: dry.
מָלֵֽא  fully 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: מָלֵא 
Sense: to fill, be full.