The Meaning of Nahum 3:10 Explained

Nahum 3:10

KJV: 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.

YLT: Even she doth become an exile, She hath gone into captivity, Even her sucklings are dashed to pieces At the top of all out-places, And for her honoured ones they cast a lot, And all her great ones have been bound in fetters.

Darby: She too was carried away, she went into captivity: her infants 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 with chains.

ASV: Yet was she carried away, 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Nahum 3:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

No-amon had become an exile and had gone into captivity to Assyria (cf. Nahum 2:7). [1] Instead of taking infants into captivity, however, the Assyrians simply slaughtered them where they found them, even at street corners (cf. Hosea 13:16). The honorable men of Thebes suffered the humiliation of being auctioned off as slaves and dragged away to Assyria in chains.

Context Summary

Nahum 3:1-19 - Deserved Doom
This terrible chapter pictures the doom of Nineveh. She had used infamous methods in bringing surrounding nations under her power, and now her shame was to be discovered and exposed. It seemed incredible that so great a city should become desolate, but she is reminded of the populous Thebes especially dedicated to Ammon, the Egyptian Jupiter. As this great city had been overwhelmed by Assyria, so would Nineveh be by the Chaldeans. In spite of her Nile and her tributary nations, Thebes fell, and Nineveh would drink of the same cup. Her fall would be as easy as the plucking of ripe figs. The centuries that have passed since the prophet spoke only lend emphasis to his words. The silence of death still reigns over the desolate mounds that mark the site of the cherished capital. In Revelation 19:1-10 the saints and martyrs celebrate the fall of Babylon the Great. Let us see to it that we are heirs of that Kingdom which cannot be shaken, Hebrews 12:28 [source]

Chapter Summary: Nahum 3

1  The destruction of Nineveh

What do the individual words in Nahum 3:10 mean?

Yet she [was] [carried away] captive she went into captivity also Her young children were dashed to pieces at the head of every street for her honorable men they cast lots and all her great men were bound in chains
גַּם־ הִ֗יא לַגֹּלָה֙ הָלְכָ֣ה בַשֶּׁ֔בִי גַּ֧ם עֹלָלֶ֛יהָ יְרֻטְּשׁ֖וּ בְּרֹ֣אשׁ כָּל־ חוּצ֑וֹת וְעַל־ נִכְבַּדֶּ֙יהָ֙ יַדּ֣וּ גוֹרָ֔ל וְכָל־ גְּדוֹלֶ֖יהָ רֻתְּק֥וּ בַזִּקִּֽים

גַּם־  Yet 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
הִ֗יא  she  [was] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
לַגֹּלָה֙  [carried  away]  captive 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: גֹּולָה  
Sense: exiles, exile, captivity.
הָלְכָ֣ה  she  went 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
בַשֶּׁ֔בִי  into  captivity 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁבִי 
Sense: captivity, captives.
גַּ֧ם  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
עֹלָלֶ֛יהָ  Her  young  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: עֹולֵל 
Sense: child, boy.
יְרֻטְּשׁ֖וּ  were  dashed  to  pieces 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: רָטַשׁ  
Sense: to dash to pieces.
בְּרֹ֣אשׁ  at  the  head 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
כָּל־  of  every 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
חוּצ֑וֹת  street 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: חוּץ  
Sense: outside, outward, street, the outside.
נִכְבַּדֶּ֙יהָ֙  her  honorable  men 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: כָּבֵד  
Sense: to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured.
יַדּ֣וּ  they  cast 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָדַד  
Sense: (Qal) to throw lots, cast lots n.
גוֹרָ֔ל  lots 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: גֹּורָל  
Sense: lot.
וְכָל־  and  all 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
גְּדוֹלֶ֖יהָ  her  great  men 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
רֻתְּק֥וּ  were  bound 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָתַק  
Sense: to bind.
בַזִּקִּֽים  in  chains 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: זִיקֹות 
Sense: spark, missile, firebrand, flaming arrow.