Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Nahum 2:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Repeats the LORD of hosts' direct opposition and removes chariots, young lions, prey, and imperial messengers.
Read It With
- Nahum 2:11-13
Read Nahum 2:13 with 2:11-13. Repeats the LORD of hosts' direct opposition and removes chariots, young lions, prey, and imperial messengers. The complete unit establishes this movement: The poem takes Assyria's royal lion imagery and turns it into a taunt: the once-feared predator's den is empty because the LORD opposes its machinery, heirs, plunder, and imperial voice.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Repeats the LORD of hosts' direct opposition and removes chariots, young lions, prey, and imperial messengers. Its placement follows this logic: After showing the city empty, the oracle interprets what has vanished: an imperial household sustained by prey and propaganda now meets the LORD's direct opposition.
Read Nahum 2:11–13 together
Why these verses belong together: The empty lion-den question, prey recollection, and divine opposition form one taunt against Assyrian predation.
Verse 11. 11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?
Verse 12. 12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
Verse 13. 13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
Follow the Context
- Verse 11 asks where the lion den and feeding place have gone.
- The lions once moved without fear.
- Verse 12 remembers prey torn and strangled for cubs and lionesses and stored in lairs.
- Verse 13 begins with the divine battle formula 'I am against thee.'
- Chariots, young lions, prey, and messengers are each removed.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“I am against thee”
In plain language: The divine declaration grounds the taunt's outcome and is repeated in Nahum 3:5.
Repeats the LORD of hosts' direct opposition and removes chariots, young lions, prey, and imperial messengers. The LORD opposes the military, dynastic, economic, and communicative reach of predatory empire.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk that requires the full unit and its stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Nahum 2:13 does not authorize readers to burn vehicles, kill heirs, or silence modern messengers by violence.
What Remains True
The LORD opposes the military, dynastic, economic, and communicative reach of predatory empire.
How It Can Shape Life
- Resist predatory systems without targeting children, civilians, or families.
Teach It Back
Explain Nahum 2:13's contribution to Nahum 2:11-13: Repeats the LORD of hosts' direct opposition and removes chariots, young lions, prey, and imperial messengers. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Nahum 2:11-13 — The Lion Den Is Empty because the LORD Opposes ItSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Textual suffixes and the precise office of the messengers are debated, while the fourfold silencing is clear.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Nahum 2:11-13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Nahum
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew words, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, names, and the base wording behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Nah.xml, 2:11-13
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Nahum with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, text-critical, poetic, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Nahum PDF, printed pp. 1760-1761, translation and notes on 2:11-13
Open source ↗