Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Nahum 3:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Uses women as an ancient insult for Nineveh's defenders, then opens gates and burns their bars.
Read It With
- Nahum 3:12-17
Read Nahum 3:13 with 3:12-17. Uses women as an ancient insult for Nineveh's defenders, then opens gates and burns their bars. The complete unit establishes this movement: Nineveh's forts fall like ripe figs, its gendered warrior taunt exposes an ancient shame convention, its siege preparations fail, and its multiplied commercial and political networks vanish like locusts in the sun.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Uses women as an ancient insult for Nineveh's defenders, then opens gates and burns their bars. Its placement follows this logic: The unit removes every remaining ground of confidence—fortifications, fighters, preparation, population, trade, court, and command—before the final lament addresses the king.
Read Nahum 3:12–17 together
Why these verses belong together: Falling forts, futile siege work, multiplication, merchants, officials, and locust flight jointly dismantle Nineveh's remaining defenses.
Verse 12. 12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
Verse 13. 13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
Verse 14. 14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
Verse 15. 15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
Verse 16. 16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
Verse 17. 17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Follow the Context
- Verse 12 compares fortresses with first-ripe figs falling directly into an eater's mouth.
- Verse 13 uses women as an ancient insult for weakened defenders, then opens gates and burns bars.
- Verse 14 taunts the city to store water and manufacture stronger bricks for the siege.
- Verse 15a answers that fire, sword, and devouring locust imagery will still consume it.
- Verses 15b-16 mock multiplication of population and merchants because locusts strip and fly away.
- Verse 17 compares crowned officials and captains to cold-camped locusts that disappear when warmed.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“thy people ... are women”
In plain language: The comparison is a patriarchal shame taunt, not a truthful claim about women's capacity.
Uses women as an ancient insult for Nineveh's defenders, then opens gates and burns their bars. The verse announces defensive collapse through a patriarchal stereotype that should be exposed, not taught as fact.
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 3:13 does not teach that women are weak, cowardly, or inferior defenders.
What Remains True
The verse announces defensive collapse through a patriarchal stereotype that should be exposed, not taught as fact.
How It Can Shape Life
- Reject gender contempt while assessing readiness and accountability truthfully.
Teach It Back
Explain Nahum 3:13's contribution to Nahum 3:12-17: Uses women as an ancient insult for Nineveh's defenders, then opens gates and burns their bars. 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 3:12-17 — Strongholds, Preparations, and Imperial Networks VanishSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The gender insult's ancient war-rhetoric function is clear; explaining it does not resolve its harmful afterlife.
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 3:12-17, 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, 3:12-17
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. 1765-1767, translation and notes on 3:12-17
Open source ↗