Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Nahum 3:15 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 15. 15There 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Answers the defense work with fire, sword, and devouring locust imagery, then mocks attempts to multiply.
Read It With
- Nahum 3:12-17
Read Nahum 3:15 with 3:12-17. Answers the defense work with fire, sword, and devouring locust imagery, then mocks attempts to multiply. 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.
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.
What Remains True
More personnel and preparation cannot make exploitative power permanent.
How It Can Shape Life
- Prepare responsibly while correcting the injustice that makes defenses morally hollow.
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 locust term may denote a young or devouring stage, and the verse pivots between enemy-as-locust and Nineveh-as-locust imagery.
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 ↗