Nahum 2:5

5 He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.

Nahum 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 2:5

He shall recount his worthies
Either the dasher in pieces, ( Nahum 2:1 ) , the kings of Babylon and Media, shall call together their general officers, and muster the forces under then, and put them in mind of their duty, and recount the actions of their ancestors in former times, in order to animate and encourage them to the siege and attack of the city of Nineveh; or the king of Assyria shall recount and muster up his nobles, and the troops under them, to sally out against the enemy, and meet him in the field, and give him battle: they shall stumble in their walk:
being many, and in haste to obey the orders of their commander, shall stumble and fall upon one another; or else the Ninevites in their march out against the enemy shall be discomfited and flee before him, or be dispirited and flee back again: they shall make haste to the wall thereof;
of Nineveh; that is, the Medes and Chaldeans shall make haste thither, to break it down or scale it; or the Ninevites, failing in their sally out, shall betake themselves in all haste to their city walls, and defend themselves under the protection of them: and the defence shall be prepared;
or the "covering": the word ^F8 used has the signification of a booth or tent, to cover and protect; here it signifies something that was prepared, either by the besiegers, to cover them from the darts and stones of the besieged, as they made their approaches to the walls; or which the besieged covered themselves with from the assaults of the besiegers; rather the former.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Kkwoh) "operimentum", Pagninus, Montanus; "integumentum", Calvin; "testudo", Vatablus, Grotius, Cocceius, Burkius.

Nahum 2:5 In-Context

3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its [battle] preparations, and the spears are brandished.

4 The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning.

5 He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.

6 The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away.

7 Beauty is stripped, she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves, and beat their breasts.