Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the victim departs not;
All Commentaries on Nahum 3:1 Go To Nahum 3
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
The prophet was probably reminding them of the deluge that affected the whole human race at the time of Noah; it was then that God moved also in an earthquake against everyone, as it were, raising clouds and, according to the sacred text, releasing the waterfalls of heaven, and flooding the earth under heaven with incessant rain. (Gn 7.11) So he is asking, how would the one who easily prevails over the whole earth and with a single decree destroys everyone in it fail before a single nation, the Babylonian? In a manner, quite befitting God he says, clouds are dust of his feet: just as it is easy for a human being to kick up dust and dirt with a foot, likewise in my view it is a simple matter for the all-powerful God to obscure the sky with tempest and clouds. If, on the other hand, it was necessary to plumb the hidden meaning of the text, I would think that this should be said: that in consummation and in earthquake the only-begotten Word of God took the way, or fulfillment, of the Incarnation. When he became like us, you see, he shook and brought consummation upon “the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this present age” (Eph 6.12) by abolishing their oppression of us, canceling that ancient force, and destroying the very control of death and, in addition to it, sin. They became clouds of dust from his feet; just as dust is stirred up in front of the walker, so in advance of the Incarnation went the spiritual clouds, that is, the blessed prophets, employing a discourse that was rather obscure and not completely obvious, but bedewing with life-giving pronouncements the mind of those capable of understanding.
