Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the victim departs not;
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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 t...
Blood. Nemrod established his power by shedding blood, Genesis x. Ninus, who built Ninive, and his successors were also bloody. After 1200 years the empire decayed under Sardanapalus, as historians agree. Yet it continued longer, according to the Scriptures and Ribera, till the Chaldeans destroyed it, when it had subsisted about 1440 years. It was even possessed of great power after the return of the Jews from Babylon, as Eusebius, St. Augustine, Ven. Bede, write. (Worthington)
Depart. Septuagint, "be touched. "(Haydock)
He continues the metaphor of the lion seizing its prey. Here the last chapter should end. Ver. 2. The noise. He has described the forces of Ninive, now he specifies those of Cyaxares and Nabopolassar.Ver. 4. Harlot. Ninive is cruel and impure, engaging others in idolatry and witchcraft. (Calmet)
Sold, forcing them to adopt her manners, Romans vii. 14.Ver. 7. Bemoan. Literally, "shake his head: "the latter words are not in Hebrew. (Haydock)
Some supply, move his lip...
Let us mourn with Nahum and let us say with him, “Woe to him that builds up this house [by injustice].” Or rather let us mourn for them as Christ did in his day, when he said, “Woe to you rich, for you are now having your reward and your comfort.” Let us not, I beseech you, cease mourning in this way, and if it is not unbecoming, let us also bewail the apathy of our brothers. Let us not weep loudly for him who is already dead, but let us weep for the robber, the grasping, miserly, greedy man.
