Thus says the LORD, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
Nahum's book announces judgment on Nineveh, the city of Israel's great enemy. Right in the middle of that judgment, verse 12 turns and speaks comfort to God's own people. Two voices meet here. One is a verdict on an enemy whose huge numbers will not save him. The other is a promise: the suffering of God's people has a limit, and God sets it.
The enemy's strength
The first half of the verse counts the enemy's forces. One writer gives a plainer translation and names who passes away:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinVerse 10 describes the Assyrian... The better translation of verse 12 is, "Though they be strong, and likewise many, even so shall they be cut down, and he (the Assyrian) shall pass away."
Two lines of judgment held together
The verse pairs a strike against Israel with a strike against Israel's oppressor. One writer explains why God does both, and why the two are not the same:
William KellyGod has plainly combined two things in these revelations. On one side is judgment on what was wrong in His own people. On the other side is judgment on merciless enemies. They did not know God's gracious purpose in chastening His people. He would not leave them unpunished; but could He allow a full end? So He measured that chastening, and He ended it in keeping with His own goodness. By contrast, God lets the enemy pour out hatred on His people without scruple or limit. Yet He does not only use their hatred against His people for their good and to punish their unfaithfulness. He would surely turn on the spiteful foe once He had accomplished His purpose.
Who "you" means
The verse switches from "they" to "you". Two writers take that "you" to be Israel, though one calls the verse obscure:
J. N. DarbyIn Nahum 1:11 we find the one the prophets mention so often — the Assyrian, who plans evil against Jehovah. Verse 12 is obscure, but I think it applies to Israel. Israel too, sad to say, boasts of its safety and strength in the spirit of the world. So Israel will also go through the invasion, the flood of great waters, the scourge of God. But when this passes through the land (that is, of Israel), they shall be cut down.
God's own hand lay behind Israel's trouble, and that trouble ends. He then speaks to each side in turn:
William KellyThough Jehovah had broken Israel down by the enemy for their good, there would be no such trouble again... I think that "you" in verse 12 means Israel, and in verse 13 means the Assyrian. So Jehovah is represented as addressing each personally in turn.
The reach of "no more"
Israel kept on suffering long after Nineveh fell. So one writer reads "no more" as a promise still ahead:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe second half of the twelfth verse concerns His people. "Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more." One can see at once that the "no more" demands a future fulfilment. It is true that the Assyrian no longer afflicted Israel. Yet affliction after affliction has been their lot. But there comes the day when all afflictions will cease. "For now I will break his yoke (the yoke of the Assyrian) from off you (Israel), and I will burst your bonds apart."
What judgment makes way for
The comfort here is not a small aside; it is where the whole line of prophecy is heading:
J. G. BellettBut does judgment close the story? That never has been, nor could it be. It only makes way for the purpose of God. The judgment of this "present evil world" will bring in the millennium, or "the world to come." And God will receive Israel as the seal and pledge of that bright and happy age — as our prophet says, "Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more."
The book aims God's fury at the enemy. It also has words for the afflicted:
Arend RemmersNahum looks only at this enemy of God's people. It is striking that he never mentions the sins of Israel and Judah. Yes — God announces His holy and just fury to the enemies, while His people receive comforting words (chapter 1:12-15).
Summary
- Strength — numbers do not save the enemy. Strong and many, they are still cut down and pass away.
- Measure — God measures His chastening of His own people and aims it at their good. He sets no such measure for a merciless oppressor.
- Address — "you" in verse 12 is Israel, "you" in verse 13 the Assyrian; God speaks to the afflicted and to the oppressor in turn.
- End — "no more" reaches past Nahum's century to a day when affliction stops for good, the yoke breaks, and the bonds snap.
- Comfort — a book of judgment on Nineveh still comforts God's people. Judgment clears the way for His purpose.