The Meaning of Nahum 3:11 Explained

Nahum 3:11

KJV: Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.

YLT: Even thou art drunken, thou art hidden, Even thou dost seek a strong place, because of an enemy.

Darby: Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a refuge from the enemy.

ASV: Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a stronghold because of the enemy.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thou also shalt be drunken:  thou shalt be hid,  thou also shalt seek  strength  because of the enemy. 

What does Nahum 3:11 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The same fate would befall Nineveh. It too would lose its powers of self-defense and self-control. This would happen through excessive wine drinking (cf. Nahum 1:10) but also in a metaphorical way because the Ninevites would imbibe a cup of wrath from Yahweh. They would vanish from the world.
"The disappearance of the Assyrian people will always remain an unique and striking phenomenon in ancient history. Other, similar, kingdoms and empires have indeed passed away, but the people have lived on. Recent discoveries have, it is true, shown that poverty-stricken communities perpetuated the old Assyrian names and various places, for instance on the ruined site of Ashur, for many centuries, but the essential truth remains the same. A nation which had existed two thousand years and had ruled a wide area, lost its independent character." [1]
As noted above, the ancients could not find Nineveh after its destruction, and modern archaeologists, the Frenchman Botta and the Englishman Layard, first found physical evidence of Nineveh"s existence in1842. In the past many people had sought to hide from the invading Assyrians, but when Nineveh fell, the Ninevites would try to hide.

Context Summary

Nahum 3:1-19 - Deserved Doom
This terrible chapter pictures the doom of Nineveh. She had used infamous methods in bringing surrounding nations under her power, and now her shame was to be discovered and exposed. It seemed incredible that so great a city should become desolate, but she is reminded of the populous Thebes especially dedicated to Ammon, the Egyptian Jupiter. As this great city had been overwhelmed by Assyria, so would Nineveh be by the Chaldeans. In spite of her Nile and her tributary nations, Thebes fell, and Nineveh would drink of the same cup. Her fall would be as easy as the plucking of ripe figs. The centuries that have passed since the prophet spoke only lend emphasis to his words. The silence of death still reigns over the desolate mounds that mark the site of the cherished capital. In Revelation 19:1-10 the saints and martyrs celebrate the fall of Babylon the Great. Let us see to it that we are heirs of that Kingdom which cannot be shaken, Hebrews 12:28 [source]

Chapter Summary: Nahum 3

1  The destruction of Nineveh

What do the individual words in Nahum 3:11 mean?

Also You will be drunk You will be hidden will seek refuge from the enemy
גַּם־ אַ֣תְּ תִּשְׁכְּרִ֔י תְּהִ֖י נַֽעֲלָמָ֑ה תְּבַקְשִׁ֥י מָע֖וֹז מֵאוֹיֵֽב

גַּם־  Also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
תִּשְׁכְּרִ֔י  will  be  drunk 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person feminine singular
Root: שָׂכַר 
Sense: to be or become drunk or drunken, be intoxicated.
תְּהִ֖י  You  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Jussive, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
נַֽעֲלָמָ֑ה  hidden 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: עָלַם  
Sense: to conceal, hide, be hidden, be concealed, be secret.
תְּבַקְשִׁ֥י  will  seek 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, second person feminine singular
Root: בָּקַשׁ  
Sense: to seek, require, desire, exact, request.
מָע֖וֹז  refuge 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָעֹוז 
Sense: place or means of safety, protection, refuge, stronghold.
מֵאוֹיֵֽב  from  the  enemy 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: אֹיֵב  
Sense: (Qal) enemy.