The Meaning of Nahum 3:12 Explained

Nahum 3:12

KJV: All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.

YLT: All thy fortresses are fig-trees with first-fruits, If they are shaken, They have fallen into the mouth of the eater.

Darby: All thy strongholds are like fig-trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they even fall into the mouth of the eater.

ASV: All thy fortresses shall be like fig-trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

All thy strong holds  [shall be like] fig trees  with the firstripe figs:  if they be shaken,  they shall even fall  into the mouth  of the eater. 

What does Nahum 3:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Nineveh"s fortifications would prove as weak as fig trees laden with ripe fruit. Ripe figs fall off their trees of their own accord, and so easily would Nineveh"s fortifications fall. Though the city"s walls were large and impressive, they would crumble under their own weight when water eroded their foundations (cf. Nahum 2:6). The inhabitants, too, would drop like ripe fruit into the hands of their enemies.

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 3:12 mean?

All your strongholds [are] fig trees with ripened figs if they are shaken and they fall into the mouth of the eater
כָּ֨ל־ מִבְצָרַ֔יִךְ תְּאֵנִ֖ים עִם־ בִּכּוּרִ֑ים אִם־ יִנּ֕וֹעוּ וְנָפְל֖וּ עַל־ פִּ֥י אוֹכֵֽל

מִבְצָרַ֔יִךְ  your  strongholds  [are] 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person feminine singular
Root: מִבְצָר 
Sense: fortification, fortress, fortified city, stronghold.
תְּאֵנִ֖ים  fig  trees 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: תְּאֵנָה  
Sense: fig, fig tree.
בִּכּוּרִ֑ים  ripened  figs 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: בִּכּוּרִים  
Sense: first-fruits.
יִנּ֕וֹעוּ  they  are  shaken 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נוּעַ  
Sense: to quiver, totter, shake, reel, stagger, wander, move, sift, make move, wave, waver, tremble.
וְנָפְל֖וּ  and  they  fall 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָפַל  
Sense: to fall, lie, be cast down, fail.
עַל־  into 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
פִּ֥י  the  mouth 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
אוֹכֵֽל  of  the  eater 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.

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