Behold I am against thee, saith the Lord of Hosts - Jerome: "I will not send an Angel, nor give thy destruction to others; I Myself will come to destroy thee." Cyril: "She has not to do with man, or war with man: He who is angered with her is the Lord of hosts. But who would meet God Almighty, who hath power over all, if He would war against him?" In the Medes and Persians it was God who was against them. "Behold I am against thee," literally, "toward thee." It is a new thing which God was about to do. "Behold!" God in His long-suffering had seemed to overlook her. Now, He says, I am toward thee, looking at her with His all-searching eye, as her Judge. Violence is punished by suffering; deeds of shame by shame. All sin is a whited sepulchre, fair without, foul within. God will strip off the outward fairness, and lay bare the inward foulness. The deepest shame is to lay bare, what the sinner or the world veiled within. "I will discover thy skirts," i. e., the long-flowing robes which were part of her pomp and dignity, but which were only the veil of her misdeeds. "Through the greatness of thine iniquity have thy skirts been discovered," says Jeremiah in answer to the heart's question, "why have these things come upon me?" Upon thy face, where shame is felt. The conscience of thy foulness shall be laid bare before thy face, thy eyes, thy memory continually, so that thou shalt be forced to read therein, whatsoever thou hast done, said, thought. "I will show the nations thy nakedness," that all may despise, avoid, take example by thee, and praise God for His righteous judgments upon thee. The Evangelist heard "much people in heaven saying Alleluia" to God that "He hath judged the whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication" Revelation 19:1-2. And Isaiah saith, "They shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that hath trangsressed against Me" Isaiah 66:24.

I will discover thy skirts upon thy face - It was an ancient, though not a laudable custom, to strip prostitutes naked, or throw their clothes over their heads, and expose them to public view, and public execration. This verse alludes to such a custom.

Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts,.... Because her doings were against him; See Gill on Nahum 2:13,

and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face; turn up the skirts of her garments over her head, and thereby discover what should be concealed, than which nothing is more disagreeable and abominable to modest persons; it is here threatened she should be used in character as a harlot, or as women oftentimes are by rude soldiers, when a city is taken by them:

and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame; all her charms shall be taken away, and she become odious as a harlot to her former lovers; all her impostures, arts, and tricks, and shameful actions, will be discovered; and her aims and views at universal monarchy will be seen and her weakness to effect it made to appear; and, upon the whole, will become the object of the scorn and derision of kingdoms and nations.

The Lord will plunge Nineveh into shameful misery in consequence. Nahum 3:5. "Behold, I come to thee, is the saying of Jehovah of hosts; and uncover thy skirts over thy face, and let nations see they nakedness, and kingdoms thy shame. Nahum 3:6. And cast horrible things upon thee, and shame thee, and make thee a gazing-stock. Nahum 3:7. And it comes to pass, every one who sees thee will flee before thee, and say, Is Nineveh laid waste? Who will bewail her? whence do I seek comforters for thee?" Nahum 3:5.a as in Nahum 2:13. The punishment of Nineveh will correspond to her conduct. Her coquetry shall be repaid to her by the uncovering of her nakedness before the nations (cf. Jeremiah 13:26; Isaiah 47:3; Hosea 2:5). Gillâh, to uncover. Shūlı̄m, fimbriae, the skirts, borders, or lower end of the long sweeping dress (cf. Exodus 28:33-34; Isaiah 6:1). על פּניך, over thy countenance, so that the train when lifted up is drawn over the face. מער, a contraction of מערה, from ערה, signifies in 1 Kings 7:36 an empty space, here nakedness or shame equivalent to ערוה. This thought is carried out still further in literal terms in Nahum 3:6, Nahum 3:7. Shiqqutsı̄m, objects of abhorrence, is used most frequently of idols; but here it is used in a more general sense for unclean or repulsive things, dirt and filth. Throwing dirt upon any one is a figurative expression for the most ignominious treatment or greatest contempt. Nibbēl, to treat contemptuously, not with words, as in Micah 7:6, but with deeds, equivalent to insult or abuse (cf. Jeremiah 14:21). To make it כּראי, the object of sight, i.e., to give up to open shame, παραδειγματίζειν (Matthew 1:19). ראי, a pausal form of ראי, the seeing, here the spectacle, like θέατρον in 1 Corinthians 4:9. This is evident from Nahum 3:7, where ראיך contains a play upon ראי. Every one who looks at her will flee from her as an object of disgust. שׁדּדה, a rare form of the pual for שׁדּדה (for the fact, compare Jeremiah 48:20). The last two clauses express the thought that no one will take pity upon the devastated city, because its fate is so well deserved; compare Isaiah 51:19, where the same words are used of Jerusalem. Nineveh will not be able to protect herself from destruction even by her great power. The prophet wrests this vain hope away from her by pointing in Isaiah 51:8. to the fall of the mighty Thebes in Egypt.

Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.

3:5 Discover - l will strip thee naked, and deal with thee as inhuman soldiers deal with captive women.

5. I will discover thy skirts upon thy face-that is, discover thy nakedness by throwing up thy skirts upon thy face (the greatest possible insult), pulling them up as as high as thy head (Jer 13:22; Eze 16:37-41). I will treat thee not as a matron, but as a harlot whose shame is exposed; her gaudy finery being lifted up off her (Isa 47:2, 3). So Nineveh shall be stripped of all her glory and defenses on which she prides herself.

3:1-7 When proud sinners are brought down, others should learn not to lift themselves up. The fall of this great city should be a lesson to private persons, who increase wealth by fraud and oppression. They are preparing enemies for themselves; and if the Lord sees good to punish them in this world, they will have none to pity them. Every man who seeks his own prosperity, safety, and peace, should not only act in an upright, honourable manner, but with kindness to all.