Nahum 1:14
“And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →God decrees the end of Nineveh's name and line, the destruction of its idols, and prepares its grave because of its vileness.
What Does Nahum 1:14 Mean?
God now issues a formal decree against Nineveh. Her name will not be carried on, the line of her kings cut short so that no posterity is sown. The temples of her gods will be emptied of their carved and cast idols, the very images Assyria credited for its victories. Then comes the chilling sentence: I will make thy grave. The empire that dug graves for so many nations will receive one of its own, prepared by the hand of God.
The reason given is stark, for thou art vile, a word for what is contemptibly worthless before God despite all outward grandeur. The destruction of the idols matters: Assyria had boasted that its gods outmatched the God of Israel, and now those gods are shown to be powerless wood and metal. There is sober truth here for every age that trusts in things it has made. The lasting name belongs not to the empire that exalts itself but to the Lord, whose name endures forever and who alone gives or withholds a future.