Nahum 3:4
“Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Nineveh's downfall is traced to her seductions and sorceries, by which she enslaved and betrayed whole nations and families.
What Does Nahum 3:4 Mean?
Now the prophet names a reason for the judgment. Nineveh is pictured as an alluring harlot and a mistress of sorceries, who seduced and sold nations into bondage through her enticements and schemes. The language is figurative: Assyria drew other peoples into alliances and dependence, then betrayed and enslaved them, using treachery, intimidation, and false promises like a deceiver luring victims. Her beauty and craft were tools of exploitation, charm in the service of cruelty.
This image exposes a subtler evil than the sword, the corruption that traffics in others for gain. Nineveh did not only conquer; it manipulated, deceived, and sold whole families into ruin. Scripture often pictures unfaithfulness and exploitation in such terms to lay bare their true ugliness beneath an attractive surface. The verse warns that allure and sophistication are no cover before God when they serve oppression. True beauty is found not in seductive power but in faithfulness and righteousness, and the city that traded in others' lives will answer for every soul it sold.