The prophet’s expression that the Lord “will stretch out his hand” is a figure of speech that points to the power of the Lord and also to the active role that the Lord would take in exercising vengeance on the nation of Assyria (see also Zephaniah 1:4).
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.