Leaving Nineveh “a desolation, a dry waste like the desert” meant the city would be utterly destroyed. The expression fit the city of Nineveh well since the city was located on the Tigris River with many canals adjacent to the city which supplied the city with water (Nahum 2:8; Nahum 3:8). How ironic for the Lord to declare that Nineveh, the city with an endless water supply, would become like a wasteland as “dry as a desert.” Sin always affects the environment God has created. The buildings will be ruined, and their strong, imported framing (2 Kings 19:23; 1 Kings 5:6; 1 Kings 7:2; Ezra 3:7)—once a sign of grandeur and security—will be rendered useless (Zephaniah 2:14; Ezekiel 31:3).
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.