1. Nahum 2:9 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why is there a call to plunder the city?

Nahum 2:9 (ESV)

9 Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things.

The kings of Assyria boasted repeatedly in their annals of the massive treasures they had collected in their plunder of nations.1 There is no end of the treasures or wealth stored up in Nineveh. They had been merciless in taking the riches of any nation they conquered. Now, a voice from among the conquering Babylonians (possibly the commander of the Babylonian army) calls for these treasures to be plundered. The tables have turned. The plunderer is being plundered (Nahum 1:2). The Assyrians are experiencing the judgment of the Lord for their excessive cruelty and greed. All the riches of the world belong to him and so the Lord is taking back what is his.