Nahum’s mocking tone continues in Nahum 3:12–17. The first focus of his taunts is the first line of fortresses that are meant to defend the city. He compares the fortresses to a fig tree full of ripe fruit that falls off the tree with the slightest shake of the tree. No effort is required. The hungry eater, Babylon, is just waiting to eat the fruit. The implication is that Nineveh’s fortresses will be no match for the Babylonians.
A similar image is used to describe the final judgment in Revelation 6:13.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.