“Are you better
Than Thebes?
They sat by the Nile,
With water around her.
Her rampart was a sea.
Water was her wall.
Ethiopia was her strength.
Egypt too was her strength,
Without any limit.
Put
With the Libyans
Were her helpers.
Yet Egypt became an exile.
She went into captivity.
Even her infants were
Dashed into pieces
At the head
Of every street.
Lots were cast
For her nobles.
All her dignitaries
Were bound in chains.”
The Assyrians had captured Thebes, the capital of Egypt in 663 BCE. Thus, Nahum pointed out that the Assyrians were no better than the Egyptian capital town of Themes on the Nile River. Even though they were on the Nile River and protected by water all around them, they still fell to these Assyrians. All their neighbors, including the other people of Egypt, and the surrounding counties of Ethiopia and Libya, were not able to help her. Thus, Nahum pointed out that Egypt went into exile and captivity. Even their children and infants were dashed to pieces on the street corners. They held a lottery for their noble men. All the important dignitaries of the city of Thebes were bound in chains. So too, it would be the same for Nineveh and Assyria.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 