“You also will be drunken.
You will go into hiding.
You will seek
A refuge
From the enemy.
All your fortresses are
Like fig trees
With first-ripe figs.
If shaken,
They fall
Into the mouth
Of the eater.
Look at your troops!
They are women
In your midst.
The gates
Of your land
Are wide open
To your foes.
Fire has devoured
The bars of your gates.
Draw water
For the siege!
Strengthen your forts!
Trample the clay!
Tread the mortar!
Take hold
Of the brick mold!”
So too, the people of Nineveh would be drunk and go into hiding, as they would seek to get away from their enemies. All their strong fortresses would be like ripe fig trees. If they would be touched or shaken, these strongholds would fall like ripe fruit right into the mouths of their enemies. Women had become their troops. The gates of the city were wide open to their enemies because fire had consumed the bars on their gates. They had to get water during the siege. They would have to strengthen their fortresses with clay, mortar, and bricks.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 