Nahum 2:10 (ASV)

Passage

She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.

Nearby Context

Nahum 2:8 But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, [they cry]; but none looketh back.

Nahum 2:9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.

Nahum 2:10 She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.

Nahum 2:11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion [and] the lioness walked, the lion`s whelp, and none made them afraid?

Nahum 2:12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "empty", "void", "waste", "heart", "melteth", "knees", "smite", and "together". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "empty" and "void", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Take ye the spoil of silver take..." into verse 11's "Where is the den of the lions...", so "empty" and "void" belong inside that flow. In Nahum context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "empty" and "void" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.