Nahum 2:3 (GNV)

Passage

The shield of his mightie men is made red: the valiant men are in skarlet: the charets shalbe as in the fire and flames in the day of his preparation, and the firre trees shall tremble.

Nearby Context

Nahum 2:1 The destroyer is come before thy face: keepe the munition: looke to the way: make thy loynes strong: increase thy strength mightily.

Nahum 2:2 For the Lord hath turned away the glorie of Iaakob, as the glorie of Israel: for the emptiers haue emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.

Nahum 2:3 The shield of his mightie men is made red: the valiant men are in skarlet: the charets shalbe as in the fire and flames in the day of his preparation, and the firre trees shall tremble.

Nahum 2:4 The charets shall rage in the streetes: they shall runne to and from in the hie wayes: they shall seeme like lampes: they shall shoote like the lightning.

Nahum 2:5 He shall remember his strong men: they shall stumble as they goe: they shall make haste to the walles thereof, and the defence shall bee prepared.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shield", "mightie", "valiant", "skarlet", "charets", "shalbe", "fire", and "flames". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shield" and "mightie", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "For the Lord hath turned away the..." into verse 4's "The charets shall rage in the streetes...", so "shield" and "mightie" 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 "shield" and "mightie" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.