Nahum 2:10 (WEB)

Passage

She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.

Nearby Context

Nahum 2:8 But Nineveh has been from of old like a pool of water, yet they flee away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one looks back.

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

Nahum 2:10 She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown 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 cubs, and no one made them afraid?

Nahum 2:12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "empty", "void", "waste", "heart", "melts", "knees", "knock", 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 the plunder of silver Take the..." 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.