Nahum 3:14
Draw thee waters for the siege: fortifie thy strong holdes, goe into clay, and tread the morter: make strong the bricke-kill. Nahum 3:14 (KJV)
The Book of Nahum is one of the prophetic books of the Old Testament and delivers a message of judgment against Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Nahum’s prophecy was given in the period of Assyrian decline, roughly between 663 and 612 BC, when the empire faced imminent destruction. The overall tone of the book is one of certainty that God will bring down the oppressive city because of its wickedness.
The supplied wording of Nahum 3:14 portrays vivid preparations for a siege. “Draw thee waters for the siege” suggests cutting off or drawing water in anticipation of an attack, a common ancient tactic to weaken a defended city. “Fortify thy strong holds” urges the strengthening of defensive structures, emphasizing urgency. The call to “go into clay, and tread the mortar” evokes the manual labor required to repair or reinforce walls with clay‑based mortar, while “make strong the brickkiln” points to ensuring sufficient brick production for the city’s fortifications. This imagery underscores collective effort, resource management, and the seriousness of the looming threat.
However, another perspective notes that this phrasing does not appear in the standard King James Version of Nahum 3:14, which reads, “Sit thou down, and be as a beast, for thus shall no one save thee.” That rendering focuses on the inevitability of Nineveh’s downfall rather than describing defensive labor. The discrepancy highlights that the supplied verse text reflects a particular rendering or interpretive tradition, while the canonical KJV emphasizes divine judgment as unavoidable.
Both views reinforce the central theme of Nahum: the certainty of God’s judgment against Nineveh’s oppression. Whether expressed through vivid siege imagery or a stark declaration of hopelessness, the passage calls attention to the consequences of wickedness and the futility of human attempts to escape divine wrath.
