Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.

NAHUM 3:16KJV
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Nahum 3:16 (KJV)

What does Nahum 3:16 mean?

Nahum 3:16 describes how Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, had increased its merchants to an extraordinary number, more than the stars in the sky, but these merchants would be quickly scattered and lost, like cankerworms (locusts) that consume and then fly away. The verse uses this image to show how Nineveh’s wealth and business connections would vanish suddenly and completely.

The prophet Nahum is speaking to the people of Nineveh, warning them of the coming downfall of their city. In this verse, Nahum points out that even though Nineveh had become a center of trade and prosperity, all of its economic strength would disappear in the face of judgment. The picture of the cankerworm highlights how quickly and thoroughly this loss would happen.

The Hebrew behind Nahum 3:16

  • "multiplied" (רָבָה, rabah): This word means to become many or increase greatly. Here, it emphasizes just how much Nineveh’s merchants had grown in number, suggesting a sense of pride in their abundance.
  • "merchants" (רֹכֵל, rokel): This word refers to traders or those who travel to buy and sell goods. The focus is on Nineveh’s role as a commercial hub, filled with people seeking profit.
  • "cankerworm" (יֶלֶק, yeleq): This is a type of locust or destructive insect. The image is of something that consumes and then quickly leaves, stressing how Nineveh’s prosperity would be eaten up and then gone.
  • "spoileth" (פָּשַׁט, pashat): This word means to strip off or plunder. It strengthens the idea that the merchants (or the wealth they represent) would not just leave, but would strip the city bare as they go.

Why Nahum 3:16 matters

  • Nahum 3:16 clears up any idea that Nineveh’s wealth and influence could protect it from disaster; even the most prosperous city can lose everything overnight.
  • The verse connects to the wider passage by showing that Nineveh’s judgment would not just be military defeat, but total economic collapse, affecting everyone who benefited from its trade.
  • The use of the cankerworm image helps the reader see how quickly and completely Nineveh’s fortunes would change, making the warning more vivid and memorable.

Where else these words appear

“cankerworm” Hebrew H3218 · used in 7 verses

  • Psalms 105:34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,
  • Jeremiah 51:27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
  • Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

“merchants” Hebrew H7402 · used in 15 verses

  • 1 Kings 10:15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.
  • Song of Solomon 3:6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
  • Ezekiel 27:17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.

“away” Hebrew H5774 · used in 29 verses

  • Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
  • Job 20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
  • Isaiah 11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

“stars” Hebrew H3556 · used in 37 verses

  • Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
  • 1 Chronicles 27:23 But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens.
  • Ecclesiastes 12:2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: