Draw water for the siege; strengthen your forts; go into the clay; tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold!
English Standard Version (ESV)
This verse isn't just about getting ready for a siege; it's a sharp, almost sarcastic, command to undertake the most basic, laborious tasks of building defenses. The focus on digging clay, treading mortar, and making bricks highlights how utterly backward and futile Nineveh's efforts are when God's judgment is already at the door.
Draw water for the siege; strengthen your forts; go into the clay; tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold!
English Standard Version (ESV)
With the city's outer defenses already breached, Nahum sarcastically tells Nineveh to frantically prepare for a siege. He details the laborious, futile efforts of collecting water, reinforcing walls with bricks made from local clay, and strengthening their remaining defenses, all of which will ultimately fail against the invading forces.
Nineveh is told to prepare for a siege, gathering resources and strengthening defenses. But the message isn't about how to defend, but about the futility of their efforts.
The prophet Nahum issues a series of commands to Nineveh: "Draw water for the siege; strengthen your forts; go into the clay; tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold!" This sounds like practical advice for a city under attack. However, these are not genuine instructions but rather a form of ironic prophecy.
God, through Nahum, is highlighting how utterly useless all of Nineveh's efforts will be. Even if they gather every resource, build stronger walls with fresh bricks, and prepare for a long siege, it won't make a difference. Their labor will be in vain because God Himself is bringing their destruction. The emphasis isn't on their specific actions but on the inevitable outcome: their defenses will fail.
Think of it like trying to bail out a sinking ship with a teacup while the hull is completely ripped open. The effort is real, but it's fundamentally misguided and doomed to failure because the underlying problem is insurmountable by human means alone.
The detailed instructions for preparing bricks and mortar seem very concrete. But what do these building materials represent in the context of judgment?
The passage vividly describes the process of making bricks: digging clay, treading it to mix mortar, and using molds. This was a common building practice in Mesopotamia, where stone was scarce. They were essentially being told to recommit to their construction, to shore up their city with the very materials they relied upon.
However, the irony is thick. These materials, meant for stability and defense, are precisely what God's judgment will overwhelm. Their reliance on their own building skills and resources – their strongholds, their walls, their stockpiles – is misplaced. They are trying to build a defense against the unstoppable force of God's wrath. It's like building a sandcastle against an incoming tide; the more you build, the more futile it becomes.
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The message is clear: any foundation not built on God's sovereign will and promises is ultimately unstable and will be washed away by His judgment.
Understand the original words
matsor · Hebrew Noun
A military blockade surrounding a city to starve the inhabitants into submission, often depicted as a consequence of national disobedience or divine judgment.
Nahum's prophecy against Nineveh is set against the backdrop of Assyria's vast imperial power and military success, making the eventual, total destruction of their capital all the more astonishing. The verse vividly describes Nineveh's frantic, futile preparations for a siege, highlighting how their mighty defenses and meticulous construction efforts were ultimately useless against God's judgment and the invading forces.
c. 722 BC
Fall of Samaria
The capital of the northern kingdom of Israel falls to the Assyrian Empire under Sargon II, marking a significant expansion of Assyrian power and a display of their military might. This event would have been a stark warning to other kingdoms in the region, including Judah and the inhabitants of Nineveh (the capital of Assyria).
701 BC
Assyrian Invasion of Judah
Assyrian king Sennacherib invades Judah and besieges Jerusalem. Although Jerusalem itself is miraculously spared from destruction, many other Judean cities are conquered. This campaign demonstrates Assyria's continued dominance and its brutal effectiveness in warfare.
c. 612 BC— this verse
Fall of Nineveh
The magnificent capital of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh, is besieged and utterly destroyed by an alliance of Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians. This catastrophic event marks the end of Assyrian imperial power and fulfills the prophecies of judgment against them.
c. 609 BC
Battle of Carchemish
The Babylonians, now a major power after the fall of Nineveh, decisively defeat the remaining Assyrian forces and their Egyptian allies. This battle solidifies Babylonian dominance in the Near East.
This passage describes Babylon's impending destruction with similar imagery of siegeworks and preparations, emphasizing the futility of their defenses against God's judgment.
Isaiah 44:12-20This passage sarcastically details the laborious, futile process of crafting an idol, paralleling Nahum's depiction of Nineveh's equally useless efforts to build and fortify against an unstoppable divine force.
Luke 12:16-21Jesus' parable of the rich fool illustrates how meticulously laid plans and material abundance are ultimately meaningless when confronted by an unexpected end, much like Nineveh's desperate preparations.
Ezekiel 4:1-3Ezekiel's symbolic act of building a siege rampart against Jerusalem highlights the graphic reality and divine ordainment of sieges, reflecting the seriousness of the siege Nahum describes, though with a different outcome.
calvinNahum 3:14-15: "Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln."
- Illic vorabit te ignis, exterminabit te gladius, comedet te quasi bruchus (alii vertunt, quasi bruchum;) multiplicari (ad verbum, vel, multiplicando; est kyrq quasi bruchus,) multiplicare quasi locusta.
The Prophet goes on with the same subject, -- that the Ninevites would labor in vain, while striving anxiously and with every effort to defend themselves…
jfbNahum 3:14: "Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln."
- Ironical exhortation to Nineveh to defend herself.Draw … waters—so as not to be without water for drinking, in the event of being cut off by the besiegers from the fountains.make strong the brick-kiln—or "repair" [Maurer]; so as to have a supply of bricks formed of kiln-burnt clay, to repair breaches in the ramparts, or to build new fortifications inside whe…
This verse isn't just about getting ready for a siege; it's a sharp, almost sarcastic, command to undertake the most basic, laborious tasks of building defenses. The focus on digging clay, treading mortar, and making bricks highlights how utterly backward and futile Nineveh's efforts are when God's judgment is already at the door.
With the city's outer defenses already breached, Nahum sarcastically tells Nineveh to frantically prepare for a siege. He details the laborious, futile efforts of collecting water, reinforcing walls with bricks made from local clay, and strengthening their remaining defenses, all of which will ultimately fail against the invading forces.
With the city's outer defenses already breached, Nahum sarcastically tells Nineveh to frantically prepare for a siege. He details the laborious, futile efforts of collecting water, reinforcing walls with bricks made from local clay, and strengthening their remaining defenses, all of which will ultimately fail against the invading forces.
"Draw water for the siege; strengthen your forts; go into the clay; tread the mortar; take hold of the brick mold!" — This verse isn't just about getting ready for a siege; it's a sharp, almost sarcastic, command to undertake the most basic, laborious tasks of building defenses. The focus on digging clay, treading…
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Last reviewed October 2026