Nahum 1:9

Imagine. Heb. chashab, “to reckon,” “regard,” “impute,” or “devise.” Here the prophet warns the Assyrians that their boasting against God is worse than useless (see Isa. 10:8-11; 36:18-20). Nahum heartens his people with the thought that what God promises He will fulfill.

Utter end. The repetition of this phrase (see v. 8) emphasizes the certainty of Nineveh’s downfall, for the punishment that God will bring upon the Assyrians will be so complete and permanent that never again, never a “second time,” will they be able to oppress God’s people. Although Nahum here specifically refers to the downfall of Assyria, his words may also be thought of as descriptive of the ultimate fate of all the wicked, of whom Assyria is a type. When they are finally destroyed from the earth in the last judgment, they will never live again; they will have no afterlife (see Ps. 37:6-11, 38; Mal. 4:1; 2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev. 20:12 to 21:5). Then it will be gloriously true that the “affliction” of sin will never again trouble God’s universe (see GC 504).