Nahum 1:4 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

He rebuketh: he once did rebuke, as Exodus 14:21; he still can, as a lord rebuketh his servant, or a general rebukes his soldier, by word or look, Isa 1 Isa 2. The sea; literally understood, or figuratively, it imports still that he can deliver his people, and destroy his adversaries, as of old he did. And maketh it dry; his word or will doth as speedily do this thing, as it doth proceed from God; he commands, and it is done. And drieth up all the rivers: so Jordan saw or heard the rebuke of our God, and fled, or was driven back, Joshua 3:15,16 Psa 114:3; and what he once did upon Jordan, that he can do on all other rivers: and so are we to understand the words. Bashan; it lay eastward of Jordan, was the kingdom of Og; it was famous for oaks, Ezekiel 27:6; for cattle also, as bulls, Psalms 22:12, and rains, Deuteronomy 32:14; and was given to the half tribe of Manasseh. Languisheth; grows barren, as if under a consumptive languishing, is not longer sufficient to feed the cattle that were wont to feed and grow fat upon it. Carmel; a very fruitful mountain, either in the confines of Zebulun and Asher northward, Joshua 12:22, where Elijah by fire from heaven contended with and convicted the Baalites; or else this Carmel might be that where Nabal dwelt, 1 Samuel 25:2, famous for its rich pastures; this was more southward than the other, and not far from Hebron. The flower; whatever flourished and was beautiful, trees, their blossoms, and the flowers which were wont to be the glory of it. Lebanon; a mountain that runs from the coast of the Phoenician Sea westward, for one hundred and twenty-five miles more or less eastward; and verging toward Arabia, it is the north boundary of Judea, and divides it front Syria; famous for its fruitfulness, as for its height. Languisheth; loseth its strength and virtue; both the product, and the very soil that produceth too, soon fall into a consumption.