The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
The shield of his mighty men - the Medo-Babylonian general's mighty men, attacking Nineveh.
Is made red - the ancients dyed their bull's-hide shields red, partly to strike terror into the enemy, chiefly lest the blood from wounds which they might receive should be perceived and give confidence to him (Calvin). G. V. Smith conjectures that the reference is to the red reflection of the sun's rays from shields of bronze or copper, such as are found among the Assyrian remains.
The valiant men are in scarlet - or crimson military tunics (cf. Matthew 27:28, "They stripped him (Jesus), and put on him a scarlet robe"). Xenophon mentions that the Medes were fond of this colour. The Lydians and Tyrians extracted the dye from a particular worm.
The chariots shall be with flaming torches - i:e., the chariots shall be like flaming torches, their wheels, in lightning-like rapidity of rotation, flashing light and striking sparks from the stones over which they pass (cf. Isaiah 5:28). The English version supposes a transposition of the Hebrew letters [put for lapidot; but the plural would be in the masculine form, lapiydiym, not feminine]. It is better to translate the Hebrew х bª'eesh (H888) pªlaadot] as it is, 'the chariots (shall be furnished) with fire-flashing scythes' (literally, with the fire or glitter of scythes or iron weapons). Iron scythes were fixed at right angles to the axles, and turned down, or parallel to it, inserted into the felly of the wheel. The Medes, perhaps, had such chariots, though no traces of them are found in Assyrian remains. On account of the latter fact, it may be better to translate, 'the chariots (shall come) with the glitter of steel weapons' (Maurer and G.V. Smith).
In the day of his preparation - Yahweh's (Isaiah 13:3, "In the day that the Lord shall give thee (Jacob and Israel) rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve"). Or, 'the Medo-Babylonian commander's day of preparation for the attack.' "He" (Nahum 2:1) confirms this, and "his" in this verse.
The fir trees - their fir tree lances.
Shall be terribly shaken - branded, so as to strike terror. Or, 'shall be tremulous with being brandished' (Maurer).