Nahum 3:16

“Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven, etc.] A hyperbolical expression, setting forth the great number of merchants that were in Nineveh, and in the land of Assyria; who either were the natives of the place, or came thither for the sake of merchandise, which serve to enrich a nation, and therefore are encouraged to settle; and from whom, in a time of war, much benefit might be expected; being able to furnish with money, which is the sinews of war, as well as to give intelligence of the designs of foreign princes, they trading abroad: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away; or “puts off”f123 its clothes, disrobes and changes its form; or breaks out with force, as the…”

“Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven - Not numerous only but glorious in the eyes of the world, and, as thou deemest, safe and inaccessible; yet in an instant all is gone. The commerce of Nineveh was carried back to prehistoric times, since its rivers bound together the mountains of Armenia with the Persian gulf, and marked out the line, by which the distant members of the human family should supply each others’ needs. “Semiramis” they say , “built other cities on the Euphrates and the Tigris, where she placed emporia for those who convey their goods from Media and Paraetacene. Being mighty rivers and passing through a populous country, they yield many advantages to…”

“The canker - worm spoileth - So these are like the canker - worms, which spoil wherever they come, and when no more is to be gotten, flee away. Nahum 3:17”

“above: Gen 15:5, Gen 22:17; Neh 9:23; Jer 33:22 spoileth: or, spreadeth himself Nahum 3:17”