Thy shepherds: That is, the rulers and tributary princes, who, as Herodotus informs us, deserted Nineveh in the day of her distress, and came not to her succour. Diodorus also says, that when the enemy shut up the king in the city, many nations revolted; each going over to the besiegers for the sake of their liberty; that the king despatched messengers to all his subjects, requiring power from them to succour him, and that he thought himself able to endure the siege, and remained in expectation of armies which were to be raised throughout his empire, relying on the oracle, that the city would not be taken till the river became its enemy. Nahum 2:6; Exodus 15:16; Psalms 76:5-6; Isaiah 56:9-10; Jeremiah 51:39, Jeremiah 51:57
O King: Jeremiah 50:18; Ezekiel 31:3-18, Ezekiel 32:22-23
nobles: or, valiant ones, Isaiah 47:1; Revelation 6:15
thy people: 1 Kings 22:17; Isaiah 13:14