3:8 Thebes. See text note. The city of the god Amon. This ancient and magnificent metropolis of Upper Egypt fell to the Assyrians in 663 b.c. Located on the Nile some 400 miles upstream from Memphis, it may have had moats and canals as defenses. There is probably a figurative element in Nahum’s emphasis on the sea. In Scripture, a river or sea is often an emblem for strength that only God can overcome (Ex. 15; Ps. 114:3–5; Is. 23:3, 4; Matt. 8:27).