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General Information:
Nahum speaks to the people of Nineveh as though they were the city itself. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy)
are you better than Thebes ... itself?
Nahum asks this rhetorical question to emphasize the negative answer that it anticipates. AT: "you are not better than Thebes ... itself." (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion)
Thebes
This was the former capital of Egypt, which the Assyrians had conquered. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-names)
that was built on the Nile River
"that was situated by the Nile River"
whose defense was the ocean, whose wall was the sea itself
These two phrases share similar meanings. The words "ocean" and "sea" both refer to the Nile River, which ran near the city. Nahum speaks of the Nile as if it were the wall that protected the city. AT: "which had the Nile river as its defenses, as some cities have a wall for theirs" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)
Cush and Egypt were her strength
"Ethiopia and Egypt strengthened her" or "Cush and Egypt were her allies"
there was no end to it
The word "it" refers to the "strength" that Cush and Egypt gave to Thebes. That there was no end to it is a hyperbole that expresses the great amount of strength. AT: "their strength was very great" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-hyperbole)
Put and Libya
These are the names of places in northern Africa that were close to Thebes. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-names)