Micah 1:16

Micah 1:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
• New International Version (NIV)Shave your head in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourself as bald as the vulture, for they will go from you into exile.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into captivity.

Context of Micah 1:16

14Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath (Micah’s home); The houses of Achzib (Place of Deceit) will become a deception To the kings of Israel. 15Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, O inhabitant of Mareshah (Prominent Place). The glory (nobility) of Israel will enter Adullam [seeking refuge]. Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hair For the children of your delight; Remain as bald as the eagle, For your children will be taken from you into exile.

Micah 1:16 word by word

קָרְחִ֣י וָגֹ֔זִּי עַל־בְּנֵ֖י תַּעֲנוּגָ֑יִךְ הַרְחִ֤בִי קָרְחָתֵךְ֙ כַּנֶּ֔שֶׁר כִּ֥י גָל֖וּ מִמֵּֽךְ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Make thee baldקָרַחqârach · to make baldH7139
• and pollגָּזַזgâzaz · to shearH1494
• thee for thy delicateתַּעֲנוּגta‛ănûg ta‛ănûg ta‛ănûgâh · luxuryH8588
• childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• enlargeרָחַבrâchab · to enlargeH7337
• thy baldnessקׇרְחָהqorchâh qorchâ' · bald spotH7144
• as the eagleנֶשֶׁרnesher · eagleH5404
• for they are gone into captivityגָּלָהgâlâh · to reveal: removeH1540

Cross-references for Micah 1:16

• Job 1:20Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God].
• Isaiah 15:2They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba; Everyone’s head is shaved, and every beard is cut off [in mourning].
• Isaiah 22:12Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
• Jeremiah 6:26O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah], Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes; Mourn [aloud] as for an only son, A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret], For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].
• Jeremiah 7:29Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away, And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights, For the Lord has rejected and abandoned The generation of His wrath.’
• Jeremiah 16:6Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, nor will they be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief in death), nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them [in mourning].
• Amos 8:10And I shall turn your festivals and feasts into mourning And all your songs into dirges (funeral poems to be sung); And I shall cause sackcloth to be put on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head [shaved for mourning]. And I shall make that time like a time of mourning for an only son [who has died], And the end of it shall be like a bitter day.
• Deuteronomy 28:56The most refined and well-bred woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and pampered, will be cruel and hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,
• Isaiah 3:16Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud And walk with outstretched necks and seductive (flirtatious, alluring) eyes, And trip along with mincing steps and an affected gait And walk with jingling anklets on their feet,
• Lamentations 4:5Those who feasted on delicacies Are perishing in the streets; Those reared in purple [as nobles] Embrace ash heaps.
• Deuteronomy 28:41You will have sons and daughters, but they will not be yours [for long], because they will go into captivity.
• 2 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried [the people of] Israel into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
• Isaiah 39:6‘Listen carefully, the days are coming when everything that is in your house and everything that your predecessors have stored up until this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.

Commentaries on Micah 1:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Make thee bald - Cutting off the hair was a sign of great distress, and was practised on the death of near relatives; see Amos 8:10. The desolation should be so great that Israel should feel it to her utmost extent; and the mourning should be like that of a mother for the death of her most delicate children. Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle - Referring to the mounting of this bird, when in casting its feathers and breeding new ones, it is very sickly…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Make thee bald, poll - (literally, shear thee for thy delicate children Some special ways of cutting the hair were forbidden to the Israelites, as being idolatrous customs, such as the rounding the hair in front, cutting it away from the temples, or between the eyes Deuteronomy 14:1. All shearing of the hair was not forbidden; indeed to the Nazarite it was commanded, at the close of his vow. The removal of that chief ornament of the countenance wasa…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-16Verses 8-16 The prophet laments that Israel's case is desperate; but declare it not in Gath. Gratify not those that make merry with the sins or with the sorrows of God's Israel. Roll thyself in the dust, as mourners used to do; let every house in Jerusalem become a house of Aphrah, "a house of dust." When God makes the house dust it becomes us to humble ourselves to the dust under his mighty hand. Many places should share this mourning. The names have…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The people of Judah, including those from Jerusalem, were exiled to faraway lands in Babylonia in 605, 597, and 586 BC. Babylon was about 1,700 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Jerusalem. Shave yourselves: This was an act of mourning and despair (see also Jeremiah 41:5). It could also mean purification (Leviticus 14:7–10; Numbers 6:10–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Make thee bald, &c.--a token of deep mourning (Ezr 9:3; Job 1:20). Mourn, O land, for thy darling children. poll--shave off thy hair. enlarge thy baldness--Mourn grievously. The land is compared to a mother weeping for her children. as the eagle--the bald eagle, or the dark-winged vulture. In the moulting season all eagles are comparatively bald (compare Psa 103:5).Read the comment

Topics related to Micah 1:16

• Baldness
• Eagle

In the dictionaries

• Baldness
• Heir
• Lie
• Roll
• Wail
• Cuttings in the Flesh
• Delicate; Delicately
• Eagle
• Micah (2)
• Poll

Commentaries on Micah 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings