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

14You will need to give gifts to the people in Moresheth Gath, because they must go away. The houses in Akzib town will disappoint the kings of Israel. 15People in Mareshah, I (God) will bring an army against you, to fight your town. And it will win. And Israel's leaders will need to hide at Adullam. People in Judah, cut off all your hair. Make yourselves bald like vultures, because you will be very sad. Your enemies will take your children away. They will take your children, whom you love so much, away to another country!

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 1:20When Job heard this news he was very upset. He tore his clothes and he cut off all his hair. Then he bent down low on the ground to worship God.
• Isaiah 15:2The people in Dibon have gone up to their temple to weep. They have gone up to the altars where they worship their gods. Moab's people are weeping because of what has happened at Nebo and Medeba. They are so upset that they have cut off their hair and their beards.
• Isaiah 22:12At that time, the Lord Almighty told you to be very sad and weep. He told you to cut all the hair off your heads and to wear rough clothes.
• Jeremiah 6:26So I say, ‘My dear people, show that you are sorry. Wear sackcloth and sit in ashes. Weep and cry aloud, as if your only child had died. Realize that the enemy's army will soon be here and they are ready to destroy us.’
• Jeremiah 7:29Now show that you are upset. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Go to the tops of the hills and sing sad songs about death. Realize that today's people have made the Lord very angry. So he has decided to turn away from them and leave them.” ’
• Jeremiah 16:6When people die, nobody will bury them, whether they are rich people or poor people. Nobody will weep for them. People will not cut their bodies because they are upset. They will not cut the hair from their heads.
• Amos 8:10Your parties will become funerals. You will not sing happy songs but you will weep. You will wear rough clothes and you will cut off all your hair. You will be as sad as if your only son had died. That will be a very bad day for you.’
• Deuteronomy 28:56Even the best and kindest woman among you will turn against the husband that she loves. She will turn against her sons and daughters. She has been rich enough to have everything that she needs.
• Isaiah 3:16The Lord says, ‘Zion's women are very proud. They walk with their heads up high. They turn their eyes towards the men and they have no shame. They like the men to look at them. They walk with small steps so that the rings on their ankles make a nice sound.
• Lamentations 4:5There are people here who had been very rich. They ate the best foods, but now they are hungry. Now they lie in the streets with nothing to eat. They wore the best clothes, but now they sit in the ashes.
• Deuteronomy 28:41You will give birth to sons and daughters, but you will lose them. Enemies will take them away as prisoners.
• 2 Kings 17:6When Hoshea had been king of Israel for nine years, the king of Assyria won the war against Samaria. He took the Israelites away to Assyria as his prisoners. He caused them to live in Halah, in Gozan beside the River Habor and in towns in Media.
• Isaiah 39:6“Understand this! One day, soldiers from Babylon will carry away all your valuable things. Everything that you and your ancestors have stored here until now will go to Babylon. They will leave nothing here.

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