English Standard Version
Micah 4:11
11Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, "Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion."
Micah 4:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
- New International Version (NIV)But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, “Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!”
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now also many nations have gathered against you, Who say, “Let her be defiled, And let our eye look upon Zion.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)Now many nations have gathered against you. “Let her be desecrated,” they say. “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.”
Context of Micah 4:11
9Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pain seized you like a woman in labor? 10Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, "Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion." 12But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. 13Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.
Read all of Micah 4Micah 4:11 word by word
וְעַתָּ֛ה נֶאֶסְפ֥וּ עָלַ֖יִךְ גּוֹיִ֣ם רַבִּ֑ים הָאֹמְרִ֣ים תֶּחֱנָ֔ף וְתַ֥חַז בְּצִיּ֖וֹן עֵינֵֽינוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Micah 4:11
- Isaiah 5:25Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
- Isaiah 8:7therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks,
- Jeremiah 52:4And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.
- Lamentations 2:15All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: "Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?"
- Joel 3:2I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land,
- Micah 7:10Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is the Lord your God?" My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.
- Obadiah 1:12But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress.
Commentaries on Micah 4:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11Many nations are gathered against thee - The Chaldeans, who were composed of many nations. And, we may add, all the surrounding nations were their enemies; and rejoiced when the Chaldean army had overthrown Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and led the people away captive. Let her be defiled - This was their cry and their wish: Let Jerusalem be laid as low as she can be, like a thing defiled and cast away with abhorrence; that their eyes might look upon…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Now also - (And now.) The prophet had already spoken of the future before them, with this word Now. Then, he distinctly prophesied the captivity to Babylon. Twice more he begins anew; as Holy Scripture, so often, in a mystery, whether speaking of evil or of good, of deliverance or of punishment, uses a threefold form. In these two, no mention is made of the enemy, and so there is some uncertainty. But the course must apparently be either backward or…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-13Verses 9-13 Many nations would assemble against Zion to rejoice in her calamities. They would not understand that the Lord had collected them as sheaves are gathered to be threshed; and that Zion would be strengthened to beat them to pieces. Nothing has yet taken place in the history of the Jewish church agreeing with this prediction. When God has conquering work for his people to do, he will furnish them with strength and ability for it. Believers should…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11-13assembled against you: This refers first to the attack of Babylon against Jerusalem in 588–586 BC. At the same time, it also points to a future attack against a restored and ideal Jerusalem described in Micah 4:1–5 (compare Revelation 20:7–9).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. many nations--the subject peoples composing Babylon's armies: and also Edom, Ammon, &c., who exulted in Judah's fall (La 2:16; Ob 11-13). defiled--metaphor from a virgin. Let her be defiled (that is, outraged by violence and bloodshed), and let our eye gaze insultingly on her shame and sorrow (Mi 7:10). Her foes desired to feast their eyes on her calamities.Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Micah 4
- 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries