God’s Word Translation
Micah 1:4
4Mountains will melt under him like wax near a fire. Valleys will split apart like water pouring down a steep hill.
Micah 1:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
- New International Version (NIV)The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.
Context of Micah 1:4
2Listen, all you people! Pay attention, earth and all who are on it. The Almighty Lord will be a witness against you. The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple. 3The Lord is going to come from his place. He is going to come down and step on the worship places of the earth. Mountains will melt under him like wax near a fire. Valleys will split apart like water pouring down a steep hill. 5All this is because of Jacob’s crime and Israel’s sin. What is Jacob’s crime? Isn’t it Samaria? What is Judah’s worship place? Isn’t it Jerusalem? 6So I will turn Samaria into a pile of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will roll its stones down into a valley and expose its foundations.
Read all of Micah 1Micah 1:4 word by word
וְנָמַ֤סּוּ הֶֽהָרִים֙ תַּחְתָּ֔יו וְהָעֲמָקִ֖ים יִתְבַּקָּ֑עוּ כַּדּוֹנַג֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י הָאֵ֔שׁ כְּמַ֖יִם מֻגָּרִ֥ים בְּמוֹרָֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
- shall be moltenמָסַסmâsas · to meltH4549
- under him, and the valleysעֵ֫מֶק‛êmeq · valleyH6010
- shall be cleftבָּקַעbâqa‛ · to break up/openH1234
- as waxדּוֹנַגdônag · waxH1749
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- the fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- as the watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
- pouredנָגַרnâgar · to pourH5064
- down a steep placeמוֹרָדmôrâd · descentH4174
Cross-references for Micah 1:4
- Judges 5:4O Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the country of Edom, the earth quaked, the sky poured, the clouds burst,
- Psalms 97:5The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
- Isaiah 64:1If only you would split open the heavens and come down! The mountains would quake at your presence.
- Amos 9:5The Almighty Lord of Armies touches the earth. It quakes, and all who live on it mourn. All of it rises like the Nile and sinks like Egypt’s river.
- Nahum 1:5The mountains quake because of him. The hills melt. The earth draws back in his presence. The world and all who live in it draw back as well.
- Habakkuk 3:6He stands and shakes the earth. He casts a glance and startles the nations. The oldest mountains break apart. The ancient hills sink. The ancient paths belong to him.
- 2 Peter 3:10The day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day heaven will pass away with a roaring sound. Everything that makes up the universe will burn and be destroyed. The earth and everything that people have done on it will be exposed.
- Revelation 20:11I saw a large, white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but no place was found for them.
- Zechariah 14:4On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will be split in two, forming a very large valley from east to west. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half will move toward the south.
- Psalms 68:2Blow them away like smoke. Let wicked people melt in God’s presence like wax next to a fire.
Commentaries on Micah 1:4
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And the mountains shall be molten under Him - It has been thought that this is imagery, taken from volcanic eruptions; but, although there is a very remarkable volcanic district just outside of Gilead, it is not thought to have been active at times so late as these; nor were the people to whom the words were said, familiar with it. Fire, the real agent at the end of the world, is, meanwhile, the symbol of God‘s anger, as being the most terrible of His…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The strong and seemingly unmovable mountains will melt in the presence of the Lord (see Psalm 97:5). Nothing can stand against him.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Imagery from earthquakes and volcanic agency, to describe the terrors which attend Jehovah's coming in judgment (compare Jud 5:5). Neither men of high degree, as the mountains, nor men of low degree, as the valleys, can secure themselves or their land from the judgments of God. as wax--(Psa 97:5; compare Is 64:1-3). The third clause, "as wax," &c., answers to the first in the parallelism, "the mountains shall be molten"; the fourth, "as the waters,"…Read the comment
Topics related to Micah 1:4
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries