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 have to say farewell to Moresheth Gath. The residents of Achzib will be as disappointing as a dried up well to the kings of Israel. 15Residents of Mareshah, a conqueror will attack you, the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; shave your foreheads as bald as an eagle, for they are 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. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground.
• Isaiah 15:2They went up to the temple, the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, Moab wails. Every head is shaved bare, every beard is trimmed off.
• Isaiah 22:12At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning, for shaved heads and sackcloth.
• Jeremiah 6:26So I said, “Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army will come against us.”
• Jeremiah 7:29So, mourn, you people of this nation. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’”
• Jeremiah 16:6Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them.
• Amos 8:10I will turn your festivals into funerals, and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes and cause every head to be shaved bald. I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day.
• Deuteronomy 28:56Likewise, the most tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters,
• Isaiah 3:16The Lord says, “The women of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high and flirt with their eyes. They skip along and the jewelry on their ankles jingles.
• Lamentations 4:5Those who once feasted on delicacies are now starving to death in the streets. Those who grew up wearing expensive clothes are now dying amid garbage. ו (Vav)
• Deuteronomy 28:41You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity.
• 2 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.
• Isaiah 39:6‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away 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