New International Version
Micah 1:4
4The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The mountains melt beneath his feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill.
Context of Micah 1:4
2Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it, that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth. The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. 5All this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel. What is Jacob’s transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah’s high place? Is it not Jerusalem? 6“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her 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 5:4“When you, Lord, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.
- Psalms 97:5The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.
- Isaiah 64:1Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
- Amos 9:5The Lord, the Lord Almighty— he touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn; the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt;
- Nahum 1:5The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.
- Habakkuk 3:6He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed— but he marches on forever.
- 2 Peter 3:10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
- Revelation 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
- Zechariah 14:4On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
- Psalms 68:2May you blow them away like smoke— as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.
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
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