Micah 4:9

Micah 4:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
• New International Version (NIV)Why do you now cry aloud— have you no king? Has your ruler perished, that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pain seized you like a woman in labor?
• New Living Translation (NLT)But why are you now screaming in terror? Have you no king to lead you? Have your wise people all died? Pain has gripped you like a woman in childbirth.

Context of Micah 4:9

7I will make the lame a remnant, And the outcast a strong nation; So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on, even forever. 8And you, O tower of the flock, The stronghold of the daughter of Zion, To you shall it come, Even the former dominion shall come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.” Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor. 10Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, You shall dwell in the field, And to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; There the Lord will redeem you From the hand of your enemies. 11Now also many nations have gathered against you, Who say, “Let her be defiled, And let our eye look upon Zion.”

Micah 4:9 word by word

עַתָּ֕ה לָ֥מָּה תָרִ֖יעִי רֵ֑עַ הֲמֶ֣לֶךְ אֵֽין־בָּ֗ךְ אִֽם־יוֹעֲצֵךְ֙ אָבָ֔ד כִּֽי־הֶחֱזִיקֵ֥ךְ חִ֖יל כַּיּוֹלֵדָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Now why dost thou cryרוּעַrûa‛ · to shoutH7321
• out aloudרֵעַrêa‛ · shoutingH7452
• no kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• in thee? is thy counsellorיָעַץyâ‛ats · to adviseH3289
• perishedאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• for pangsחִילchîyl chîylâh · agonyH2427
• have takenחָזַקchâzaq · to strengthen: holdH2388
• thee as a woman in travailיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205

Cross-references for Micah 4:9

• Jeremiah 4:21How long will I see the standard, And hear the sound of the trumpet?
• Jeremiah 8:19Listen! The voice, The cry of the daughter of my people From a far country: “Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King in her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger With their carved images— With foreign idols?”
• Jeremiah 30:6Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale?
• Isaiah 3:1For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah The stock and the store, The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;
• Lamentations 4:20The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, Was caught in their pits, Of whom we said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.”
• Hosea 3:4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
• Hosea 10:3For now they say, “We have no king, Because we did not fear the Lord. And as for a king, what would he do for us?”
• Hosea 13:10I will be your King; Where is any other, That he may save you in all your cities? And your judges to whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’?
• Isaiah 13:8And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.
• Isaiah 21:3Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.
• Isaiah 26:17As a woman with child Is in pain and cries out in her pangs, When she draws near the time of her delivery, So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
• Jeremiah 22:23O inhabitant of Lebanon, Making your nest in the cedars, How gracious will you be when pangs come upon you, Like the pain of a woman in labor?
• Jeremiah 50:43“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands grow feeble; Anguish has taken hold of him, Pangs as of a woman in childbirth.

Commentaries on Micah 4:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Is there no King in thee? - None. And why? Because thou hast rejected Jehovah thy king. Is thy counsellor perished? - No: but thou hast rejected the words and advices of the prophets. Pangs have taken thee - He is speaking of the desolations that should take place when the Chaldeans should come against the city; and hence he says, "Thou shalt go to Babylon;" ye shall be cast out of your own land, and sent slaves to a foreign country, He represents the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Now - The prophet places himself in the midst of their deepest sorrows, and out of them he promises comfort. “Why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no King in thee? is thy Counsellor perished?”. Is then all lost, because thou hast no visible king, none to counsel thee or consult for thee?. Very remarkably he speaks of their “King and Counsellor” as one, as if to say, “When all beside is gone, there is One who abides. Though thou be a captive, God will not…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. 9Israel's king and wise people were meant to lead and live by the Lord's instructions and covenant (Deuteronomy 17:18–20). Now, however, the people would lack godly leadership (compare Judges 17:6; 18:1; 21:25).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Addressed to the daughter of Zion, in her consternation at the approach of the Chaldeans. is there no king in thee?--asked tauntingly. There is a king in her; but it is the same as if there were none, so helpless to devise means of escape are he and his counsellors [Maurer]. Or, Zion's pains are because her king is taken away from her (Jr 52:9; La 4:20; Eze 12:13) [Calvin]. The former is perhaps the preferable view (compare Jr 49:7). The latter…Read the comment

Topics related to Micah 4:9

• Israel, Prophecies Concerning

In the dictionaries

• Micah (2)
• Take

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