The Meaning of Micah 1:1 Explained

Micah 1:1

KJV: The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

YLT: A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Micah the Morashite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, that he hath seen concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:

Darby: The word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

ASV: The word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The word  of the LORD  that came to Micah  the Morasthite  in the days  of Jotham,  Ahaz,  [and] Hezekiah,  kings  of Judah,  which he saw  concerning Samaria  and Jerusalem. 

What does Micah 1:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Prophetic revelation from Yahweh came to Micah concerning Samaria (the Northern Kingdom) and Jerusalem (the Southern Kingdom). These capital cities, by synecdoche, represent their respective nations and the people in them. These capital cities also, by metonymy, suggest the leaders of the nations, which Micah targeted for special responsibility. Micah "saw" these revelations (rather than "heard" them) because the Lord revealed them to him in visions and or dreams ( Numbers 12:6; cf. Isaiah 1:1; Obadiah 1:1; Nahum 1:1). Micah ("Who is like Yahweh?") was a resident of Moresheth-gath ( Micah 1:14), which was a Judean town in the Shephelah (foothills) of Judah west and a bit south of Jerusalem. The mention of Micah"s hometown rather than his father"s name suggests that he had come to Jerusalem and had become known there as the Micah from Moresheth. [1] Normally a man who was a longtime resident of a town was described as the son of so and so rather than as being from a particular place. Micah received and delivered his prophetic messages during the reigns of three of the kings of his nation: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This dates his ministry between750,686 B.C. [2] Similar full headings (superscriptions) begin the books of Isaiah ,, Hosea ,, Amos , and Zephaniah.

Context Summary

Micah 1:1-16 - God's Witness Against His Chosen
Micah was contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea. Jeremiah quotes from him. Compare Micah 3:12 and Jeremiah 26:18.
In Micah 1:1-4 the prophet summons the nations to behold the just punishment which Jehovah would mete out to His faithless people. Micah 1:5-6 portray the desolation of Samaria. Destruction would settle on the homes and fields of men, and the prospect of this so affected the prophet that he divested himself of outer garment and sandals, that his disheveled condition might depict the calamities that he announced. Micah 1:10-16 make clear that Judah also would suffer similar chastisements. Aphrah and Shaphir would be hurried into captivity. So universal would be the calamity that Zaanan would not come to bewail with the neighboring city of Bethezel.
The prophets were true patriots and they felt that all good citizens should lament with them, Micah 1:16, in the hope of averting impending judgments. Are we feeling the sins and sorrows of our time, as Jesus felt those of Jerusalem, when He wept over the city? [source]

Chapter Summary: Micah 1

1  The time when Micah prophesied
2  He shows the wrath of God against Jacob for idolatry
10  He exhorts to mourning

What do the individual words in Micah 1:1 mean?

the word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham Ahaz [and] Hezekiah kings of Judah which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem
דְּבַר־ יְהוָ֣ה ׀ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָיָ֗ה אֶל־ מִיכָה֙ הַמֹּ֣רַשְׁתִּ֔י בִּימֵ֥י יוֹתָ֛ם אָחָ֥ז יְחִזְקִיָּ֖ה מַלְכֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֑ה אֲשֶׁר־ חָזָ֥ה עַל־ שֹׁמְר֖וֹן וִירֽוּשָׁלִָֽם

דְּבַר־  the  word 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
יְהוָ֣ה ׀  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
הָיָ֗ה  came 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
מִיכָה֙  Micah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִיכָה  
Sense: the 6th in order of the minor prophets; a native of Moresheth, he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and was contemporary with the prophets Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah.
הַמֹּ֣רַשְׁתִּ֔י  the  Moreshite 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מֹורַשְׁתִּי  
Sense: an inhabitant of Moresheth.
בִּימֵ֥י  in  the  days 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
יוֹתָ֛ם  of  Jotham 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄותָם  
Sense: son of king Uzziah of Judah by Jerushah; king of Judah for 6 years and contemporary with Isaiah and king Pekah of Israel.
אָחָ֥ז  Ahaz 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָחָז  
Sense: king of Judah, son Jotham, father of Hezekiah.
יְחִזְקִיָּ֖ה  [and]  Hezekiah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: חִזְקִיָּה 
Sense: 2th king of Judah, son of Ahaz and Abijah; a good king in that he served Jehovah and did away with idolatrous practices.
מַלְכֵ֣י  kings 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
יְהוּדָ֑ה  of  Judah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְהוּדָה  
Sense: the son of Jacob by Leah.
חָזָ֥ה  he  saw 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָזָה  
Sense: to see, perceive, look, behold, prophesy, provide.
עַל־  regarding 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
שֹׁמְר֖וֹן  Samaria 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שֹׁמְרֹון  
Sense: the region of northern Palestine associated with the northern kingdom of the 0 tribes of Israel which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon during the reign of his son Rehoboam and were ruled by Jeroboam.
וִירֽוּשָׁלִָֽם  and  Jerusalem 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.