The Meaning of Micah 1:16 Explained

Micah 1:16

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.

YLT: Make bald and shave, for thy delightful sons, Enlarge thy baldness as an eagle, For they have removed from thee!

Darby: Make thee bald, and poll thee for the children of thy delights; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, for they are gone into captivity from thee.

ASV: Make thee bald, and cut off thy hair for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Make thee bald,  and poll  thee for thy delicate  children;  enlarge  thy baldness  as the eagle;  for they are gone into captivity  from thee. 

What does Micah 1:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Micah called on the Judeans to cut their hair very short as a sign of sorrow over the departure of their children (perhaps the nobles) into exile. The eagle appeared to be bald because its head was white.
"This section ( Micah 1:10-16) begins with words that recall David"s lament at the death of Saul and ends with the name of the cave where David hid from Saul. These dark moments in David"s life form a gloomy backdrop to the description of the fall of the towns Micah spoke of. Though he is never directly mentioned, the figure of David appears hauntingly in the tapestry of destruction-not a David standing tall in triumph, but a David bowed down by humiliation. It is as if Micah saw in the fall of each town and the eventual captivity of the two kingdoms the final dissolution of the Davidic monarchy. Like David, the glory of Israel would come to Adullam." [1]

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 1:16 mean?

Make yourself bald and cut off your hair because of children your precious Enlarge your baldness like an eagle for they shall go into captivity from you -
קָרְחִ֣י וָגֹ֔זִּי עַל־ בְּנֵ֖י תַּעֲנוּגָ֑יִךְ הַרְחִ֤בִי קָרְחָתֵךְ֙ כַּנֶּ֔שֶׁר כִּ֥י גָל֖וּ מִמֵּֽךְ ס

קָרְחִ֣י  Make  yourself  bald 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: קָרַח  
Sense: to be bald, make bald.
וָגֹ֔זִּי  and  cut  off  your  hair 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: גָּזַז  
Sense: to shear, mow.
עַל־  because 
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.
בְּנֵ֖י  of  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
תַּעֲנוּגָ֑יִךְ  your  precious 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person feminine singular
Root: תַּעֲנוּג  
Sense: daintiness, luxury, exquisite delight, pleasantness, delight, comfort.
הַרְחִ֤בִי  Enlarge 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: רָחַב  
Sense: to be or grow wide, be or grow large.
קָרְחָתֵךְ֙  your  baldness 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person feminine singular
Root: קָרַח  
Sense: baldness, bald.
כַּנֶּ֔שֶׁר  like  an  eagle 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֶשֶׁר  
Sense: eagle, vulture, griffon-vulture.
גָל֖וּ  they  shall  go  into  captivity 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: גָּלָה  
Sense: to uncover, remove.
מִמֵּֽךְ  from  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation