The Meaning of Micah 1:7 Explained

Micah 1:7

KJV: And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

YLT: And all her graven images are beaten down, And all her gifts are burnt with fire, And all her idols I make a desolation, For, from the hire of a harlot she gathered, and unto the hire of a harlot they return.

Darby: And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her harlot-gifts shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I make a desolation; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them, and to a harlot's hire shall they return.

ASV: And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them, and unto the hire of a harlot shall they return.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And all the graven images  thereof shall be beaten to pieces,  and all the hires  thereof shall be burned  with the fire,  and all the idols  thereof will I lay  desolate:  for she gathered  [it] of the hire  of an harlot,  and they shall return  to the hire  of an harlot. 

What does Micah 1:7 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God would smash Samaria"s idols proving them incapable of defending themselves much less helping others. He would burn the luxurious ornaments that the people offered as temple gifts in the conflagration that would accompany Samaria"s overthrow. All the pagan images that the people had made would perish. The Lord viewed these physical treasures as the earnings of harlot Israel who had been unfaithful to Him (cf. Hosea). The Israelites had committed adultery with temple prostitutes, but the Assyrians would destroy the gifts that they had brought into their temples and use them for their own idolatrous worship.
"The reference is probably to the gold and silver plating on the images, melted down from the dirty money handed over for the use of religious brothels. Invading soldiers are to tear it off as loot and spend it as currency for further prostitution, as soldiers will." [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 1:7 mean?

And all her carved images shall be beaten to pieces her [pay] as a harlot shall be burned with the fire her idols I will lay desolate for from the pay of a harlot she gathered [it] and to the pay of a harlot they shall return
וְכָל־ פְּסִילֶ֣יהָ יֻכַּ֗תּוּ אֶתְנַנֶּ֙יהָ֙ יִשָּׂרְפ֣וּ בָאֵ֔שׁ עֲצַבֶּ֖יהָ אָשִׂ֣ים שְׁמָמָ֑ה כִּ֠י מֵאֶתְנַ֤ן זוֹנָה֙ קִבָּ֔צָה וְעַד־ אֶתְנַ֥ן זוֹנָ֖ה יָשֽׁוּבוּ

וְכָל־  And  all 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
פְּסִילֶ֣יהָ  her  carved  images 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: פָּסִיל  
Sense: image, idol, graven image.
יֻכַּ֗תּוּ  shall  be  beaten  to  pieces 
Parse: Verb, Hofal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: כָּתַת  
Sense: to beat, crush by beating, crush to pieces, crush fine.
אֶתְנַנֶּ֙יהָ֙  her  [pay]  as  a  harlot 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶתְנָן  
Sense: hire of prostitute, price.
יִשָּׂרְפ֣וּ  shall  be  burned 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׂרַף  
Sense: to burn.
בָאֵ֔שׁ  with  the  fire 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
עֲצַבֶּ֖יהָ  her  idols 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: עָצָב  
Sense: idol, image.
אָשִׂ֣ים  I  will  lay 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
שְׁמָמָ֑ה  desolate 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שְׁמָמָה 
Sense: devastation, waste, desolation.
מֵאֶתְנַ֤ן  from  the  pay  of 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אֶתְנָן  
Sense: hire of prostitute, price.
זוֹנָה֙  a  harlot 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: זָנָה 
Sense: to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot.
קִבָּ֔צָה  she  gathered  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: קָבַץ  
Sense: to gather, assemble.
וְעַד־  and  to 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
אֶתְנַ֥ן  the  pay 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אֶתְנָן  
Sense: hire of prostitute, price.
זוֹנָ֖ה  of  a  harlot 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: זָנָה 
Sense: to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot.
יָשֽׁוּבוּ  they  shall  return 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.