The Meaning of Micah 2:4 Explained

Micah 2:4

KJV: In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

YLT: In that day doth one take up for you a simile, And he hath wailed a wailing of woe, He hath said, We have been utterly spoiled, The portion of my people He doth change, How doth He move toward me! To the backslider our fields He apportioneth.

Darby: In that day shall they take up a proverb concerning you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! He hath distributed our fields to the rebellious.

ASV: In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and'say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove it from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

In that day  shall [one] take up  a parable  against you, and lament  with a doleful  lamentation,  [and] say,  We be utterly  spoiled:  he hath changed  the portion  of my people:  how hath he removed  [it] from me! turning away  he hath divided  our fields. 

What does Micah 2:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

When God"s judgment fell, other people would ridicule the Israelites. God"s people would also lament with bitter weeping and mourn their complete destruction, as the victims of the rich Israelites" crimes just cited had mourned. They would bewail God"s removal of His blessings, including their lands, from them and His giving them to others that they considered apostate.
"The situation envisaged seems to be the forced evacuation of the landed elite, who are marched away by the foreign invader while their estates are left to their erstwhile serfs, who are contemptuously spoken of as religious renegades." [1]

Context Summary

Micah 2:1-13 - The Harvest Of Greed And Injustice
Micah 1:1-16 dealt with sins against the first table of the law; this deals with those against the second. Evil must sooner or later befall those who devise evil against their neighbors, covet their goods, and oppress their persons. So absolute would be the destruction, that estates would no longer descend from father to son, or be measured by lot, Micah 2:5; and the people would become hard and callous to the prophet's voice, Micah 2:6. Yet through it all God's Spirit would yearn over His people, Micah 2:7-13; His words would still comfort humble souls. But the cruelty of men who despoiled their poor neighbors, not only of their ornaments but of the tunic next their skin, would bring disaster upon the entire nation. The guilty people must prepare to arise and depart, for Canaan could no longer be their home.
But even from captivity God would restore His people, breaking the way through walls of difficulty. Our Breaker is the Lord Jesus who broke the way for us from the prison-house of death. Let us follow Him as He passes on His way to victory. [source]

Chapter Summary: Micah 2

1  Against oppression
4  A lamentation
7  A reproof of injustice and idolatry
12  A promise to restore Jacob

What do the individual words in Micah 2:4 mean?

In day that [one] shall take up against you a proverb and lament with a lamentation bitter saying utterly we are destroyed the heritage of my people He has changed how He has removed [it] from me to a turncoat our fields He has divided
בַּיּ֨וֹם הַה֜וּא יִשָּׂ֧א עֲלֵיכֶ֣ם מָשָׁ֗ל וְנָהָ֨ה נְהִ֤י נִֽהְיָה֙ אָמַר֙ שָׁד֣וֹד ! נְשַׁדֻּ֔נוּ חֵ֥לֶק עַמִּ֖י יָמִ֑יר אֵ֚יךְ יָמִ֣ישׁ לִ֔י לְשׁוֹבֵ֥ב שָׂדֵ֖ינוּ יְחַלֵּֽק

בַּיּ֨וֹם  In  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַה֜וּא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
יִשָּׂ֧א  [one]  shall  take  up 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
עֲלֵיכֶ֣ם  against  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
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.
מָשָׁ֗ל  a  proverb 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָשָׁל  
Sense: proverb, parable.
וְנָהָ֨ה  and  lament 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָהָה 
Sense: to wail, lament.
נְהִ֤י  with  a  lamentation 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נְהִי  
Sense: wailing, lamentation, mourning song.
נִֽהְיָה֙  bitter 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
אָמַר֙  saying 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
שָׁד֣וֹד  utterly 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: שָׁדַד  
Sense: to deal violently with, despoil, devastate, ruin, destroy, spoil.
! נְשַׁדֻּ֔נוּ  we  are  destroyed 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, first person common plural
Root: שָׁדַד  
Sense: to deal violently with, despoil, devastate, ruin, destroy, spoil.
חֵ֥לֶק  the  heritage 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: חֵלֶק 
Sense: portion, share, part, territory.
עַמִּ֖י  of  my  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
יָמִ֑יר  He  has  changed 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מוּר 
Sense: to change, exchange.
אֵ֚יךְ  how 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֵיךְ 
Sense: how? interj.
יָמִ֣ישׁ  He  has  removed  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מוּשׁ  
Sense: to depart, remove.
לִ֔י  from  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
לְשׁוֹבֵ֥ב  to  a  turncoat 
Parse: Preposition-l, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: שֹׁובֵב  
Sense: backturning, apostate, backsliding.
שָׂדֵ֖ינוּ  our  fields 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: שָׂדֶה 
Sense: field, land.
יְחַלֵּֽק  He  has  divided 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָלַק 
Sense: to divide, share, plunder, allot, apportion, assign.