Micah 1:16

Verse

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Bible in Basic English

Let your head be uncovered and your hair cut off in sorrow for the children of your delight: let the hair be pulled from your head like an eagle's; for they have been taken away from you as prisoners.

Douay-Rheims 1899

Make thee bald, and be polled for thy delicate children: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle: for they are carried into captivity from thee.

Free Bible Version

Shave your heads, for the children you love will be taken away; make yourselves as bald as a vulture, for they will be exiled far away from you.

Geneva Bible 1599

Make thee balde: and shaue thee for thy delicate children: enlarge thy baldenesse as the eagle, for they are gone into captiuity from thee.

King James (Authorized) Version

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

Translation for Translators

You people of Judah, shave your heads while you will be mourning, because your children whom you love will soon be ◄exiled/forced to leave you and go to another country►.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Shave your head and cut off your hair for the children in whom you delight. Make yourself as bald as eagles, for your children will go into exile from you.

Noah Webster Bible

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

World English Bible

Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture, for they have gone into captivity from you!

Young's Literal Translation

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

Context

Weeping and Mourning

¹⁵I will again bring a conqueror against you, O dweller of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam. ¹⁶Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

Summary

Micah 1:16 expresses the devastation and mourning that will come upon Judah and Jerusalem due to their idolatry and sin. The verse portrays a vivid picture of the consequences of turning away from God and serving false gods, leading to desolation and sorrow. It serves as a warning of the judgment that awaits those who forsake the Lord and highlights the importance of remaining faithful to Him to avoid such calamity. Ultimately, Micah 1:16 underscores the significance of obedience and loyalty to God to avert the tragic outcomes of disobedience.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Make thee bald - Cutting off the hair was a sign of great distress, and was practised on the death of near relatives; see Amo 8:10. The desolation should be so great that Israel should feel it to her utmost extent; and the mourning should be like that of a mother for the death of her most delicate children. Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle - Referring to the mounting of this bird, when in casting its feathers and breeding new ones, it is very sickly, and its strength wholly exhausted. They are gone into captivity - This is a prediction of the captivity by Shalmaneser. Samaria, the chief city, is called on to deplore it, as then fast approaching.

John Gill Bible Commentary

Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children,.... Which is said, either with respect to Mareshah, or to Adullam, or to the whole land, as Kimchi observes; rather to the latter; and that either to Israel, or to Judah, or both; the prophecy in general being concerning them both, Mic 1:1; making baldness, whether by plucking off the hair, or by shaving it, was used in token of mourning, Job 1:20; and so it is designed to express it here: the inhabitants of the land are called to lamentation and weeping for their children taken from them, whom they dearly loved, and brought up in a delicate manner. The Targum is, "pluck off thy hair, and cast it upon the children of thy delight;'' and Sanctius observes; that it was a custom with the Gentiles to cut off their hair, and cast it into the graves of their kindred and friends at their interment, to which be thinks the prophet alludes: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; when it moults, and cast off all its feathers, as it does in old age, and so renews its youth; to which the allusion seems to be in Psa 103:5; or every year, as birds of prey usually do at the beginning of the spring. The Jewish writers (y) say this happens to it every ten years; when, finding its feathers heavy and unfit for flying, it makes a tour to the sun with all its force it can, to get as near it as possible; and, having heated its plumage excessively, it casts itself into the sea for cooling, and then its feathers fall off, and new ones succeed; and this it does until it is a hundred years old; and to its then state of baldness, while it is moulting, is the allusion here; unless it can be thought any respect is had to that kind of eagle which is called the bald one. In Virginia (z) there are three sorts of eagles; one is the grey eagle, about the size of a kite; another the black eagle, resembling those in England; and a third the bald eagle, so called because the upper part of the neck and head are covered with a sort of white down: but the former sort of baldness seems to be intended, which is at certain stated times, and not what always is, and is only partial; for it denotes such an universal baldness to be made, as to take in all the parts of the body where any hair grows; as expressive of the general devastation that should be made, which would be the cause of this great mourning: for they are gone into captivity from thee; that is, the delicate children of Israel and Judah, and so were as dead unto them, or worse: this was accomplished in Israel or the ten tribes, partly by Tiglathpileser, and more completely by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, Kg2 15:29; and in Judah or the two tribes, when Sennacherib came and took their fenced cities; and doubtless some of the inhabitants and their children were carried captive by him, though not Jerusalem; and therefore cannot be addressed here, as some do interpret the words, unless the prophecy is to be extended to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. (y) Saadiah Gaon apud Kimchi & Ben Melech in Psal. ciii. 5. & lsa. xl. 31. (z) See Harris's Voyages and Travels, vol. 2. p. 229. Lowthorp's Philosoph. Transact. abridged, vol. 3. p. 589. Next: Micah Chapter 2

Micah 1:16

Weeping and Mourning

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Bible in Basic English

Douay-Rheims 1899

Make thee bald, and be polled for thy delicate children: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle: for they are carried into captivity from thee.

Free Bible Version

Shave your heads, for the children you love will be taken away; make yourselves as bald as a vulture, for they will be exiled far away from you.

Geneva Bible 1599

Make thee balde: and shaue thee for thy delicate children: enlarge thy baldenesse as the eagle, for they are gone into captiuity from thee.

King James (Authorized) Version

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

Translation for Translators

You people of Judah, shave your heads while you will be mourning, because your children whom you love will soon be ◄exiled/forced to leave you and go to another country►.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Shave your head and cut off your hair for the children in whom you delight. Make yourself as bald as eagles, for your children will go into exile from you.

Noah Webster Bible

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

World English Bible

Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture, for they have gone into captivity from you!

Young's Literal Translation

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

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Micah 1:16

Verse

Context

Weeping and Mourning

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Micah 1:16

Weeping and Mourning

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes