Micah 1:13
in Micah 1Harness your chariot horses, O dweller of Lachish. You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Bind the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitant of Lachish: she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
KJV
O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
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This verse in Micah 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Vers. 10 seq.) In Geth, do not announce, do not weep with tears, sprinkle yourselves with dust in the house of dust: pass by, you inhabitants of Saphir (Beautiful), confused with disgrace, she who dwells in Sennan (Exit) has not come out. The lament of the house of Asel (Neighboring) will receive you: she who stood for herself, because she is weakened in good, she who dwells in Maroth (Bitterness): for evil descends from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
This site's exposition
Declare ye it not at Gath
on Micah 1:10-13
The oracle turns to a string of town names along the Shephelah, Sennacherib's likely invasion route in 701 BC, each name played on in Hebrew for the fate it suits: do not tell it in Gath echoes David's own lament over Saul, Aphrah's name plays on dust for rolling in the dust, and Saphir, meaning beautiful, goes out in naked shame. Zaanan sounds like going out for a town that stays put in fear, Beth-ezel's neighborly help fails, and Maroth waited for good and got evil at Jerusalem's own gate. Lachish is told to harness the chariot to the swift beast, a city the commentators identify from the Assyrian reliefs at Sennacherib's own palace as one of the campaign's real conquests, and it is named the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion, the readings naming an early alliance with the calf worship of the north.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Bind the chariot - To fly from the sword of the enemy. She - Lachish, which being the nearest to idolatrous Israel, took the infection of them, and conveyed it to Jerusalem. The transgressions - Not only the idolatry, but other sins also.
Note, Those that help to bring sin into a country do but thereby prepare for the throwing of themselves out of it. Those must expect to be first in the punishment who have been ringleaders in sin. The transgressions of Israel were found in thee; when they came to be traced up to their original they were found to take rise very much from that city.
4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. 5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast,.... Horses, camels, dromedaries, or mules.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast - (steed.) Lachish was always a strong city, as its name probably denoted, (probably “compact.” It was one of the royal cities of the Amorites, and its king one of the five, who went out to battle with Joshua Jos 10:3. It lay in the low country, Shephelah, of Judah Jos 15:33, Jos 15:39, between Adoraim and Azekah 2Ch 11:9, 2Ch 11:7 Roman miles south of Eleutheropolis (Onomasticon), and so, probably, close to the hill-country, although on the plain; partaking perhaps of the advantages of both.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Jer 34:7). she is the beginning of the sin to . . . Zion--Lachish was the first of the cities of Judah, according to this passage, to introduce the worship of false gods, imitating what Jeroboam had introduced in Israel. As lying near the border of the north kingdom, Lachish was first to be infected by its idolatry, which thence spread to Jerusalem.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Inhabitant of Lachish - This city was in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:39, and was taken by Sennacherib when he was coming against Jerusalem, 2Ki 18:13, etc., and it is supposed that he wished to reduce this city first, that, possessing it, he might prevent Hezekiah’s receiving any help from Egypt. She is the beginning of the sin - This seems to intimate that Lachish was the first city in Judah which received the idolatrous worship of Israel.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For the one dwelling in disobedience hoped for good —For the one dwelling in tranquility and disobeying the word of the prophets hoped for good.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רְתֹ֧ם | retom | harness | H7573 → | |
| הַמֶּרְכָּבָ֛ה | hamerkavah | the chariot | H4818 → | |
| לָרֶ֖כֶשׁ | larekhesh | to the steed | H7409 → | |
| יוֹשֶׁ֣בֶת | yoshevet | O inhabitant[s] of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| לָכִ֑ישׁ | lakhish | Lachish | H3923 → | |
| רֵאשִׁ֨ית | reshit | [was the] beginning of | H7225 → | |
| חַטָּ֥את | chatat | sin | H2403 → | 295 times |
| הִיא֙ | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לְבַת־ | levat- | for [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| צִיּ֔וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בָ֥ךְ | vakh | in you | ||
| נִמְצְא֖וּ | nimtzeu | they were found | H4672 → | |
| פִּשְׁעֵ֥י | pishei | [the] transgressions of | H6588 → | 93 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
רְתֹ֧םharness
retomH7573 →
הַמֶּרְכָּבָ֛הthe chariot
hamerkavahH4818 →
לָרֶ֖כֶשׁto the steed
larekheshH7409 →
יוֹשֶׁ֣בֶתO inhabitant[s] of
yoshevetH3427 →1079 times
לָכִ֑ישׁLachish
lakhishH3923 →
רֵאשִׁ֨ית[was the] beginning of
reshitH7225 →
חַטָּ֥אתsin
chatatH2403 →295 times
הִיא֙it
hi'H1931 →1879 times
לְבַת־for [the] daughter of
levat-H1323 →588 times
צִיּ֔וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בָ֥ךְin you
vakh
נִמְצְא֖וּthey were found
nimtzeuH4672 →
פִּשְׁעֵ֥י[the] transgressions of
pisheiH6588 →93 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 18:17Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by…
it leads to
- Isaiah 20:1
Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,
- Isaiah 7:3
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
- 2 Kings 20:20
As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in…
- Isaiah 36:2
And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the…
- Isaiah 20:1
Through
2 Chronicles 32:9Later, as Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:17
Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by…
- Joshua 10:31
And Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish. They laid siege to it and fought against it.
- Isaiah 37:8
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
- 2 Kings 18:17
Through
Joshua 10:3Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying,
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 11:9
Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
- 2 Chronicles 11:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Micah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceJerusalemZionThe eastern ridge David took from the Jebusites and made his stronghold, the name the Psalms and the prophets give the city the LO…
- PlaceShephelahLachishJudah's second city, besieged by Sennacherib in 701 BC, its siege carved on the walls of his palace at Nineveh and confirmed in th…
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.