Micah 1:15
in Micah 1I will again bring a conqueror against you, O dweller of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will yet bring unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah, him that shall possess thee: the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam.
KJV
Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
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This verse in Micah 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verseYet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah,.... Another city in the tribe of Judah, mentioned with Achzib in Jos 15:44; and by many thought to be the birth place of this prophet; and, if so, his faithfulness may be observed in declaring the whole counsel of God, though against his own fire place; and this must be an aggravation of the sin of the inhabitants of it, that they had such a prophet that arose from them, and they regarded him not.
This site's exposition
Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth
on Micah 1:14-15
Two more towns close the wordplay, Micah naming his own hometown in the string: Moresheth-gath is to give parting gifts, a dowry paid out as the town is lost, and Achzib, whose name means a lie or a deceitful brook, becomes a lie to the kings of Israel exactly as its name warned. Mareshah's name plays on heir or possessor, and an heir now comes to dispossess Mareshah in turn, a reversal of its own name's promise. The oracle ends at Adullam, the cave where David once hid from Saul, the glory of Israel now driven to hide in the same refuge, which the commentators read as a mark of how far the nation's glory has fallen.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
An heir - The Assyrian, who in the right of conquest shall possess thee. Mareshah - A town of the Philistines. Adullam - Perhaps this city was considerable enough at that time, to be the glory of Israel.
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
The parties concerned in this prophecy; it is concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, the head cities of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, under the influence of which the kingdoms themselves were. Though the ten tribes have deserted the houses both of David and Aaron, yet God is pleased to send prophets to them. A very solemn introduction to the following prophecy (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
That was the prophet's own city, and yet he denounces the judgments of God against it; for it shall be an aggravation of its sin that it had such a prophet, and knew not the day of its visitation. Its being thus privileged, since it improved not the privilege, shall not procure favour for it either with God or with his prophet.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Yet will I bring an heir - (the heir, him whom God had appointed to be the heir, Sennacherib) unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah Mareshah, (as the original form of its name denotes, lay on the summit of a hill. “Its ruins only were still seen,” in the time of Eusebius and Jerome, “in the second mile from Eleutheropolis” (Onomasticon). : “Foundations still remain on the south-eastern part of the remarkable Tell, south of Beth-Jibrin.” Rehoboam fortified it also 2Ch 11:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Other heirs will supplant us in every inheritance but that of heaven. There is a play upon the meaning of Mareshah, "an inheritance": there shall come the new heir of the inheritance. Adullam the glory of Israel--so called as being superior in situation; when it and the neighboring cities fell, Israel's glory was gone.
Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O - Mareshah - Here is another instance, הירש haigeresh, to bring an heir, and מרשה mareshah, the city, the name of which signifies heirship. And so of the above proper names. Adullam the glory of Israel - This was a fenced city in the south of Judah (see 2Ch 11:7) towards the Dead Sea. There is much obscurity in the concluding verses of this chapter. They undoubtedly refer to the captivity of Israel, and to circumstances of distress, etc., which are not mentioned in any of the historical books, and therefore their reference and meaning can only be conjectured.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֹ֗ד | ʾod | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| הַיֹּרֵשׁ֙ | haiyoresh | the [one who] dispossesses | H3423 → | |
| אָ֣בִי | ʾavi | I will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| יוֹשֶׁ֖בֶת | yoshevet | O inhabitant[s] of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| מָֽרֵשָׁ֑ה | mareshah | Mareshah | H4762 → | |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| עֲדֻּלָּ֥ם | ʾadulam | Adullam | H5725 → | |
| יָב֖וֹא | yavo' | he will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כְּב֥וֹד | kevod | [the] glory of | H3519 → | |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
עֹ֗דagain
ʾodH5750 →490 times
הַיֹּרֵשׁ֙the [one who] dispossesses
haiyoreshH3423 →
אָ֣בִיI will bring
ʾaviH935 →2568 times
לָ֔ךְto you
lakh
יוֹשֶׁ֖בֶתO inhabitant[s] of
yoshevetH3427 →1079 times
מָֽרֵשָׁ֑הMareshah
mareshahH4762 →
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
עֲדֻּלָּ֥םAdullam
ʾadulamH5725 →
יָב֖וֹאhe will come
yavo'H935 →2568 times
כְּב֥וֹד[the] glory of
kevodH3519 →
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
Joshua 15:35Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 22:1
So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 17:1
Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
- Joshua 10:3
Therefore 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,
- 1 Samuel 22:1
Through
1 Samuel 22:1So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
it leads to
- Psalms 57:1–11
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in You my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter until the danger has passed.
- Psalms 142:1–7
I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.
- Psalms 34:1
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.
- 1 Chronicles 11:15
Three of the thirty chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
- Hebrews 11:38
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
- Psalms 57:1–11
Where this verse is studied
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Studies2
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About Micah
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); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.