Micah 1:4
in Micah 1The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Micah 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the mountains shall be molten under Him - It has been thought that this is imagery, taken from volcanic eruptions ; but, although there is a very remarkable volcanic district just outside of Gilead, it is not thought to have been active at times so late as these; nor were the people to whom the words were said, familiar with it.
This site's exposition
Hear, all ye people
on Micah 1:2-4
The prophecy opens as a courtroom summons addressed to the whole earth, not Israel alone: hear, all ye people, hearken, O earth, with the Lord himself the witness against his own covenant people from his holy temple. Verses 3 and 4 answer with theophany, the Lord coming forth from his place and treading the high places of the earth while the mountains melt like wax before fire, imagery the commentators trace to Sinai's own descent and to later theophanies such as Habakkuk 3's. The scale is deliberately cosmic, framing what follows, judgment on two small kingdoms, as an act with universal witnesses.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 3, sequence) Because behold the Lord will go out from his place, and he will come down and tread upon the heights of the earth, and the mountains will be consumed beneath him, and the valleys will be split like wax before the fire, like waters flowing down a steep slope. Because of the wickedness of Jacob, all this, and because of the sins of the house of Israel. What wickedness of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what heights of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
And he shall come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. The descent of God is, and his majesty runs down to lower things, to tread upon the earth, and to crush even the powerful. And they shall be consumed, he says, whether the mountains waste away, and the valleys beneath him, whom we understand to be the leaders and the people. And just as nearby fire does not sustain wax, and flowing water is carried headlong: so shall the pride of all the wicked, when the Lord comes, be dissolved and flow away.
On another occasion when he was sitting by himself some place reading the book of the twelve prophets, he came to the prophet Micah. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and asked him about this verse from Micah: "Like water coming down from …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the mountains shall be molten under him,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Imagery from earthquakes and volcanic agency, to describe the terrors which attend Jehovah's coming in judgment (compare Jud 5:5). Neither men of high degree, as the mountains, nor men of low degree, as the valleys, can secure themselves or their land from the judgments of God. as wax-- (Ps 97:5; compare Isa 64:1-3).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָמַ֤סּוּ | venamasu | and they will melt | H4549 → | |
| הֶֽהָרִים֙ | heharim | the mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| תַּחְתָּ֔יו | tachtav | under him | H8478 → | 505 times |
| וְהָעֲמָקִ֖ים | vehaamakim | and the valleys | H6010 → | |
| יִתְבַּקָּ֑עוּ | yitbakau | they will be cleft | H1234 → | |
| כַּדּוֹנַג֙ | kadonag | like <the> wax | H1749 → | |
| מִפְּנֵ֣י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָאֵ֔שׁ | haesh | the fire | H784 → | |
| כְּמַ֖יִם | kemayim | like water | H4325 → | |
| מֻגָּרִ֥ים | mugarim | poured out | H5064 → | |
| בְּמוֹרָֽד׃ | bemorad | on a slope | H4174 → |
וְנָמַ֤סּוּand they will melt
venamasuH4549 →
הֶֽהָרִים֙the mountains
heharimH2022 →546 times
תַּחְתָּ֔יוunder him
tachtavH8478 →505 times
וְהָעֲמָקִ֖יםand the valleys
vehaamakimH6010 →
יִתְבַּקָּ֑עוּthey will be cleft
yitbakauH1234 →
כַּדּוֹנַג֙like <the> wax
kadonagH1749 →
מִפְּנֵ֣יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
הָאֵ֔שׁthe fire
haeshH784 →
כְּמַ֖יִםlike water
kemayimH4325 →
מֻגָּרִ֥יםpoured out
mugarimH5064 →
בְּמוֹרָֽד׃on a slope
bemoradH4174 →
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
Psalms 97:5The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
it leads to
- Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 1:3–4
For behold, the LORD comes forth from His dwelling place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 64:1–2
If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 24:19–20
The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.
- Habakkuk 3:6
He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
- Nahum 1:5
Through
Judges 5:4O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 33:2
He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.
- Deuteronomy 33:2
Through
Habakkuk 3:6He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
it leads to
- Genesis 49:26
The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince…
- Deuteronomy 33:15
with the best of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills,
- Genesis 49:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Micah
This page draws on 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Pachomius the Great, LIFE OF PACHOMIUS (BOHAIRIC) 1:155.