Micah 1:5
in Micah 1All this is for the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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?
KJV
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?
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This verse in Micah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
For the transgression of Jacob is all this--All these terrors attending Jehovah's coming are caused by the sins of Jacob or Israel, that is, the whole people. What is the transgression of Jacob?--Taking up the question often in the mouths of the people when reproved, "What is our transgression?" (compare Mal 1:6, 7), He answers, Is it not Samaria?
This site's exposition
the transgression of Jacob
The oracle names the sin and the place together: the transgression of Jacob is Samaria itself, the high places of Judah are Jerusalem itself, the two capitals identified as the source of the nation's guilt rather than mere geography. The bench reads this as an indictment of centralized power and cultic corruption spreading outward from the throne cities to the countryside. Judah is not spared by the comparison to Samaria; the same question and the same answer fall on both.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What - Or, who is the spring, and cause of that overflowing transgression? Of Jacob - The kingdom of the ten tribes, the head of which was Samaria, where the kings had their residence, where they worshiped idols, and set an example to the rest of the Israelitish kingdom. And what - Or, who is the cause of the high places, and the idolatry there practiced?
For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel,....
Note, External privileges and professions will not secure a sinful people from the judgments of God. If sin be found in the house of Israel, if Jacob be guilty of transgression and rebellion, God will not spare them; no, he will punish them first, for their sins are of all others most provoking to him, for they are most reproaching.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
What is the transgression of Jacob? - Is it not something extremely grievous? Is it not that of Samaria? Samaria and Jerusalem, the chief cities, are infected with idolatry. Each has its high places, and its idol worship, in opposition to the worship of the true God. That there was idolatry practiced by the elders of Israel, even in the temple of Jehovah, see Eze 8:1, etc. As the royal cities in both kingdoms gave the example of gross idolatry, no wonder that it spread through the whole land, both of Israel and Judah.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the transgression of Jacob is all this - Not for any change of purpose in God; nor, again, as the effect of man’s lust of conquest. None could have any power against God’s people, unless it had been given him by God. Those mighty monarchies of old existed but as God’s instruments, especially toward His own people.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּפֶ֤שַׁע | befesha' | [is] for [the] transgression of | H6588 → | 93 times |
| יַֽעֲקֹב֙ | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זֹ֔את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| וּבְחַטֹּ֖אות | uvechatot | and for [the] sins of | H2403 → | 295 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| פֶ֣שַׁע | fesha' | [is] [the] transgression of | H6588 → | 93 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֗ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| הֲלוֹא֙ | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן | shomeron | [is it] Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| וּמִי֙ | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| בָּמ֣וֹת | bamot | [are] [the] high places of | H1116 → | 102 times |
| יְהוּדָ֔ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| הֲל֖וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ | yerushalim | [is it] Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
בְּפֶ֤שַׁע[is] for [the] transgression of
befesha'H6588 →93 times
יַֽעֲקֹב֙Jacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זֹ֔אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
וּבְחַטֹּ֖אותand for [the] sins of
uvechatotH2403 →295 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
פֶ֣שַׁע[is] [the] transgression of
fesha'H6588 →93 times
יַעֲקֹ֗בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
הֲלוֹא֙¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן[is it] Samaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
וּמִי֙and who?
umiH4310 →423 times
בָּמ֣וֹת[are] [the] high places of
bamotH1116 →102 times
יְהוּדָ֔הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
הֲל֖וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃[is it] Jerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 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
Jeremiah 2:19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear…
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:9
The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Psalms 36:1
An oracle is in my heart regarding the transgression of the wicked man: There is no fear of God before his eyes.
- Jeremiah 2:17
Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?
- Jeremiah 4:18
“Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”
- Hosea 11:7
My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.
- Isaiah 3:9
Through
Jeremiah 6:19Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:2
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Isaiah 1:2
Through
Amos 8:14Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”
it leads to
- Amos 5:5
Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
- 1 Kings 12:28–29
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
- Amos 5:5
Where this verse is studied
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About Micah
Who and where
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
- PlaceThe northern hill countrySamariaThe hill Omri bought and built his capital on, where Ahab raised a temple to Baal, where the four lepers found the Aramean camp em…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.