Micah 1:6
in Micah 1Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble in the open field, a planting area for a vineyard. I will pour her stones into the valley and expose her foundations.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will uncover the foundations thereof.
KJV
Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
⋯
This verse in Micah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseTherefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard,.... As a field ploughed, and laid in heaps; see Mic 3:12; or as stones gathered out of a field, and out of a vineyard planted, and laid in a heap; so should this city become a heap of stones and rubbish, being utterly demolished; and this being done according to the will of God, and through his instigation of Shalmaneser king of Assyria to it, and by his providence succeeding his army that besieged it, is said to be done by him.
This site's exposition
an heap of the field
on Micah 1:6-7
Samaria's judgment is pictured as agricultural reversal, a capital city turned back into an heap of the field and plantings of a vineyard, its stones poured into the valley and its foundations laid bare. The idols fall with the city: graven images beaten to pieces, the hires burned with fire, for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. The commentators read the harlot's hire as the temple offerings and cult objects funded by pagan tribute, wealth gained in spiritual adultery returning to the same use when Samaria's spoils are carried off to Assyria's own shrines.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 6 onwards): And I will make Samaria a heap of stones in the field, when a vineyard is planted, and I will pour down her stones into the valley, and will lay bare her foundations. And all her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of a harlot.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
As an heap - As a heap of ruins. Of a vineyard - In planting vineyards, they dig up the earth, and cast it up in hillocks; so shall they make this city. Into the valley - The city was built on a high hill, and a deep valley beneath it.
They shall be quite pulled down, so that the very foundations shall be discovered, that had been covered by the superstructure; and not one stone shall be left upon another. A charge of sin upon them, as the procuring cause of these desolating judgments (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Vineyards were cultivated on the sides of hills exposed to the sun. The hill on which Samaria was built by Omri, had been, doubtless, planted with vines originally; now it is to be reduced again to its original state (1Ki 16:24). pour down--dash down the stones of the city into the valley beneath.
I will make Samaria - I will bring it to desolation: and, instead of being a royal city, it shall be a place for vineyards. Newcome observes, that Samaria was situated on a hill, the right soil for a vineyard. I will discover the foundations thereof - I will cause its walls and fortifications to be razed to the ground.
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
Therefore - (literally, “And”) I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard Jerome: “The order of the sin was the order or the punishment.” Samaria’s sins were the earliest, the most obstinate, the most unbroken, bound up with its being as a state. On it then God’s judgments should first fall. It was a crown of pride Isa 28:1, resting on the head of the rich valleys, out of which it rose. Its soil is still rich . “The whole is now cultivated in terraces” , “to the summits” . Probably, since the sides of hills, open to the sun, were chosen for vineyards, it had been a vineyard, before Shemer sold it to Omri 1Ki 16:24. What it had been, that it was again to be. Its inhabitants cast forth, its houses and gorgeous palaces were to become heaps of stones, gathered out Isa 5:2 to make way for cultivation, or to become the fences of the vegetation, which should succeed to man. There is scarce a sadder natural sight than the fragments of human habitation, tokens of man’s labor or his luxury, amid the rich beauty of nature when man himself is gone. For they are tracks of sin and punishment, man’s rebellion and God’s judgment, man’s unworthiness of the good natural gifts of God. A century or two ago, travelers “speak of the ground (the site of Samaria) as strewed with masses of ruins.” Now these too are gone. : “The stones of the temples and palaces of Samaria have been carefully removed from the rich soil, thrown together in heaps, built up in the rude walls of terraces, and rolled down into the valley below.” : “About midway of the ascent, the hill is surrounded by a narrow terrace of woodland like a belt. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשַׂמְתִּ֥י | vesamti | and I will make | H7760 → | 584 times |
| שֹׁמְר֛וֹן | shomeron | Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| לְעִ֥י | lei | into [the] heap of ruins of | H5856 → | |
| הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| לְמַטָּ֣עֵי | lemataei | into a planting place of | H4302 → | |
| כָ֑רֶם | kharem | a vineyard | H3754 → | |
| וְהִגַּרְתִּ֤י | vehigarti | and I will pour down | H5064 → | |
| לַגַּי֙ | lagai | to the valley | H1516 → | |
| אֲבָנֶ֔יהָ | ʾavaneiha | stones its | H68 → | |
| וִיסֹדֶ֖יהָ | visodeiha | and foundations its | H3247 → | |
| אֲגַלֶּֽה׃ | ʾagaleh | I will uncover | H1540 → |
וְשַׂמְתִּ֥יand I will make
vesamtiH7760 →584 times
שֹׁמְר֛וֹןSamaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
לְעִ֥יinto [the] heap of ruins of
leiH5856 →
הַשָּׂדֶ֖הthe field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
לְמַטָּ֣עֵיinto a planting place of
lemataeiH4302 →
כָ֑רֶםa vineyard
kharemH3754 →
וְהִגַּרְתִּ֤יand I will pour down
vehigartiH5064 →
לַגַּי֙to the valley
lagaiH1516 →
אֲבָנֶ֔יהָstones its
ʾavaneihaH68 →
וִיסֹדֶ֖יהָand foundations its
visodeihaH3247 →
אֲגַלֶּֽה׃I will uncover
ʾagalehH1540 →
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
Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
- Matthew 24:2
“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 79:1
The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Micah 4:1–2
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to…
- Jeremiah 26:18
Through
2 Kings 19:25Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:7
I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- Isaiah 45:7
Through
Lamentations 4:1How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:19–22
They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their…
- Lamentations 2:19
Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives…
- Ezekiel 7:19–22
Through
Ezekiel 13:14I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:15
Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and…
- Jeremiah 14:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Micah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.