Micah 2:13
in Micah 2One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate, and go out by it. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD as their leader.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The breaker is gone up before them: they have broken forth and passed on to the gate, and are gone out thereat; and their king is passed on before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.
KJV
The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them.
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This verse in Micah 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe breaker up is come up before them,.... Not the enemy, either the Assyrian or Chaldean army, or any part thereof, going up before the rest, breaking down the walls of the city, either of Samaria or Jerusalem, so making way for entrance therein; nor Zedekiah, as Joseph Kimchi, who made his escape through the wall broken down; nor the Maccabees, who were instruments of great salvation and deliverance to the Jews after the captivity, and before the coming of Christ.
This site's exposition
I will surely assemble, O Jacob
on Micah 2:12-13
The chapter turns from judgment to promise without warning, a pattern the Twelve use often, I will surely assemble Jacob, gather the remnant of Israel like sheep crowded into a fold, a noisy multitude restored rather than the scattered exiles of verse 10. Verse 13 pictures a breaker going up before them to open the way out, a leader clearing the path the flock follows, with their king passing before them and the Lord at their head. The commentators name the readings: some hear a historical leader opening the way home from exile, others hear the verse reaching toward the King the book names outright at 5:2, and the text itself does not choose between them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Before their face they divided and passed through the gate, and went out through it. Their king went out before their face: but the Lord their prince (Heb. shall be) before them.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The gate - The door of escape out of their captivity. No cities so strong, which the Assyrians shall not take and possess, and enter in through the gates. The Lord - Even Jehovah, as he was at the head of Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt.
John was the breaker; he broke the ice, prepared the way of the Lord by the baptism of repentance; in him the gospel began; from his time the kingdom of heaven suffered violence; and so the Christian church is introduced, with Messiah the Prince before it, on the head of it, going forth conquering and to conquer.
And this is the sum and scope of most of the chapters of this and other prophecies. 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:29w-of-46
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
YOU will remember, dear Friends, from our reading last Sabbath morning, [Sermon #1952, The Holy Spirit—The need of the Age] in the second chapter of the Book of Micah, that the Prophet was delivering reproofs and rebukes against a sinful people, a people who tried to straiten the Spirit and silence the voice of prophecy and refused to listen to the messengers of God. He threatened them with deserved punishment from the Most High. To our surprise, in the very midst of the threat, he delivers a prediction brimming with mercy!
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Jud 21:15), but breaking a way for them through their enemies. they--the returning Israelites and Jews. passed through the gate--that is, through the gate of the foe's city in which they had been captives. So the image of the resurrection (Ho 13:14) represents Israel's restoration. their king--"the Breaker," peculiarly "their king" (Ho 3:5;
YOU will remember, dear Friends, from our reading last Sabbath morning, [Sermon #1952, The Holy Spirit—The need of the Age] in the second chapter of the Book of Micah, that the Prophet was delivering reproofs and rebukes against a sinful people, a people who tried to straiten the Spirit and silence the voice of prophecy and refused to listen to the messengers of God. He threatened them with deserved punishment from the Most High. To our surprise, in the very midst of the threat, he delivers a prediction brimming with mercy! Not only is not the Spirit of the Lord straitened, but even the people of the Lord are not to be straitened, for One has come forth who will be to them both Liberator and Leader. Judgment is God's strange work and He rejoices, even in the midst of threats, to turn aside and utter gracious words to obedient souls! Surely the brightest and most silvery drops of love that have ever distilled upon men have fallen in close connection with storms of Divine Justice. The acceptable year of the Lord is hard by the day of vengeance of our God. The blackness of the tempest of His wrath acts as a foil to set forth more brightly the Glory of His Grace. In this case the thunderbolts stay their course in mid-volley—when the Prophet is hurling destruction upon sin and sinners, he pauses to interpose a passage of promise most rich and gracious—a passage which I wish to open up to you at this time, as the Spirit of God shall enable me. Certain willful persons were proudly confident that no enemy could reach them behind the walls of their cities, though the Lord declared that He would make Samaria a heap and would strip Jerusalem. They coveted fields and took them by violence and went on with their oppressions as if there had been no Judge of all the earth.
The breaker is come up - He who is to give them deliverance, and lead them out on the way of their return. He who takes down the hurdles, or makes a gap in the wall or hedge, to permit them to pass through. This may apply to those human agents that shall permit and order their return. And Jehovah being at their head, may refer to their final restoration, when the Lord Jesus shall become their leader, they having returned unto him as the shepherd and bishop of their souls; and they and the Gentiles forming one fold under one shepherd, to go no more out into captivity for ever. Lord, hasten the time!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Breaker is come up - (gone up) before them; they have broken up (Broken through) and have passed the gate, and have gone forth The image is not of conquest, but of deliverance.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The breaker has gone up —Their savior, who breaks the fences of thorns and the hedges of briers, to straighten the road before them.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I will surely assemble —Days will yet come when I will assemble you.
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. 3 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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָלָ֤ה | ʾalah | he will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| הַפֹּרֵץ֙ | haporetz | the [one who] breaks through | H6555 → | |
| לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם | lifneihem | <to> before them | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| פָּֽרְצוּ֙ | paretzu | they will break through | H6555 → | |
| וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֔רוּ | vaiyaavoru | and they have passed through | H5674 → | 556 times |
| שַׁ֖עַר | shaar | [the] gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
| וַיֵּ֣צְאוּ | vaiyetzeu | and they have gone out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| ב֑וֹ | vo | by it | ||
| וַיַּעֲבֹ֤ר | vaiyaavor | and he has passed on | H5674 → | 556 times |
| מַלְכָּם֙ | malkam | king their | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם | lifneihem | <to> before them | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וַיהוָ֖ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּרֹאשָֽׁם׃ פ | berosham | [will be] at head their | H7218 → | 599 times |
עָלָ֤הhe will go up
ʾalahH5927 →890 times
הַפֹּרֵץ֙the [one who] breaks through
haporetzH6555 →
לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם<to> before them
lifneihemH6440 →2123 times
פָּֽרְצוּ֙they will break through
paretzuH6555 →
וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֔רוּand they have passed through
vaiyaavoruH5674 →556 times
שַׁ֖עַר[the] gate
shaarH8179 →374 times
וַיֵּ֣צְאוּand they have gone out
vaiyetzeuH3318 →1067 times
ב֑וֹby it
vo
וַיַּעֲבֹ֤רand he has passed on
vaiyaavorH5674 →556 times
מַלְכָּם֙king their
malkamH4428 →2525 times
לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם<to> before them
lifneihemH6440 →2123 times
וַיהוָ֖הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּרֹאשָֽׁם׃ פ[will be] at head their
beroshamH7218 →599 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
Revelation 7:17For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
it leads to
- John 7:37–38
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- Psalms 36:8–9
They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- Psalms 23:1–2
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- John 4:11
“Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water?
- John 7:37–38
Through
Isaiah 52:12For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 20:4
For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
- Isaiah 58:8
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
- Exodus 14:19–20
And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
- Deuteronomy 20:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Micah
This page draws on 10 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; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1954: “The Breaker and the Flock” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); 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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.