Micah 4:11
in Micah 4But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see our desire upon Zion.
KJV
Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
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This verse in Micah 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verses 11-13.) And now many nations have gathered against you, saying: Let her be stoned, and let our eyes see her downfall in Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and they do not understand His plan, for He has gathered them like the hay of the threshing floor. Rise up and trample, daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze, and you will crush many peoples. And you will dedicate their plunder to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth.
This site's exposition
many nations are gathered against thee
on Micah 4:11-13
Many nations gather against Zion wanting to see her defiled, but they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, who has gathered them himself as sheaves to the threshing floor. Zion is told to arise and thresh, her horn made iron and her hoofs brass, an image of overwhelming strength given to the very city the nations expected to trample. The chapter's last line turns the coming victory from plunder to worship, their gain and substance consecrated to the Lord of the whole earth, so that the fight itself serves an end larger than conquest.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now many nations are assembled against you. That is, in the meantime a mix of many different nations invades you under the command of Gog. Again there shall be profanation in Zion, and the eye shall gaze upon it, which means the holy places of …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
2-4 ), that out of the mouth of these two witnesses these promises might be established; and very precious promises they are, relating to the gospel-church, which have been in part accomplished, and will be yet more and more, for he is faithful that has promised.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
When they hear the enemies thus combine against them, and insult over them, no wonder that they are in pain, and cry aloud. Without are fightings, within are fears. Jerusalem made easy by the promises of God: " Why dost thou cry out aloud?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Now - The time is at hand. Defiled - Let her be polluted with blood, and let us enter, sack and destroy her temple and palaces. Look - With delight on her destruction.
Now also many nations are gathered against thee,....
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)
Now also - (And now.) The prophet had already spoken of the future before them, with this word Now. Then, he distinctly prophesied the captivity to Babylon. Twice more he begins anew; as Holy Scripture, so often, in a mystery, whether speaking of evil or of good, of deliverance or of punishment, uses a threefold form. In these two, no mention is made of the enemy, and so there is some uncertainty. But the course must apparently be either backward or forward. They must either be two nearer futures before the Captivity, or two more distant after it.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
many nations--the subject peoples composing Babylon's armies: and also Edom, Ammon, &c., who exulted in Judah's fall (La 2:16; Ob 11-13). defiled--metaphor from a virgin. Let her be defiled (that is, outraged by violence and bloodshed), and let our eye gaze insultingly on her shame and sorrow (Mic 7:10).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Many nations are gathered against thee - The Chaldeans, who were composed of many nations. And, we may add, all the surrounding nations were their enemies; and rejoiced when the Chaldean army had overthrown Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and led the people away captive. Let her be defiled - This was their cry and their wish: Let Jerusalem be laid as low as she can be, like a thing defiled and cast away with abhorrence; that their eyes might look upon Zion with scorn, contempt, and exultation.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
who say, “Let her be guilty” —Let Zion be guilty of her sins, and let her iniquity be visited upon her.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
for He gathered them as sheaves to a threshing floor —And eventually, He will gather them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat and around Jerusalem to war, as they gather a sheaf in order to thresh it there.
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. 6 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֛ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| נֶאֶסְפ֥וּ | neesfu | they have gathered | H622 → | 200 times |
| עָלַ֖יִךְ | ʾalayikh | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גּוֹיִ֣ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| רַבִּ֑ים | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| הָאֹמְרִ֣ים | haomerim | that are saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| תֶּחֱנָ֔ף | techenaf | let her be polluted | H2610 → | |
| וְתַ֥חַז | vetachaz | and let it look | H2372 → | |
| בְּצִיּ֖וֹן | betziyon | on Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| עֵינֵֽינוּ׃ | ʾeineinu | eyes our | H5869 → |
וְעַתָּ֛הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
נֶאֶסְפ֥וּthey have gathered
neesfuH622 →200 times
עָלַ֖יִךְon you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
גּוֹיִ֣םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
רַבִּ֑יםmany
rabimH7227 →454 times
הָאֹמְרִ֣יםthat are saying
haomerimH559 →5305 times
תֶּחֱנָ֔ףlet her be polluted
techenafH2610 →
וְתַ֥חַזand let it look
vetachazH2372 →
בְּצִיּ֖וֹןon Zion
betziyonH6726 →154 times
עֵינֵֽינוּ׃eyes our
ʾeineinuH5869 →
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
Obadiah 1:12But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their…
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:5
He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
- Ezekiel 35:15
As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then…
- 1 Samuel 2:3
Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
- Proverbs 17:5
Through
Micah 7:10Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like…
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:5
They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
- Psalms 42:10
Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Jeremiah 50:33–34
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
- Psalms 18:42
I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
- Psalms 35:26
May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
- Zechariah 10:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Micah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON MICAH; 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.