Micah 4:12
in Micah 4But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, neither understand they his counsel; for he hath gathered them as the sheaves to the threshing-floor.
KJV
But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
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This verse in Micah 4
Commentary
9 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 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
The thoughts - The design of the holy, just and faithful God. As the sheaves - The husbandman gathers the sheaves into the floor to thresh them; so God in due time will bring his enemies together, that they may be bruised, broken and destroyed.
But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel,....
They promise themselves a day of it, but it shall prove God's day. They are gathered against Zion, to destroy it, but it shall prove to their own destruction, which Israel and Israel's God shall have the glory of. [1.] Their coming together against Zion shall be the occasion of their ruin.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew is singular, "sheaf." However great the numbers of the foe, they are all but as one sheaf ready to be threshed [CALVIN]. Threshing was done by treading with the feet: hence the propriety of the image for treading under foot and breaking asunder the foe.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
But they know not the thoughts of the Lord - These think that God has utterly rejected his people, and they shall have a troublesome neighbor no more: but this is not his design; he will afflict them for a time; but these, the enemies of his people, he will gather as sheaves into the threshing-floor, there to be trodden, and the wheel to go over them. This is the counsel, the purpose of God, which these do not understand.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they His counsel - The pagan did, for their own ends, what God willed for His. The first step was the same; God willed that His people should be punished; they willed to punish them. But all which lay beyond, they saw not; that God willed (on their repentance) to pardon His own people, but to punish themselves for their pride Isa 10:7, Isa 10:12 and cruelty Zec 1:15, Zec 1:19. : “Almighty God corrects the elect through the reprobate, as with a rod; after which He condemns the reprobate eternally, as when the son has been disciplined, the rod is cast into the fire.” For He shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor - The multitude of the sheaves hinders not the threshing; the multitude of God’s enemies hinders not their destruction. They think that they strengthen themselves, as they gather together; God sees them but as ripened and fitted for destruction, gathered into one bundle together, to perish together. God gathers them, not by constraint or force, but by giving free scope to their own wayward wills, and overruling these to His ends.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
who say, “Let her be guilty” —Let Zion be guilty of her sins, and let her iniquity be visited upon her.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵ֗מָּה | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָֽדְעוּ֙ | yadeu | they know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת | machshevot | [the] thoughts of | H4284 → | |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֵבִ֖ינוּ | hevinu | they understand | H995 → | |
| עֲצָת֑וֹ | atzato | counsel his | H6098 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קִבְּצָ֖ם | kibetzam | he has gathered them | H6908 → | 127 times |
| כֶּעָמִ֥יר | keamir | like <the> cut grain | H5995 → | |
| גֹּֽרְנָה׃ | gorenah | [the] threshing floor towards | H1637 → |
וְהֵ֗מָּהand they
vehemahH1992 →
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָֽדְעוּ֙they know
yadeuH3045 →945 times
מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת[the] thoughts of
machshevotH4284 →
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
הֵבִ֖ינוּthey understand
hevinuH995 →
עֲצָת֑וֹcounsel his
atzatoH6098 →
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
קִבְּצָ֖םhe has gathered them
kibetzamH6908 →127 times
כֶּעָמִ֥ירlike <the> cut grain
keamirH5995 →
גֹּֽרְנָה׃[the] threshing floor towards
gorenahH1637 →
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 29:11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
it leads to
- Isaiah 55:8–12
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us— none can compare to You— if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 33:11
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.
- Job 23:13
But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
- Lamentations 3:26
It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
- Isaiah 55:8–12
Through
Isaiah 55:8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 92:5
How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- Ezekiel 18:29
Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
- Psalms 92:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Micah
This page draws on 9 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; 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.