Micah 4:13
in Micah 4Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain unto Jehovah, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
KJV
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
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This verse in Micah 4
Commentary
11 notes on this verse"For I will make your horns, which the Babylonians broke, iron. You shall beat in pieces many people, and shall devote their grain to the Lord." This will happen when, after taking possession of their land and wealth, you pay the tithe to the Lord …
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
(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.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
33 ), and the worm Jacob is made a threshing instrument, with which God will thresh the mountains, and make them as chaff, Isa. xli. How strangely, how happily, are the tables turned, since Jacob was the threshing-floor and Babylon the threshing instrument!
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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.
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And thresh - The future strength of the church employed in subduing her enemies, is here foretold. Iron - This expresses the strength of the church firm as iron, to beat down her enemies. Brass - By this figurative speech, is the strength of Zion expressed, treading underfoot, and breaking the power of her enemies in pieces.
Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion,.... The nations gathered against her, and now laid together on the floor as sheaves to be threshed. Here the people of God are aroused, and called out of a low and weak estate, and are animated and encouraged to exert themselves, and fall upon their enemies, and destroy them; alluding to the threshing of grain on the floor, the metaphor being here carried on from Mic 4:
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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 Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Arise - (It may be,) from the dust in which they were lying, “I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass.” Threshing in the East is partly with oxen, partly with wheels of iron, or with planks set with sharp flints on an open place made hard to this end.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord--God subjects the nations to Zion, not for her own selfish aggrandizement, but for His glory (Isa 60:6, 9; Zec 14:20, with which compare Isa 23:18) and for their ultimate good; therefore He is here called, not merely God of Israel, but "Lord of the whole earth."
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion - This refers to the subject of the preceding verse. When God shall have gathered together all thy enemies, as into the threshing-floor, he will give thee commission and power to get a complete victory over them, and reduce them to servitude. And that thou mayest be able to do this, he will be on thy side as a powerful helper; here signified by the metaphors, iron horns, and brazen hoofs. Thou shalt have power, authority, and unconquerable strength; for thine enemies shall be no more against thee than the corn against oxen shod with brass, or a puny animal against the horn of a fierce bull tipped with iron. I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord - What they have taken from thee in the way of spoil shall be restored; and again consecrated unto the service of him who will show himself to be the Lord, the Supreme Governor of the whole earth. Was not this prediction fulfilled when Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return to their own land, and gave them back the sacred vessels of the temple which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away? The Maccabees and their successors recovered much of the booty of which the neighboring nations had deprived the Jews; and the treasure taken was devoted to Jehovah. The first verse of the next chapter should conclude this.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֧וּמִי | kumi | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וָד֣וֹשִׁי | vadooshi | and thresh | H1758 → | |
| בַת־ | vat- | O daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| צִיּ֗וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קַרְנֵ֞ךְ | karnekh | horn your | H7161 → | |
| אָשִׂ֤ים | ʾasim | I will make | H7760 → | 584 times |
| בַּרְזֶל֙ | barzel | iron | H1270 → | |
| וּפַרְסֹתַ֙יִךְ֙ | ufarsotayikh | and hooves your | H6541 → | |
| אָשִׂ֣ים | ʾasim | I will make | H7760 → | 584 times |
| נְחוּשָׁ֔ה | nechushah | bronze | H5154 → | |
| וַהֲדִקּ֖וֹת | vahadikot | and you will crush | H1854 → | |
| עַמִּ֣ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| רַבִּ֑ים | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וְהַחֲרַמְתִּ֤י | vehacharamti | and I will dedicate to destruction | H2763 → | |
| לַֽיהוָה֙ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בִּצְעָ֔ם | bitzam | unjust gain their | H1215 → | |
| וְחֵילָ֖ם | vecheilam | and wealth their | H2428 → | |
| לַאֲד֥וֹן | laadon | to [the] lord of | H113 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
ק֧וּמִיarise
kumiH6965 →628 times
וָד֣וֹשִׁיand thresh
vadooshiH1758 →
בַת־O daughter of
vat-H1323 →588 times
צִיּ֗וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
קַרְנֵ֞ךְhorn your
karnekhH7161 →
אָשִׂ֤יםI will make
ʾasimH7760 →584 times
בַּרְזֶל֙iron
barzelH1270 →
וּפַרְסֹתַ֙יִךְ֙and hooves your
ufarsotayikhH6541 →
אָשִׂ֣יםI will make
ʾasimH7760 →584 times
נְחוּשָׁ֔הbronze
nechushahH5154 →
וַהֲדִקּ֖וֹתand you will crush
vahadikotH1854 →
עַמִּ֣יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
רַבִּ֑יםmany
rabimH7227 →454 times
וְהַחֲרַמְתִּ֤יand I will dedicate to destruction
vehacharamtiH2763 →
לַֽיהוָה֙to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
בִּצְעָ֔םunjust gain their
bitzamH1215 →
וְחֵילָ֖םand wealth their
vecheilamH2428 →
לַאֲד֥וֹןto [the] lord of
laadonH113 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 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
Daniel 2:44In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms…
it leads to
- Luke 1:32–33
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
- Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
- Daniel 6:26
I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will…
- Psalms 145:13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His actions.
- Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…
- Luke 1:32–33
Through
Isaiah 18:7At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts—from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:10
From beyond the rivers of Cush My worshipers, My scattered people, will bring Me an offering.
- Zechariah 14:16–17
Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
- Acts 8:27–28
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to…
- Zephaniah 3:10
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.