Micah 5:14
in Micah 5I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I will pluck up thine Asherim out of the midst of thee; and I will destroy thy cities.
KJV
And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
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This verse in Micah 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee,.... Planted for idolatrous worship, and which the Jews in the reigns of some of their kings raised, and made use of for such purposes; see 1Ki 15:13; though contrary to the law of God, Deu 16:21; but now there should be nothing of this kind, all idolatry being rooted out of the world.
This site's exposition
cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand
on Micah 5:12-15
The purge turns from weapons and walls to the occult and the idol, witchcrafts and soothsayers cut off, graven images and standing images destroyed, and the groves, the wooden Asherah poles set up beside so many altars, plucked up entirely, so that nothing rivaling the Lord is left standing in the land. The chapter closes outward rather than inward, vengeance executed in anger and fury upon the heathen such as they have not heard, judgment falling on nations that never received the revelation Israel was given. The whole sweep from verse 9 to verse 15 leaves Israel purified of every false confidence before the peace the ruler brings can be fully realized.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7 onwards) And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or delay for the sons of men.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And so will I destroy their cities, meaning the cities that were dedicated to the idols, to some dunghill-deity or other, which they confided in for their protection. That those who stand it out against the gospel of Christ, and continue in league with their idolatries and witchcrafts, shall fall under the wrath of God, and be consumed by it (
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The Abasement and Distress of Zion; Birth of the Messiah Predicted; 1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
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The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
groves . . . cities--The "groves" are the idolatrous symbol of Astarte (De 16:21; "Cities" being parallel to "groves," must mean cities in or near which such idolatrous groves existed. Compare "city of the house of Baal" (2Ki 10:25), that is, a portion of the city sacred to Baal.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָתַשְׁתִּ֥י | venatashti | and I will pluck up | H5428 → | |
| אֲשֵׁירֶ֖יךָ | ʾasheireikha | Asherah poles your | H842 → | |
| מִקִּרְבֶּ֑ךָ | mikirbecha | from midst your | H7130 → | 227 times |
| וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּ֖י | vehishmadti | and I will destroy | H8045 → | |
| עָרֶֽיךָ׃ | ʾareikha | cities your | H5892 → | 1090 times |
וְנָתַשְׁתִּ֥יand I will pluck up
venatashtiH5428 →
אֲשֵׁירֶ֖יךָAsherah poles your
ʾasheireikhaH842 →
מִקִּרְבֶּ֑ךָfrom midst your
mikirbechaH7130 →227 times
וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּ֖יand I will destroy
vehishmadtiH8045 →
עָרֶֽיךָ׃cities your
ʾareikhaH5892 →1090 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Exodus 34:13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites…
- Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
- Deuteronomy 7:25–26
You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it…
- Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
- Deuteronomy 16:21
Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,
- 2 Kings 18:4
Where this verse is studied
About Micah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.