Micah 6:15
in Micah 6You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
KJV
Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
⋯
This verse in Micah 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verse(Verse 10 and following). Listen, you who are wise, and who will approve of it? The fire is still burning in the house of the wicked, the treasure of impiety, and the measure of anger is not yet full. Shall I justify the wicked scales and the deceitful weights of the bag? In them, her rich ones are filled with iniquity, and those who dwell in her speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. And so I have begun to strike you with destruction because of your sins.
This site's exposition
Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee
on Micah 6:13-16
The sentence follows the charge point for point, and its shape matches the futility curses of Deuteronomy 28 almost word for word, eating without being satisfied, sowing without reaping, treading olives without anointing with the oil, treading sweet wine without drinking the wine, the judgment tied to a covenant Israel herself had signed rather than to an arbitrary punishment. The close names the source of the corruption directly, the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, the northern dynasty's own institutionalized idolatry (1 Kings 16:25, 30-33), now walked in by Judah as well. The reproach of my people that Judah bears is therefore a reproach earned by adopting a neighbor kingdom's sin rather than a fate imposed without cause.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thou shall sow, but thou shalt not reap,....
Thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil, having no heart to make use of ornaments and refreshments when all is going to ruin.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap - Micah renews the threatenings of the law Lev 26:16; Deu 28:30, Deu 28:38-41, which they had been habitually breaking. Those prophecies had been fulfilled before, throughout their history; they have been fulfilled lately in Israel for the like oppression of the poor Amo 5:11. Their frequent fulfillment spoke as much of a law of God’s righteousness, punishing sin, as the yearly supply in the ordinary course of nature spoke of His loving Providence.
Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap - Thou shalt labor to amass property, but thou shalt not have God’s blessing; and whatever thou collectest, thy enemies shall carry away. And at last carry thyself into captivity.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַתָּ֥ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תִזְרַ֖ע | tizra' | you will sow | H2232 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִקְצ֑וֹר | tiktzor | you will reap | H7114 → | |
| אַתָּ֤ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תִדְרֹֽךְ־ | tidrokh- | you will tread | H1869 → | 62 times |
| זַ֙יִת֙ | zayit | olive[s] | H2132 → | |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָס֣וּךְ | tasukh | you will anoint yourself | H5480 → | |
| שֶׁ֔מֶן | shemen | oil | H8081 → | |
| וְתִיר֖וֹשׁ | vetiroosh | and new wine | H8492 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׁתֶּה־ | tishteh- | you will drink | H8354 → | |
| יָּֽיִן׃ | yayin | wine | H3196 → |
אַתָּ֥הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
תִזְרַ֖עyou will sow
tizra'H2232 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִקְצ֑וֹרyou will reap
tiktzorH7114 →
אַתָּ֤הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
תִדְרֹֽךְ־you will tread
tidrokh-H1869 →62 times
זַ֙יִת֙olive[s]
zayitH2132 →
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָס֣וּךְyou will anoint yourself
tasukhH5480 →
שֶׁ֔מֶןoil
shemenH8081 →
וְתִיר֖וֹשׁand new wine
vetirooshH8492 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׁתֶּה־you will drink
tishteh-H8354 →
יָּֽיִן׃wine
yayinH3196 →
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
Haggai 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
it leads to
- Haggai 1:9
You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you…
- Deuteronomy 28:38–40
You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
- Hosea 4:10
They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.
- Hosea 8:7
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
- Malachi 3:9–11
You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.
- Haggai 1:9
Through
Amos 5:11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:30
You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zephaniah 1:13
Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
- Deuteronomy 28:30
Through
Jeremiah 12:13They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
it leads to
- Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Haggai 1:6
Where this verse is studied
About Micah
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; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.