Micah 7:17
in Micah 7They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.
KJV
They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.
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This verse in Micah 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They shall lick the dust like a (the) serpent - To lick the dust, by itself, pictures the extreme humility of persons who east themselves down to the very earth (as in Psa 72:9; Isa 49:23).
This site's exposition
The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might
on Micah 7:16-17
The marvellous things done for Israel become a spectacle the nations cannot answer, their own might now a source of shame rather than pride, hand over mouth and ears made deaf, the posture of men with nothing left to say. Verse 17 pictures those same nations reduced to the serpent's own curse from Eden, licking dust and creeping from their holes like worms, Henry reading the image as total reversal, the proud emptied into the lowest crawling posture Genesis itself names. The fear that follows is aimed higher than Israel's own standing, they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, the point of the whole spectacle being reverence for the God who acted. Pusey reads the sequence as the pattern the exodus itself set, Egypt's plagues teaching Pharaoh's own household to know the Lord, replayed now on a wider stage.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 14 and following) Feed your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, dwelling alone in the forest of Carmel. They will graze in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient times, as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show (or have shown) them wonders. The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hands over their mouths; their ears will become deaf. They will lick the dust like serpents; they will tremble from their hiding places.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So it is promised here: They shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee, O Israel! Forced submissions are often but feigned submissions; yet they redound to the glory of God and the church, though not to the benefit of the dissemblers themselves. The prophet's thankful acknowledgment of God's mercy, in the name of the church, with a believing dependence upon his promise,
They shall lick the dust like a serpent,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thus the antithesis is brought out. They shall tremble forth from their holes: they shall in trepidation turn to the Lord for salvation (compare Note, see on Ho 3:5, and Jer 33:9). fear because of thee--shall fear Thee, Jehovah (and so fear Israel as under Thy guardianship). There is a change here from speaking of God to speaking to God [MAURER].
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְלַחֲכ֤וּ | yelachakhu | they will lick up | H3897 → | |
| עָפָר֙ | ʾafar | dust | H6083 → | |
| כַּנָּחָ֔שׁ | kanachash | like <the> snake | H5175 → | |
| כְּזֹחֲלֵ֣י | kezochalei | like [things which] crawl of | H2119 → | |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| יִרְגְּז֖וּ | yirgezu | they will quake | H7264 → | |
| מִמִּסְגְּרֹֽתֵיהֶ֑ם | mimisgeroteihem | from strongholds their | H4526 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִפְחָ֔דוּ | yifchadu | they will be in dread | H6342 → | |
| וְיִֽרְא֖וּ | veyiru | and they may be afraid | H3372 → | |
| מִמֶּֽךָּ׃ | mimeka | from you | H4480 → | 1188 times |
יְלַחֲכ֤וּthey will lick up
yelachakhuH3897 →
עָפָר֙dust
ʾafarH6083 →
כַּנָּחָ֔שׁlike <the> snake
kanachashH5175 →
כְּזֹחֲלֵ֣יlike [things which] crawl of
kezochaleiH2119 →
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
יִרְגְּז֖וּthey will quake
yirgezuH7264 →
מִמִּסְגְּרֹֽתֵיהֶ֑םfrom strongholds their
mimisgeroteihemH4526 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙God our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
יִפְחָ֔דוּthey will be in dread
yifchaduH6342 →
וְיִֽרְא֖וּand they may be afraid
veyiruH3372 →
מִמֶּֽךָּ׃from you
mimekaH4480 →1188 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
Isaiah 49:23Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
it leads to
- Isaiah 60:16
You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 60:14
The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy…
- Isaiah 60:3
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Isaiah 60:10–11
Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.
- Isaiah 60:16
Through
Psalms 72:9May the nomads bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
- Isaiah 49:23
Through
Psalms 18:45Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.
it leads to
- Revelation 6:16
And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
- Isaiah 24:4
The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.
- Revelation 6:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Micah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.