Micah 7:8
in Micah 7Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me.
KJV
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.
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This verse in Micah 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseDo not rejoice over me, my enemy; for though I have fallen, I will rise again. The ruin of weakness is not severe, if there is also not a desire to not rise from it. Have the will to rise, there is someone present who will make you rise.
This site's exposition
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy
on Micah 7:8-10
The enemy who gloats is answered by a confidence that owns its own guilt first, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, before it claims any vindication, the fall confessed as deserved rather than excused. Verse 8's when I fall, I shall arise, and when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me states the whole logic of the passage in one line, judgment endured is not judgment final. Commentators differ on the enemy's identity, Barnes and others naming Edom or Babylon by turns, and the bench leaves the name open while reading the taunt, where is the Lord thy God, as the standing insult any conquered people hears. Verse 10 answers it in kind, the enemy herself trodden down as the mire of the streets, the reversal the whole chapter has been building toward.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8 onwards) Do not rejoice, my enemy, over me, for I have fallen: I will rise again. When I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light: I will bear the anger of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he judges my cause and executes judgment for me, and brings me into the light, and I will see his righteousness, and my enemy will behold it, and she will be covered with shame, who says to me: Where is your God? My eyes will see her; now she will be trampled as the mud of the streets. The day will come when your walls will be rebuilt. On that day the law will go forth afar off: on that day it will come even to you from Assyria, and even to fortified cities, and from fortified cities even to the river, and from the river even to the sea, and from the sea even to the mountain. And the land will be a desolation because of its inhabitants, and because of the fruit of their thoughts. LXX: Do not insult me, my enemy: for I have fallen, and I will rise again: if I walk in darkness, the Lord will enlighten me. I will bear the anger of the Lord, for I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness. My enemy will see this and be covered with shame, the one who said to me, 'Where is your God?' My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled down like mud in the streets. The day of your punishment has come, O Assyria; the time has come for your destruction. The Lord will abolish your power and authority. Your cities will be laid waste, from Tyre to the river, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. The land and its inhabitants will be scattered because of their wickedness. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
They said, Where is the Lord their God? As if because they were afflicted God had forsaken them, and they knew not where to find him with their prayers, and he knew not how to help them with his favours. This David's enemies said to him, and it was a sword in his bones, Ps. xlii.
God is angry with us, and justly, because we have sinned against him. " Note, It is our sin against God that provokes his indignation against us; and we must see it, and own it, whenever we are under divine rebukes, that we may justify God, and may study to answer his end in afflicting us, by repenting of sin and breaking off from it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Rejoice not - The prophet personates the church. Let it be no matter of glorying to thee, that the day of calamity hath overtaken me. In darkness - When affliction, war, famine, and captivity cover me.
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Though the land continue a great while desolate, yet it shall at length be replenished again, when the time, even the set time, of its deliverance comes. Its salvation shall not come till after it has been desolate; so the margin reads it,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy - The captive Israelites are introduced as speaking here and in the preceding verse. The enemy are the Assyrians and Chaldeans; the fall is their idolatry and consequent captivity; the darkness, the calamities they suffered in that captivity; their rise and light, their restoration and consequent blessedness. To rejoice over the fall or miseries of any man, betrays a malignant spirit.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Pr 24:16). when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light--Israel reasons as her divine representative, Messiah, reasoned by faith in His hour of darkness and desertion (Isa 50:7, 8, 10). Israel addresses Babylon, her triumphant foe (or Edom), as a female; the type of her last and worst foes (Ps 137:7, 8). "Mine enemy," in Hebrew, is feminine.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy - The prophet still more makes himself one with the people, not only as looking for God, but in penitence, as Daniel bewails “his own sins and the sins of his people” Dan 9:10. The “enemy” is Babylon and “Edom” Oba 1:10, Oba 1:12; Psa 137:7; and then, in all times, (since this was written for all times, and the relations of the people of God and of its enemies are the same,) whosoever, whether devils or evil men, rejoice over the falls of God’s people. “Rejoice not”; for thou hast no real cause; “the triumphing of the ungodly”, and the fall of the godly, “is but for a moment. When I fall, I shall arise” Psa 30:5; (literally, “when I have fallen, I have arisen”;) expressing both the certainty and speed of the recovery. To fall and to arise is one. : “The fall of infirmity is not grave, if free from the desire of the will. Have the will to rise, He is at hand who will cause thee to rise.” (Ibid. 5:47): “Though I have sinned, Thou forgivest the sin; though I have fallen, thou raisest up; lest they, who rejoice in the sins of others, should have occasion to exult. For we who have sinned more, have gained more; for Thy grace maketh more blessed than our own innocence.” When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me - Montanus: “He does not say ‘lie,’ but sit; she was not as one dead, without hope of life, but she sat solitary as a widow, helpless, unable to restore herself, yet waiting for God’s time. The darkness of the captivity was lightened by the light of the prophetic grace which shone through Daniel and Ezekiel, and by the faithfulness of the three children, and the brightness of divine glory shed abroad through them, when Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed to all people that their God was “God of gods and Lord of kings” Dan 2:47, and that none should “speak anything amiss against Him” Dan 3:29. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַֽל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשְׂמְחִ֤י | tismechi | you rejoice | H8055 → | |
| אֹיַ֙בְתִּי֙ | ʾoyavti | O enemy my | H341 → | 282 times |
| לִ֔י | li | to me | ||
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נָפַ֖לְתִּי | nafalti | I have fallen | H5307 → | |
| קָ֑מְתִּי | kameti | I will arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵשֵׁ֣ב | ʾeshev | I sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְ | bachoshekh | in <the> darkness | H2822 → | |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| א֥וֹר | ʾor | [will be] light | H216 → | 121 times |
| לִֽי׃ ס | li | of me |
אַֽל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּשְׂמְחִ֤יyou rejoice
tismechiH8055 →
אֹיַ֙בְתִּי֙O enemy my
ʾoyavtiH341 →282 times
לִ֔יto me
li
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נָפַ֖לְתִּיI have fallen
nafaltiH5307 →
קָ֑מְתִּיI will arise
kametiH6965 →628 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵשֵׁ֣בI sit
ʾeshevH3427 →1079 times
בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְin <the> darkness
bachoshekhH2822 →
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
א֥וֹר[will be] light
ʾorH216 →121 times
לִֽי׃ סof me
li
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
John 8:12Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
it leads to
- John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 9:5
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
- John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…
- Matthew 5:14
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
- John 12:46
Through
Psalms 27:1The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:6
So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
- Psalms 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of…
- Hebrews 13:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Micah

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms; 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.
