Micah 1 16

Micah 1:16 kjv

Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

Micah 1:16 nkjv

Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into captivity.

Micah 1:16 niv

Shave your head in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourself as bald as the vulture, for they will go from you into exile.

Micah 1:16 esv

Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.

Micah 1:16 nlt

Oh, people of Judah, shave your heads in sorrow,
for the children you love will be snatched away.
Make yourselves as bald as a vulture,
for your little ones will be exiled to distant lands.

Micah 1 verses

Micah 1 16 Meaning

Micah 1:16 commands the city of Jerusalem, personified as a mother, to intensely mourn the impending deportation of her beloved, delicate children into captivity. The act of making oneself bald and enlarging it like the barren head of a vulture is a vivid, physical expression of profound grief, signifying the utter desolation and irreversible loss brought about by divine judgment on account of the nation's sin.

Micah 1 16 Context

Micah chapter 1 opens with God's majestic descent from heaven to bring judgment upon both Samaria (the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) and Jerusalem (the capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah) due to their pervasive idolatry, spiritual infidelity, and social injustices. The preceding verses detail the immediate impact of God's coming, describing the land's desolation and cities turning into ruins. Verse 16 specifically shifts focus to Judah, personifying Jerusalem as a woman commanded to undergo severe physical manifestations of grief. This poignant imagery of mourning for "delicate children" anticipates the deep sorrow and national humiliation Judah would face through foreign invasion and forced exile, a fate already being realized by the Northern Kingdom under Assyria, and prophesied for Judah to later experience under Babylon.

Micah 1 16 Word analysis

• Make thee bald (קָרְחִ֧י - qārĕḥî): An imperative verb, directly commanding the act. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, and particularly within Israelite custom, shaving one's head was a potent non-verbal expression of extreme grief, sorrow, and humiliation, especially in response to death or national disaster. This is not an optional or spontaneous act, but a divinely ordained ritual of lament. It signifies a profound, outward acknowledgment of devastation.
• and poll thee (וָגֹזִּ֖י - wāḡōzzî): Also an imperative verb, meaning to "shear" or "cut off" hair. This strengthens and extends the meaning of "make bald," emphasizing a complete and deliberate stripping away of one's hair, a visible symbol of honor and beauty. This is akin to sheep being shorn, denoting helplessness and loss.
• for thy delicate children (עַל־בְּנֵ֣י תַעֲנֻגָ֑יִךְ - ʿal-bənê taʿănugāyiḵ): Literally, "over the sons of your delights." This phrase identifies the profound cause of mourning. "Delicate" (taʿănugayikh) suggests these children were cherished, pampered, and perhaps unaccustomed to hardship, making their impending loss all the more grievous. Their tender state contrasts sharply with the harsh reality of captivity they will face, highlighting the severe reversal of blessings.
• enlarge thy baldness (הַרְחִ֤בִי קָרְחָתֵךְ֙ - harḥîbî qārḥātēḵ): An imperative command to "make wide" or "extend" the baldness. This emphasizes the extreme nature and completeness of the sorrow. It implies a widespread, pervasive baldness, not merely a patch, symbolizing a deep and undeniable national calamity.
• as the eagle (כַּנֶּ֑שֶׁר - kannesher): The Hebrew word nesher can refer to a large bird of prey, commonly translated as "eagle," but in contexts related to bareness, it often refers to a vulture (such as the Griffon Vulture), known for its bare head and neck. Here, the comparison is not about speed or majesty, but about the degree of baldness. It describes a severe, natural baldness, like a vulture's bare scalp, signifying utter devastation, starkness, and even a macabre link to death and decay, as vultures are scavengers.
• for they are gone forth from thee into captivity (כִּ֥י גָל֖וּ מִמֵּ֥ךְ - kî ḡālû mimmēḵ): This explanatory clause provides the immediate and compelling reason for the commanded mourning. "Gone forth into captivity" refers to forced exile and deportation, which would ultimately be fulfilled with the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the removal of its people. This event shatters family units and national identity, leaving a desolate landscape and profound spiritual anguish.

• "Make thee bald, and poll thee": These twin commands emphasize the comprehensive and self-inflicted (though divinely ordered) nature of the mourning. It's not passive lament but an active, painful physical transformation that removes all superficial beauty and comfort. It signals total surrender to overwhelming grief.
• "for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle": This phrase combines the cause and the intensity of the lament. The "delicate children" underscore the tenderness of what is lost, intensifying the tragedy. The call to "enlarge thy baldness as the eagle" pushes the mourning beyond conventional limits, suggesting a state of stark, complete disfigurement reflective of profound, national barrenness and utter loss, possibly even referencing a vulture’s association with death.
• "for they are gone forth from thee into captivity": This clarifies the immediate, devastating consequence of the nation's spiritual apostasy and unrighteousness. The forced departure into exile signifies the shattering of covenant blessings, the breaking of family bonds, and the complete reversal of God's protective presence, directly linking divine judgment to a nation's fate.

Micah 1 16 Bonus section

The practice of shaving the head was usually forbidden to Israelites, particularly for priests, because it was often associated with pagan mourning rites (Lev 21:5, Deut 14:1). However, in Micah 1:16, God Himself commands this very act for Jerusalem, highlighting the unparalleled depth and severity of the judgment that Israel has incurred. This command emphasizes that the consequence of their sin is so dire it transcends normal customs, pushing the nation into a public display of ultimate desolation, effectively forcing them to experience a grief so profound it overturns conventional ritual boundaries. It is a divine instruction to publicly manifest profound national humiliation and sorrow.

Micah 1 16 Commentary

Micah 1:16 is a poignant prophetic command issued to Jerusalem, personified as a grieving mother, to engage in extreme, ritualized mourning for the loss of her cherished children through impending exile. The dual commands to "make thee bald, and poll thee" vividly depict a forced act of deep sorrow, a stripping away of external dignity and beauty, mirroring the nation's spiritual barrenness. The intensified instruction to "enlarge thy baldness as the eagle" (or vulture) evokes an image of total, grotesque bareness, suggesting that the sorrow will be widespread, undeniable, and profound, much like the barren head of a scavenger associated with death and desolation. The ultimate reason provided, "for they are gone forth from thee into captivity," underlines the sovereign hand of God bringing about this devastating judgment—the consequence of Judah's idolatry and sin—resulting in the severing of family ties and the collapse of national identity. This verse forecasts a painful reversal of fortunes, from blessing to desolate barrenness.