Micah 1:16 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Micah 1:8-16

We have here a long train of mourners attending the funeral of a ruined kingdom. I. The prophet is himself chief mourner (Mic. 1:8, 9): I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked, as a man distracted with grief. The prophets usually expressed their own grief for the public grievances, partly to mollify the predictions of them, and to make it appear that is was not out of ill-will that they denounced the judgments of God (so far were they from desiring the woeful day that they dreaded... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Micah 1:16

Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children ,.... Which is said, either with respect to Mareshah, or to Adullam, or to the whole land, as Kimchi observes; rather to the latter; and that either to Israel, or to Judah, or both; the prophecy in general being concerning them both, Micah 1:1 ; making baldness, whether by plucking off the hair, or by shaving it, was used in token of mourning, Job 1:20 ; and so it is designed to express it here: the inhabitants of the land are... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Micah 1:16

Make thee bald - Cutting off the hair was a sign of great distress, and was practised on the death of near relatives; see Amos 8:10 . The desolation should be so great that Israel should feel it to her utmost extent; and the mourning should be like that of a mother for the death of her most delicate children. Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle - Referring to the mounting of this bird, when in casting its feathers and breeding new ones, it is very sickly, and its strength wholly... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Micah 1:16

Verse 16 The Prophet at length concludes that nothing remained for the people but lamentation; for the Lord had resolved to desolate and destroy the whole country. Now they were wont in mourning, as we have seen in other places, to shave and even tear off their hair: and some think that the verb קרחי, korechi, implies as much as though the Prophet said “Pluck, tear, pull off your hair.” When afterwards he adds רגזי, regizi, they refer it to shavings which is done by a razor. However this may... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 1:11-16

Sorrow following in the train of evil. I. THIS TRUTH IS SET FORTH IN THESE VERSES IN POETICAL LANGUAGE . The prophet does not mention the land of Judah, but he singles out a number of places in the country, and addresses them by name, employing phraseology calculated to produce a strong impression concerning the grief and sadness that should overspread the nation. We may fittingly compare with this a similar passage in the book of Micah's contemporary, Isaiah ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 1:16

§ 5. The prophet calls upon Zion to mourn for her captivity. Make thee bald. The Hebrew word implies "to make the back of the head bald." Micah addressee Zion as the mother of the children who are to be led into captivity. Shaving the head in sign of mourning seems to have been retained as a traditionary custom in spite of the prohibition of the Law against certain forms which the practice assumed (see Le 19:27; Deuteronomy 14:1 ; and for the actual custom, comp. Isaiah 3:24 ; ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Micah 1:16

Make thee bald, poll - (literally, shear thee for thy delicate children Some special ways of cutting the hair were forbidden to the Israelites, as being idolatrous customs, such as the rounding the hair in front, cutting it away from the temples , or between the eyes Deuteronomy 14:1. All shearing of the hair was not forbidden ; indeed to the Nazarite it was commanded, at the close of his vow. The removal of that chief ornament of the countenance wasa natural expression of grief, which revolts... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Micah 1:16

Micah 1:16. Make thee bald O Judah and Israel, tear off thy hair; and poll thee Shave what thou canst not tear off; for thy delicate children, &c. For the loss of them, some being slain, others starved or swept away by pestilence, and the residue carried into captivity. Cutting the hair, or shaving it close, were expressions of mourning and lamentation anciently used among most nations. Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle When she moults her feathers; for they are gone into... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Micah 1:1-16

1:1-3:12 SAMARIA AND JERUSALEM DOOMEDA picture of coming destruction (1:1-16)The prophet Micah was from a country village in the Judean foothills between the central mountain range and the coastal plain. He was probably a farmer, and he directed his attacks at the upper class city dwellers who drove the farmers into poverty. They lived in luxury by exploiting the poor. As a Judean he was concerned mainly with conditions in his country’s capital, Jerusalem, but he also attacked the northern... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Micah 1:16

Make thee bald, &c. The signs of mourning. Compare Job 1:20 . Isaiah 15:2 ; Isaiah 22:12 .Jeremiah 7:29 ; Jeremiah 16:6 ; Jeremiah 47:5 ; Jeremiah 48:37 ). This is addressed to Judah. It was forbidden under the law (Deuteronomy 14:1 ). Judah had become as the heathen: let them mourn as the heathen. children = sons. read more