Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Micah 1:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the dirge with bald mourning for beloved children carried into captivity.
Read It With
- Micah 1:8-16
Read Micah 1:16 with 1:8-16. This verse closes the dirge with bald mourning for beloved children carried into captivity. The complete unit establishes this movement: Micah does not celebrate Samaria's fall or Judah's danger: he mourns as invasion, shame, dispossession, and exile sweep the towns around his homeland toward Jerusalem.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Lament makes clear that judgment is a human catastrophe, not a spectacle; the threatened rural towns also prepare the book's concern for land and elite exploitation. Within that movement, this verse closes the dirge with bald mourning for beloved children carried into captivity.
Read Micah 1:8–16 together
Why these verses belong together: The prophet's lament and linked town-name wordplays trace disaster through the Shephelah to exile.
Verse 8. 8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
Verse 9. 9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
Verse 10. 10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
Verse 11. 11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel; he shall receive of you his standing.
Verse 12. 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
Verse 13. 13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
Verse 14. 14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
Verse 15. 15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
Verse 16. 16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
Follow the Context
- Micah wails because an incurable wound reaches Judah and Jerusalem.
- A sequence of Shephelah towns receives commands and announcements built from difficult sound-play.
- Lachish, Moresheth-gath, Achzib, Mareshah, and Adullam connect local geography with political loss.
- Baldness and shorn hair embody grief for beloved children taken away.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“poll thee”
In plain language: cut or shave the hair in mourning
closes the dirge with bald mourning for beloved children carried into captivity. Exile is measured in family separation and grief, not only in royal or military events.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk that requires the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The mourning imagery does not command self-harm, forced shaving, or blaming captive children.
What Remains True
Exile is measured in family separation and grief, not only in royal or military events.
How It Can Shape Life
- Center displaced children and caregivers when speaking about war, migration, or judgment.
Teach It Back
Explain how Micah 1:16 contributes to Micah 1:8-16. Show how the surrounding movement controls the verse, name the stated uncertainty, and identify what the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Micah 1:8-16 — Micah Laments as Disaster Moves through the ShephelahSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The bird term rendered 'eagle' may refer to a vulture, but the enlarged baldness and exile grief are clear.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Micah 1:8-16, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Micah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Mic.xml, 1:8-16
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Micah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Micah PDF, printed pp. 1741-1742, translation and notes on 1:8-16
Open source ↗