Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Micah 2:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse pictures a breaker opening the gate, the people passing out, their king before them, and the LORD at their head.
Read It With
- Micah 2:12-13
Read Micah 2:13 with 2:12-13. This verse pictures a breaker opening the gate, the people passing out, their king before them, and the LORD at their head. The complete unit establishes this movement: The received text most naturally pictures the LORD gathering a dense remnant flock and leading it through an opened gate under kingly leadership, but a minority judgment/exile reading and significant textual proposals remain material alternatives.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The unit interrupts judgment with gathering and leadership imagery, or, on a minority reading, intensifies judgment by gathering people for siege and exile; its ambiguity must be carried rather than hidden. Within that movement, this verse pictures a breaker opening the gate, the people passing out, their king before them, and the LORD at their head.
Read Micah 2:12–13 together
Why these verses belong together: Gathering, flock, crowd, breaker, gate, king, and the LORD create a single disputed restoration-or-judgment scene.
Verse 12. 12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
Verse 13. 13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.
Follow the Context
- The LORD emphatically promises to assemble Jacob and gather Israel's remnant.
- The gathered people are compared with sheep in Bozrah or a flock inside its fold and make a loud crowd sound.
- A breaker goes up before them and they break through and pass out the gate.
- Their king passes before them with the LORD at their head.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“breaker”
In plain language: the one who opens or breaks through the way
pictures a breaker opening the gate, the people passing out, their king before them, and the LORD at their head. Liberating passage and ordered leadership are the preferred reading, not a model of coercive strongman power.
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 breaker does not authorize political strongman rule, violent breach-making, or a modern end-times campaign.
What Remains True
Liberating passage and ordered leadership are the preferred reading, not a model of coercive strongman power.
How It Can Shape Life
- Judge leaders by safe passage, protection, and accountable service to scattered people.
Teach It Back
Explain Micah 2:13's contribution to Micah 2:12-13: pictures a breaker opening the gate, the people passing out, their king before them, and the LORD at their head. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this 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 2:12-13 — The Gathered Flock and the One Who Breaks Open the WaySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Breaker, gate, king, divine identity, liberation, siege, and exile readings remain contested.
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 2:12-13, 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, 2:12-13
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. 1744, translation and notes on 2:12-13
Open source ↗