Micah 2:4

4 In that day people will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.’ ”

Micah 2:4 in Other Translations

4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

4 In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and moan bitterly, and say, "We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me! To an apostate he allots our fields."

4 In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you: “We are finished, completely ruined! God has confiscated our land, taking it from us. He has given our fields to those who betrayed us. ”

4 Mocking ballads will be sung of you, and you yourselves will sing the blues: 'Our lives are ruined, our homes and lands auctioned off. They take everything, leave us nothing! All is sold to the highest bidder.'"

4 In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove [it] from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.

4 When that day comes, people will make fun of you. They will sing this sad song about you: "We are completely ruined. The LORD gives our people's possessions [to others]. He takes them from us. He divides our fields among our captors."

4 In that day one will take up a taunt against you, and lament mournfully, saying: We are totally ruined! He measures out the allotted land of my people. How He removes [it] from me! He allots our fields to traitors.

4 At that time people will make fun of you. They will tease you by singing a song of sadness. They will pretend to be you and say, 'We are totally destroyed. Our enemies have divided up our land. The LORD has taken it away from us! He has given our fields to those who turned against us.' "

Micah 2:4 Meaning and Commentary

Micah 2:4

In that day shall [one] take up a parable against you
Making use of your name, as a byword, a proverb, a taunt, and a jeer; mocking at your calamities and miseries: or, "concerning you" ^F3; take up and deliver out a narrative of your troubles, in figurative and parabolical expressions; which Kimchi thinks is to be understood of a false prophet, finding his prophecies and promises come to nothing; or rather a stranger, a bystander, a spectator of their miseries, an insulting enemy, mimicking and representing them; or one of themselves, in the name of the rest: and lament with a doleful lamentation;
or, "lament a lamentation of lamentation" ^F4: a very grievous one; or, "a lamentation that is", or "shall be", or "is done" ^F5; a real one, and which will continue: [and] say, we be utterly spoiled;
our persons, families, and friends; our estates, fields, and vineyards; our towns and cities, and even our whole land, all laid waste, spoiled, and plundered: he hath changed the portion of my people;
the land of Israel, which was the portion of the people of it, given unto them as their portion by the Lord; but now he, or the enemy the Assyrian, or God by him, had changed the possessors of it; had taken it away from Israel, and given it to others: how hath he removed [it] from me!
the land that was my portion, and the portion of my people; how comes it to pass that he hath taken away that which was my property, and given it to another! how strange is this! how suddenly was it done! and by what means! turning away, he hath divided our fields;
either God, turning away from his people, because of their sins, divided their fields among their enemies; "instead of restoring" ^F6, as some read it, he did so; or the enemy the Assyrian, turning away after he had conquered the land, and about to return to his own country, divided it among his soldiers: or, "to the perverse", or "rebellious one ^F7, he divideth our fields"; that is, the Lord divides them to the wicked, perverse, and blaspheming king of Assyria; so the word is used of one that goes on frowardly, and backslides, ( Isaiah 57:17 ) ( Jeremiah 3:14 Jeremiah 3:22 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (Mkyle) "super vos", Pagninus, Montanus; "de vobis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "super vobis", Cocceius.
F4 (hyhn hyn hhnw) "et lamentabitur lamentum lamenti", Montanus.
F5 (hyhn) "factum est", De Dieu; "ejulatu vero", Cocceius; "actum est", Burkius.
F6 (bbwvl) "pro reddendo", Castalio.
F7 (bbwv) "aversus, refractarius", Drusius; "ingrato et rebelli", De Dieu.

Micah 2:4 In-Context

2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance.

3 Therefore, the LORD says: “I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.

4 In that day people will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.’ ”

5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the LORDto divide the land by lot.

6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say. “Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”

Cross References

• 1. S Leviticus 26:31; S Jeremiah 4:13
• 2. S Jeremiah 6:12