Bible Strands
Micah 1:5
All this is for the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Micah addresses the northern and southern kingdoms during a declared moment of divine judgment, immediately following the imagery of mountains melting and valleys splitting. He identifies the political capitals as the direct sources of the nation's rebellion.
The words — פֶּשַׁע (pe.sha') translates literally to "transgression" or covenant rebellion, and חַטָּאוֹת (cha.Tot) means "sins" or willful deviations. These terms frame the impending collapse as a direct consequence of deliberate violation rather than accidental failure.
The thread — The principle that national apostasy breeds its own discipline appears in Jeremiah 2:19, while the specific condemnation of Samaria's idolatrous oaths is echoed in Amos 8:14. The pattern of God opposing those who persecute His messengers continues in 1 Thessalonians 2:15.
Why it lands — The text forces readers to name the exact centers of corruption instead of offering vague spiritual explanations. It demands the recognition that institutional idolatry is the mechanical cause of the coming destruction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 2:19 Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Amos 8:14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- 1 Kings 13:32 for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”
- 2 Kings 17:7 All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods
- 2 Chronicles 28:2 Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made cast images of the Baals.
- 2 Chronicles 28:23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him, and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel.
- Isaiah 50:1 This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
- Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Jeremiah 2:17 Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?