Micah 2:10

Arise and depart, for this is not your place of rest, because its defilement brings destruction—a grievous destruction!

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Micah pronounces this oracle to the Israelite community during a period of systemic land seizure and social corruption. The prophet issues the command as a declaration of impending exile for the people and their leaders.

The words — The opening command ק֣וּמוּ (Ku.mu) literally means "arise," immediately linked to וּ/לְכ֔וּ (u./le.Khu) "and go" to demand physical departure. The judgment rests on טָמְאָ֛ה (ta.me.'Ah), which translates as "it has become unclean," establishing the land's defilement as the direct cause for losing its function as a resting place.

The thread — The loss of rest connects to Deuteronomy 12:9, where the promised resting place remains unfulfilled due to ongoing disobedience. The theme of defilement triggering displacement aligns with Psalms 106:38 and 2 Kings 17:6, where national corruption precedes forced removal from the land.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that ethical corruption produces concrete historical consequences, specifically the loss of home and security. It demands acceptance that divine judgment operates through the direct collapse of communal stability rather than through metaphorical threats.

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

ק֣וּמוּKu.muarise וּלְכ֔וּu./le.Khuand/ go כִּ֥יkifor לֹא־lo'-not זֹ֖אתzotthis הַמְּנוּחָ֑הha./me.nu.Chah[is] <the>/ resting place בַּעֲב֥וּרba./'a.Vur<in>/ because טָמְאָ֛הta.me.'Ahit has become unclean תְּחַבֵּ֖לte.cha.Belit will destroy וְחֶ֥בֶלve./Che.veland/ [the] destruction נִמְרָֽץ׃nim.Ratz[will be] grievous

King James Version

Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 12:9 For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.
Psalms 106:38 They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.
2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it.
Leviticus 20:22 You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.
Deuteronomy 30:18 I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
Joshua 23:15 But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.
1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.
2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
2 Chronicles 7:20 then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.