Bible Strands
Micah 4:11
But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses the Daughter of Zion at the moment she is about to leave the city for Babylon, describing hostile nations gathering to celebrate her fall.
The words — נֶאֶסְפ֥וּ (ne.'es.Fu) means “they have gathered,” and תֶּחֱנָ֔ף (te.che.Naf) translates “let her be defiled,” recording the nations’ explicit intent to violate Zion.
The thread — The pattern of nations opposing God’s people and later facing divine reversal runs through Obadiah 1:12, Isaiah 5:25, and Micah 7:10.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that human schemes to destroy Zion are subordinate to God’s plan, demanding trust in divine sovereignty rather than visible circumstances.
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
Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
Cross-references
- Obadiah 1:12 But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.
- Isaiah 5:25 Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Micah 7:10 Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.
- Isaiah 8:7 the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Jeremiah 52:4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.
- Lamentations 2:15 All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
- Joel 3:2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.