Micah 5:10

“In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will remove your horses from among you and wreck your chariots.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The LORD addresses Israel, declaring a future judicial act that will occur "in that day." The speech follows a promise of divine victory over the nation's enemies and precedes a promise to dismantle their fortified cities.

The words — The verb וְ/הִכְרַתּ֥י (ve./hikh.ra.Ti) literally means "and I will cut off," directly commanding the removal of military equipment. The temporal phrase בַ/יּוֹם\־ הַ/הוּא֙ (va/i.yom- ha./Hu') translates to "in the day that," fixing the action to a specific prophetic moment.

The thread — This dismantling of military power aligns with Zechariah 9:10, which also promises the removal of chariots and horses, and anticipates the posture described in Hosea 14:3 where the nation vows to stop riding horses. It stands in contrast to Psalms 20:7, which observes that some trust in chariots and horses while others trust in the name of the LORD.

Why it lands — The text explicitly states that God will personally remove horses and wreck chariots from the people's midst. It requires the reader to acknowledge that national security depends on divine action rather than human military capacity, demanding a shift in reliance away from physical warfare.

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

וְהָיָ֤הve./ha.Yahand/ it will be בַיּוֹם־va/i.yom-in the/ day הַהוּא֙ha./Hu'<the>/ that נְאֻם־ne.'um-[the] utterance of יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahweh וְהִכְרַתִּ֥יve./hikh.ra.Tiand/ I will cut off סוּסֶ֖יךָsu.Sei./khahorses/ your מִקִּרְבֶּ֑ךָmi./kir.Be./chafrom/ midst/ your וְהַאֲבַדְתִּ֖יve./ha.'a.vad.Tiand/ I will destroy מַרְכְּבֹתֶֽיךָ׃mar.ke.vo.Tei./khachariots/ your

King James Version

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:

Cross-references

Zechariah 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
Hosea 14:3 Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”
Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Psalms 33:16 No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
Isaiah 2:7 Their land is full of silver and gold, with no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, with no limit to their chariots.
Jeremiah 3:23 Surely deception comes from the hills, and commotion from the mountains. Surely the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.
Hosea 1:7 Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.”