The Meaning of Micah 1:14 Explained

Micah 1:14

KJV: Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

YLT: Therefore thou givest presents to Moresheth-Gath, The houses of Achzib become a lying thing to the kings of Israel.

Darby: Therefore shalt thou give parting-gifts to Moresheth-Gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

ASV: Therefore shalt thou give a parting gift to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing unto the kings of Israel.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore shalt thou give  presents  to Moreshethgath:  the houses  of Achzib  [shall be] a lie  to the kings  of Israel. 

What does Micah 1:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Zion (Jerusalem) would give Moresheth-gath as a portion of a parting gift to the invader. The Davidic king would not be able to prevent the Assyrians from taking Moresheth-gath captive. The people of Achzib (Heb. "akzib), represented here by their houses, would become deceitful (Heb. "akzab) to the kings of Israel because they could not fend off the enemy.

Context Summary

Micah 1:1-16 - God's Witness Against His Chosen
Micah was contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea. Jeremiah quotes from him. Compare Micah 3:12 and Jeremiah 26:18.
In Micah 1:1-4 the prophet summons the nations to behold the just punishment which Jehovah would mete out to His faithless people. Micah 1:5-6 portray the desolation of Samaria. Destruction would settle on the homes and fields of men, and the prospect of this so affected the prophet that he divested himself of outer garment and sandals, that his disheveled condition might depict the calamities that he announced. Micah 1:10-16 make clear that Judah also would suffer similar chastisements. Aphrah and Shaphir would be hurried into captivity. So universal would be the calamity that Zaanan would not come to bewail with the neighboring city of Bethezel.
The prophets were true patriots and they felt that all good citizens should lament with them, Micah 1:16, in the hope of averting impending judgments. Are we feeling the sins and sorrows of our time, as Jesus felt those of Jerusalem, when He wept over the city? [source]

Chapter Summary: Micah 1

1  The time when Micah prophesied
2  He shows the wrath of God against Jacob for idolatry
10  He exhorts to mourning

What do the individual words in Micah 1:14 mean?

Therefore you shall give presents to from Moresheth Gath the houses of Achzib [shall be] a lie to the kings of Israel
לָכֵן֙ תִּתְּנִ֣י שִׁלּוּחִ֔ים עַ֖ל מוֹרֶ֣שֶׁת גַּ֑ת בָּתֵּ֤י אַכְזִיב֙ לְאַכְזָ֔ב לְמַלְכֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

תִּתְּנִ֣י  you  shall  give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person feminine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
שִׁלּוּחִ֔ים  presents 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שִׁלּוּחִים  
Sense: sending away, parting gift.
גַּ֑ת  Moresheth  Gath 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מֹורֶשֶׁת גַּת  
Sense: a place apparently in the neighbourhood of Gath and probably the home of the prophet Micah.
בָּתֵּ֤י  the  houses 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
אַכְזִיב֙  of  Achzib 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אַכְזִיב  
Sense: a town in the lowland of west Judah.
לְאַכְזָ֔ב  [shall  be]  a  lie 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַכְזָב  
Sense: deceitful, treacherous, deception, lie, deceptive, disappointing.
לְמַלְכֵ֖י  to  the  kings 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.