The Meaning of Micah 1:3 Explained

Micah 1:3

KJV: For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

YLT: For lo, Jehovah is going out from His place, And He hath come down, And hath trodden on high places of earth.

Darby: For behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

ASV: For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For, behold, the LORD  cometh forth  out of his place,  and will come down,  and tread  upon the high places  of the earth. 

What does Micah 1:3 Mean?

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 1:3 mean?

For behold Yahweh is coming out of His place and He will come down and tread on - the high places of the earth
כִּֽי־ הִנֵּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה יֹצֵ֣א מִמְּקוֹמ֑וֹ וְיָרַ֥ד וְדָרַ֖ךְ עַל־ [במותי] (בָּ֥מֳתֵי) אָֽרֶץ

הִנֵּ֥ה  behold 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
יְהוָ֖ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
יֹצֵ֣א  is  coming 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
מִמְּקוֹמ֑וֹ  out  of  His  place 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: מָקֹום  
Sense: standing place, place.
וְיָרַ֥ד  and  He  will  come  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
וְדָרַ֖ךְ  and  tread 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: דָּרַךְ  
Sense: to tread, bend, lead, march.
[במותי]  - 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
(בָּ֥מֳתֵי)  the  high  places  of 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: בָּמָה  
Sense: high place, ridge, height, bamah (technical name for cultic platform).
אָֽרֶץ  the  earth 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.