The Meaning of Micah 3:10 Explained

Micah 3:10

KJV: They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

YLT: Building up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.

Darby: that build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with unrighteousness.

ASV: They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They build up  Zion  with blood,  and Jerusalem  with iniquity. 

What does Micah 3:10 Mean?

Context Summary

Micah 3:1-12 - The Punishment Of Avarice
The princes who as magistrates should have administered justice to others sat around the caldron, casting in the very flesh and skin of the people whom they were set to rule. Their perversion of justice would lead to their inability to distinguish between evil and good. Sin not only sears the conscience but darkens the understanding, Ephesians 4:18. Their punishment would be like their guilt. As they had refused the cry of the oppressed, so would God refuse theirs. The false prophets had wilfully misled the people. Their one desire was to get food. For those who provided it, they uttered peace; for those who opposed them, war. Therefore they would be left without a vision; God's Spirit would cease to strive. How great the contrast between them and Micah, who spoke with the consciousness of spiritual power! Oh, that every minister and teacher of God's holy gospel were able to utter Micah 3:8! It may be ours through the Holy Spirit. [source]

Chapter Summary: Micah 3

1  The cruelty of the princes
5  The falsehood of the prophets
8  The false security of them both

What do the individual words in Micah 3:10 mean?

Who build up Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity
בֹּנֶ֥ה צִיּ֖וֹן בְּדָמִ֑ים וִירוּשָׁלִַ֖ם בְּעַוְלָֽה

בֹּנֶ֥ה  Who  build  up 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: בָּנָה  
Sense: to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue.
צִיּ֖וֹן  Zion 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: צִיּׄון  
Sense: another name for Jerusalem especially in the prophetic books.
בְּדָמִ֑ים  with  bloodshed 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural
Root: דָּם  
Sense: blood.
וִירוּשָׁלִַ֖ם  and  Jerusalem 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.
בְּעַוְלָֽה  with  iniquity 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עָוֶל 
Sense: injustice, unrighteousness, wrong.