The Meaning of Micah 6:5 Explained

Micah 6:5

KJV: O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.

YLT: O My people, remember, I pray you, What counsel did Balak king of Moab, What answer him did Balaam son of Beor, (From Shittim unto Gilgal,) In order to know the righteous acts of Jehovah.'

Darby: My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of Jehovah.

ASV: O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

O my people,  remember  now what Balak  king  of Moab  consulted,  and what Balaam  the son  of Beor  answered  him from Shittim  unto Gilgal;  that ye may know  the righteousness  of the LORD. 

What does Micah 6:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh charged the Israelites to remember that Balak, king of Moab, wanted God to curse His people, but Balaam revealed that God would never do that ( Numbers 22-24). God"s intentions for His people had consistently been good. The events of their crossing the Jordan River and entering the Promised Land showed the same thing. Shittim was the Israelites" last camping place before they crossed the Jordan, and Gilgal was where they camped first after crossing ( Joshua 3:1; Joshua 4:18-19). God had always done what was consistent with His covenant obligations to His people, never burdening them but always protecting, defending, and enabling them. He had lovingly led them from slavery in a hostile foreign land to settlement in their own comfortable country (cf. Joshua 24; 1 Samuel 12).

Context Summary

Micah 6:1-16 - "what Doth The Lord Require Of Thee?"
In Micah 6:1-4 the prophet returns from his vision of the future to the actual condition of his people, which was utterly desperate. The mountains, as the most enduring monuments of nature, are summoned as witnesses in the great trial between Jehovah and His people. Like Israel, we have been delivered from the house of bondage with infinite love, but how wayward and willful we have been! Micah 6:5-8 prove the impotence of a religion which is only external.
Few have known more sublime truth than Baalim, Micah 6:5, but he loved the wages of unrighteousness; and this eclipsed the divine radiance that became overcast and finally overwhelmed. Micah 6:9-11 reveal the fruitlessness of a life of sin. Sooner or later nature herself becomes unresponsive-sowing, but no harvest; the treading of the press, but no juice. The only path to real satisfaction and peace is in the love and faithful service of God. Why are we so slow to tread it? [source]

Chapter Summary: Micah 6

1  God's punishment for ingratitude;
6  for ignorance,
10  for injustice;
16  and for idolatry

What do the individual words in Micah 6:5 mean?

My people remember now what counseled Balak king of Moab and what answered him Balaam son of Beor from Shittim to Gilgal that you may know the righteousness of Yahweh
עַמִּ֗י זְכָר־ נָא֙ מַה־ יָּעַ֗ץ בָּלָק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מוֹאָ֔ב וּמֶה־ עָנָ֥ה אֹת֖וֹ בִּלְעָ֣ם בֶּן־ בְּע֑וֹר מִן־ הַשִּׁטִּים֙ עַד־ הַגִּלְגָּ֔ל לְמַ֕עַן דַּ֖עַת צִדְק֥וֹת יְהוָֽה

עַמִּ֗י  My  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
זְכָר־  remember 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
נָא֙  now 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
יָּעַ֗ץ  counseled 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄועֵץ 
Sense: to advise, consult, give counsel, counsel, purpose, devise, plan.
בָּלָק֙  Balak 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּלָק  
Sense: a king of Moab who hired Balaam to curse Israel.
מֶ֣לֶךְ  king 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
מוֹאָ֔ב  of  Moab 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מֹואָב 
Sense: a son of Lot by his eldest daughter.
וּמֶה־  and  what 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
עָנָ֥ה  answered 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.
בִּלְעָ֣ם  Balaam 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: בִּלְעָם 
Sense: the son of Beor, a man endowed with the gift of prophecy.
בֶּן־  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
בְּע֑וֹר  of  Beor 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: בְּעֹור  
Sense: father of Balaam.
הַשִּׁטִּים֙  Shittim 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׁטִּים  
Sense: place of Israel’s encampment between the conquest of the transjordanic region and crossing the Jordan into Canaan.
הַגִּלְגָּ֔ל  Gilgal 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: גִּלְגָּל 
Sense: the first site of an Israelite camp west of the Jordan, east of Jericho, here Samuel was judge, and Saul was made king; later used for illicit worship.
לְמַ֕עַן  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: לְמַעַן 
Sense: purpose, intent prep.
דַּ֖עַת  you  may  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
צִדְק֥וֹת  the  righteousness 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: צְדָקָה  
Sense: justice, righteousness.
יְהוָֽה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.