What Does Micah 5:7 Mean in the King James?
And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The remnant carries life among many peoples like dew from the LORD, arriving without waiting on human approval or supply.
THE MEANING
The remnant is present among a multitude with a quiet, life-giving presence, like dew resting on grass. Its source is the LORD, and its arrival does not depend on human timing or provision. The image holds a striking scale: something nearly unseen can nourish widely.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what sustains life must be produced, approved, or timed by human beings.
THE ROOT
יְקַוֶּה
yeqawweh
GROWS FROM
קוה
qavah
to wait, hope, or expect; also to gather or collect
“tarrieth” in this verse is yeqawweh. The verse pairs this word with another verb for waiting, reinforcing that the dew does not orient its coming around human expectation. Its source is named as the LORD, not as anything people gather or provide.
ALSO GROWS
tiqvah: hope, expectation
תִּקְוָה
This noun from the same root shows that waiting can carry an expectation of what is coming; the dew does not place that expectation in a person.
miqveh: collection, gathering
מִקְוֶה
The root’s gathering sense adds depth to waiting: what is awaited can be gathered toward, while this dew is not gathered from human sources.
אָדָם
adam
GROWS FROM
אדם
adam
ground-being, linked to adamah (ground, soil)
The phrase ‘sons of men’ is literally ‘sons of Adam.’ Its ground-word makes the contrast tangible: the dew comes from the LORD, while the people it does not wait for are named as ground-born.
ALSO GROWS
Adam: human being; ground-being
אָדָם
The name carries the same connection to the ground as the common word for humankind.
adamah: ground, soil
אֲדָמָה
This is the ground-word linked to Adam, revealing the earthy nature held inside the verse’s reference to human beings.
שְׁאֵרִית
she'erit
GROWS FROM
שאר
sha'ar
to remain; to be left over
The remnant is what remains, yet the verse does not treat what remains as inert or spent. It becomes dew among many peoples: what is left still carries nourishment.
ALSO GROWS
sha'ar: remain, be left over
שָׁאַר
The verb names the act of remaining that gives the remnant its identity.
nish'ar: was left, remained
נִשְׁאַר
This form makes the remnant’s condition concrete: it is what persists after others are gone.
THE PATTERN
Life’s growth is supplied by God, even when human beings are present as part of the process.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.THE THREAD
I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.Both verses use טַל (tal, dew) for what comes from the LORD, making dew an image of divine nourishment. Micah shows this dew among many peoples; Hosea shows Israel receiving it and growing from it.
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