What Does Micah 6:7 Mean in the King James?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
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
Micah’s question exposes the attempt to buy acceptance with ever-higher sacrifices, ending at the horrifying cost of a child.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to the impulse to quiet guilt by raising the price of what is given. It carries that impulse from thousands of rams and rivers of oil to the imagined surrender of a firstborn child, revealing how far a person may go when acceptance seems purchasable. The question exposes the bargain; the next verse turns toward justice, faithful love, and humble walking.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that God’s pleasure can be bought through extravagant sacrifice, even at the cost of what is most precious.
THE ROOT
יִרְצֶה
yirtseh
GROWS FROM
רצה
To be pleased with or accept.
“be pleased” in this verse is yirtseh. The verb concerns being received or accepted, while the offerings escalate as if greater quantity could secure that reception. The root makes the question reach beyond the price of the gifts to the speaker’s idea of what acceptance means.
ALSO GROWS
rāṣāh: He was pleased with; he accepted.
רָצָה
This form keeps the emphasis on acceptance, the very thing the speaker imagines the offerings might obtain.
reṣēh: Be pleased with; accept.
רְצֵה
This form presents acceptance as something sought, highlighting the personal relationship beneath the proposed exchange.
בְּכוֹר
bəḵōr
GROWS FROM
בכר
To be first or first to emerge.
The firstborn belongs to the same root family as the firstfruits: both name the first emergence, the opening yield. Beside “the fruit of my body,” the word presents the child as the most intimate first yield someone might imagine surrendering.
ALSO GROWS
bəḵōrāh: Birthright, the standing of the firstborn.
בְּכֹרָה
It carries the firstborn root into the status and inheritance attached to being first.
bikkūrīm: Firstfruits, the first yield of a harvest.
בִּכּוּרִים
The shared root links the firstborn child with the first yield of the field, echoing the verse’s pairing of child and bodily fruit.
פִּשְׁעִי
pišʿī
GROWS FROM
פשע
Rebellion; breaking away.
The word carries the sense of rebellion or breaking away beneath “transgression.” The verse places that rupture beside a proposed payment, exposing how the speaker imagines an exchange for the break.
ALSO GROWS
pāšaʿ: He rebelled; he broke away.
פָּשַׁע
The verb makes the relational rupture inside the noun audible.
pōšēaʿ: One who rebels; one who breaks away.
פֹּשֵׁעַ
This form names the person by the same root action the verse calls a transgression.
THE PATTERN
The magnitude of an offering cannot replace the lived response that gives a relationship its shape.
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.THE THREAD
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.Both verses use רצה (rāṣāh, “be pleased with” or “take pleasure in”). Micah asks whether God is pleased by offerings counted in thousands; the psalm names those who stand in awe of the LORD and hope in his faithful love.
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