What Does Micah 7:17 Mean in the King James?
They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
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
Those who seem to tower over you are reduced to mouths in the dust and bodies trembling before the LORD.
THE MEANING
The forces that threaten you are pictured licking the dust and trembling as they emerge from their hiding places. Their dread is directed toward the LORD, and the verse ends with awe before him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The ones who frighten you can stay safely hidden beyond the LORD’s reach; here, they tremble as they come out before him.
THE ROOT
יִרְגְּזוּ
yirgəzu
GROWS FROM
רגז
R-G-Z
To tremble, quake, or become agitated.
“move out” in this verse is yirgəzu. The movement from their holes carries the root’s sense of trembling: they are not only emerging but quaking as they do. The image makes their retreat bodily and involuntary.
ALSO GROWS
ragaz: To tremble, quake, or become agitated.
רָגַז
This verb’s shaking gives the movement out of the holes an added sense of fear in the body.
rogez: Agitation, trembling, or turmoil.
רֹגֶז
The related noun names the inner disturbance that surfaces in their trembling.
יִרְאוּ
yir'u
GROWS FROM
ירא
Y-R-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
The verse ends with a form of yare, whose sense includes awe when the LORD is the one feared. Their fear is more than alarm: it recognizes the one before whom they tremble.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Fear or awe.
יִרְאָה
This noun carries the same range of reverent fear that closes the verse.
nora': Awe-inspiring or fearsome.
נוֹרָא
This related form describes the presence that calls forth awe.
THE PATTERN
When the LORD’s presence becomes undeniable, the response is bodily: hiding, trembling, or worship with trembling.
And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.THE THREAD
This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.The word translated “shall tremble” comes from the same Hebrew root, ragaz, as Micah’s “move out.” In both verses, nations who might seem powerful are described through the bodily signs of dread before the LORD.
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