What Does Micah 7:18 Mean in the King James?
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
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 verse pictures pardon as God carrying crookedness and names faithful love as his delight.
THE MEANING
You meet God here as one who bears crookedness and passes over rebellion among the remnant of his inheritance. His anger is not held forever; his delight is faithful love. The verse places you before a God whose enduring nature is that love.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the fear that God’s anger is his final posture toward you: he does not retain it forever because faithful love delights him.
THE ROOT
נֹשֵׂא
nōśēʾ
GROWS FROM
נשׂא
nasa
To lift, carry, or bear.
“pardoneth” in this verse is nōśēʾ. This verb gives pardon a bodily motion: the crookedness is lifted and borne, rather than reduced to an abstract verdict. The phrase carries the weight of what is pardoned.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: Lift, carry, or bear.
נָשָׂא
This base verb is the action in נֹשֵׂא: pardon is pictured as bearing the crookedness named after it.
massa: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
This related word keeps the weight in view, showing the burden-bearing sense beneath “pardoneth.”
חֶסֶד
chesed
GROWS FROM
חסד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful, loyal love.
Here, mercy names a steady, enacted love that belongs to God’s nature. The word “delighteth” marks this faithful love as his pleasure.
ALSO GROWS
chasad: To act loyally or show kindness.
חָסַד
This verbal form makes the love active: it is something expressed in action, not only felt.
chasid: A faithful or devoted person.
חָסִיד
This related form describes one marked by loyalty, echoing the faithful character of the love God delights in.
פֶּשַׁע
pesha
GROWS FROM
פשע
p-sh-ʿ
To rebel or break away.
Beneath “transgression,” pesha names rebellion and a breaking away. With “passeth by” beside it, the verse presents that rebellion as something God crosses over for the remnant of his heritage.
ALSO GROWS
pasha: To rebel or break away.
פָּשַׁע
The verb reveals the force of the noun in the verse: this is a rupture in relationship, not just an abstract mistake.
poshea: One who rebels.
פֹּשֵׁעַ
This form names the person through the same root, showing how pesha describes a breakaway from within a relationship.
THE PATTERN
God’s character is revealed in bearing wrongdoing while anger gives way to faithful love.
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.THE THREAD
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.The Hebrew word behind “mercy” is חֶסֶד (chesed, faithful love), the same word named as God’s delight in verse 18. Here that love is paired with truth to Jacob and a sworn promise to Abraham, extending the verse’s delight into a kept commitment.
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