Micah 1:10
“Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Micah begins a lament over the towns near his home, urging mourning and warning against giving the enemy cause to gloat.
What Does Micah 1:10 Mean?
Here begins a series of laments over the towns of the Judean lowlands, Micah's own homeland. He echoes David's old cry not to tell it in Gath, lest enemies rejoice, and calls Beth-le-aphrah, whose name suggests dust, to roll in the dust of grief.
Micah weaves the town names into the message, so that geography itself preaches. The nearness of the disaster to his own roots makes the warning personal. Judgment is never an abstraction; it touches real homes, real neighbors, and that is why the call to repent is so tender and so urgent.
In the Original Language
aphar (עָפָר), 'dust' -- loose earth, a sign of mourning, humility, and human frailty.