Lexical Summary
mirmas: Trampling, treading, trodden
Original Word: מִרְמָס
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: mirmac
Pronunciation: meer-MAHS
Phonetic Spelling: (meer-mawce')
KJV: tread (down)-ing, (to be) trodden (down) under foot
NASB: trample, trample down, trampled, trampled down, trampled ground, trampling, tread down
Word Origin: [from H7429 (רָמַס - trampled)]
1. abasement (the act or the thing)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
tread down, to be trodden down under foot
From ramac; abasement (the act or the thing) -- tread (down)-ing, (to be) trodden (down) under foot.
see HEBREW ramac
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
ramasDefinitiontrampling place, trampling
NASB Translationtrample (1), trample down (1), trampled (1), trampled down (1), trampled ground (1), trampling (1), tread down (1), what you tread down (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
; — absolute
Micah 7:10 +, (Kö
ii.1, 96)
Isaiah 10:6; construct
Isaiah 7:25;
Ezekiel 34:19; —
trampling-place, Isaiah 7:25 ("" ), Ezekiel 34:19 (figurative).
trampling, Isaiah 5:5 it shall become a trampling, be trampled down, so Micah 7:10; Isaiah 28:18 , compare Isaiah 10:6; Daniel 8:13.
Topical Lexicon
Overview מִרְמָס appears seven times in the prophetic books, always in scenes of feet grinding something underfoot. Each passage uses the notion of trampling to portray divine judgment, human arrogance, or the profanation of the sacred. The vocabulary of crushing conveys both the certainty of God’s verdict and the humiliating fate of whatever is trampled.
Occurrences and Contexts
1. Isaiah 5:5 – Within the “song of the vineyard,” the hedge is removed so the vineyard becomes “a place of trampling.” What was planted for fruit now lies exposed to ruin because of covenant unfaithfulness.
2. Isaiah 7:25 – Once-fertile hills become pasture for cattle, accessible only by “hoeing and foraging,” an image of land degraded through Assyrian invasion.
3. Isaiah 10:6 – Assyria itself is commissioned “to seize spoils, to take plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.” The rod of discipline becomes an agent of trampling before it is, in turn, judged.
4. Isaiah 28:18 – A false covenant “with death” will be annulled; when the overwhelming flood passes through, “you will be trampled.” Religious compromise does not shield Judah from divine wrath.
5. Ezekiel 34:19 – Shepherds who muddy the waters by their feet cause the flock to drink defiled water, a metaphor for leaders who abuse and exploit.
6. Daniel 8:13 – The vision asks, “How long will the vision of the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the trampling of the sanctuary and the host be?” Here trampling reaches the temple itself, forecasting the desecration under Antiochus IV and foreshadowing the final antichrist.
7. Micah 7:10 – Zion’s enemy will be “trampled down like mud in the streets,” underscoring the reversal of fortunes when God vindicates His people.
Theological Themes
• Judgment on Covenant Violation: In Isaiah 5 and 28, trampling pictures the inevitable outcome of spurning God’s covenant love: blessing is turned to desolation.
• Instrument of Discipline: Isaiah 10 shows the Lord using pagan powers as His staff, yet retaining full sovereignty over the process and outcome.
• Abuse of Authority: Ezekiel 34 indicts leaders who trample the vulnerable, reminding every generation that shepherding is stewardship, not domination.
• Desecration of the Holy: Daniel 8 enlarges the image to include the sanctuary itself, emphasizing that rebellion against God reaches its peak in profaning worship.
• Final Vindication: Micah 7 sets trampling in an eschatological reversal; those who mocked God’s people are ultimately crushed.
Historical Background
In Isaiah and Micah the backdrop is eighth-century Assyrian expansion. Fields laid waste by invading armies became literal trampling grounds. Daniel 8 looks ahead to the second century B.C. oppression under Antiochus, whose troops overran Jerusalem and halted sacrifice. Ezekiel 34 addresses the chaotic leadership during the Babylonian exile, when selfish shepherds exploited the helpless.
Prophetic Imagery
Prophets often draw from agrarian life—vineyards, threshing floors, pathways—to make judgment vivid. Trampling evokes:
• Total destruction (nothing left intact),
• Public humiliation (trodden like street mud),
• Irreversible action (once crushed, grapes cannot be re-attached to the vine).
Such imagery intensifies the call to repentance.
Christological and Eschatological Echoes
Revelation 14:20 portrays the winepress of God’s wrath, amplifying Isaiah’s vineyard song and Daniel’s desecration theme. The Messiah who “treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God” (Revelation 19:15) fulfills the prophetic longing for final justice. Conversely, believers are promised deliverance from trampling in Luke 21:24, where “Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
Practical Ministry Implications
• Preaching: Trampling scenes warn against complacency and highlight the seriousness of sin. They call congregations to trust the Lord’s righteous judgments rather than political alliances or human strength.
• Pastoral Care: Ezekiel 34 urges leaders to guard against exploiting the flock. Any ministry that leaves God’s people “muddy water” to drink incurs the Chief Shepherd’s rebuke.
• Discipleship: Believers are stewards of holiness. The desecration in Daniel 8 reminds the church to preserve pure worship and anticipate persecution without compromise.
• Hope and Perseverance: Micah 7 sustains sufferers with the assurance that scoffers will not have the last word; the trampler becomes the trampled.
Conclusion
מִרְמָס gathers prophetic texts into one solemn chord: what is trampled lies under an inescapable verdict, yet God remains just and ultimately vindicates His own. The motif challenges every generation to heed the warnings, trust His sovereignty, and live in holiness as they await the day when all trampling ceases under the righteous feet of Christ.
Forms and Transliterations
וּלְמִרְמַ֖ס ולמרמס לְמִרְמָ֖ס לְמִרְמָֽס׃ למרמס למרמס׃ מִרְמַ֤ס מִרְמָ֖ס מִרְמָֽס׃ מרמס מרמס׃ lə·mir·mās lemirMas ləmirmās mir·mas mir·mās mirmas mirmās ū·lə·mir·mas ulemirMas ūləmirmas
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