Hebrew word · H4316

מִיכָא

mikha'

Mica

A personal name built from the question mî kā-, "Who is like…?", with the divine name left unspoken. It is a shortened form of Mîkāyāh(û), "Who is like Yahweh?" (Micaiah, Micah).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at 1Ch.9.15;

son of: Zichri (H2147K);

father of: Mattaniah (H4983)

Also named: mi.khah (מִיכָה "Mica" H4318L)

§ Micha = "who is like God"

1) son of Mephibosheth

2) a Levite who signed the covenant with Nehemiah

3) father of Mattaniah, a Gershonite Levite and descendant of Asaph

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Nehemiah 10:11

Range of meaning

A personal name built from the question mî kā-, "Who is like…?", with the divine name left unspoken. It is a shortened form of Mîkāyāh(û), "Who is like Yahweh?" (Micaiah, Micah).

Against the English

KJV and YLT spell it "Micha" and BSB and WEB spell it "Mica". They are the same name. Readers can easily mix it up with the prophet Micah, which is a related but separate form and a different man.

Used elsewhere in the period

Names of this kind are common in Israel, for example Micaiah son of Imlah (1 Kings 22) and Micah the prophet. Mica is also the name of Mephibosheth's son (2 Samuel 9:12). In Nehemiah 11:17 and 11:22 a Levite named Mica son of Zabdi belongs to the singers descended from Asaph. He may be the same man as here or from the same family.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 9:12 מִיכָ֑א [was] Mica

    And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 9:15 מִיכָ֔א Mica

    Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;

Nehemiah · 2

  1. Nehemiah 10:11 מִיכָ֥א Mica

    Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,

    Here: A Levite who put his name to the covenant document. The name is a short form of Micaiah/Micah, "Who is like [Yahweh]?" Here it simply identifies a man, but to Hebrew ears it still carried that question of praise.

  2. Nehemiah 11:22 מִיכָ֑א Mica

    Now the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the singers in charge of the service of the house of God.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.