2 Who hate H8130 the good, H2896 and love H157 the evil; H7451 who pluck off H1497 their skin H5785 from off them, and their flesh H7607 from off their bones; H6106
Her princes H8269 in the midst H7130 thereof are like wolves H2061 ravening H2963 the prey, H2964 to shed H8210 blood, H1818 and to destroy H6 souls, H5315 to get H1214 dishonest gain. H1215
But G1161 his G846 citizens G4177 hated G3404 him, G846 and G2532 sent G649 a message G4242 after G3694 him, G846 saying, G3004 We will G2309 not G3756 have G2309 this G5126 man to reign G936 over G1909 us. G2248
Who G3748 knowing G1921 the judgment G1345 of God, G2316 that G3754 they which commit G4238 such things G5108 are G1526 worthy G514 of death, G2288 not G3756 only G3440 do G4160 the same, G846 but G235 G2532 have pleasure G4909 in them that do G4238 them.
Ye stiffnecked G4644 and G2532 uncircumcised G564 in heart G2588 and G2532 ears, G3775 ye G5210 do G496 always G104 resist G496 the Holy G40 Ghost: G4151 as G5613 your G5216 fathers G3962 did, so G2532 do ye. G5210 Which G5101 of the prophets G4396 have G1377 not G3756 your G5216 fathers G3962 persecuted? G1377 and G2532 they have slain G615 them which G3588 shewed before G4293 of G4012 the coming G1660 of the Just One; G1342 of whom G3739 ye G5210 have been G1096 now G3568 the betrayers G4273 and G2532 murderers: G5406
He that hateth G3404 me G1691 hateth G3404 my G3450 Father G3962 also. G2532 If G1508 I had G4160 not G1508 done G4160 among G1722 them G846 the works G2041 which G3739 none G3762 other man G243 did, G4160 they had G2192 not G3756 had G2192 sin: G266 but G1161 now G3568 have they G3708 both G2532 seen G3708 and G2532 hated G3404 both G2532 me G1691 and G2532 my G3450 Father. G3962
If G1487 the world G2889 hate G3404 you, G5209 ye know G1097 that G3754 it hated G3404 me G1691 before G4412 it hated you. G5216 If G1487 ye were G2258 of G1537 the world, G2889 the world G2889 would G302 love G5368 his own: G2398 but G1161 because G3754 ye are G2075 not G3756 of G1537 the world, G2889 but G235 I G1473 have chosen G1586 you G5209 out of G1537 the world, G2889 therefore G5124 G1223 the world G2889 hateth G3404 you. G5209
And Ahab H256 said H559 to Elijah, H452 Hast thou found H4672 me, O mine enemy? H341 And he answered, H559 I have found H4672 thee: because thou hast sold H4376 thyself to work H6213 evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD. H3068
Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 my God; H430 Feed H7462 the flock H6629 of the slaughter; H2028 Whose possessors H7069 slay H2026 them, and hold themselves not guilty: H816 and they that sell H4376 them say, H559 Blessed H1288 be the LORD; H3068 for I am rich: H6238 and their own shepherds H7462 pity H2550 them not.
Hear H8085 this, O ye that swallow up H7602 the needy, H34 even to make H7673 the poor H6041 H6035 of the land H776 to fail, H7673 Saying, H559 When will the new moon H2320 be gone, H5674 that we may sell H7666 corn? H7668 and the sabbath, H7676 that we may set forth H6605 wheat, H1250 making the ephah H374 small, H6994 and the shekel H8255 great, H1431 and falsifying H5791 the balances H3976 by deceit? H4820 That we may buy H7069 the poor H1800 for silver, H3701 and the needy H34 for a pair of shoes; H5275 yea, and sell H7666 the refuse H4651 of the wheat? H1250
They hate H8130 him that rebuketh H3198 in the gate, H8179 and they abhor H8581 him that speaketh H1696 uprightly. H8549 Forasmuch H3282 therefore as your treading H1318 is upon the poor, H1800 and ye take H3947 from him burdens H4864 of wheat: H1250 ye have built H1129 houses H1004 of hewn stone, H1496 but ye shall not dwell H3427 in them; ye have planted H5193 pleasant H2531 vineyards, H3754 but ye shall not drink H8354 wine H3196 of them. For I know H3045 your manifold H7227 transgressions H6588 and your mighty H6099 sins: H2403 they afflict H6887 the just, H6662 they take H3947 a bribe, H3724 and they turn aside H5186 the poor H34 in the gate H8179 from their right. Therefore the prudent H7919 shall keep silence H1826 in that time; H6256 for it is an evil H7451 time. H6256 Seek H1875 good, H2896 and not evil, H7451 that ye may live: H2421 and so the LORD, H3068 the God H430 of hosts, H6635 shall be with you, as ye have spoken. H559
They that forsake H5800 the law H8451 praise H1984 the wicked: H7563 but such as keep H8104 the law H8451 contend H1624 with them.
And Jehu H3058 the son H1121 of Hanani H2607 the seer H2374 went out H3318 to meet H6440 him, and said H559 to king H4428 Jehoshaphat, H3092 Shouldest thou help H5826 the ungodly, H7563 and love H157 them that hate H8130 the LORD? H3068 therefore H2063 is wrath H7110 upon thee from before H6440 the LORD. H3068
Then the king H4428 of Israel H3478 gathered H6908 the prophets H5030 together, H6908 about four H702 hundred H3967 men, H376 and said H559 unto them, Shall I go H3212 against Ramothgilead H7433 H1568 to battle, H4421 or shall I forbear? H2308 And they said, H559 Go up; H5927 for the Lord H136 shall deliver H5414 it into the hand H3027 of the king. H4428 And Jehoshaphat H3092 said, H559 Is there not here a prophet H5030 of the LORD H3068 besides, H5750 that we might enquire H1875 of him? And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 said H559 unto Jehoshaphat, H3092 There is yet one H259 man, H376 Micaiah H4321 the son H1121 of Imlah, H3229 by whom we may enquire H1875 of the LORD: H3068 but I hate H8130 him; for he doth not prophesy H5012 good H2896 concerning me, but evil. H7451 And Jehoshaphat H3092 said, H559 Let not the king H4428 say H559 so.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Micah 3
Commentary on Micah 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 3
Mic 3:1-12. The Sins of the Princes, Prophets, and Priests: The Consequent Desolation of Zion.
1. princes—magistrates or judges.
Is it not for you?—Is it not your special function (Jer 5:4, 5)?
judgment—justice. Ye sit in judgment on others; surely then ye ought to know the judgment for injustice which awaits yourselves (Ro 2:1).
2. pluck off their skin … flesh—rob their fellow countrymen of all their substance (Ps 14:4; Pr 30:14).
3. pot … flesh within … caldron—manifold species of cruel oppressions. Compare Eze 24:3, &c., containing, as to the coming punishment, the same figure as is here used of the sin: implying that the sin and punishment exactly correspond.
4. Then—at the time of judgment, which Micah takes for granted, so certain is it (compare Mic 2:3).
they cry … but he will not hear—just as those oppressed by them had formerly cried, and they would not hear. Their prayer shall be rejected, because it is the mere cry of nature for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin.
ill in their doings—Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well.
5. Here he attacks the false prophets, as before he had attacked the "princes."
make my people err—knowingly mislead My people by not denouncing their sins as incurring judgment.
bite with … teeth, and cry, Peace—that is, who, so long as they are supplied with food, promise peace and prosperity in their prophecies.
he that putteth not into their mouths, they … prepare war against him—Whenever they are not supplied with food, they foretell war and calamity.
prepare war—literally, "sanctify war," that is, proclaim it as a holy judgment of God because they are not fed (see on Jer 6:4; compare Isa 13:3; Joe 1:14).
6. night … dark—Calamities shall press on you so overwhelming as to compel you to cease pretending to divine (Zec 13:4). Darkness is often the image of calamity (Isa 8:22; Am 5:18; 8:9).
7. cover their lips—The Orientals prided themselves on the moustache and beard ("upper lip," Margin). To cover it, therefore, was a token of shame and sorrow (Le 13:45; Eze 24:17, 22). "They shall be so ashamed of themselves as not to dare to open their mouths or boast of the name of prophet" [Calvin].
there is no answer of God—They shall no more profess to have responses from God, being struck dumb with calamities (Mic 3:6).
8. I—in contrast to the false prophets (Mic 3:5, 7).
full of power—that which "the Spirit of Jehovah" imparts for the discharge of the prophetical function (Lu 1:17; 24:49; Ac 1:8).
judgment—a sense of justice [Maurer]; as opposed to the false prophets' speaking to please men, not from a regard to truth. Or, "judgment" to discern between graver and lighter offenses, and to denounce punishments accordingly [Grotius].
might—moral intrepidity in speaking the truth at all costs (2Ti 1:7).
to declare unto Jacob his … sin—(Isa 58:1). Not to flatter the sinner as the false prophets do with promises of peace.
9. Hear—resumed from Mic 3:1. Here begins the leading subject of the prophecy: a demonstration of his assertion that he is "full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah" (Mic 3:8).
10. They—change of person from "ye" (Mic 3:9); the third person puts them to a greater distance as estranged from Him. It is, literally, "Whosoever builds," singular.
build up Zion with blood—build on it stately mansions with wealth obtained by the condemnation and murder of the innocent (Jer 22:13; Eze 22:27; Hab 2:12).
11. heads thereof—the princes of Jerusalem.
judge for reward—take bribes as judges (Mic 7:3).
priests teach for hire—It was their duty to teach the law and to decide controversies gratuitously (Le 10:11; De 17:11; Mal 2:7; compare Jer 6:13; Jude 11).
prophets … divine—that is, false prophets.
Is not the Lord among us?—namely in the temple (Isa 48:2; Jer 7:4, 8-11).
12. Jer 26:18 quotes this verse. The Talmud and Maimonides record that at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, Terentius Rufus, who was left in command of the army, with a ploughshare tore up the foundations of the temple.
mountain of the house—the height on which the temple stands.
as the high places of the forest—shall become as heights in a forest overrun with wild shrubs and brushwood.