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Micah Chapter
Three
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 3
In
this chapter the prophet reproves and threatens both princes and prophets,
first separately, and then conjunctly; first the heads and princes of the
people, civil magistrates, for their ignorance of justice, and hatred of good,
and love of evil, and for their oppression and cruelty; and they are threatened
with distress when they should cry unto the Lord, and should not be heard by
him, Micah 3:1; next the
prophets are taken to task, for their voraciousness, avarice, and false
prophesying; and are threatened with darkness, with want of vision, and of an
answer from the Lord, and with shame and confusion, Micah 3:5; and the
prophet being full of the Spirit and power of God, to declare the sins and
transgressions of Jacob and Israel, Micah 3:8, very
freely declaims against princes, priests, and prophets, all together; who,
though guilty of very notorious crimes, yet were in great security, and
promised themselves impunity, Micah 3:9;
wherefore the city and temple of Jerusalem are threatened with an utter
desolation, Micah 3:12.
Micah 3:1 And I said: “Hear
now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not
for you to know justice?
YLT
1And I say, `Hear, I pray
you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to
know the judgment?
And I said, hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of
the house of Israel,.... This seems to be a new sermon or discourse, delivered at
another time and to another people than the preceding for, as that chiefly
concerns the ten tribes, this the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and was
spoken to them in the times of Hezekiah, as appears from Jeremiah 26:18; for
though Jacob and Israel generally design the ten tribes, yet here the other
two, as is manifest from the above cited place, and also from Micah 3:9; and not
only heads of families, but such as were the highest posts under the
government, the sanhedrim of the nation, judges, rulers, and nobles, are here
addressed; and who had a great share in national guilt, being ringleaders in
sin, who ought to have set good examples to others; and these are not to be
spared because of their grandeur and dignity, but to faithfully reproved for
their vices, and which they should diligently attend unto; though they are to
be addressed in a respectful and honourable manner, and be entreated to hearken
to the word of the Lord by his prophet; all which was carefully observed by
Micah; and it was with pleasure he could reflect upon his plain, faithful, and
affectionate reproof of those great men:
is it not for you to
know judgment? what is just and right to be done by men, and what sentence is
to be passed in courts of judicature, in cases brought before them and not only
to know, in a speculative way, what is equitable, but to practise it
themselves, and see that it is done by others; and when they duly considered
this, they would be able to see and own that what the prophet from the Lord
would now charge them with, or denounce upon them, was according to truth and
justice.
Micah 3:2 2 You
who hate good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people,[a] And the
flesh from their bones;
YLT
2Ye who are hating good, and
loving evil, Taking violently their skin from off them, And their flesh from
off their bones,
Who hate the good, and love the evil,.... Instead
of knowing and doing what was just and right; or, directly contrary to their
light and knowledge, and the duty of their office, they hated that which is
good, which is agreeable to the law, nature, and will of God, and loved that
which is evil, which is contrary thereunto; or they hated to do good, and loved
to do evil, as the Targum; as men do who are averse to good, and prone to evil;
or they hated a good man, as Aben Ezra, and loved the evil man; not only delighted
in committing sin themselves, but took pleasure in those that did it; and could
not endure the company and conversation of holy and good men:
who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off
their bones: like wild beasts that tear off skin and flesh from the bones,
and then devour them; or like cruel shepherds, that, not content to fleece
their flocks, skin them, and take their flesh also, and feed themselves, and
not the flock; or like butchers, that first take off the skin off a beast, and
then cut up its flesh. The design of the expressions is to show what rigour,
cruelty, and oppressions, these rulers exercised on the people and by their
heavy taxes and levies, and exorbitant penalties and fines, pillaged and
plundered them of all they had in the world, and left them quite bare, as bones
stripped of their skin and flesh. So the Targum,
"seizing
on their substance by violence, and their precious mammon they take away.'
Micah 3:3 3 Who
also eat the flesh of My people, Flay their skin from them, Break their bones, And
chop them in pieces Like meat for the pot, Like flesh in the
caldron.”
YLT
3And who have eaten the
flesh of My people, And their skin from off them have stript, And their bones
they have broken, And they have spread [them] out as in a pot, And as flesh in
the midst of a caldron.
Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skins from off
them,.... Like cannibals, flay them alive, and then eat their flesh:
this signifies, as before, devouring their substance, only expressed in terms
which still more set forth their savageness, inhumanity, barbarity, and
cruelty. So the Targum,
"who
spoil the substance of my people, and their precious mammon they take from
them;'
and
what aggravated their guilt was, that they were the Lord's people by profession
and religion they so used; whom he had committed to their care to rule over,
protect, and defend:
and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces as for the
pot, and as flesh within the caldron: did with them as cooks
do, who not only cut flesh off the bones, and into slices, but break the bones
themselves, to get out the marrow, and chop them small, that they may have all
the virtue that is in them, to make their soup and broth the richer; by which
is signified, that these wicked and avaricious rulers took every method to
squeeze the people, and get all their wealth and riches into their hands, that
they might have in a more riotous and luxurious manner.
Micah 3:4 4 Then
they will cry to the Lord, But He will not hear them; He
will even hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in
their deeds.
YLT
4Then do they cry unto
Jehovah, And He doth not answer them, And hideth His face from them at that
time, As they have made evil their doings.
Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them,.... When all
the above evils threatened them in the preceding chapters shall come upon them;
when the enemy shall invade their hind, besiege their cities, and take them,
and they, their families and substance, just ready to fall into their hands,
they shall cry unto the Lord; or pray unto him, as the Targum, in the time of
their distress; but he will not hear their prayer, so as to answer it according
to their desire; that is, he will not save them from imminent danger, but
deliver them up, them, and all that belong unto them, into the hands of such
that shall use them as they have done others:
he will even hide his face from them at that time; turn his back
upon them, and a deaf ear to them, and show them no favour, nor grant them any
help and protection:
as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings; he will
punish them according to the law of retaliation; as when the poor cried unto
them, when they were stripping them of their substance, and they would not
hearken to them, so now, when they cry unto the Lord in their distress, he will
not hearken to them; and as they turned their backs, and hid their faces from
those that were afflicted by them, and would show them no favour, so will the Lord
deal with them; and as they exercised the utmost cruelty and barbarity that
could be done, they will now be given up into the hands of cruel and merciless
men, that will use them in like manner: or, "because they have done ill in
their doings"F2כאשר ανθ' ων "eo quod", Sept. "quia", Drusius; "pro
eo quod", Grotius. to the poor, whose cause God will defend and vindicate.
Micah 3:5 5 Thus
says the Lord concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who chant “Peace”
While they chew with their teeth, But who prepare war against him Who puts
nothing into their mouths:
YLT
5Thus said Jehovah
concerning the prophets Who are causing My people to err, Who are biting with
their teeth, And have cried `Peace,' And he who doth not give unto their mouth,
They have sanctified against him war.
Thus saith the Lord, concerning the prophets that make my people
err,.... The false prophets, as the Targum; and as the description
given of them shows; who, instead of directing the people in the right way, as
by their office and characters as prophets they should have done, they led them
into mistakes about matters of religion and civil government, and out of the
way of their duty to God and men, and exposed them to great danger and
distress; and this was the more aggravating, as they were the Lord's people by
name and profession, whom they caused to err from his ways and worship, which
brought his displeasure upon them:
that bite with their teeth, and cry, peace; prophesy
smooth things, promise all kind of prosperity and plenty, and bite their lips,
and keep in those distresses and calamities which they could not but see coming
upon the people; or, while they are prophesying good things, they gnash their
teeth against the prophets of the Lord, and bitterly inveigh against them for
threatening with war, destruction, and captivity; or, by flattering the people
with their lips, they bite them, devour their substance, and are the cause of
their hurt and ruin; or rather, so long as the people fed them well, and they
had a sufficiency to bite and live upon, they foretold happy days unto them, So
the Targum,
"he
that feeds them with a feast of flesh, they prophesy peace to him;'
which
sense is confirmed by what follows,
and he that putteth not into their mouth, they even declare war
against him; who do not give them what they ask, or do not feed them
according to their desire, do not keep a good table for them, and cram and
pamper them, but neglect them, and do not provide well for them; these they
threaten with one calamity or another that shall befall them; and endeavour to
set their neighbours against them, and even the government itself, and do them
all the mischief they can by defamation and slander.
Micah 3:6 6 “Therefore
you shall have night without vision, And you shall have darkness without
divination; The sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day shall be dark
for them.
YLT
6Therefore a night ye have
without vision, And darkness ye have without divination, And gone in hath the
sun on the prophets, And black over them hath been the day.
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a
vision,.... Not that those outward gifts and illuminations, and that
prophetic light they had, or seemed to have should be taken away from them, and
it should be quite a night with them; because these men were never sent of God,
or received any message from him, or had any prophetic talents at all, and
therefore could not be taken away from them, and they be benighted in this
sense; though, it is true, such might be the circumstances they would be
brought into, that it should appear to the people that they are the dark
persons they were, that they have no vision, nor never had any; but rather the
sense is, that such dark providences and dreadful calamities should come upon
the people in general, and upon those prophets in particular, often signified
by "night" in Scripture, that they would not have the face to pretend
any more that they had any vision from God of good times and things. It may be
rendered, "therefore night shall be unto you because of
vision"F3מחזון "propter
visionem", Munster, Piscator. ; calamity should come upon them because of
their false and pretended visions of peace and prosperity they deluded the
people with:
and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; such darkness
of affliction should be upon them, that they would not offer to deliver out any
divination or prediction of good things coming upon them; or such darkness and
distress would be their portion "because of divination"F4מקסום "propter divinationem", Munster;
"propter divinare, i. e. divinationem", Vatablus; "prae
visione----prae divinatione", Burkius. , on account of their lying
divinations they had imposed upon the people:
and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be
dark over them; their time of prosperity will be over, and they shall be no more
in favour with the people, or courted and feasted by them; but shall be had in
the utmost contempt and abhorrence. The Targum of the whole is,
"therefore
ye shall blush at prophesying, and be ashamed of teaching; and tribulation as
darkness shall cover the false prophets, and the time shall be darkened upon
them.'
Micah 3:7 7 So
the seers shall be ashamed, And the diviners abashed; Indeed they shall all cover
their lips; For there is no answer from God.”
YLT
7And ashamed have been the
seers, And confounded have been the diviners, And covered their lip have all of
them, For their is no answer, O God.
Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded,.... When the
events of things will make it most clearly appear to all that their visions,
divinations, and prophecies, are false; they will not be able to lift up their
heads, or show their faces, but shame and confusion will cover them:
yea, they shall all cover their lips; stop their
mouths, hold their tongues, and be entirely and totally silenced; they will not
pretend to utter any other vision or prophecy; nor be able to say one word in
defence of themselves, and of what they have before prophesied; every thing in
providence being contrary to what they had said, and agreeable to the words of
the true prophets; or they shall cover their lips as mourners; as the Targum
adds, by way of explanation; see Ezekiel 24:17. It
is saidF5R. Jacob, Sepher Musar, c. 9. apud Drusii Proverb. class.
2. l. 21. sect. 194. there were two gates in Solomon's temple; one called the
gate of the bridegrooms, the other the gate of mourners; to those that entered
the latter, if their lip was covered, it was said, he that dwells in this house
comfort thee; and so the lips of the false prophets being covered may signify
that they were now sorry for what they had done, at least because of the
calamities on them and the people; though the former sense seems best:
for there is no answer of God; not that they
shall be ashamed and silenced because they shall now have no answer of God, for
they never had any, which this would imply; but that it shall now be most plain
and clear to all that the Lord never spoke by them, and they never had any
answer from him; all their visions, divinations, and prophecies, were of,
themselves, and not of him; what they delivered was not the word of the Lord, but
their own; and this now being discovered and manifest to everyone, wilt put
them to utter silence and shame. The Targum is,
"for
there is not in them a spirit of prophecy from the Lord.'
Micah 3:8 8 But
truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, And of
justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin.
YLT
8And yet I have been full of
power by the Spirit of Jehovah, And of judgment, and of might, To declare to
Jacob his transgression, And to Israel his sin.
But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,.... Or,
"full of power, even, the Spirit of the Lord", as GussetiusF6Ebr.
Comment. p. 468. , by way of contrast, and as explaining what is meant by
power; for so the Spirit is sometimes called from his gifts and graces, which
are powerful in men; see Luke 24:47. These
are the words of Micah concerning himself, in opposition to the false prophets,
who are destitute of the Spirit of God; men of mean sordid dispositions, that
had nothing but sinister and selfish ends in view, and not in the least
qualified for the office and character they bore; whereas he could say of
himself, with truth, that he was possessed of sufficient abilities for such an
employment; and which he had, not of himself, but from the Spirit of God, who
gives gifts to men, and divides them to each as he will; so that this was no
vaunt and vain boast, or a piece of arrogance and ostentation in the prophet;
since he only opposes himself to the false prophets, and ascribes his
endowments and qualifications, not to himself, but to the Spirit of God; he
had, though they had not, answers from the Lord, visions and prophecies from
him, with a commission and abilities from him to execute the office of a
prophet, being under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and full of him and
his gifts:
and of judgment, and of might; or of the judgment of
truth, as the Targum; being able to discern truth and error, between what comes
from the Spirit of God, and what from a lying spirit, or a spirit of divination
and falsehood; what is proper to, be spoken, when the right time, and to whom;
and having courage and greatness of mind, fearing no man's person or face, but
bold
to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin; freely and
openly to set it before them in a true light, with all aggravating
circumstances, and reprove them for the same; and threaten them with the
judgments of God in case they, repented not; see Isaiah 58:1; and as
a proof of all this, says what follows:
Micah 3:9 9 Now
hear this, You heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who
abhor justice And pervert all equity,
YLT
9Hear this, I pray you,
heads of the house of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Who are
making judgment abominable, And all uprightness do pervert.
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes
of the house of Israel,.... As an instance of his boldness, courage, and impartiality,
he begins with the principal men of the land, and charges them with sins, and
reproves for them, and denounces judgments on account of them; See Gill on Micah 3:1;
that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity; a sad
character of princes, rulers, and judges, who not only ought to know but to
love judgment, justice, and equity, and do them; even take delight and pleasure
in the distribution of them to everyone, and in every cause that came before
them; but, instead of this, hated to do that which was right and just; and
perverted all the rules and laws of justice and equity, clearing the guilty,
and condemning the innocent.
Micah 3:10 10 Who
build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity:
YLT
10Building up Zion with
blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.
They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Or, "O
thou that buildest up"F7בונה
"aedificans", Montanus, Munster, Burkius. , &c. or "everyone
of them that buildeth up"F8"Quisque eorum aedificat",
Vatablus, Piscator, Drusius. , &c. for the word is in the singular number;
but, be fire words rendered either of these ways, they respect the heads and
princes of the people; who either repaired the temple on Zion, or ornamented
the king's palace, or built themselves fine stately houses in Jerusalem, or
large streets there, by money they took of murderers to save them, as Kimchi;
or by money got by rapine and oppression, by spoiling the poor of their goods
and their livelihood, for them and their families, which was all one as
shedding innocent blood; and by money obtained by bribes, for the perversion of
justice, and such like illegal proceedings, truly called iniquity. The Targum
is,
"who
build their houses in Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with deceits.'
Micah 3:11 11 Her
heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for
money. Yet they lean on the Lord, and say, “Is
not the Lord among us? No harm can come upon us.”
YLT
11Her heads for a bribe do
judge, And her priests for hire do teach, And her prophets for silver divine,
And on Jehovah they lean, saying, `Is not Jehovah in our midst? Evil doth not
come in upon us.'
The heads thereof judge for reward,.... That is, the heads
or principal men of Zion and Jerusalem; the kings, or sanhedrim, according to
Kimchi; but as this prophecy was delivered in the times of Hezekiah, Jeremiah 26:18, be
who was so good a king must be excepted from this charge; perhaps it was
delivered in the beginning of his reign, before a reformation was made, and
might be the occasion of it: the former reign was a very wicked one; and very
likely the public officers, judges, and civil magistrates, were as yet
continued, and who went on in the same course of injustice, giving the cause not
on the right side, but to them that gave them most money, or bribed highest,
contrary to the law of God, Deuteronomy 16:19;
and the priests thereof teach for hire; for though
they had a sufficient and honourable maintenance provided by the law of God for
them, yet, not content with this, they took a price of the people for teaching
them; and that not such things as were agreeable to the will of God declared in
his word, which they ought to have done freely; but such doctrines as were most
pleasing to carnal men, and indulged them in their lusts, presumption, and vain
confidence:
and the prophets thereof divine for money; tell men what
should befall them; what good things they should be possessed of; what plenty
and prosperity they should enjoy; and this they did according to the sum of
money given them, more or less. This must be understood of the false prophets:
yet will they lean upon the Lord; on his are, providence,
and protection, as if they were filled to these things, and might securely rely
and depend upon them; though by their sins and transgressions they had
forfeited all the bent fits and privileges thereof. To lean by faith upon the
Lord; or in his Word, as the Targum; and to trust in his promises, in his
power, and faithfulness, and goodness; when this springs from an honest and
upright heart, and is attended with the fruits of righteousness and holiness,
it is well pleasing to God, and highly regarded by him, and such may, depend
upon his blessing and protection; but to talk of faith in him, and reliance
upon him, when the whole course of the conversation is wicked, this is
abominable in the sight of God, and displeasing to him:
and say, is not the Lord among us? trusting to
this, that the temple of the Lord was among them, and that the temple of God
were they; that the most holy place was there, where were the symbols of the
divine Presence, the ark, cherubim, and mercy seat; and so concluding from
hence their safety and security; putting their confidence in outward places and
things, in external worship, sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies, when they
neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, truth, and mercy: and so
none evil can come upon us: as pestilence, famine,
sword, and captivity, the prophets of the Lord had threatened them with.
Micah 3:12 12 Therefore
because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become
heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple[b] Like the
bare hills of the forest.
YLT
12Therefore, for your sake,
Zion is ploughed a field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mount of the house
[is] for high places of a forest!
Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field,.... That is,
for your sins, as the Targum; for the bloodshed, injustice, and avarice of the
princes, priests, and prophets; not that the common people were free from
crimes; but these are particularly mentioned, as being ringleaders into sin,
and who ought to have set better examples; as also to take off their vain
confidence in themselves, who thought that Zion and Jerusalem would be built up
and established by them, and preserved for their sakes; as well as to show the
prophet's boldness and intrepidity in his rebukes and menaces of them: now this
was prophesied of in the days of Hezekiah, before the invasion of Judea and
siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib; it was deferred upon the repentance and
reformation of the people; and was fulfilled in part at the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, when the city was reduced to a heap of rubbish; and
more fully when it was destroyed by the Romans, and ploughed up by Terentius,
or Turnus Rufus, as the Jews say; so that there was not a house or building
left upon it, but it became utterly desolate and uninhabited, especially in the
reign of Adrian:
and Jerusalem shall become heaps; not only the city of
David, built on Mount Zion, should be demolished, but the other part of the
city called Jerusalem should be thrown down, and its walls and houses lie in
heaps, like heaps of stones in the midst of a ploughed field:
and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest; Mount Moriah,
on which the temple was built; hence called here, by the Targum, the mountain
of the house of the sanctuary; the temple upon it should be destroyed, and not
one, tone left upon another; and the place on which it stood be covered with
grass and trees, with briers and thorns, as a forest is, all which have been
exactly fulfilled. The Jews sayF9T. Hieros. Taaniot. fol. 69. 2.
Juchasin, fol. 36. 2. & Ganz Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 28. 1. of Turnus
Rufus before mentioned, that he both ploughed up the city of Jerusalem, and the
temple, the ground on which they stood; and JeromF11Comment. in
Zech. viii. 19. affirms the temple was ploughed up by Titus Annius Ruffus;
which, as it literally fulfilled this prophecy, denotes the utter destruction
of them; for, as it was usual with the ancients to mark out with a plough the
ground on which a city was designed to be built; so they drew one over the spot
where any had stood, which was become desolate, and to signify that the city
was no more to be rebuilt and inhabited: thus SenecaF12"Aratrum
vetustis urbibus inducere", Seneca de Clementia, l. 1. c. 26. , HoraceF13"------Imprimeretque
muris Hostile aratrum exercitus insolens". Hor. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 36. ,
and other writers, express the utter destruction of a city by such phrases.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)