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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)