MICAH 3 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

1 Then I said,“Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel.Should you not embrace justice,

BARES. "And I said - God’s love for us is the great incitement, constrainer, vivifier of His creature’s love. Micah had just spoken of God’s love of Israel; how He would gather them into one fold under One Shepherd, guard them, lead them, remove all difficulties before them, be Himself their Head and enable them to follow Him. He turns then to them. These are God’s doings; this, God has in store for you hereafter. Even when mercy itself shall require chastisement, He doth not cast off forever. The desolation is but the forerunner of future mercy. What then do ye? The prophet appeals to them, class by class. There was one general corruption of every order of men, through whom Judah could be preserved, princes Mic_3:1-4, prophets Mic_3:5-7, priests Mic_3:11. The salt had lost its savor; wherewith could it be seasoned? whereby could the decaying mass of the people be kept from entire corruption?

Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel -He arraigns them by the same name, under which He had first promised mercy. He had first promised mercy to all Jacob and the remnant of Israel. So now he upraids the “heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel,” lest they should deceive themselves. At the same time he recalls them to the deeds of their father. Judah had succeeded to the birthright, forfeited by Reuben, Simeon and Levi; and in Judah all the promises of the Messiah were laid up. But he was not like the three great patriarchs, the father of the faithful (Abraham), or the meek Isaac, or the much-tried Jacob. The name then had not the reminiscences, or force of appeal, contained in the titles, seed of Abraham, or Isaac, or Israel.

Is it not for you to know judgment? - It is a great increase of guilt, when persons neglect or pervert what it is their special duty and office to guard; as when teachers corrupt doctrine, or preachers give in to a low standard of morals, or judges pervert judgment. The “princes” here spoken or are so named from judging, “deciding” causes. They are the same its the “rulers,” whom Isaiah at the same time upbraids, as being, from their sins, rulers of Sodom , whose hands were full of blood Isa_1:15. They who do

not right, in time cease, in great measure, to know it. As God withdraws His grace, the mind is darkened and can no longer see it. So it is said of Eli’s sons, they were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord 1Sa_2:12; and, Into a malicious soul Wisdom shall not enter, nor dwell in a body that is subject unto sin (Wisd. 1:4). Such , “attain not to know the judgments of God which are a great deep: and the depth of His justice the evil mind findeth not.” But if men will not “know judgment” by doing it, they shall by suffering it.

CLARKE, "Hear - O heads of Jacob - The metaphor of the flock is still carried on. The chiefs of Jacob, and the princes of Israel, instead of taking care of the flocks, defending them, and finding them pasture, oppressed them in various ways. They are like wolves, who tear the skin of the sheep, and the flesh off their bones. This applies to all unjust and oppressive rulers.

Suetonius tells us, in his Life of Tiberius, that when the governors of provinces wrote to the emperor, entreating him to increase the tributes, he wrote back: “It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them.” Praesidibus onerandas tributo provincias suadentibus rescripsit: Boni Pastoris esse Tondere pecus, non Deglubebe. This is a maxim which many rulers of the earth do not seem to understand.

GILL, "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 Jer_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 Mic_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.

HERY, "Princes and prophets, when they faithfully discharge the duty of their office, are to be highly honoured above other men; but when they betray their trust, and act contrary to it, they should hear of their faults as well as others, and shall be made to know that there is a God above them, to whom they are accountable; at his bar the prophet here, in his name, arraigns them.

I. Let the princes hear their charge and their doom. The heads of Jacob, and the

princes of the house of Israel, are called upon to hear what the prophet has to say to them, Mic_3:1. The word of God has reproofs for the greatest of men, which the ministers of that word ought to apply as there is occasion. The prophet here has comfort in the reflection upon it, that, whatever the success was, he had faithfully discharged his trust: And I said, Hear, O princes! He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had not shrunk from his duty for fear of the face of men. He tells them,

1. What was expected from them: Is it not for you to know judgment? He means to dojudgment, for otherwise the knowledge of it is of no avail. “Is it not your business to administer justice impartially, and not to know faces” (as the Hebrew phrase for partiality and respect of persons is), “but to know judgment, and the merits of every cause?” Or it may be taken for granted that the heads and rulers are well acquainted with the rules of justice, whatever others are; for they have those means of knowledge, and have not those excuses for ignorance, which some others have, that are poor and foolish (Jer_5:4); and, if so, their transgression of the laws of justice is the more provoking to God, for they sin against knowledge. “Is it not for you to know judgment? Yes, it is; therefore stand still, and hear your own judgment, and judge if it be not right, whether any thing can be objected against it.”

JAMISO, "Mic_3:1-12. The sins of the princes, prophets, and priests: The consequent desolation of Zion.

princes— magistrates or judges.

Is it not for you?— Is it not your special function (Jer_5:4, Jer_5:5)?

judgment— justice. Ye sit in judgment on others; surely then ye ought to know the judgment for injustice which awaits yourselves (Rom_2:1).

K&D 1-4, "First strophe. - Mic_3:1. “And I said, Hear ye, O heads of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know the right?Mic_3:2. Ye who hate good, and love evil; who draw off their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones.Mic_3:3. And who have eaten the flesh of my people, and stripped off their skin from them; and broken their bones, and cut them in pieces, as if in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of the caldron. Mic_3:4. Then will they cry to Jehovah, and He will not hearken; and let Him hide His face from them at the same time, as they have made

their actions evil.” By the expression “And I said” (vâ'ōmar), the following address is indicated as a continuation of the preceding one. The reproofs of this chapter are also a still further expansion of the woe pronounced in Mic_2:1-2 upon the godless chiefs of the nation. The heads of Jacob are addressed, that is to say, the princes of the tribes and

families of Israel, and the qetsı nı m, lit., deciders (answering to the Arabic qâ�y, a judge) of the house of Israel, i.e., the heads of families and households, upon whom the

administration of justice devolved (cf. Isa_1:10; Isa_22:3). הלוא�לכן, is it not your duty

and your office to know justice? Da‛ath is practical knowledge, which manifests itself in

practice; mishpât, the public administration of justice. Instead of this, they do the

opposite. The description of this conduct is appended by participles, in the form of apposition to the heads and princes addressed in Mic_3:1. Hating good and loving evil

refer to the disposition, and indicate the radical corruption of these men. רעה, generally

misfortune, here evil; hence the Masoretes have altered it into רע; but the very fact that it deviates from the ordinary rule shows that it is the original word. Instead of administering justice to the people, they take off their skin, and tear the flesh from the

bones. The suffixes attached to עורם and שארם point back to ית־ישראל+ in Mic_3:1. The

words answer to the German expression, “to pull the skin over the ears.” In Mic_3:3 the expression is still stronger; but the address is continued in the form of a simple

description, and instead of the participles, אשר is used with the finite verb. They not only flay the people, i.e., rob them of all their means of subsistence, but even devour them -treat them like cattle, which men first of all flay, then break their bones, but the flesh into pieces, and boil it in the pot. In this figure, which is carried out into the most minute details, we must not give any special meaning to the particular features, such as that “the skin, and boiling portions, which are cut up and put into the pot, are figures signifying the pledged clothing and coveted fields (Mic_2:2, Mic_2:8).” The prophet paints in very glaring colours, to make an impression upon the ungodly. Therefore, in the time of judgment, God will not hear their crying to Him for help, but will hide His

face from them, i.e., withdraw His mercy from them. ז- and עה�ההיא+ point back to the

evil time announced in Mic_2:3. For Mic_3:4, compare Pro_1:28. Veyastēr in Mic_3:4 is

an optative. The prophet continues the announcement of the punishment in the form of

a desire. 1אשר, as = according to the way in which, as in 1Sa_28:18; Num_27:14, etc., i.e.,

answering to their evil doings.

CALVI, "The Prophet in this chapter assails and severely reproves the chief men as well as the teachers; for both were given to avarice and cruelty, to plunder, and, in short, to all other vices. And he begins with the magistrates, who exercised authority among the people; and briefly relates the words in which he inveighed against them. We have said elsewhere, that the Prophets did not record all that they had spoken, but only touched shortly on the heads or chief points: and this was done by Micah, that we might know what he did for forty or more years, in which he executed his office. He could have related, no doubt, in half-an-hour, all that exists of his writings: but from this small book, however small it is, we may learn what was the Prophet’s manner of teaching, and on what things he chiefly dwelt. I will now return to his words.

He says that the chief men of the kingdom had been reproved by him. It is probable, that these words were addressed to the Jews; for though at the beginning he includes the Israelites, we yet know that he was given as a teacher to the Jews, and not to the kingdom of Israel. It was as it were accidental, that he sometimes introduces the ten tribes together with the Jews. This address then was made, as I think, to the king as well as to his counselors and other judges, who then ruled over the people of Judah.

Hear this, I pray, he says. Such a preface betokens carelessness in the judges; for why does he demand a hearing from them, except that they had become so torpid in their vices, that they would attend to nothing? Inasmuch then as so brutal a stupor

had seized on them, he says, Hear now ye chiefs, or heads, of Jacob, and ye rulers (92) of the house of Israel But why does he still speak of the house of Israel? Because that name was especially known and celebrated, whenever a mention was made of the posterity of Abraham: and the other Prophets, even while speaking of the kingdom of Judah, often make use of this title, “ye who are called by the name of Israel;” and they did this, on account of the dignity of the holy Patriarch; and the meaning of the word itself was no ordinary testimonial of excellency as to his whole race. And this is what is frequently done by Isaiah. But the name of Israel is not put here, as elsewhere, as a title of distinction: on the contrary, the Prophet here amplifies their sin, because they were so corrupt, though they were the chief men among the chosen race, being those whom God had honored with so much dignity, as to set them over his Church and elect people. It was then an ingratitude, not to be endured to abuse that high and sacred authority, which had been conferred on them by God.

Does it not belong to you, he says, to know judgment? Here he intimates that rectitude ought to have a place among the chief men, in a manner more especial than among the common people; for it behaves them to excel others in the knowledge of what is just and right: for though the difference between good and evil be engraven on the hearts of all, yet they, who hold supremacy among the people, and excel in power, are as it were the eyes of the community; as the eyes direct the whole body, so also they, who are placed in any situation of honor, are thus made eminent, that they may show the right way to others. Hence by the word, to know, the Prophet intimates that they wickedly subverted the whole order of nature, for they were blind, while they ought to have been the luminaries of the whole people. Is it not for you, he says, to know judgment and equity? But why was this said, especially to the chief men? Because they, though they of themselves knew what was right, having the law engraven within ought yet as leaders to have possessed superior knowledge, so as to outshine others. It is therefore your duty to know judgment. We hence learn that it is not enough for princes and magistrates to be well disposed and upright; but it is required of them to know judgment and wisdom that they may discern matters above the common people. But if they are not thus endued with the gift of understanding and wisdom let them ask of the Lord. We indeed know, that without the Spirit of God, the acutest men are wholly unfit to rule; nor is it in vain, that the free Spirit of God is set forth, as holding the supreme power in the world; for we are thus reminded, that even they who are endued with the chief gifts are wholly incapable of governing except the Spirit of God be with them. This passage then shows that an upright mind is not a sufficient qualification in princes; they must also excel in wisdom, that they may be, as we have already said, as the eyes are to the body. In this sense it is that Micah now says that it belonged to the leaders of the people to know judgment and justice. (93)

COFFMA, "This chapter is composed of three brief sections exposing the sins of the rulers of the people, the princes and judges (Micah 3:1-4), the sins of the false prophets (Micah 3:5-8), and the sins of the establishment, actually including those already mentioned (Micah 3:9-12). The highlight of the chapter is Micah 3:12 in

which the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple mountain itself are specifically predicted, events that occurred some 125 years, at least, after the times of Micah, being fulfilled in the devastation of the city by ebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.

Micah 3:1

"And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?"

We fully agree with Harley that this chapter is not a continuation of the denunciations already given in the first two chapters, but an introductory passage preparatory "to the great Messianic messages of Micah 4-5."[1]

The message of Micah here is directed squarely against Judah, the southern kingdom; and although both terms "Israel" and "Jacob" are used, "The terms are used of the southern kingdom, as in Micah 1:13f."[2]

"Is it not for you to know justice ...?" This is a sarcastic and uncomplimentary question with the implication that, "You guardians of justice do not even know what justice is!"

COSTABLE, "This second oracle begins like the first and third ones, with a summons to hear the prophet"s message (cf. Micah 1:2; Micah 6:1). The initial "And I said" ties this oracle to the preceding one and provides continuity. Micah asked rhetorically if it was not proper for Israel"s rulers to practice justice (fairness, equity). It was not only proper, but it was essential. Again, Jacob and Israel are synonyms for all12tribes (cf. Micah 1:5; et al.).

TRAPP, " And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; [Is it] not for you to know judgment?

Ver. 1. And I said] viz. At another time, and in a new discourse; the heads whereof we have here recorded. A stinging sermon it is, preached to the princes and prophets, those great heteroclites (a) in the house of Israel. For as in a fish, so in a Church and state, corruption begins at the head; and as rheum (b) falling from the head upon the lights, breeds a consumption of the whole body, so is it here. To the chieftains therefore, and capitanei, capital, our prophet applieth himself. And as it is said of Suetonius, that ea libertate, scripsit Imperatorum vitas qua ipsi vixerunt, that he wrote the emperors’ lives with as much liberty as they lived them; so did Micah as boldly reprove the princes’ sins as they committed them. Such another preacher among us was Latimer, and after him Deering; who in his sermon before Queen Elizabeth, speaking of the disorders of the times; These things are so, saith he, and you sit still and do nothing. And again, May we not well say with the prophet, saith he, It is the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed, seeing there is so much disobedience both in subjects and prince. Once it was Tanquam ovis, as a

sheep, before the shearer: but now it is Tanquam iuvenca petulca, as an untamed heifer. In our days Reverend Mr Stock had this commendation given him by a faithful witness; that he could speak his mind fitly, and that he dared speak it freely. I will go to the Bishop (Stephen Gardiner, then lord chancellor), and tell him to his beard that he doth naught, said Dr Taylor, martyr; and he did so, though his friends dissuaded him. Truth must be spoken, however it be taken. And if God’s messengers must be mannerly in the form, yet in the matter of their message they must be resolute and plain dealing. It is probable that Joseph used some kind of preface to Pharaoh’s baker in reading him that hard destiny, Genesis 40:19, such haply as was that of Daniel to ebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:19, or as Philo brings him in with a Utinam tale somnium non vidisses. But for the matter he gives him a sound, though a sharp, interpretation. So dealeth Micah by these corrupt princes, to whom nevertheless he giveth their due titles; and of whom he fairly begs audience. "Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob," &c. Or, hear ye now, who formerly have refused to hearken. It was in Hezekiah’s days that this sermon was preached, as appeareth Jeremiah 26:18, not long before Sennacherib invaded the land, Micah 5:5. And although the king himself were religious and righteous, yet many of his princes and courtiers, who in the reign of his father Ahaz had been habituated in rapine and wrong-dealing, still played their pranks, and are here as barely told their own.

Is it not for you to know judgment?] To know it and do it? as it is said of our Saviour, that he knew no sin, that is, he did none. And have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? "they eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon God," Psalms 14:4. Of all men magistrates should be knowing men, fearing God, hating covetousness and cruelty, Exodus 18:21. They are the eyes of their country, and if they be dark, how great is that darkness! They are the common lookingglasses by which other men use to dress themselves. Judges they are, to discern and decide controversies; fit it is, therefore, and necessary that they know judgment, how else shall they execute it? Cicero complaineth of the Roman priests in his days, that there were many things in their own laws that themselves understood not. "I will get me to the great men," saith Jeremiah (when he found things far amiss among the Vulgate), "and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds," Jeremiah 5:5.

WHEDO, "Verses 1-4Outrages committed by civil rulers, Micah 3:1-4.

The denunciation in Micah 3:1-4, is addressed to the nobles, called “heads” and “princes” or “magistrates” (compare Isaiah 1:10). They are reminded, by means of a rhetorical question, that it is their duty to know the principles of righteousness and equity; ignorance of these does not excuse their unrighteous conduct.

Jacob,… Israel — These are synonymous expressions, which, in the light of Micah 3:10, must refer to Judah (Micah 3:9; but compare Micah 2:12). Samaria may have fallen before these words were uttered, so that Judah had become the sole

representative of Israel.

Know judgment — R.V., “justice,” or equity. In view of the special privileges enjoyed by Israel (Amos 2:11; Hosea 11:1-4; Isaiah 1:2) there was no reasonable excuse for ignorance concerning the principles of righteousness on the part of anyone, certainly not on the part of the leaders of the people.

Their conduct is so different from what one might expect.

Hate the good — Wrongdoing has become their second nature (Amos 3:10); their disposition has become utterly perverted, so that they hate that which they should love, and love that which they should hate (compare Isaiah 1:16-17). This corruption expresses itself in appalling cruelties. 2b, 3 describe in the strongest language possible the cruelties of the nobles. They flay the poor people alive, tear the flesh from their bones; they break their bones (others, “they lay bare their bones”), chop them in pieces, boil them in the caldron, and devour them. It is hardly necessary to state that the expressions are not to be understood literally as implying cannibalism; they are vivid pictures of heartless cruelty and oppression. Similar expressions are found in Isaiah 3:15, “What mean ye that ye crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?” and Amos 2:7 (Jerome), “Who crush the heads of the poor upon the dust of the earth.” For the simple “as for the pot” LXX. reads “as flesh for the pot,” which furnishes a suitable parallel to the next clause.

BESO, "Verses 1-4Micah 3:1-4. Hear, O heads of Jacob, &c. — That the justice of God, in bringing upon them the punishments which he had threatened, might more evidently appear, the prophet here shows that there was no rank of them free from very grievous crimes; that even those, who ought to have excelled others in piety and virtue, were the first in offences. We find Ezekiel making the same complaint, Ezekiel 22:6, &c. Is it not for you to know judgment — Ought not you to understand and conform to the just laws of your God? You princes, magistrates, and ruling officers, ought of all men to know and do right. And, as it is your province to judge and punish those who break human laws, this ought to make you reflect that God will certainly execute judgment on the breakers of his laws. If you make any reflection, you must needs be sensible, that punishment must await you for your crimes. Who hate the good — Ye who hate, not only to do good, but the good which is done, and those that do it; and love the evil — Choose and delight in both evil works and evil workers; who pluck off their skin from off them — Who use the people, whom you govern, as cruelly as the shepherd would use his flock, who, instead of shearing the fleece, would pluck the skin and flesh from off their bones. Who eat the flesh of my people, &c. — Who devour the goods and livelihood of your brethren. And break their bones, &c. — An allusion to lions, bears, or wolves, which devour the flesh, and break the bones of the defenceless lambs. And chop them in pieces as for the pot, &c. — All these are metaphorical expressions, to signify the oppressions of the people by their heads, or great men; and how they, by one means or other, deprived them of their substance, and divided it among themselves. Then shall they —amely, the heads of the people and princes spoken of above; cry unto the Lord —

When these miseries come upon them; but he will not hear them, he will even hide, &c. — As they have showed no pity to others, he will have no pity on them.

PETT, "Micah’s Indictment of Judah (Micah 3:1-8).

Micah inveighs first against the leadership of Judah, and then against the prophets who make people err for the sake of money, and the priests who teach for hire. We can compare Isaiah’s similar indictment in e.g. Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 3:1-4.

Micah 3:1

‘And I said, “Hear, I pray you, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?” ’‘And I said.’ A loose opening phrase simply declaring ‘and this is another thing that I prophesied, although at another time’.

He calls on them to remember who they are. Are they not the heads of Jacob and the rulers of Israel, the very people of God? Should they not then be models of justice? Is that not why they have been put in their positions by God?

Largely in mind here are those who have been put in authority to maintain the justice and wellbeing of God’s people. Such a system of justice had originally been set up by Moses (Exodus 18:25-26) and applied to the situation in the land by Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:4-7). And there would be numerous local leaders who would be responsible for local justice, family heads who would act as the magistrates of the day.

PULPIT, "Micah 3:1

The prophet denounces the sins of the rulers, false prophets, and priests; and begins with the injustice and oppression practised by the great men. And I said. The new address is thus introduced as being analogous to the denunciations in the preceding chapter, which were interrupted by the promise of deliverance, to which there is no reference here. O heads of Jacob; synonymous with princes of the house of Israel (comp. Micah 3:8; Micah 1:5). Micah addresses the heads of families and the officials to whom the administration of justice appertained. These magistrates and judges seem to have been chiefly members of the royal family, at any rate in Judah; see Jeremiah 21:11, Jeremiah 21:12 (Cheyne). Septuagint, οἱ κατάλοιποι οἴκου ἰσραήλ, "ye remnant of the house of Israel." Is it not for you to know judgment? Ye, of all men, ought to know what is just and fair, and to practise it (compare the opening of the Book of Wisdom).

BI 1-4, "Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel

Civil rulers

I.What civil rulers ought always to be. They ought always to “know judgment,” that is,

always practically to know the right. What is the standard of right? Not public sentiment, not human law, but the Divine will. God’s being is the foundation of right; God’s will is the standard of right; God’s Christ is the completest revelation of that standard.

II. What civil rulers often are. What were these rulers?

1. Morally corrupt.

2. Socially cruel.

3. Divinely abandoned.

The Monarch of the universe is no respecter of persons. (Homilist.)

2 you who hate good and love evil;who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones;

BARES. "Who hate the good and love the evil - that is, they hate, for its own sake, that which is good, and love that which is evil. The prophet is not here speaking of their “hating good” men, or “loving evil” men, but of their hating goodness and loving wickedness . : “It is sin not to love good; what guilt to hate it! it is faulty, not to flee from evil, what ungodliness to love it!” Man, at first, loves and admires the good, even while he cloth it not; he hates the evil, even while he does it, or as soon as he has done it. But man cannot bear to he at strife with his conscience, and so he ends it, by excusing himself and telling lies to himself. And then, he hates the truth or good with a bitter hatred, because it disturbs the darkness of the false peace with which he would envelop himself. At first, men love only the pleasure connected with the evil; then they make whom they can, evil, because goodness is a reproach to them: in the end, they love evil for its own sake Rom_1:32. pagan morality too distinguished between the incontinent and the unprincipled , the man who sinned under force of temptation, and the man who had lost the sense of right and wrong Joh_3:20. “Everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light. Whoso longeth for things unlawful, hateth the righteousness which rebuketh and punisheth” .

Who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones - He had described the Good Shepherd; now, in contrast, he describes those who ought to be “shepherds of the people,” to feed, guard, direct them, but who were their butchers; who did not shear them, but flayed them; who fed on them, not fed them. He heaps up their guilt, act by act. First they flay, that is, take away their outer goods; then

they break their bones in pieces, the most solid parts, on which the whole frame of their body depends, to get at the very marrow of their life, and so feed themselves upon them. And not unlike, though still more fearfully, do they sin, who first remove the skin, as it were, or outward tender fences of God’s graces; (such as is modesty, in regard to inward purity; outward demeanor, of inward virtue; outward forms, of inward devotion;) and so break the strong bones of the sterner virtues, which hold the whole soul together; and with them the whole flesh, or softer graces, becomes one shapeless mass, shred to pieces and consumed. So Ezekiel says; “Woe to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves; should not the shepherds feed the flock? Ye eat the fat and ye clothe you, with the wool, ye kill them that are fed, ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened ...” (Eze_34:2-4, add Eze_34:5-10).

GILL, "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,

JAMISO, "pluck off their skin ... flesh— rob their fellow countrymen of all their substance (Psa_14:4; Pro_30:14).

CALVI, "He afterwards subjoins, But they hate good, and love evil, and pull off the skin (94) from my people, the flesh from their bones; that is, they leave nothing, he says, sound and safe, their rapacity being so furious. The Prophet conveys first a general reproof, — that they not only perverted justice, but were also given to wickedness and hated good. He means then that they were openly wicked and ungodly, and also that they with a fixed purpose carried on war against every thing just and right. We hence learn how great and how abominable was the corruption of the people, when they were still the peculiar possession and heritage of God. Inasmuch then as the state of this ancient people had become so degenerated, let us learn to walk in solicitude and fear, while the Lord governs us by pious magistrates and faithful pastors: for what happened to the Jews might soon happen to us, so that wolves might bear rule over us, as indeed experience has proved even in this our city. The Prophet afterwards adds the kinds of cruelty which prevailed; of which he speaks in hyperbolical terms, though no doubt he sets before our eyes the state of things as it was. He compares the judges to wolves or to lions, or to other

savage beasts. He says not that they sought the property of the people, or pillaged their houses; but he says that they devoured their flesh even to the very bones; he says that they pulled off their skin: and this he confirms in the next verse.

The idea of sheep or flock, to which the people are compared in the last chapter, is still retained here. Adam Clarke quotes from Suetonius a striking answer of Tiberius, the Emperor, to some governors, who solicited him to increase the taxes, — “It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them” —Boni pastoris esse tondere pectus, non deglubere

To “hate good, and to love evil,” in the former sentence, betokens a character dreadful in the extreme; for good here, טוב means kindness, benevolence, the doing of good to others; this they hated: and evil, רעה, means wrong, mischief, injury, the doing of harm, of wrong, and of injustice to others; and this they loved. How transmuted they were in their spirit into that of very fiends! “They hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief, and in those that do mischief.” These words of Henry, no doubt, convey a correct view of the sentence. It might therefore be rendered, “Haters of benevolence, and lovers of mischief.” — Ed.

COFFMA, ""Ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones."

In this and the next two verses, the false rulers of the people are accused in a metaphor of cannibalism. "You cannibals are eating the people up!" "We must not give any special meaning to the particular features, such as taking off the skin, and the boiling portions that are put into the pot."[3] The metaphor stands for robbing the people, defrauding them, oppressing them, denying them justice, etc., through such means as biased courts, political preference, bribery, and actual murder, as in the case of Ahab's violent dispossession of aboth (1 Kings 21). Those whose duty it was to guard the public interest, that is, the rulers and judges of the people, were the leaders in such gross wickedness, totally perverting and corrupting the entire state.

COSTABLE, "Yet these rulers had stood justice on its head. They hated good and loved evil (cf. Proverbs 8:13; Isaiah 1:16-17; Amos 5:15). Tearing the flesh off the people, eating their flesh, and cooking their bones all represent abuse of their victims for their own selfish ends. The figure is of a hunter, and the implication is that the rulers regarded and treated the ordinary citizens as mere animals rather than as human beings. The rich stripped the poor of their money and property and oppressed them unmercifully (cf. Zephaniah 3:3)

"othing short of new appetites, resulting from the new birth ( John 3:3-8) can remedy moral corruption." [ote: Waltke, in Obadiah , . . ., p162.]

TRAPP, "Micah 3:2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Ver. 2. Who hate the good, and love the evil] q.d. That you know not judgment, but are men ignorant of the truth which is according to godliness, appeareth by your wicked practices. For you stand across to what God requireth, hating what you should love, and loving where you should hate, Homo est inversus decalogus. Goodness is in itself amiable and attractive but you are perfect strangers to it, and therefore hate it and those that profess it. Evil is of the devil, and must therefore needs be loathsome; and yet you love it, allow it, and wallow in it; whereas you should "abhor that which is evil," hate it as hell, αποστυγουντες, "and cleave," or be fast glued, κολλωµενοι, "to that which is good," Romans 12:9. You are direct antipodes to the godly, Psalms 15:4, and have nothing in you of the Divine nature, 2 Peter 1:4, or of the spot of God’s children, but are a "perverse and crooked generation," Deuteronomy 32:3.

Who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones] Like so many carnivorous cannibals or truculent wild beasts. As the ossifrage, or breakbone, pursueth the prey, tears off the flesh, breaks the bones, and sucks out the marrow: such were these griping tyrants, their furious rapacity surmounted all bounds of humanity. Such a one was Verres among the Romans, as Cicero describeth him; that tiger, Tiberius, those Romish usurers in King John’s time here, called Caursini, quasi capientes ursi (quoth Paris), devouring bears, who left not so much money in the whole kingdom as they either carried with them or sent to Rome before them. Money and lands are here called men’s skin, flesh, and bones; and a poor man’s substance is his life. See Mark 12:44, Luke 8:48. Hence oppression is called a bony sin, Amos 5:12; Amos 5:18, and oppressors, men eaters, Psalms 14:4, and murderers, Habakkuk 2:12. Cyprian cries out, Ferae parcunt Danieli, Ayes pascunt Eliam, homines saeviunt; Lions spare Daniel, ravens feed Elias, but men rage and are worse than both. Melancthon makes mention of a certain prince, some few years before his time, who, to get money out of his subjects, would send for them, and by knocking out first one tooth, and then another (threatening to leave them toothless else), would extort from them what sums soever he pleased. Our King John’s exactors received from his subjects no less sums of curses than of coin, saith the chronicler; and so did Cardinal Woisey, under Henry VIII, by his importable subsidies, which caused Suffolk to rise up in arms, making poverty their captain.

PETT, "Micah 3:2

“You who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;”But instead of being a friend of justice they loved the evil and hated the good. (Compare Isaiah 5:19-20; Amos 5:14-15). They took advantage of the system for their own benefit. It is as though because of their greedy ways they skinned people alive, and took the flesh from their bones. For they seek to strip them of everything. In modern parlance they bled them dry.

This is always the way in an affluent society. People become more and more greedy for possessions and for status and for ‘fun’. Instead of being full of gratitude to God,

they indulge in sin and pleasure, and reject godliness. It is indeed strange how prosperity leads to sin. It is because men are no longer then driven to God in their need, and want rather to enjoy to the full what they have got. And of course because they are driven by the desires of the flesh.

PULPIT, "Micah 3:2

The good …the evil; i.e. goodness and wickedness. Septuagint, τὰ καλά τὰ πονηρά (Amos 5:14, etc.; John 3:20; Romans 1:32). Who pluck off their skin from off them. They are not shepherds, but butchers. We have the same figurative expression for merciless extortion and pillage. Ezekiel makes a similar complaint (Ezekiel 34:2-4). Cheyne sees in this and the following verse a possible allusion to cannibalism as at least known to the Israelites by hearsay or tradition. There is a passage in Wisdom (Ezekiel 12:5) which somewhat countenances the idea that the Canaanites were guilty of this enormity, but it is probably only a rhetorical exaggeration of the writer. In the present passage the terms seem to be simply metaphors taken from the preparation of meat for human food. Such an allusion is natural in the mouth of one who had just been speaking of Israel as a flock (Micah 2:12).

3 who eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces;who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?”

GILL, "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.

HERY, " How wretchedly they had transgressed the rules of judgment, though they knew what they were. Their principle and disposition are bad: They hate the good and love the evil; they hate good in others, and hate it should have any influence on themselves; they hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good and do good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief. This being their principle, their practice is according to it; they are very cruel and severe towards those that are under their power, and whoever lies at their mercy will find that they have none. They barbarously devour those whom they should protect, and, as unfaithful shepherds, fleece the flock they should feed; nay, instead of feeding it, they feed upon it, Eze_34:2. It is fit indeed that he who feeds a flock should eat of the milk of the flock (1Co_9:7), but that will not content them: They eat the flesh of my people. It is fit that they should be clothed with the wool, but that will not serve: They flay the skin from off them,Mic_3:3. By imposing heavier taxes upon them than they can bear, and exacting them with rigour, by mulcts, and fines, and corporal punishments, for pretended crimes, they ruined the estates and families of their subjects, took away from some their lives, from others their livelihoods, and were to their subjects as beasts of prey, rather than shepherds. “They break their bones to come at the marrow, and chop the flesh in pieces as for the pot.” This intimates that they were, (1.) Very ravenous and greedy for themselves, indulging themselves in luxury and sensuality. (2.) Very barbarous and cruel to those that were under them, not caring whom they beggared, so they could but enrich themselves; such evil is the love of money the root of.

JAMISO, "pot ... flesh within ... caldron— manifold species of cruel oppressions. Compare Eze_24:3, etc., containing, as to the coming punishment, the same figure as is here used of the sin: implying that the sin and punishment exactly correspond.

CALVI, "They devour, he says, the flesh of my people, and their skin they strip off from them, and their bones they break in pieces and make small, as that which into the pot is thrown, and which is in the midst of the caldron (95) For when any one throws meat into the pot, he does not take the whole ox, but cuts it into pieces, and having broken it, he then fills with these pieces his pot or his caldron. The Prophet then enhances the cruelty of the princes; they were not content with one kind of oppression, but exercised every species of barbarous cruelty towards the people, and were in every respect like bears, or wolves, or lions, or some other savage beasts, and that they were also like gluttons. We now then perceive the Prophet’s meaning.

ow this passage teaches us what God requires mainly from those in power, — that they abstain from doing injustice: for as they are armed with power, so they ought to be a law to themselves. They assume authority over others; let them then begin with themselves, and restrain themselves from doing evil. For when a private man is disposed to do harm, he is restrained at least by fear of the laws, and dares not to do any thing at his pleasure; but in princes there is a greater boldness; and they are able to do greater injustice: and this is the reason why they ought to observe more forbearance and humanity. Hence levity and paternal kindness especially become princes and those in power. But the Prophet here condemns the princes of his age for what deserved the highest reprehension; and their chief crime was cruelty or inhumanity, inasmuch as they spared not their own subjects.

We now see that the Prophet in no degree flattered the great, though they took great pride in their own dignity. But when he saw that they wickedly and basely abused the power committed to them, he boldly resisted them, and exercised the full boldness of the Spirit. He therefore not only calls them robbers or plunderers of the people; but he says, that they were cruel wild beasts; he says, that they devoured the flesh, tore and pulled it in pieces, and made it small; and he says all this, that he might convey an idea of the various kinds of cruelty which they practiced. ow follow threatenings —

COFFMA, "Verse 3"Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron."

In the protests against violent injustice and wickedness, throughout all history, where is there anything else that compares with the shocking and dramatic words of this passage? The impact of this verse is witnessed even today throughout the world by such idiomatic expressions as, "he skinned me," describing a crooked deal. Micah gave mankind a metaphor here which they found it impossible to forget. There are some intimations that the actual practice of cannibalism was found among the ancient Canaanites, as in the book of Wisdom;[4] and Micah's denunciation could therefore have the effect of charging Israel with complete reversion to that status of unqualified paganism for which God had dispossessed the Canaanites in order to make room for Israel. Hailey summarized this whole passage through Micah 3:4 thus:

"In this highly exaggerated figure, Micah expresses the white heat of his indignation at the treatment dealt the common people by the rulers. Therefore when judgment falls on these heartless rulers and they cry to Jehovah His face will be hid from them. Have they sown, so will they reap. They have destroyed the people without mercy, and so without mercy shall their destruction come."[5]"Of my people ..." It should not be overlooked that the extreme provocation against the Almighty in such uninhibited wickedness of the princes and judges of Israel lay in the fact of the very people of God being the objects of their rapacious evil. Sins

against the covenant people were certain to incur the avenging wrath of God Himself.

Instead of protecting and shepherding the people whom it was their sworn duty to honor and guard against every encroachment upon their rights and liberties, those very nobles and justices were themselves their most savage exploiters. Their attitude reminded Ironside of a statement by Pope Leo X, who said to his companion princes in the church, "What a profitable thing this myth about Jesus Christ has been to us!"[6]

COSTABLE, "Because these rulers had turned deaf ears to the pleas of orphans and widows, they would eventually cry out to Yahweh in prayer asking Him for help. But He would not answer them (cf. Psalm 27:7-9; Proverbs 21:13; Jeremiah 7:12-15). God hiding His face from them is an anthropomorphism picturing God disregarding them, turning His back on them. God hears all prayers because He is omniscient, but He chooses not to respond to some of them.

TRAPP, "Micah 3:3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

Ver. 3. Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skins, &c.] He still proceeds in the allegory, the better to argue and aggravate their extreme cruelty. Money, saith the heathen, is a man’s flesh, blood, life, all. Of this, when the people were pilled and polled by their cruel princes, who are here compared to butchers and cooks, they are looked upon as not only excoriated, but excarnified, and even exossated, and laid for dead; for mortis habet vices quae trahitur vita genitibus. It is a lifeless life that many poor people live for want of necessaries. Such savage shepherds Ezekiel inveighs against, that not only shear their sheep, but hold them and suck their blood, Ezekiel 34:1-10. Atqui pastoris est pecus tondere, non deglubere, non carnem et ossa concidere. (Tiber. ap. Sueton.).

Chop them in pieces, as for the pot, &c.] Making no more bones of undoing them and their families than to eat a meal’s meat when hungry; yea, nourishing their hearts therewith, "as in a day of slaughter," or good cheer, James 5:5.

PETT, "Micah 3:3

“Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron.”This is certainly not intended to be taken literally, although at times it may have occurred during sieges. It is continuing the hyperbole of the previous verse. To ‘eat the flesh’ and similar phrases regularly mean to harm or kill (Psalms 27:2 compare Psalms 14:4; Psalms 53:4). o doubt regular savage beatings did take place, but the

picture here goes a little beyond that.. The remainder would have been the actions of cannibals, which they would certainly not actually have been. It is all rather a vivid description of viciousness and of a total lack of concern for people, and an instance of great wickedness. It is a revelation of man’s inhumanity to man.

PULPIT, "Micah 3:3

The idea of the last verse is repeated here with more emphasis. The people are treated by their rulers as cattle made to be eaten, flayed, broken up, chopped into pieces, boiled in the pot (comp Psalms 14:4). (For an analogous figure, see Ezekiel 34:3-5.)

4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them.At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.

BARES. "Then shall they cry unto the Lord - “Then.” The prophet looks on to the Day of the Lord, which is always before his mind. So the Psalmist, speaking of a time or place not expressed, says, “There were they in great fear” Psa_53:5. He sees it, points to it, as seeing what those to whom he spoke, saw not, and the more awfully, because he saw, with superhuman (certain) vision, what was “hidden from their eyes.” The then was not then, “in the time of grace,” but when the Day of grace should be over, and the Day of Judgment should be come. So of that day, when judgment should set in, God says in Jeremiah, “Behold I will bring evil upon them which they shall not be able to go forth of, and they will cry unto Me, and I will not hearken unto them” Jer_11:11. And David, “They cried and there was none to save; unto the Lord, and He answered them not” Psa_18:41. And Solomon; “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard” Pro_21:13. And James, “He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy” Jam_2:13. The prayer is never too late, until judgment comes ; the day of grace is over, when the time of judgment has arrived. “They shall cry unto the Lord, and shall not be heard, because they too did not hear those who asked them, and the Lord shall turn His Face from them, because they too turned their face from those who prayed them.”

He will even hide His Face - He will not look in mercy on those who would not receive His look of grace. Your sins, He says by Isaiah, “have hid His face from you, that

He heareth not.” O what will that turning away of the Face be, on which hangs eternity!

As - There is a proportion between the sin and the punishment . As I have done, so God hath requited me. “They have behaved themselves ill in their doings. literally have made their deeds evil.” The word rendered doings is almost always used in a bad sense, mighty deeds, and so deeds with a high hand. Not ignorantly or negligently, nor through human frailty, but with set purpose they applied themselves, not to amend but to corrupt their doings, and make them worse. God called to them by all His prophets, make good your doings Jer_35:15; and they, reversing it, used diligence to make their doings evil. Jerome: “All this they shall suffer, because they were not rulers, but tyrants; not Prefects, but lions; not masters of disciples, but wolves of sheep; and they sated themselves with flesh and were fattened, and, as sacrifices for the slaughter, were made ready for the punishment of the Lord. Thus far against evil rulers; then he turns to the false prophets and evil teachers, who by flatteries subvert the people of God, promising them the knowledge of His word.”

CLARKE, "Then shall they cry -When calamity comes upon these oppressors, they shall cry for deliverance: but they shall not be heard; because, in their unjust exactions upon the people, they went on ruthlessly, and would not hear the cry of the oppressed.

GILL, "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" (b) to the poor, whose cause God will defend and vindicate.

HERY, " How they might expect that God should deal with them, since they had been thus cruel to his subjects. The rule is fixed, Those shall have judgment without mercy that have shown no mercy (Mic_3:4): “They shall cry to the Lord, but he will not hear them, in the day of their distress, as the poor cried to them in the day of their

prosperity and they would not hear them.” There will come a time when the most proud and scornful sinners will cry to the Lord, and sue for that mercy which they once neither valued nor copied out. But it will then be in vain; God will even hide his face from them at that time, that time when they need his favour, and see themselves undone without it. At another time they would have turned their back upon him; but at that time he will turn his back upon them, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Note, Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well, but may expect to find, as Adoni-bezek did, that done to them which they did to others; for he is righteous who takes vengeance. With the froward God will show himself froward, and he often gives up cruel and unmerciful men into the hands of those who are cruel and unmerciful to them, as they themselves have formerly been to others. This agrees with Pro_21:13, Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard; but the merciful have reason to hope that they shall obtain mercy.

JAMISO, "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.

CALVI, "Micah now denounces judgment on the chief men, such as they deserved. He says, They shall cry then to Jehovah The adverb אז, az, is often put indefinitely in Hebrew, and has the force of a demonstrative, and may be taken as pointing out a thing, ( δεικτικως — demonstratively,)then, or there, as though the Prophet pointed out by his finger things which could be seen, though they were far away from the sight of men. But in this place, the Prophet seems rather to pursue the subject to which I have already referred: for he had before stated that God would take vengeance on that people. This adverb of time then is connected with the other combinations, which have been already explained. (96) If, however, any one prefer a different meaning, namely that the Prophet meant here to hold them in suspense, as to the nearness of God’s vengeance, I do not oppose him, for this sense is not unsuitable. However this may be, the Prophet here testifies that the crimes of the chief men would not go unpunished, though they did not think themselves to be subject either to laws or to punishment. As then the princes and magistrates regarded themselves as exempt, by some imaginary privilege, from the lot of other people, the Prophet declares here expressly, that a distress was nigh at hand, which would extort a cry from them: for by the word, cry, he means the miseries which were nigh at hand. They shall then cry in their distress. I have now explained the design of the Prophet.

We indeed see how at this day those who are in high stations swell with arrogance; for as they abound in wealth, and as honor is as it were an elevated degree, so that being propped up by the shoulders of others they seem eminent, and as they are also feared by the rest of the people, they are on these accounts led to think that no adversity can happen to them. But the Prophet says, that such would be their distress, that it would draw a cry from them.

They shall then cry, but Jehovah will not hear; that is, they shall be miserable and without any remedy. Jehovah will not answer them, but will hide from them his face, as they have done perversely; that is, God will not hear their complaints; for he will return on their own heads all the injuries with which he now sees his own people to be afflicted. And thus God will show that he was not asleep, while they were with so much effrontery practicing all kinds of wrong.

It may however be asked here, how it is that God rejects the prayers and entreaties of those who cry to him? It must first be observed, that the reprobate, though they rend the air with their cries, do not yet direct their prayers to God; but if they address God himself, they do this clamorously; for they expostulate with him, and contend with him, yea, they vomit out their blasphemies, or at least they murmur and complain of their evils. The ungodly then cry, but not to the Lord; or if they address their cries to God, they are, as it has been said, full of glamour. Hence, except one is guided by the Spirit of God, he cannot pray from the heart. And we know that it is the peculiar office of the Spirit to raise up our hearts to heaven: for in vain we pray, except we bring faith and repentance: and who is the author of these but the Holy Spirit? It appears then that the ungodly so cry, that they only violently contend with God: but this is not the right way of praying. It is therefore no wonder that God rejects their clamors. The ungodly do indeed at times pour forth a flood of prayers and call on God’s name with the mouth; but at the same time they are, as we have said, full of perverseness, and they never really humble themselves before God. Since then they pour forth their prayers from a bitter and a proud heart, this is the reason why the Prophet says now, that the Lord would not then hear, but hide his face from them at that time, inasmuch as they acted perversely (97)

He shows here that God would not be reconciled to men wholly irreclaimable, who could not be restored by any means to the right way. But when any one falls [and repents] he will ever find God propitious to him, as soon as he cries to him; but when with obstinate minds we pursue our own course, and give no place to repentance, we close up the door of mercy against ourselves; and so what the Prophet teaches here necessarily takes place, — the Lord hides his face in the day of distress. And we also hear what the Scripture says, — that judgment will be without mercy to those who are not merciful, (James 2:11.) Hence if any one be inexorable to his brethren, (as we see at this day many tyrants to be, and we also see many in the middle class to be of the same tyrannical and wholly sanguinary disposition,) he will at length, whoever he may be, meet with that judgment which Micah here denounces. The sentence then is not to be taken in a general sense, as though he had said, that the Lord would not be reconciled to the wicked; but he points out especially those irreclaimable men, who had wholly hardened themselves, so that they had become, as we have already seen, altogether inflexible. The Prophet now comes to his second reproof.

Because they have corrupted their doings.

— Ed.

COFFMA, ""Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings."

o one squeals for mercy like the violent criminal whose bloody and heartless wickedness results at last in his arraignment before the bar of justice, the tragedy of our own times being that instead of receiving prompt and adequate punishment, the criminal is often the beneficiary of a sob-sister coddling and leniency that take no account whatever of what the crimes deserved. The ultimate justice of God will not be thwarted by any such foolish leniency. Yes, of course, the false rulers would scream to God for mercy, but at a time long past any opportunity for repentance. "He will hide his face from them." Proverbs 1:24-28, in great detail, describes the unavailing prayers of the wicked who waited too long to repent. "I will laugh in the day of your calamity: and I will mock when your fear cometh." When the promised punishment came to Israel, there were prayers and screams to God, old hyprocrites praying in public to high heaven, sudden and enthusiastic revivals of old forms and services of holy religion; but the time for all that had passed. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if thou hadst known the things that belong unto thy peace; but now are they hidden from thine eyes" (Luke 19:42). That heart-breaking story was unfolded in Israel when the Babylonians came (586 B.C); but it happened a second time, as prophesied by the Saviour himself, when the Romans came in 70 A.D.

COSTABLE, "The Lord also had a message concerning the false prophets who were misleading His people. The false prophets gave benedictions to those who paid them, but people who did not give them anything received maledictions of doom and gloom (cf. Lamentations 2:14; Jeremiah 6:14). Self-interest motivated these prophets rather than the fear of the Lord (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3).

"It was an ancient and respectable practice for a prophet to accept payment for services rendered to his clients. After all, as Jesus affirmed, "the worker is entitled to his wages" ( Luke 10:7). But with so apparently subjective a craft as prophecy there was ever a temptation. Why not make the message match the customer"s pocket?" [ote: Allen, p311.]

Even today some ministers favor those who treat them well and neglect, or worse, those who do not.

"Few men are as pitiable as those who claim to have a call from God yet tailor their sermons to please others. Their first rule is "Don"t rock the boat"; their second is "Give people what they want."" [ote: Wiersbe, p394.]

TRAPP, "Micah 3:4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

Ver. 4. Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them] Then, sc. when God shall have changed their cheer, pulled the fat morsel from between their teeth, and fed them with the bread of affliction and water of affliction, 1 Kings 22:27, with prisoners’ pittance, as they call it, which will neither keep them alive nor suffer them to die; then shall they cry and whine as hogs when hungry, as dogs when tied up from their meat; but God will not hear them. He will even cast out their prayers with contempt, as being the prayers of the flesh for ease, and not of the spirit for grace. They cry unto the Lord aloud, but it is only to be rid of his rod; they roar when upon the rack, but it is only to get off; they look ruefully, as the fox doth when taken in a gin, but it is only to be set at liberty; they chatter out a charm when God’s chastening is upon them, yea, they may be with child (as it were) of a prayer, and yet bring forth nothing but wind, Isaiah 26:16-18. For either God answereth them not at all, which was Saul’s case and curse, 1 Samuel 28:15, and Moab’s, Isaiah 16:12, and David’s enemies’, Psalms 18:41; or else he give them bitter answers, Ezekiel 14:4, 10:13-14. Or if better; it is but for a further mischief, that he may curse their blessings, and consume them after that he had done them good, Joshua 24:20. Their preservation from one evil is but a reservation to seven worse; as we see in Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Ahab, and others. "Lo, this is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors which they shall receive of the Almighty," Job 27:13-15, &c. See the place. Remediless misery shall befall them, calamities that shall wring from them clamours, but to no purpose or profit. See Proverbs 1:28.

He will even hide his face from them] That is, withdraw his favour, care, providence, help, presence, and benefits, of all which the face is the symbol: that like as they have turned upon God the back and not the face, and have been merciless to men, hiding their eyes from their own flesh, Isaiah 58:7; so shall it be done to them in the day of their distress. God will award them judgment without mercy who showed no mercy, James 2:18. He will set off all hearts from them, as he did from wicked Haman, when the king frowned upon him. Lastly, he will turn their own consciences loose upon them (as once he did upon Joseph’s brethren, Genesis 42:21), to ring that doleful knell in their ears, Isaiah 33:1, "Woe to thee that spoileth," &c. "when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled," &c. Talionis lege mulctabere, as Adonibezek, Phocas, Charles IX. See Proverbs 21:18. {See Trapp on "Proverbs 21:18"}

WHEDO, "Verse 44. Such criminals Jehovah will forsake in the hour of judgment.

ot hear — They will cry unto him for deliverance, but he will leave them to their terrible fate. As they would not heed the cry of the oppressed, so Jehovah will not heed them.

Hide his face — In anger (compare Hosea 5:15).

Then… at that time — The context leaves no doubt that these words refer to the

time of judgment. Cheyne says, “We must suppose that, when Micah delivered this prophecy (of which we can have but a summary), he introduced between Micah 3:3-4 a description of the ‘day of Jehovah,’ the day of just retribution.” That we have but a summary of the prophet’s message is probably true, but it is not so certain that a description of the day of Jehovah, or even a specific reference to it, was needed; the people would comprehend the prophet’s meaning without it (compare the use of “now” in Amos 6:7; Hosea 2:10).

PETT, "Micah 3:4

‘Then will they cry to YHWH, but he will not answer them; yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.’And then having behaved in this way they turn to YHWH and expect Him to hear their prayer. Well, here is His answer. they will cry to Him but He will not answer them, He will instead at that time of need hide His face from them, in accordance with their evil behaviour, because in their actions they have wrought evil. He will treat them as they have treated others.

PULPIT, "The merciless shall not obtain mercy. Then, when the day of chastisement has come, "the day of the Lord," of which, perhaps, the prophet spoke more fully when he originally delivered this address. He will not hear them. A just retribution on those who refused to hearken to the cry of the poor and needy (comp. Psalms 18:41; Proverbs 1:28; Jeremiah 11:11; James 2:13). As they have behaved themselves ill in their doings; according as they have made their actions evil, or because they have, etc.; ἀνθ ὦν

5 This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets who lead my people astray,they proclaim ‘peace’ if they have something to eat,but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them.

BARES. "The prophets that make My people err - Flattering them in their sins and rebellions, promising that they shall go unpunished, that God is not so strict, will not put in force the judgments tie threatens. So Isaiah saith Isa_3:12; O my? people, they which lead thee, mislead thee; and (Isa_9:16, (Isa_9:15 in Hebrew)), the leaders of this people are its misleaders, and they that are led of them are destroyed. And Jeremiah, “The prophets have seen for thee vanity and folly; and they have not discovered thine iniquity to turn away thy captivity, and have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment” Lam_2:14. No error is hopeless, save what is taught in the Name of God.

That bite with their mouths - The word is used of no other biting than the biting of serpents. They were doing real, secret evil “while they cry, that is, proclaim peace;” they bit, as serpents, treacherously, deadlily. They fed, not so much on the gifts, for which they hired themselves to Eze_13:10 speak peace when there was no peace, as on the souls of the givers. So God says by Ezekiel, “Will ye pollute Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls live that should not live, by your lying to My people that hear your lies? Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life - therefore ye shall see no more vanity nor divine divinations” Eze_19:1-14, 22-23. It was with a show of peace that Joab slew Abner and Amasa, and with a kiss of peace Judas betrayed our Lord.

And he that putteth not into their mouths, they prepare war against him -Literally, and (that is, immediately; it was all one; bribes refused, war proclaimed,) “they sanctify war against him.” Like those of whom Joel prophesied , they proclaim war against him in the Name of God, by the authority of God which they had taken to themselves, speaking in His Name who had not sent them. So when our Lord fed the multitude, they would take Him by force and make Him a king; when their hopes were gone and they saw that His Kingdom was not of this world, they said, Crucify him, crucify Him. Much more the Pharisees, who, because He rebuked their covetousness, their devouring widows’ houses, their extortion and excess, their making their proselytes more children of hell than themselves, said, Thou blasphemest. So, when the masters of the possessed damsel whom Paul freed Act_16:19-21, saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they accused him, that he exceedingly troubled their city, teaching customs not lawful to be received.

So Christians were persecuted by the pagan as “hating the human race,” because they would not partake of their sins; as “atheists,” because they worshiped not their gods; as “disloyal” and “public enemies,” because they joined not in unholy festivals; as “unprofitable,” because they neglected things not profitable but harmful. So men are now called “illiberal,” who will not make free with the truth of God; “intolerant,” who will not allow that all faith is matter of opinion, and that there is no certain truth; “precise,” “censorious,” who will not connive at sin, or allow the levity which plays, mothlike, around it and jests at it. The Church and the Gospel are against the world, and so the world which they condemn must be against them; and such is the force of truth and holiness, that it must carry on the war against them in their own name.

CLARKE, "That bite with their teeth - That eat to the full; that are well provided for, and as long as they are so, prophesy smooth things, and cry, Peace! i.e., Ye shall have nothing but peace and prosperity. Whereas the true prophet, “who putteth not into their mouths,” who makes no provision for their evil propensities, “they prepare war against

him.” קדשו�עליו�מלחמה kiddeshu�alaiv�milchamah, “They sanctify a war against him.” They

call on all to help them to put down a man who is speaking evil of the Lord’s people; and predicting the destruction of his temple, and Israel his inheritance.

GILL, "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.

HERY, " Let the prophets hear their charge too, and their doom; they were such as prophesied falsely, and the princes bore rule by their means. Observe,

1. What was their sin. (1.) They made it their business to flatter and deceive the people: They make my people err, lead them into mistakes, both concerning what they should do and concerning what God would do with them. It is ill with a people when their leaders cause them to err, and those draw them out of the way that should guide them and go before them in it. “They make them to err by crying peace, by telling them that they do well, and that all shall be well with them; whereas they are in the paths of sin, and within a step of ruin. They cry peace, but they bite with their teeth,” which perhaps is meant of their biting their own lips, as we are apt to do when we would suppress something which we are ready to speak. When they cried peace their own hearts gave

them the lie, and they were just ready to eat their own words and to contradict themselves, but they bit with their teeth, and kept it in. They were not blind leaders of the blind, for they saw the ditch before them, and yet led their followers into it. (2.) They made it all their aim to glut themselves, and serve their own belly, as the seducers in St. Paul's time (Rom_16:18), for their god is their belly, Phi_3:19. They bite with their teeth, and cry peace; that is, they will flatter and compliment those that will feed them with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those that put not into their mouths, that are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies; to them they do not cry peace, as they do to those whom they look upon as their benefactors, but they even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the judgments of God, but as they are to them, as the crafty priests of the church of Rome, in some places, make their image either to smile or frown upon the offerer according as his offering is. Justly is it insisted on as a necessary qualification of a minister (1Ti_3:3, and again Tit_1:7) that he be not greedy of filthy lucre.

JAMISO, "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).

K&D 5-8, "In the second strophe, Micah turns from the godless princes and judges to the prophets who lead the people astray, with whom he contrasts the true prophets and their ways. Mic_3:5. Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and whoever should put nothing into their mouths, against him they sanctify war.Mic_3:6. Therefore night to you because of the visions, and darkness to you because of the soothsaying! and the sun will set over the prophets, and the day blacken itself over them.Mic_3:7. And the seers will be ashamed, and the soothsayers blush, and all cover their beard, because (there is) no answer of God.Mic_3:8. But I, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of Jehovah, and with judgment and strength, to show to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.” As the first strophe attaches itself to Mic_2:1-2, so does the second to Mic_2:6 and Mic_2:11, carrying out still further what is there affirmed concerning the false prophets. Micah describes them as people who predict peace and prosperity for a morsel of bread, and thereby lead the people astray, setting before them prosperity and salvation, instead of preaching repentance to them, by charging them with their sins. Thus they became accomplices of the wicked rulers, with whom they are therefore classed in Mic_3:11,

together with the wicked priests. ה=תעים, leading astray (cf. Isa_3:12; Isa_9:15) my

people, namely, by failing to charge them with their sins, and preach repentance, as the true prophets do, and predicting prosperity for bread and payment. The words, “who bite with their teeth,” are to be connected closely with the next clause, “and they preach peace,” in the sense of “who preach peace if they can bite with their teeth,” i.e., if they

receive something to bite (or eat). This explanation, which has already been expressed by the Chaldee, is necessarily required by the antithesis, “but whoever puts nothing into their mouth,” i.e., gives them nothing to eat, notwithstanding the fact that in other

passages nâshakh only signifies to bite, in the sense of to wound, and is the word generally applied to the bite of a snake (Amo_5:19; Gen_49:17; Num_21:6, Num_21:8). If, however, we understand the biting with the teeth as a figurative representation of the words of the prophets who always preach prosperity, and of the injury they do to the real welfare of the people (Ros., Casp., and others), the obvious antithesis of the two double clauses of Mic_3:5 is totally destroyed. The harsh expression, to “bite with the teeth,” in the sense of “to eat,” is perfectly in harmony with the harsh words of Mic_3:2 and Mic_

3:3. Qiddēsh�milchâmâh, to sanctify war, i.e., to preach a holy war (cf. Joe_3:9), or, in reality, to proclaim the vengeance of God. For this shall night and darkness burst upon them. Night and darkness denote primarily the calamity which would come upon the false prophets (unto you) in connection with the judgment (Mic_2:4). The sun which sets to them is the sun of salvation or prosperity (Amo_8:9; Jer_15:9); and the day which becomes black over them is the day of judgment, which is darkness, and not light (Amo_5:18). This calamity is heightened by the fact that they will then stand ashamed, because their own former prophecies are thereby proved to be lies, and fresh, true prophecies fail them, because God gives no answer. “Convicted by the result, they are thus utterly put to shame, because God does not help them out of their trouble by any

word of revelation” (Hitzig). Bōsh, to be ashamed, when connected with châphēr (cf. Jer_

15:9; Psa_35:26., etc.), signifies to become pale with shame; châphēr, to blush, with min

causae, to denote the thing of which a man is ashamed. Qōsemı m (diviners) alternates

with chōzı m (seers), because these false prophets had no visions of God, but only

divinations out of their own hearts. ‛Atâh�sâphâm: to cover the beard, i.e., to cover the face up to the nose, is a sign of mourning (Lev_13:45), here of trouble and shame (cf.

Eze_24:17), and is really equivalent to covering the head (Jer_14:4; Est_6:12). Ma‛ănēh, the construct state of the substantive, but in the sense of the participle; some codd. have

indeed מענה. In Mic_3:8 Micah contrasts himself and his own doings with these false

prophets, as being filled with power by the Spirit of Jehovah (i.e., through His

assistance) and with judgment. Mishpât, governed by מלא, is the divine justice which the

prophet has to proclaim, and gebhūrâh strength, manliness, to hold up before the people

their sins and the justice of God. In this divine strength he can and must declare their unrighteousness to all ranks of the people, and predict the punishment of God (Mic_3:9-12).

CALVI, "Micah accuses here the Prophets, in the first place, of avarice and of a desire for filthy lucre. But he begins by saying that he spoke by God’s command, and as it were from his mouth, in order that his combination might have more weight and power. Thus then saith Jehovah against the Prophets: and he calls them the deceivers of the people: but at the same time he points out the source of the evil, that is, why or by what passion they were instigated to deceive, and that was, because the desire of gain had wholly possessed them, so that they made no

difference between what was true and what was false, but only sought to please for the sake of gain. And he shows also, on the other hand, that they were so covetous of gain, that they declared war, if any one did not feed them. And God repeats again the name of his people: this had escaped my notice lately in observing on the words of Micah, that the princes devoured the flesh of God’s people; for the indignity was increased when this wrong, was done to the people of God. Had the Assyrians, or the Ethiopians, or the Egyptians, been pillaged by their princes, it would have been more tolerable; but when the very people of God were thus devoured, it was, as I have said, less to be borne. So when the people of God were deceived, and the truth was turned to a lie, it was a sacrilege the more hateful.

This then was the reason why he said, Who deceive my people (98) “This people is sacred to me, for I have chosen them for myself; as then they are destroyed by frauds and deceptions, is not my majesty in a manner dishonored — is not my authority lessened?” We now then see the reason why the Prophet says, They deceive my people. It is indeed certain, that the Jews were worthy of such deceptions; and God elsewhere declares, that whenever he permitted false prophets to come among them, it was to try them to see what sort of people they were, (Deuteronomy 13:0.) It was then their just reward, when liberty was given to Satan to prevent sound doctrine among the people. And no one is ever deceived, except through his own will. Though their own simplicity seems to draw many to destruction, yet there is ever in them some hypocrisy. But it does not extenuate the sin of false teachers, that the people deserve such a punishment: and hence the Prophet still goes on with his reproof and says, that they were the people of God, —in what respect? By adoption. Though then the Jews had rendered themselves unworthy of such an honor, yet God counts them his people, that he might punish the wickedness of the false teachers, of which he now accuses them. It now follows, that they did bite with their teeth But I cannot finish today.

COFFMA, "Verse 5"Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that make my people to err: that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him."

These verses (Micah 3:5-8) were directed principally against the reprobate priesthood and the false prophets associated with them. In later centuries, after the captivity and prior to the coming of Christ, there were indeed, here and there, a few righteous men to be found in such positions of trust, such as Zachariah and others; but on the whole, the unqualified apostasy of the whole establishment of the priestly system had occurred by the times of Micah; and even in the times of Christ, the temple itself was "a den of thieves and robbers." True prophecy from God perished from the earth throughout the long intertestamental period. Gomer did indeed "sit still" for God throughout centuries of time. othing ever proved any more conclusively than the experience of Israel that the very conception of sacerdotal man does not work. In vain do men bestow upon any of their fellows a special education, a special dress, and special emoluments, and then invest them with the business of

procuring forgiveness from God and then bestowing it upon others! Five thousand years of recorded history, plus the universal experience of our own times, prove that it will not work. The genius of Christianity lies in the endowment of every Christian with the right and privilege of priesthood and in the elevation of one High Priest, only, Jesus Christ the righteous.

"Bite with their teeth ..." Two diverse meanings are found by expositors in this. Some hold that these words are merely a reference to eating, with the implication that the false priests received favorably only those who fed them. While that was no doubt true, we do not believe this passage says that. Both Harley and Deane agree that. "Wherever this word occurs in the scriptures, it means `to bite like a serpent,' or `to wound.'"[7] Surely this is what Micah said. Those false prophets were like a den of poison snakes to God's people. In conjunction with the metaphor of cannibalism, used of the rulers, this is most appropriate for the false prophets, The majority of commentators prefer the view expressed by Mays thus:

"Two scornful and derisive lines uncover the true source of the (false) prophet's words. What comes out of their mouths depends on whether anything goes in. Feed them, and you hear good words. Slight them, and you hear of your doom."[8]Affluent clients were no doubt catered to by the false prophets, and what numerous commentators say about that is undoubtedly true; but, somehow it appears impossible to find that particular meaning in the expression, "they bite with their teeth." The implication of such an expression seems to be more in line with the words of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7), and especially those of Jesus our Lord who said of the false priests of his earthly ministry:

"Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell (Matthew 23:33). These words could also be appropriately applied to the false prophets addressed by Micah here, and we believe that such is implied by this verse."The existence of false prophets concurrently with the lives of the true prophets had come about, almost from the beginning of Israel's existence as a nation. Following the consecration of the Israelites to the Baalim at Baal-peor, the pagan priests found ready access to the populations of the chosen people; and following the days of Jezebel, the false priests and prophets proliferated. They certainly made up the vast majority of spiritual advisors to Ahab and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22), a full century earlier. As time went on, the true prophets were more and more a hated and persecuted minority in both kingdoms of Israel.

"They even prepare war against them ..." This is no mere metaphor. Jezebel had slain all of the Lord's prophets except Elijah, and she was hunting him (1 Kings 18). The war against the true prophets went on a long as Israel remained.

The terrible warnings against the corrupt judiciary and prophetic establishments of the chosen people had their impact. "Of course, it could not prevent the nation's ultimate tragedy, but it did succeed in postponing it."[9] That Israel (the southern kingdom) still existed a century later (Jeremiah 26:18) is a mute but eloquent

testimony to the effectiveness of Micah's fearless proclamation of divine truth.

TRAPP, "Micah 3:5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

Ver. 5. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets] False prophets, who pretended Divine authority, when as God never sent them, but expressly declareth here against them, and threateneth them. Those profane princes had their fleshflies, those court parasites, to soothe and smooth them up in their sins; to promise them peace, albeit they walked in the imagination of their own hearts, "to add drunkenness to thirst," and to live as they wanted, Deuteronomy 29:19. Mirifica est sympathia inter Magnates et parasites, saith Bucholcer. There is a strange sympathy between great men and clawbacks: nothing so troublesome to such as truth, nothing so toothsome as flattery: this is the fruit of sinful selflove; and the end thereof are the ways of death Proverbs 16:25.

That make my people to err] That seduce them and carry them out of the right way into bypaths and blind thickets of error, where they are lost for ever, Deuteronomy 13:18. Seducers are said to draw men violently, αποσταν, Acts 20:30, or to thrust them onward. Jeroboam is said to have "driven Israel from following the Lord"; and the false apostles to drag disciples after them, Acts 20:29-30, compelling them, by their persuasions, to embrace those distorted doctrines that cause convulsions of conscience.

That bite with their teeth] The dogs of Congo bite though they bark not, saith Mr Purchas (Pilgr. of Religion): there are a sort of cur dogs, saith another, that suck a man’s blood only with licking (Christ’s Politician, by The. Scot). Seducers are such: "Beware of false prophets for they come to you in sheep’s clothing; but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And in this sense Jerome and Theodoret take this text: they devour those they make prize of, as the apostle’s word signifieth, συλαγωγειν, Colossians 2:8. Others think their covetousness and gormandise is noted.

“ O Monachi, vestri stomachi sunt amphora Bacchi:

Vos estis, Deus est testis, certissima pestis. ”

As hungry dogs they snap at a crust, and make clean work, such is their voracity and unsatisfiableness.

“ Ingluvies, et tempestas, barathrumque macelli. ”

And cry, Peace] Pαντα καλως εσται. All shall be as well as heart can wish or need

require. Let these Cerberuses (a) but be morselled and you shall hear no worse of them. Like they are to the ravens of Arabia, that, full gorged, have a tuneably sweet record, but empty, screech horribly. Si veatri bene si lateri, as Epicurus saith in Horace; Let their bellies be filled and their backs fitted, and they will prophesy all good to you: as those false prophets, nourished by Jezebel, did to Ahab; as the Pharisees cried up to the centurion, who had built them a synagogue, Luke 7:5; as the Popish clergy canonize their benefactors, and extol them to the skies. Wulfin, Bishop of Sherborn, displaced secular priests and put in monks. Hence the monkish writers make him a very holy man, and report of him, that when he lay dying he cried out suddenly, "I see the heavens open and Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God," and so died. Yea, they had a trick to make their images speak their minds this way. As the cross of grace here in England had a man within it enclosed with a hundred wires to make the image goggle with the eyes, nod with the head, hang the lip, move and shake his jaws, according as the value was of the gift that was offered. If it were a small piece of silver, he would hang a frowning lip; if a piece of gold, then should his jaws go merrily. This idolatrous forgery was at last, by Cromwell’s means, disclosed, and the image, with all his engines, showed openly at Paul’s Cross, and there torn in pieces by the people who had been so seduced (Acts and Mon. fol. 1084).

And he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him] Heb. sanctify a war, id est, excommunicatis aqua et igni interdicunt, crucem adversus eos praedicant, they thunder against them, and throw them out of the Church: publish their crusades, as they did against the Waldenses in France, the Hussites in Bohemia, and Luther in Germany, whom the Pope excommunicated, the emperor proscribed, various divines wrote against: the reason whereof, when Erasmus was asked by the Elector of Saxony, he rightly answered, Because he meddleth with the Pope’s triple crown and with the friar’s fat paunches.

WHEDO, "Verse 5Condemnation of the mercenary prophets, Micah 3:5-8.

5. Micah considers the mercenary prophets largely responsible for the moral and spiritual decline of the nation.

Make my people err — They lead the people astray by preaching the divine favor and peace, when their message should have been one of repentance and judgment. 5b sets forth the motives determining the character of their message.

That bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace — If they receive something to eat, or, in a more general sense, if by doing so they can serve their own interests, they announce, without regard for the truth, peace, that is, something that will please the hearers. The rough expression “bite with their teeth,” instead of the simple “eat,” is in perfect harmony with the strong language of Micah 3:2-3.

He that putteth not into their mouths — He who fails to purchase their favor.

Prepare war — Woe to such a one; for him they have only unpleasant things; unto him they declare the wrath of Jehovah and all sorts of calamity (see on Joel 3:9). “The satisfying or non-satisfying of their stomach determined the character of their prophecy.”

BESO, "Verse 5Micah 3:5. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets — As the prophets prophesied falsely, and it was chiefly through their means that the princes bore rule, the prophet next addresses them, and lets them hear their doom; that make my people err — That lead them into mistakes, both concerning what they should do, and what God would do with them: that tell them they do well, and all shall be well with them, whereas they are in the paths of sin, and within a step of ruin. It is ill indeed with a people when their leaders cause them to err, and those draw them out of the way that should guide them and go before them in it. That bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace — Who speak smooth things, and promise peace and prosperity to the people, while they are bringing destruction upon them; or, who compliment and flatter those that will furnish them with gifts, and feed them well. And he that putteth not into their mouths — That will not entertain them at his table, and treat them with wine and strong drink; they even prepare war against him — They raise false accusations against him, as if he were an enemy to the government, and thereby bring him into trouble; or in some other way do him all the mischief they can.

PARKER 5-10, "ow the Lord passes from the people as a whole to the prophets:—

"Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God" ( Micah 3:5-7).

The biting here in the original is the biting of a serpent. The deterioration here indicated is the fall from a prophet to a viper. Such falls are possible, such apostasies are indeed the miracles of human story; but there they are, real, simple, indisputable, too obvious and too humiliating facts. The biting of a perverted man is the worst kind of biting. We say there is no zealot so mad as a pervert. There is no religion so tremendous as irreligiousness. It is this sour wine that becomes poison. Keep away from men who have been good, and have lost their religious and spiritual savour. They will cry anything that you want them to cry. In this instance the prophets cried, "Peace," and if men did not praise them, they prepared war against the men who were hostile; if men did not give to them, men had to reckon for war. There is no man so bad as the fallen prophet. We are not speaking now of the temporary falls which seem to be incident to development of character honestly conducted, but to the men whose soul is turned away from love of truth and love of

light. What is to be the consequence? The same law of retribution prevails:—

"Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them" ( Micah 3:6).

So outer darkness is not a discovery of the ew Testament. The unprofitable servant is there doomed to outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; but here we have the same darkness—the darkness is of old; there is no new midnight. God will visit the prophet with darkness. When a genius is conscious that he has lost his inspiration there is no man so unhappy. The average ordinary Prayer of Manasseh , whose life is a daily but not despicable commonplace, is not conscious of great losses, he never had great riches; but given a man once possessed with genius, and give him to feel that the angel is beyond him, outside of him, lifting glittering wings in eternal flight, and the moment of such consciousness is hell. The Lord sends night upon the prophets, and a prophet without light is in perdition; a prophet without his mantle is naked, not in body, but in soul.

What shall become of these prophets? "They shall cover their lips." The action is that of a leper. The leper was commanded to cover his lips and to cry, Unclean, unclean! The Lord"s charge is: The lip has lied, cover it; the lip of the prophet has been prostituted to falsehood—cover it, conceal it. See, the prophets that ought to have led the age are like lepers with bent heads, calling, Unclean, unclean! God will not have any bad service. He will not allow men to come in with genius to assist in the interpretation of his kingdom if genius be not sustained by honest goodness; not by that perfection which is the worst kind of imperfection, but by that perfectness of wish which is the guarantee of attainment. A man in London said that he himself was so good, so full of the Holy Spirit, that he did not believe that even God himself could increase the blessing. I no sooner heard it than I said, That"s a bad Prayer of Manasseh , whoever he is. I did not know the Prayer of Manasseh , but I said a man who can talk so is a bad man; and alas! that poor wretch was soon revealed. Do not let us aim at that kind of perfection. The more perfect we are the more modest we shall be, the more silent about ourselves. The more perfect a man is in the sight of God the more he feels any blemish or speck or flaw, and things he would not have seen aforetime now constitute his agony.

The Lord"s accusation ends with this awful word, namely:—

"They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity" ( Micah 3:10).

The Lord will not have a Zion so built. The meaning is that these men have gone forth to war and to bloodshed and desolation and Song of Solomon -called conquest, and then have baptised all their iniquity with the name of God, and have brought their spoils, and laid them up in Zion, and the Lord will not have them. Or the meaning is that men have been extortionate—they have oppressed the poor; they have overreached the weak; and they have given a tenth of their profits to the building of the walls of Jerusalem. The Lord will not accept such offerings. Are

there men who have served the devil with both hands earnestly, and have grown fat and bloated in his service, and do they atone for all by a cheque of a thousand pounds to God"s temple! Burn it! Yet there is a vulgarity that feeds its piety by writing enormous cheques. The larger the cheque the better, if it be given with an honest hand; then every coin of gold is worth ten times its nominal amount, then every copper piece is gold, because of the touch of honesty and the pain of sacrifice; but if a man shall eat and drink, and fill his house with devils, and become tired, sated, and shall seek to pay off the Lord"s sword, he will soon be made to feel what a fool he is. The Lord will have none of him. The walls of the sanctuary must be built with honest stone and laid with honest hands, then God will take care of it; but if even Zion be built with blood it shall be burned with fire. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; yet the most joyous and glorious thing if our hearts be filled with a sincere desire to know his will and do it.

PETT, "Micah 3:5-6

‘Thus says YHWH concerning the prophets who make my people to err; who bite with their teeth, and cry, “Peace”, and whoever does not put (food) into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore it will be night to you, that you shall have no vision; and it will be dark to you, that you shall not divine; and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be black over them.’YHWH then turns to the cultic prophets who are leading the people astray with their teaching and their prophecies. If they are properly provided for they prophesy ‘peace’ for their benefactors, but if anyone does not provision them then they become belligerent and act as though they were at war with them.

But because of this instead of prophetic vision they will have night time. Instead of being able to discern the future they will be in darkness. There will be no more sunny days for them. Instead all their days will be black ones. Illumination will be no more.

These cult prophets, who when they were godly men could be of such help to the people, had unfortunately often run counter to the true prophets. On the good side were those who had supported Samuel (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Samuel 10:10-11 and Elisha (2 Kings 2:2; 2 Kings 5:7; 2 Kings 5:15; 2 Kings 4:38-41; see also 1 Kings 18:4), but on the other side were those who constantly prophesied peace and wellbeing regardless of behaviour (2 Kings 22:6-13; Jeremiah 28:1-17; Ezekiel 13:1-23). They were not necessarily dishonest, simply over optimistic and unaware of the truth about YHWH, and in some cases mercenary. They prophesied ‘peace, peace, where there was no peace. They believed God’s promises about the Davidic house, and that He would watch over His people. What they failed to see was that sin changed the whole situation. And the further problem was that they had learned to recognise the kind of prophecies that would bring them financial benefit.

One of the differences between Micah and these peace prophets was Micah’s personal concern for the people. He constantly speaks of them as ‘my people’ either on his own behalf or on God’s (Micah 1:9; Micah 2:4; Micah 2:8-9; Micah 3:3;

Micah 3:5; Micah 6:3; Micah 6:5; Micah 6:16), and he was concerned to speak by the Spirit of YHWH. These other prophets were more interested in their stomachs. They were also influenced by political pressure (2 Kings 22:13); immorality (Isaiah 28:7), and greed (Ezekiel 13:19), or were simply in a state of confusion because events had overtaken them and they did not know what to say (Jeremiah 14:14).

PULPIT, "Micah 3:5

Concerning the prophets (Micah 2:11). These are the lying prophets of whom Jeremiah complains (Lamentations 2:14). That bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace. Very many commentators take the phrase, "bite with the teeth," to mean "eat," so that the clause signifies that the prophets when bribed with food predict peace and happiness to people. The antithesis of the following clause seems to require this explanation, which is further supported by the Chaldee. But it is quite unprecedented to find the word translated "bite" (nashakh) in the sense of "eat," or as it is taken here, "to have something to eat;" wherever it occurs it means "to bite like a serpent," to wound (see Genesis 49:17; umbers 21:8, umbers 21:9; Amos 5:19; Amos 9:3). The parallelism of the succeeding member does not compel us to put a forced interpretation upon the word. These venal seers do vital harm, inflict gravest injury, when they proclaim peace where there is no peace; by such false comfort they are really infusing poison and death. He that putteth not into their mouths. If any one does not bribe them, and so stop their evil mouths. They even prepare war against him. The Hebrew expression is, "they consecrate" or "sanctify war." There may be allusion to the religious rites accompanying a declaration of war (Jeremiah 6:4; Joel 3:9); but Micah seems to mean that, if the customary bribes are withheld, these prophets announce war and calamity as inevitable; they proclaim them in God's name, as speaking with his sanction and under his Inspiration (comp. Jeremiah 23:16, etc.; Ezekiel 13:19; see note on Zephaniah 1:7).

BI 5-7, "Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make My people err

False prophets

Here the prophet attacks the false prophets, as before he had attacked the “princes.”

I. They are DECEIVING. God says, they “make My people err” Preachers often make their hearers err.

(1) In theology. They propound ideas, crude and ill digested, concerning God, Christ, moral conditions and relations, utterly inconsistent with truth.

(2) In worship.

(3) In morality. Their standard of duty is often wrong.

II. They are avaricious. They “bite with their teeth, and cry peace.” Greed governs them in all their ministries.

III. They are confounded.

1. Confounded in darkness. “Night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over

the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.”

2. Confounded in shame. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners be confounded. Jehovah ignores them. “There is no answer of God.” “Those,” says Matthew Henry, “who deceive others are but preparing confusion for their own faces.” (Homilist.)

6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination.The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them.

BARES. "Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision - In the presence of God’s extreme judgments, even deceivers are at length still; silenced at last by the common misery, if not by awe. The false prophets had promised peace, light, brightness, prosperity; the night of trouble, anguish, darkness, fear, shall Come upon them. So shall they no more dare to speak in the Name of God, while He was by His judgments speaking the contrary in a way which all must hear. They abused God’s gifts and long-suffering against Himself: they could misinterpret His long-suffering into favor, and they did it: their visions of the future were but the reflections of the present and its continuance; they thought that because God was enduring, He was indifferent, and they took His government out of His Hands, and said, that what He appeared to be now, He would ever be. They had no other light, no other foresight. When then the darkness of temporal calamity enveloped them, it shrouded in one common darkness of night all present brightness and all sight of the future.

Rup.: “After Caiaphas had in heart spoken falsehood and a prophecy of blood, although God overruled it to truth which he meant not, all grace of prophecy departed Mat_11:13. The law and the prophets prophesied until John. “The Sun of Righteousness went down over them,” inwardly and outwardly, withdrawing the brightness of His Providence and the inward light of grace.” So Christ Himself forewarned; “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you” Joh_12:35. And so it has remained ever since 2Co_3:15. The veil has been on their hearts. The light is in all the world, but they see it not; it arose to lighten the Gentiles, but they walk on still in darkness. As opposed to holiness, truth, knowledge, divine enlightening of the mind, bright gladness,

contrariwise darkness is falsehood, sin, error, blindness of soul, ignorance of divine things, and sorrow. In all these ways, did the Sun go down “over them,” so that the darkness weighed heavily upon them. So too the inventors of heresies pretend to see and to enter into the mysteries of Christ, yet find darkness instead of light, lose even what they think they see, fail even of what truth they seem most to hold; and they shall be in night and darkness, being cast into outer darkness 1Co_8:12; sinning against the brethren, and wounding the weak conscience of those for whom Christ died.

CLARKE, "Night shall be unto you - Ye shall have no spiritual light, nor will God give you any revelation of his will.

The sun shall go down over the prophets - They prospered for a while, causing the people to err; but they shall also be carried into captivity, and then the sun of their prosperity shall go down for ever, and the very day that gives light and comfort to others, shall be darkness and calamity to them.

GILL, "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" (c); 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" (d), 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.''

HERY 6-7, "What is the sentence passed upon them for this sin, Mic_3:6, Mic_3:7. It is threatened, (1.) That they shall be involved in troubles and miseries with those to whom they had cried peace: Night shall be upon them, a dark cold night of calamity,

such as they, in their flattery, led the people to hope would never come. It shall be dark unto you, darker to you than to others; the sun shall go down over the prophets, shall go down at noon; all comfort shall depart from them, and they shall be deprived of all hope of it. The day shall be dark over them, in which they promised themselves light. Nor shall they be surrounded with outward troubles only, but their mind shall be full of confusion, and they shall be brought to their wits' end; their heads shall be clouded, and their own thoughts shall trouble them; and that is trouble enough. They kept others in the dark, and now God will bring them into the dark. (2.) That thereby they shall be silenced, and all their pretensions to prophecy for ever shamed. They never had any true vision; and now, the event disproving their predictions of peace, it shall be made to appear that they never had any, that there never was an answer of God to them, but it was all a sham, and they were cheats and impostors. Their reputation being thus quite sunk, their confidence would of course fail them. And, their spirits being ruffled and confused, their invention would fail them too; and by reason of this darkness, both without and within too, they shall not divine, they shall not have so much as a counterfeit vision to produce, they shall be ashamed, and confounded, and cover their lips, as men that are quite baffled and have nothing to say for themselves. Note, Those who deceive others are but preparing confusion for their own faces.

JAMISO, "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; Amo_5:18; Amo_8:9).

CALVI, "God declares here to the false teachers by the mouth of Micah, that he would inflict punishment on them, so that they should be exposed to the reproach of all. Hence the kind of punishment of which the Prophet speaks is — that he would strip the false teachers of all their dignity, so that they should hereafter in vain put on an appearance, and claim the honorable name which they had so long abused. We indeed know, when ungodly and profane men clothe themselves with the dignified titles of being the princes, or bishops, or prelates of the Church, how audaciously they pervert every thing, and do so with impunity. There is then no other remedy, except God pulls off the mask from them, and openly discovers to all their baseness. Of this punishment Micah now speaks.

There shall be to you a night from vision; so is the phrase literally, but the particle מ, mem, means often, for, or, on account of; and we can easily see that the Prophet represents night as the reward for visions and darkness for divination. “As then my people have been deceived by your fallacies, for your visions and divinations have been nothing but lies and deceits, I will repay you with the reward which you have deserved: for instead of a vision you shall have night, and instead of divination you shall have thick darkness.” (101) It is indeed certain, that the false teachers, even when they were, as they say, in great reputation, that is, when they retained the honor and the title of their office, were blind and wholly destitute of all light: but the Prophet here declares, that as their baseness did not appear to the common people, God would cause it to be made at length fully evident. As for instance, there is nothing at this day more stupid and senseless than the bishops of the Papacy: for when any one draws from them any expression about religion, they instantly betray

not only their ignorance, but also their shameful stupidity. With regard to the monks, though they be the most audacious kind of animals, (audacissimum animalium genus,) yet we know how unlearned and ignorant they are. Therefore at this time the night has not yet passed away, nor the darkness, of which Micah speaks here.

We now then understand what the Holy Spirit teaches here, and that is, — that God would at length strip those false teachers of that imaginary dignity, on account of which no one dared to speak against them, but received as an oracle whatever they uttered. ight, then,shall be to you instead of a vision; that is, “The whole world shall understand that you are not what you boast yourselves to be: for I will show that there is not in you, no, not a particle of the prophetic spirit, but that ye are men as dark as night, and darkness shall be to you instead of divination. Ye boast of great acuteness and great perspicuity of mind; but I will discover your baseness, so that the very children may know that you are not endued with the spirit.”

To the same purpose is what he adds, Go down shall the sun upon you, and darkened over you shall be the day; that is, such will be that darkness, that even at noon they will see nothing; the sun will shine on all, but they shall grope as in the dark; so that Gods vengeance would be made so manifest, that it might be noticed by all, from the least to the greatest.

Therefore night shall be to you instead of vision, And darkness shall be to you instead of divination: Yea, set shall the sun upon the Prophets, And darken upon them shall the day.

Piscator gives the sense when he says, Visio vestra mutabitur in noctem — “Your vision shall be changed into night.” — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 6"Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them."

Allen and Johnson thought they found here an admission on the part of Micah of some kind of prophetic gift within the false prophets. "Micah apparently does not deny that his opponents are endowed with God-given talents."[10] We do not think there is any such admission here. When Jesus asked the Pharisees, "By whom then do your sons cast them (demons) out?" (Matthew 12:27), there was certainly not any admission on Jesus' part that the Pharisees actually did any such thing. Similarly, here, Micah was not affirming anything with reference to prophecies of the false prophets except the night of total oblivion that was to fall upon them. The sun will go down upon their prosperity; the night shall fall upon their day of glory. Deane pointed out that the imagery here suggests that of Amos 8:9,[11] where it was prophesied that the "sun would be darkened in a clear day" for the whole nation. The fate here predicted to fall upon the false prophets would likewise extend to the

whole people.

TRAPP, "Micah 3:6 Therefore night [shall be] unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

Ver. 6. Therefore night shall be unto you] Ye shall be benighted, your gifts blasted, and your persons baffled: your lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness; the sword shall be upon your arms, and upon your right eyes; your arms shall be clean dried up, and your right eyes utterly darkened, Zechariah 11:17. Those illuminations and inspirations that ye seemed to have shall be taken from you, and God shall pass that dreadful sentence, Take the talent from him, even here in this life; let him not have the least dram or drop of a prophetic spirit, of ministerial abilities; and then, in the next world, cast "ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness," &c., Matthew 25:28; Matthew 25:30.

And it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine] Tenebrae vobis a divinatione, vel propter divinationem, so Calvin. All the reward ye shall have for your divination shall be disgrace and confusion: your folly shall be manifest unto all men, as was that of Jannes and Jambres, 2 Timothy 3:9.

And the sun shall go down over the prophets] The same thing is set forth by sundry metaphors, for more assurance: for Hypocritis nihil stupidius, it is hard to persuade a hypocrite that evil is towards him. See Micah 3:11.

WHEDO, "Verse 6-7Micah 3:6-7 are addressed directly to the mercenary prophets, not to the “heads” of the nation.

ight… dark — Figures of calamity and distress. At such time the advice of a prophet is most needed, but they will have no advice to give.

Sun… day — The “sun” of prosperity will set and the “day” of judgment, which is “darkness and not light” (Amos 5:18), will dawn.

Have a vision… divine — At present the mercenary prophets may claim that they receive their message in the same manner as the “true” prophets, but in the day of calamity a difference will be seen, for they will have no message with which to encourage their grief-stricken countrymen. The reason for the silence is stated in Micah 3:7.

Seers… diviners — Synonymous terms denoting the mercenary prophets, the second calling attention to the illegitimacy of their pursuit.

Ashamed,… confounded — Also synonyms. They will “stand ashamed, because

their own former prophecies are proved by calamity to be lies, and fresh, true prophecies fail them, because God gives no answer.”

Cover their lips — Literally, beard. They will no longer venture to speak. The phrase means covering the face up to the nose, which is a sign of humiliation, shame, and mourning (Leviticus 13:45; Ezekiel 24:17). For a study of the phenomenon of “false” prophecy in Israel, see Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible, iv, pp. 116ff. All that needs to be said here is that there were two distinct classes of false prophets: (1) The mercenary prophets, who are condemned here for their insincerity; (2) the political prophets, who may have been sincere, but who lost sight of the religious mission and destiny of the nation, and whose prophecies were determined entirely by political ambitions.

BESO, "Verse 6-7Micah 3:6-7. Therefore night shall be unto you — Darkness, uncertainty, perplexity, and heavy troubles, shall be to you prophets; that ye shall not have a vision — You shall see your predictions so fully confuted, that you shall no more pretend to have a vision, or dare to foretel any thing. And the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark, &c. — As they shall have no light, or revelation, from heaven; so dark days, or dismal calamities, shall overtake them, as a just punishment for their frauds and impostures. Or, if the prophet be considered as addressing the people, the meaning of the verse is, Since ye have given ear to such prophets, and rejected the true ones, the time shall come when there shall be no true vision among you, no divine counsel to direct you; but ye shall be involved in darkness and uncertainty, without knowing what course to take. Then shall the seers be ashamed, &c. — For the false pretences which they have made to the gift of prophecy; yea, they shall cover their lips — Covering the lips, or lower part of the face, was used as a sign to express being under some great affliction, or shame; for there is no answer of God — Because the answer, which they pretended to be from God, now appears not to have been from him.

PULPIT, "ight shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision. The Hebrew is, "from," or "without a vision." Septuagint, ἐξ ὁράσεως, "out of vision;" Vulgate, pro visione. Hence some interpret this as spoken to the false prophets, who, to punish their lying prophecies and pretended revelations, shall be overwhelmed with calamity. But it is best taken as still addressed to the rulers, and Micah tells how that in the time of their distress there shall be no prophecy to direct them. "ight shall be unto them without a vision." "ight" and "darkness" are metaphors for calamity, as in all languages. That ye shall not divine; without divination. Septuagint, ἐκ µαντείας, "out of prophecy." Parallel and identical in meaning with the preceding clause. The sun shall go down over the prophets; i.e. over the false prophets. The sun of their prosperity shall set. Micah seems to derive his imagery from the phenomena of an eclipse (comp. Jeremiah 15:9; Amos 8:9). The day. The time of their punishment (Micah 2:4; Amos 5:18).

7 The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced.They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.”

BARES. "They shall cover their lips - Literally, the hair of the upper lip . This was an action enjoined on lepers Lev_13:45, and a token of mourning Eze_24:17, Eze_24:22; a token then of sorrow and uncleanness. With their lips they had lied, and now they should cover their lips, as men dumb and ashamed. “For there is no answer of God,” as these deceivers had pretended to have. When all things shall come contrary to what they had promised, it shall be clear that God did not send them. And having plainly no answer of God, they shall not dare to feign one then. Jerome: “Then not even the devils shall receive power to deceive them by their craft. The oracles shall be dumb; the unclean spirit shall not dare to delude.” Dionysius: “All this is spoken against those who, in the Church of Christ, flatter the rich, or speak as menpleasers, out of avarice, ambition, or any like longing for temporal good, to whom that of Isaiah Isa_3:12 fitteth; the leaders of this people (they who profess to lead them aright) mislead them, and they that are led of them are destroyed.”

CLARKE, "Shall the seers be ashamed - For the false visions of comfort and prosperity which they pretended to see.

And the diviners confounded -Who pretended to foretell future prosperity; for they themselves are now thralled in that very captivity which the true prophets foretold, and which the false prophets said should not happen.

GILL, "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 Eze_24:17. It is said (e) 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.''

JAMISO, "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 (Lev_13:45; Eze_24:17, Eze_24:22). “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).

CALVI, "He confirms the same thing in the next verse, And ashamed shall be the seers and confounded the diviners, (102) and they shall cover their lip; that is they will put veils on their mouths. In short, he means, that they would become a reproach to all, so that they would be ashamed of themselves, and no more dare to boast with so much confidence of their name and of the prophetic office.

As to this form of expression, שפם-ועטו על , uothu ol shephim, some think that the practice of mourners is referred to; but this interpretation is frigid. I have therefore no doubt but that Micah intimates that the mouths of the false teachers would be closed. There is nearly the same denunciation mentioned by Zechariah; for speaking of the restoration of the Church, he says, — They who before went about boasting greatly, and gloried in the name of Prophets, shall cast away their mantle, and will no longer dare to show themselves; yea, when they shall come abroad, they shall be as it were herdsman or private persons, and shall say, “I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, I am chastised by my father;” that is, they shall profess themselves unworthy of being called prophets; but that they are scholars under discipline, (Zechariah 13:5.) So also in this place, “They deceive at this day my people,” saith the Lord; “I will reward them as they deserve; I will fill them with disgrace and contempt. They shall not then dare hereafter to show themselves as they have been wont to do; they shall not presume boastingly to profess themselves to be the pillars of the Church, that the whole world may be made subject to them; they shall not dare with tyrannical force to oppress the common and ignorant portions of society Veil, then, shall they their mouth; that is, “I will cause their mouth to be closed, so that they shall not dare hereafter to utter even a word.” (103)

It follows, For there will be no answer from God. Some so explain this sentence, as though the Prophet upbraided them with their old deceits, which they boasted were the words of God: as then they were not faithful to God, but lied to miserable men, when they said, that they were sent from above, and brought messages from heaven, while they only uttered their own inventions or fables, they should on these accounts be constrained to cover their mouth. But different is the meaning of the Prophet, and it is this, — that they were to be deprived of any answer, so that their want of knowledge might be easily perceived even by the most ignorant: for false teachers, though they possess nothing certain, yet deceive the simple with disguises, and render plausible their absurdities, that they may seem to be the interpreters of God; and they further add great confidence: and then the stupidity of the people concedes to them such great power, according to what is said by Jeremiah 5:0 where he says that the priests received gifts and that for gifts the Prophets divined, and that the people loved such deprivations. But Micah declares here that such delusions would no longer be allowed, for God would dissipate them. It will then be made evident, that you have no answer from God; that is, “All will perceive that you are void and destitute of every celestial truth, and that you were formerly but gross cheats, when ye passed yourselves as God’s servants, though you had no ground for doing so.”

We now perceive what the Prophet means. But this punishment might have then contributed to the benefit of the people: for as it is a cause of ruin to the world, when there is no difference made between light and darkness; so when the baseness of those is discovered, who abuse God’s name and adulterate his pure truth, there is then a door open to repentance. Rightly then is this combination addressed to false prophets. It now follows —

COFFMA, "Verse 7"And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God."

"They shall all cover their lips ..." This means, "they are spiritual lepers," the covering of the lip being required of all who were afflicted with that dreadful malady (Leviticus 13:45). The notion that any of that fraternity were actually "true" prophets is contradicted by this and also by the last clause.

"There is no answer of God ..." Here is the resolution of that question postulated by such commentators as Allen and Johnson regarding God's actually using, or not, any of those false prophets. "There is no answer of God."

COSTABLE, "Seers and diviners would suffer embarrassment because they would not be able to come up with any word from the Lord when the people asked for it. Covering the face was a sign of mourning (cf. Leviticus 13:45; Ezekiel 24:17; Ezekiel 24:22).

"Like unclean lepers they will go about with covered moustaches (faces, IV Hebrews , shapim) the very area of their abused gift (cf. Leviticus 13:45." [ote: Waltke, in Obadiah , . . ., p163.]

Seers received visions ( Micah 3:6), and diviners practiced divination ( Micah 3:6) to ascertain the future. The title "seer" is an old one describing a prophet ( 1 Samuel 9:9), but "diviners" sought knowledge of the future through illegitimate means and were outlawed in Israel (cf. Deuteronomy 18:10). Thus these two titles were derogatory terms for the false prophets.

"True prophets had insight into Israel"s history from a sympathy with God"s kingdom perspective; false prophets could not discern the hand of God in history because they saw life through vested interests. True prophets conditioned the nation"s well-being on its fidelity to the Lord, whereas false prophets arrogantly conditioned it on fidelity to themselves. True prophets seek the Lord"s gain; false prophets their own." [ote: Idem, in The Minor . . ., p663.]

TRAPP, "Verse 7Micah 3:7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for [there is] no answer of God.

Ver. 7. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded] They shall be hissed and hooted at for impostors and falsaries; shame shall be the promotion of these fools, as it is at this day of the heathen philosophers, of the Jewish Rabbis, of the Popish doctors and schoolmen, who once carried the hell for most acute and accurate divines, but now appear to be great triflers; a rotten generation of dunghilldivines, as one styleth them: in detestation of whose vain jangling and noting about questions, 1 Timothy 6:4, Luther saith, Prope est ut iurem, &c., I could swear almost that there was not a schoolman that understood one chapter of the Gospel (Luth. tom. 1, oper. lat. eph 47). Latimer professed that by hearing Bilney’s confession he learned more than before in many years. So from that time forward, saith he, I began to smell the word of God, and forsake the school doctors and such fooleries.

Yea, they shall all cover their lips] And stand aloof, as lepers. See Leviticus 13:45, Ezekiel 24:17; Ezekiel 24:22. Or they shall leave off their lying; for I will stop their mouths, that they shall not hereafter so much as mute any more, Ego illis os claudam (Calv.). The Septuagint render it, All men shall abhor them, shall open their lips against them. Montanus, involvent mystacem suam, they shall wrap up their moustaches, which (saith a Lapide) the false prophets wore upon their upper lip, et incedebant comptuli, and went neatly trimmed, as do now the Calvinistic ministers. But if some do so, yet this is better than the Popish priests shaving, which is a ceremony so bald, that some priests in France are ashamed of the mark; and few of them have it that can handsomely avoid it.

For there is no answer of God] He comes not at them, as sometimes he did to Abimelech, Laban, Balaam; neither speak they according to his word, for what reaons? "there is no light in them," Isaiah 8:20. The philosophers "professing

themselves to be wise" (but wanting the wisdom from above) "became fools," Romans 1:22. The Pharisees, had they known anything aright and as they ought, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, 1 Corinthians 2:8. Oracles they had, and miracles enough; but they "rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized," Luke 7:30; or if they were, yet remained they a viperous brood, Matthew 3:7, and never attained to that answer of a good conscience toward God, 1 Peter 3:21. The schoolmen often cite the philosophers, seldom the apostles; they count the authority of Fathers as good as that of Scriptures: neither doubt they to call the writings of the Fathers by the name of Scripture ( Lombard passim). Was not this to set "men’s threshold by God’s threshold; and their posts by his posts," Ezekiel 43:8. What marvel therefore though they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, while they taught for doctrines men’s traditions? What marvel though Popish fopperies, once so admired, be now so much slighted, since the world seeth further into them than formerly? otable is that passage in King Henry VIII’s protestation against the Pope: England is no more a babe; there is no man here but now he knows that they do foolishly that part with gold for lead. Surely, except God take away our right wits, not only the Pope’s authority shall be driven out for ever, but his name also shortly shall be forgotten in England. We will from henceforth ask counsel of him and his, when we list to be deceived, when we covet to be in error, when we desire to offend God, truth, and honesty.

PETT, "Micah 3:7

‘And the seers will be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; yes, they will all cover their lips; for there is no answer from God.’When people come to the seers and the diviners they will have nothing to say. They will rather have to cover their lips, because there will be no answer for them from God. The words envisage circumstances taking place (such as invasion) where people are desperately looking for answers which wee not simply platitudes. It is at that time that they will learn the true value of these prophets.

PULPIT, "Shall the seers be ashamed. The false prophets shall be ashamed because their oracles are proved to be delusive. They shall all cover their lips; the upper lip; i.e. the face up to the nose, in sign of mourning and shame (see Le 13:45; Ezekiel 24:17, Ezekiel 24:22). It is equivalent to covering the head for the same reason, as Esther 6:12; Jeremiah 14:4. Septuagint, καταλαλήσουσι καὶ αὐτῶν πάντες αὐτοί, taking the verb to mean "shall open" (not "cover") their lips against them. For there is no answer of God. There was no revelation (Psalms 74:9; Ezekiel 7:26). Septuagint, διότι οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἐπακούων αὐτῶν, "Because there shall be none that hearkeneth unto them."

8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might,to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.

BARES. "And truly I - (Literally, contrariwise I,) that is, whereas they shall be void and no word in them, “I am full of (or filled with) power by the Spirit of the Lord and of judgment and might.” The false prophets, walked after their own spirit, Eze_13:3. Their only power or influence was from without, from favoring circumstances, from adapting themselves to the great or to the people, going along with the tide, and impelling persons whither they wished to go. The power of the true prophet was inherent, and that by gift of “the Spirit of the Lord”. And so, while adverse circumstances silenced the false prophets, they called forth the more the energy of the true, whose power was from Him in whose Hands the world is. The adverse circumstances to the false prophets were God’s judgments; to the true, they were man’s refractoriness, rebellion, oppressiveness. Now was the time of the false prophets; now, at a distance, they could foretell hardily, because they could not yet be convicted of untruth. When trouble came, they went into the inner chamber to hide 1Ki_22:25 themselves. Micah, amid the wild tumult of the people Psa_65:7, was fearless, upborne by Him who controls, stills, or looses it, to do His Sovereign Will.

I am filled with power - So our Lord bade His Apostles, “Tarry ye, until ye be endued with power from on high” Luk_24:49 : “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” Act_1:8; and “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” Act_2:4. The three gifts, “power, judgment, might,” are the fruits of the One Spirit of God, through whom the prophet was filled with them. Of these, “power” is always strength residing in the person, whether it be the “power” (Exo_15:6; Exo_32:11; Num_14:17, etc.) or “might of wisdom” Job_36:5 of Almighty God Himself, or “power” which He imparts Deu_8:18; Jdg_16:5, Jdg_16:9, Jdg_16:19 or implants . But it is always power lodged in the person, to be put forth by him. Here, as in John the Immerser Luk_1:17 or the Apostles Luk_24:49, it is divine power, given through God the Holy Spirit, to accomplish that for which he was sent, as Paul was endued with might 2Co_10:5, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. It is just that, which is so wanting to human words, which is so characteristic of the word of God, “power.”

“Judgment” is, from its form, not so much discernment in the human being, as “the thing judged,” pronounced by God, the righteous judgment of God, and righteous judgment in man conformably therewith (as in Pro_1:3; Isa_1:21; Isa_5:7). It was what, he goes on to say, the great men of his people abhorred Mic_3:9, equity. With this he

was filled. This was the substance of his message, right judgment to be enacted by them, to which he was to exhort them, or which, on their refusal, was to be pronounced upon them in the Name of God the Judge of all, and to be executed upon them. “Might” is courage or boldness to deliver the message of God, not awed or hindered by any adversaries. It is that holy courage, of which Paul speaks, “that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” Eph_6:19-20. So too, after the Apostles had been “straitly threatened that they should speak no more in the Name of Jesus, all, having prayed, were filled with the Holy Spirit, and spake the word of God with boldness” Act_4:18, Act_4:31. Dionysius: “Whoso is so strengthened and arrayed, uttereth fiery words, Whereby hearers’ hearts are moved and changed. But whoso speaketh of his own mind, doth good neither to himself nor others.”

So then, of the three gifts, “power” expresses the divine might lodged in him; “judgment,” the substance of what he had to deliver; “might or courage,” the strength to deliver it in face of human power, persecution, ridicule, death.

Lap.: “These gifts the prophets know are not their own, but are from the Spirit of God, and are by Him inspired into them. Such was the spirit of Elijah, unconquered, energetic, fiery, of whom it is said, ‘Then stood up Elias as fire, and his word burned like a lamp’ (Ecclus. 48:1). Such was Isaiah, ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins’ Isa_58:1. Such was Jeremiah; ‘Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary of holding in. I have set thee for a trier among My people, a strong fort; and thou shalt know and try their ways’ Jer_6:11, Jer_6:27. Such was John Baptist, who said, ‘O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’ Mat_3:7. Such was Paul, who, when he Act_24:25 reasoned of temperance, righteousness and judgment to come, made Felix tremble, though unbelieving and ungodly. Such were the Apostles, who, when they had received the Holy Spirit Psa_48:8, broke, with a mighty breath, ships and kings of Tarshish. Such will be Elias and Enoch at the end of the world, striving against antichrist, of whom it is said Rev_11:5, if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies.”

CLARKE, "But - I am full of power - Here is the character of the true prophet. He

is filled, all his soul is occupied with power, כח coach, with heavenly energy; by the Spirit of the Lord, the fountain of all truth and might; and of judgment, which enables him to

make a proper discernment between the precious and the vile; and of might, גבורה

geburah, prevalent power, against which vice shall not be able to prevail, and before which iniquity shall not be able to stand: but all shall fall together, and be confounded.

GILL, "But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,.... Or, "full of power, even, the Spirit of the Lord", as Gussetius (f), 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 Luk_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 Isa_58:1; and as a proof of all this, says what follows:

HERY, "Here, I. The prophet experiences a divine power going along with him in his work, and he makes a solemn profession and protestation of it, as that which would justify him, and bear him out, in his plain dealing with the princes and rulers. He would not, he durst not, make thus bold with the great men, but that he was carried out to do it by a prophetical impulse and impression. It was not he that said it, but God by him, and he could not but speak the word that God put into his mouth. It comes in likewise by way of opposition to the false prophets, who were full of shame when they lived to see themselves proved liars, and who never had courage to deal faithfully with the people, but flattered them in their sins; they were sensual, not having the Spirit, but truly (says Micah) I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,Mic_3:8. Having in himself an assurance of the truth of what he said, he said it with assurance. Compare him with those false prophets, and you will say, There is no comparison between them. What is the chaff to the wheat? Jer_23:28. What is painted fire to real fire? Observe here, 1. What the qualifications were with which this prophet was endured: He was full of power, and of judgment, and of might; he had an ardent love to God and to the souls of men, a deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and a flaming zeal against sin. He had likewise courage to reprove it and witness against it, not fearing the wrath either of great men or of great multitudes; whatever difficulties or discouragements he met with, they did not deter him nor drive him from his work; none of these things moved him.And all this was guided by judgment and discretion; he was a man of wisdom as well as courage; in all his preaching there was light as well as heat, and a spirit of wisdom as well as of zeal. Thus was this man of God thoroughly furnished for every good word he had to say, and every good work he had to do. Those he preached to could not but perceive him to be full both of power and judgment, for they found both their understandings opened and their hearts made to burn within them, with such evidence and demonstration, and with such power, did the word come from him. 2. Whence he had these qualifications, not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Knowing that it was indeed the Spirit of the Lord that was in him, and spoke by him, that it was a divine revelation that he delivered, he spoke it boldly, and as one having authority, set his face as a flint, knowing he should be justified and borne out in what he said, Isa_50:7, Isa_50:8. Note, Those who act honestly may act boldly; and

those who are sure that they have a commission from God need not be afraid of opposition from men. Nay, he had not only a Spirit of prophecy, which was the ground of his boldness, but the Spirit of sanctification endued him with the boldness and wisdom which were requisite for him. It was not in any strength of his own that he was strong; for who is sufficient for these things? but in the Lord, and in the power of his might; for from him all our sufficiency is. Are we full of power at any time, for that which is good? It is purely by the Spirit of the Lord, for of ourselves we are weak as water; it is the God of Israel that gives strength and power both to his people and to his ministers. 3. What use he made of these qualifications - this judgment and this power; he declared to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. If transgression be found in Jacob and Israel, they must be told of it, and it is the business of God's prophets to tell them of it, to cry aloud and not to spare, Isa_58:1. Those who come to hear the word of God must be willing to be told of their faults, and must not only give their ministers leave to deal plainly and faithfully with them, but take it kindly, and be thankful; but, since few have meekness enough to receive reproof, those have need of a great deal of boldness who are to give reproofs, and must pray for a spirit both of wisdom and might.

JAMISO, "I— in contrast to the false prophets (Mic_3:5, Mic_3:7).

full of power— that which “the Spirit of Jehovah” imparts for the discharge of the prophetical function (Luk_1:17; Luk_24:49; Act_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.

CALVI, "Here Micah, in a courageous spirit, stands up alone against all the false teachers even when he saw that they were a large number, and that they appealed to their number, according to their usual practice, as their shield. Hence he says, I am filled with power by the Spirit of Jehovah (104) This confidence is what all God’s servants should possess, that they may not succumb to the empty and vain boastings of those who subvert the whole order of the Church. Whenever then, God permits his pure truth to be corrupted by false teachers, and them to be popular among those high in honor, as well as the multitude, let this striking example be remembered by us, lest we be discouraged, lest the firmness and invincible power of the Holy Spirit be weakened in our hearts, but that we may proceed in the course of our calling, and learn to oppose the name of God to all the deceptions of men, if indeed we are convinced that our service is approved by him, as being faithful. Since, then, Micah says, that he was filled with power, he no doubt stood, as it were, in the presence of the whole people, and alone pitched his camp against the whole multitude; for there were then false teachers going about every where, as the devil sows always seed enough, whenever God lets loose the reins. Though then their number was not small, yet Micah hesitated not to go forth among them: I, he says; there is stress to be laid on the pronoun אנכי, anki, — Ye despise me, being one man, and ye despise a few men; ye may think that I alone serve the Lord; but I am a match for a thousand, yea, for an innumerable multitude; for God is on my side,

and he approves of my ministry as it is. from him, nor do I bring any thing to you but what he has commanded: It is then I.

He further expresses a fuller confidence by using the word אולם, aulam (105); Verily, he says,I am filled with power. This “verily” or truly is opposed to those lofty boastings by which the false prophets were ever wont to attain a name and honor among the people. But Micah intimates that all that they uttered was only evanescent: “Ye are,” he says, “wonderful prophets; nay, ye are superior to the angels, if you are to be believed; but show that you are so in reality; let there be some proof by which your calling can be confirmed. There is no proof. It then follows, that ye are only men of wind, and not really spiritual: but there is really in me what ye boast of with your mouths.” And he says, that he was filled, that he might not be thought one of the common sort: and Micah no doubt shows here, on account of the necessity of the occasion, that he was not supplied with ordinary or usual power; for, according as God employs the labors of his servants, so is he present with them, and furnishes them with suitable protection. When any one is not exercised with great difficulties in discharging his office of teaching, a common measure of the Spirit is only necessary for the performance of his duties; but when any one is drawn into arduous and difficult struggles, he is at the same time especially strengthened by the Lord: and we see daily examples of this; for many simple men, who have never been trained up in learning, have yet been so endued by the celestial Spirit, when they came to great trials, that they have closed the mouths of great doctors, who seemed to understand all oracles. By such evidences God openly proves at this day, that he is the same now as when he formerly endued his servant Micah with a power so rare and so extraordinary. This then is the reason why he says, that he was filled with power.

He afterwards adds, By the Spirit of Jehovah Here the Prophet casts aside every suspicious token of arrogance; lest he should seem to claim anything as his own, he says, that this power was conferred on him from above: and this circumstance ought to be particularly noticed. Though Micah rightly and justly claimed to himself the name of a teacher, he yet had nothing different from others before the world; for all his opponents discharged the same office, and obtained the same honor: the office was common to both parties. Micah was either alone, or connected with Isaiah and a few others. Since then he here dares to set up himself, we see that his call alone must be regarded; for we know how great is the propensity of Satan to oppose the kingdom of Christ, and also how proud and fierce are false teachers. Since then the rage of Satan is well known and the presumption of false teachers, there is no reason why the faithful should make much of mere naked titles: and when they, who lived at that time, declared, as Papists do at this day, that they had no discrimination nor judgment to know, whether of them ought to have been deemed impostors or the ministers of God, inasmuch as Micah was alone and they were many, and also that the others were prophets that at least they had the name and repute of being so, —what was to be done? This was the reason why I have said that this circumstance was worthy of special notice, — that though their vocation was common, yet as they had acted perfidiously, and Micah alone, or with few others, had faithfully performed what the Lord had commanded, he alone is to be deemed a Prophet and

a teacher: in short, there is no reason for false prophets to set up against us a mere coveting, when they cannot prove that they are endued with the Spirit of God. Whosoever then desires to be deemed a servant of God, and a teacher in his Church, must have this seal which Micah here adduces; he must be endued with the Spirit of God; honor then will be given to God. But if any one brings nothing but the name, we see how vain before God it is.

He afterwards subjoins With judgment and courage. (fortitudine ) By judgment, I have no doubt, he understands discernment, as this is also the common meaning of the word. He then adds courage These two things are especially necessary for all ministers of the word, — that is, to excel in wisdom, to understand what is true and right, and to be also endued with inflexible firmness, by which they may overcome both Satan and the whole world, and never turn aside from their course, though the devil may in all ways assail them. We hence see what these two words import. He had put כח, kech, first, power; but now he mentions גבורה, gebure, courage or magnanimity. By the term, power, he meant generally all the endowments, with which all who take upon them the office of teaching ought to be adorned. This qualification is then first required, and it is a general one: but Micah divides this power of the prophets into two kinds, even into wisdom or judgment, and into courage; and he did this, that they might understand what God intended: Let them excel in doctrine; and then that they may be confirmed, let them not yield to any gales that may blow, nor be overcome by threats and terrors; let them not bend here and there to please the world; in a word, let them not succumb to any corruptions: it is therefore necessary to add courage to judgment.

He then adds, To declare to Jacob his wickedness, (106) and to Israel his sin. We here see that the Prophet did not hunt for the favor of the people. Had he courted their approbation, he must have soothed with flatteries those who sought flatteries; and were already seized with such hatred and malignant feelings, that they had rejected Micah. He must then have spoken softly to them, to please them; but this he did not do. “On the one hand,” he says, “these men sell to you their blessings and deceive you with the hope of peace; and, on the other, they denounce war, except their voracity is satisfied; and thus it is that they please you; for so ye wish, and ye seek such teachers as will promise you wine and strong drink: but I am sent to you for another purpose; for the Lord has not deposited flatteries with me, such as may be pleasant to you; but he has deposited reproofs and threatenings. I shall therefore uncover your crimes, and will not hesitate to condemn you before the whole world, for ye deserve to be thus treated.” We now perceive why the Prophet says, that he was endued with power to declare his wickedness to Jacob, etc.

But we hence learn how necessary it is for us to be supported by celestial firmness, when we have to do with insincere and wicked men; and this is almost the common and uniform lot of all God’s servants; for all who are sent to teach the word are sent to carry on a contest. It is therefore not enough to teach faithfully what God commands, except we also contend: and though the wicked may violently rise up against us, we must yet put on a brazen front, as it is said in Ezekiel 3:8; nor must we yield to their fury, but preserve invincible firmness. Since then we have a contest

with the devil, with the world, and with all the wicked, that we may faithfully execute our office, we must be furnished with this courage of which Micah speaks.

As I have already shown that God’s servants ought courageously to break through all those obstacles by which Satan may attempt either to delay or to force them backward; so also the doctrine taught here ought to be applied to all the godly: they ought wisely to distinguish between the faithful servants of God and impostors who falsely pretend his name. Then no one, who desires truly and from the heart to obey God, will be deceived; for the Lord will ever give the spirit of judgment and discrimination. And the reason why at this day many miserable souls are led to endless ruin is, because they either shut their eyes, or willfully dissemble, or designedly involve themselves in such subterfuges as these, — “I cannot form any judgment; I see on both sides learned and celebrated men, at least those who are in some repute and esteem: some call me to the right hand, and others to the left, where am I to retake myself? I therefore prefer to close my mouth and my ears.” Thus many, seeking a cloak for their sloth, often manifest their ignorance: for we see that the eyes must be opened when the Lord exercises and tries our faith: and he suffers discords and contentions to arise in the Church that some may choose this, and others that. Though God then relaxes the reins of Satan, that contests and turmoils of this kind may be excited in the Church, there is yet no excuse for us, if we follow not what the Lord prescribes; for he will ever guide us by his Spirit, provided we foster not our own slothfulness. It follows—

COFFMA, "Verse 8"But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin."

The parallelism in the last two phrases, where Israel and Jacob are used synonymously, is similar to that in Micah 3:1.

Micah dared to make in this verse a declaration that is unsurpassed, even in the Bible, for sheer confidence and boldness. The validity of his words for millenniums has vindicated what he said. "The particular form of the declaration is without parallel in the Old Testament. There is no other first-person claim like it. The nearest parallel in time and language is Jeremiah 6:11."[12] The three precious God-given gifts in Micah's endowment were power, judgment, and might. He spake through the influence of God's Holy Spirit, contrasting with the speech of the false prophets who were liars, declaring evil to be good, and good evil. If one supposes that the old satanic device of speaking religious lies and reversing the divine value-judgments of what is good or evil has perished from the earth, such a person is most tragically mistaken and deceived.

COSTABLE, "In contrast to the false prophets who were full of greed (cf. Acts 5:3), Micah claimed to be full of spiritual power (not ecstasy) as a result of God"s Spirit. He virtually claimed that his prophecies were inspired. This statement also implies that Micah experienced continuous empowerment by the Holy Spirit as a prophet (cf. Ezekiel 2:2; Ezekiel 3:12; Ezekiel 3:14). Whereas the Spirit empowered

some Old Testament servants of the Lord only temporarily (cf. Judges 3:10; Judges 6:34; Judges 11:29; Judges 13:25; Judges 14:6; Judges 14:19; Judges 15:14; 1 Samuel 16:14), He apparently empowered others, including most of the writing prophets, more or less continuously (cf. umbers 11:17; 1 Samuel 11:6; 1 Samuel 16:13). [ote: See Wood, The Prophets of Israel, pp87-90.] Micah followed the will of God, and God"s Spirit filled him (cf. Ephesians 5:18). Justice marked his pronouncements (cf. Micah 3:1-3; Micah 3:5) and courage his ministry (cf. Micah 3:4; Micah 3:6-7; cf. Acts 4:13). He did not tailor his prophecies to his honorarium or fear what people might withhold from him if his message was negative (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:2-6). His ministry was to declare the sins of the Israelites (as well as their future hope), and he fulfilled it faithfully and boldly.

TRAPP, "Verse 8Micah 3:8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

Ver. 8. But truly I am full of power] But doth it become the prophet thus to praise himself? Laus proprio sordescit in ore: and those who vaunt most have often the least courage; as those creatures who have the greatest hearts of flesh are the most timorous; as the stag, panther, hare. For answer, it must be considered that the prophet speaketh not here of his own good parts, out of a vain glorious humour (it was enough for him that he was "all glorious within," Psalms 45:13, virtusque sue contenta theatre est), but to separate himself from those false prophets aforementioned, and to assert his calling by his qualifications, as doth likewise St Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:1-13, to those who sought a proof of Christ speaking in him. The word rendered But, truly signifies, All which notwithstanding: q.d. Albeit there is such a general defection from God, and such unfaithfulness in the prophets of these times, yet I am full of power, lively and lusty, vigorous and vivacious.

By the spirit of the Lord] That noble spirit, as David calleth him, Psalms 51:12, that spirit "of power, of love, and of a sound mind" (as Paul, 2 Timothy 1:7), that putteth spiritual mettle into the soul, and steeleth it against all opposition. And truly if the Spirit put not vigour into us how dead and fiat are our duties and all ordinances, like liquor that hath lost its spirits! there is as much difference many times as between cold water and aqua vitae, water of life.

And of judgment] To discern things that differ, to time a word, as the prophet Isaiah hath it, Isaiah 50:4, and to teach things profitable and proper to my auditors (not as he in the emblem, that gave straw to the dog and a bone to the ass; or as those false prophets, who spake good of evil and evil of good), and wisely to distinguish between law and gospel in praxi; which whoso can do let him thank God, saith Luther, and let him know that he is a divine indeed; gratias agat Deo, et sciat se esse Theologum (Luth.).

And of might] Or, of manhood, virtue, prevalence against an adversary, patience under whatsoever cross occurrences for the truth’s sake, and for my plain dealing. A minister had need be a man every inch of him; and to play the man ανδριζεσθε, 1 Corinthians 16:13, yea, as the good soldier of Jesus Christ, to suffer hardship; being "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." He must be like the diamond in the high priest’s breastplate for hardness and hardiness, as of Athanasius azianzen testifieth that he was Magnes et Adamas, both a lodestone, for his loveliness and humility, and an adamant, for his resolute stoutness and magnanimity against those that were evil.

To declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin] To tell them of their wickedness with the same liberty that they commit it. See here the true picture of a preacher, both how he must be gifted, and how deeded. A thankless office it is with the world to be thus bold and busy; and very many ministers affect to be counted no meddlers: they think it enough to preach toothless truths, and not to incur the displeasure of people by telling them of their transgressions and God’s judgments. But this is not the garb and guise of those that are sent and gifted by God. See Ezekiel 3:1-27, Ezekiel 33:1-33

WHEDO, "Verse 8In Micah 3:8 Micah contrasts himself with the mercenary prophets.

Spirit — He is animated by a higher spiritual force than they; he is under the influence of the Divine Spirit (see on Joel 2:28).

Power — Authority, strength, and courage to withstand the popular clamor.

Judgment — A keen moral sense that enables him to see what is right and true; he does not call evil good or black white (compare Isaiah 5:20).

Might — Manliness, courage. He remains unmoved by flattery or threat, by gain or loss; he stands firmly for what he considers right and true. Hence he does and forever will, in spite of false prophets, fearlessly expose sin and apostasy.

Some commentators are inclined to omit “by the spirit” as a later gloss, on account of its peculiar position in the sentence and its grammatical construction. There may be good reason for this omission, but this would not affect the thought of the verse, since the virtues named are, in other passages, traced to the influence of the Divine Spirit (see on Joel 2:28; compare Isaiah 11:2).

BESO, "Micah 3:8. Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord — Here Micah speaks of himself by way of contrast to the false prophets, and declares that he was filled with a divine prophetic influence, and not with dainties, wine, and strong drink, like those false pretenders to prophecy; and of judgment — To discern truth from error, right from wrong, and to judge properly of times and seasons, and

improve them accordingly. And of might — Of courage, constancy, and resolution to speak whatever God commands me, without being deterred from it by the fear of any one, however great, or in whatever station.

PETT, "Micah 3:8

‘But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of YHWH, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.’In contrast Micah will have answers for them. For he is not in darkness. He is full of power by the Spirit of YHWH, he is full of right judgment and of might, which is why he can declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

Micah has no doubt that YHWH is with him. He knows that YHWH’s Spirit is empowering him. And he knows that the teaching that he brings is from YHWH. It is true spiritual judgment. Furthermore he knows that he brings it in the power of YHWH. And unlike the other prophets he does not utter platitudes and what people want to hear, he speaks of transgression and sin, precisely what they do not want to hear, and he does it because that is the burden of the Spirit Who is within him..

SIMEO, "MIISTERIAL FIDELITY

Micah 3:8. Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

TO all God’s servants this command is given: “He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully [ote: Jeremiah 23:28.];” and “deliver it they must, whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear [ote: Ezekiel 2:7.].” The prophets have set us a noble example in this respect: and the Prophet Micah in particular.

Let us mark,

I. What the sins were which he was commissioned to reprove—

Most grievous was the state of the Jewish people in his day—

[All ranks and orders of men, from the highest to the lowest, were addicted to covetousness, and were ready to commit every species of iniquity for gain; princes, priests, judges, prophets, all were guilty of the grossest injustice, and made use of their respective offices only for the purpose of accumulating wealth. At the same time they professed a firm reliance upon God, and anticipated nothing but good at his hands [ote: ver. 9–11. Cite the whole of this.] — — —]

And there is but too much ground for similar complaints amongst us—

[True, the conduct of our governors and judges is the very reverse of that which the prophet here imputes to the Jews. I suppose that greater integrity is not to be found on earth, than in those who hold the government, and dispense justice, and minister

in holy things, amongst us; and we have abundant reason to bless God for the high tone of morals which prevails amongst them. But, if we descend to common life, we find all the same iniquities abounding in our land as were complained of by the prophet in his day. Covetousness and injustice prevail to a fearful extent amongst us, as do indeed the whole catalogue of sins forbidden in the Decalogue — — — And precisely the same self-delusion is cherished in almost every bosom. “We lean upon the Lord,” just as the Jews did; and persuade ourselves that “no evil shall come upon us.” “God is merciful,” is a sufficient answer to every threatening contained in God’s word. As for his justice, or holiness, or truth, no regard whatever is paid to them: all are superseded, all are swallowed up in the one attribute of mercy; and no room is left for the exercise of any perfection that shall interfere with the happiness of an impenitent transgressor. As to “be a child of Abraham” was with the Jews a sufficient security from God’s wrath [ote: Matthew 3:9.]; so, amongst us, is baptism into the faith of Christ: we cannot perish, because we are Christians.]

Let us however notice,

II. The manner in which he administered his reproof—

“He was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord:” for he and all the other “Prophets spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost [ote: 1 Peter 1:11 and 2 Peter 1:21.].” With judgment, too, and with might, was he filled; so that, in all his reproofs, he shewed unquestionably that he was speaking under a divine impulse. And I too, my brethren, would execute my commission even as he did. With a mixture of tenderness and fidelity, “I pray you then, my brethren,” bear with me, whilst, under the influence of God’s Holy Spirit, I endeavour to shew you the folly of your ways.

1. Can you impose on God?

[You can, and do, deceive your own souls, and persuade yourselves that you have nothing to fear at the hands of an angry God. But if you make light of sin, can you convince Jehovah that it is so venial a thing as you make it, or that you have not committed it to an extent to merit his displeasure? — — —]

2. Can you prevail on God to cancel and reverse the threatenings of his word?

[See if you can prevail on him to change day into night, or to alter for you any of the common laws of nature: and if you cannot prevail in things which would involve no contradiction, how can you hope to obtain a revocation of his word, which would involve in it a sacrifice of truth itself? For, I scruple not to say, that to hope for heaven in an impenitent and unbelieving state, is to “make God a liar [ote: 1 John 5:10.]” — — —]

Can you, when your self-delusions have ruined you, come back again to rectify your errors?

[Verily, between God and the soul that perishes in its sins, there is a great gulf fixed,

a gulf that never can be passed. The soul that has once passed into the eternal world has its state for ever fixed; and the man who dies impenitent will bewail his folly in irremediable and everlasting misery.

I ask then, Is it wise to continue in sin, saying, “o evil can come upon me?” — —— ot that I would dissuade you from “leaning upon God;” but only from leaning upon him in a way which he has never authorized; and from expecting at his hands what he has never promised, and what he cannot give without violating his most solemn declarations. Repent of sin, believe in Christ, and obey the commandments of your God; and then let your confidence be as strong as you please. Then will I also assure you, that God shall be with you of a truth, and that to all eternity shall no evil ever come upon you — — —]

PULPIT, "Micah contrasts his own powers and acts with those of the false prophets. I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Micah asserts that he speaks and sots by the direct inspiration of God; he claims three gifts bestowed upon him by the Holy Spirit to enable him to effect his purpose. The first of these is "power,"—such might imparted to him that his words fall with force and proclaim their Divine origin (comp. Luke 1:17; Acts 1:8). The second gift is judgment—the righteous judgment of God; this fills his mind and comprises all his message. The third gift is might, i.e. a holy courage that enables him to face any danger in delivering his testimony. In these points he is in strong contrast to the false prophets, who were not inspired by the Spirit of God. spoke not with power, called good evil, and evil good, were timid and time-serving. Jacob … Israel. The two are identical as in verse 1, and the clauses in which they occur contain the same thought repeated for emphasis' sake.

BI, "But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of Judgment, and of might

The prophetic endowment

The three gifts, power, judgment, might, are the fruits of the one Spirit of God, through whom the prophet was filled with them.Of these, power is always strength residing in the person, whether it be the “power, or might of wisdom” of Almighty God Himself, or power which He imparts or implants. But it is always power lodged in the person, to be put forth on him. Here it is Divine power, given through God the Holy Ghost, to accomplish that for which He was sent. “Judgment” is, from its form, not so much discernment in the human being as “the thing judged,” pronounced by God, the righteous judgment of God, and righteous judgment in man conformably therewith. “Might” is courage or boldness to deliver the message of God; not awed or hindered by any adversaries. “Whoso is so strengthened and arrayed uttereth fiery words, whereby hearers’ hearts are moved and changed. But whoso speaketh of his own mind doth good neither to himself nor others.” So then, of these three gifts, power expresses the Divine might lodged in him; judgment, the substance of what he had to deliver; might or courage, the strength to deliver it in face of human power, persecution, ridicule, death. These gifts the prophets know are not their own, but are from the Spirit of God, and are by Him inspired into them. Such was the spirit of Elijah, of John Baptist, of Paul, of the apostles. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)

The Holy Spirit the Author of all ministerial qualifications

The work of the ministry is the most arduous, the most important, the most honourable work in which a man can be engaged. Arduous, because it requires constant diligence, watch fulness, zeal, and perseverance. Important, because it involves the eternal interests of man. Honourable, because it is the work of God, and in the due discharge of it the glory of God is most promoted.

I. The minister’s appointment. This is not of man, but of God; of God the Holy Spirit. God has set apart certain persons to this office, who from time to time, as the services of His Church require, are raised up, converted, qualified, and sent for this office. Jesus sends His ministers whither He Himself will come. All the qualifications of ministers for their office are of God, both gifts and graces. Ministers are men of God sent from God to work for God, and bring sinners to God.

I. Their faithfulness in the discharge of their holy duties is of God the Holy Spirit. The first ministers were commanded to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were endued with “power from on high” (Act_1:8). The prophets under the Old Testament and all the ministers of Christ in the present day have been and are equally indebted to this gracious operation. Nor can we be surprised at this, when the blessed Saviour Himself is represented in His mediatorial character as qualified and sustained by the Holy Ghost. Ministers know not what to preach, except as the Holy Spirit teaches them.

III. That ministers’ success is of the spirit. And this Spirit is poured out just in proportion as Christ is preached. Learn—

1. Where to look for a blessing. All our fresh springs are in Jesus.

2. Ask whether the Lord is among us or not?

3. To whom we should give the glory, all the glory, for any benefit that we at any time receive from the ministry. (R. Simpson, M. A.)

The true prophet

It is supposed that this chapter belongs to the reign of Hezekiah; if so, the mournful state of matters which it depicts cannot have begun until towards its close. These words lead us to consider the true prophet.

I. The work of a true prophet. “To declare unto Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.” It is a characteristic of all true prophets that they have a keen moral sense to discern wrong, to loathe it, and to burn at it. No man is a true prophet who is not roused to thunder by the wrong. Where have we men now to “declare unto Jacob his transgression, and unto Israel his sin”?

1. This is a painful work. It will incur the disfavour of some and rouse the antagonism of the delinquents.

2. This is an urgent work. No work is more needed in England to day. To expose wrong goes a great way towards its extinction. St. Peter on the day of Pentecost charged home the terrible crime of the crucifixion to the men he addressed!

II. The power of a true prophet. “Truly, I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment and of might.” There is no egotism in this. A powerful man knows his power

and will ascribe it to the right source—the “Spirit of the Lord.” His power was moral; it was the might of conscience, moral conviction of invincible sympathy with eternal right and truth. This is a very different power to that of mere intellect, imagina tion, or what is called genius. It is higher, more creditable, more influential, more Godlike.

III. The fidelity of a true prophet. This is seen here in three things—

1. In the class he denounces. “Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, princes of the house of Israel.” He struck at the higher classes of life.

2. The prophet’s fidelity is seen in the charges he makes. “They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.”

(1) He charges them with extortionate cruelty.

(2) With base mercenariness.

Money was the motive power of all. The prophet’s faithfulness is seen—

3. In the doom he proclaims. The reference may be to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. (Homilist.)

A faithful prophet

During the Chartist agitation many of Kingsley’s friends and relations tried to withdraw him from the people’s cause, fearful lest his prospects in life might be seriously prejudiced; but to all of them he turned a deaf ear, and in writing to his wife on the subject he says: “I will not be a liar. I will speak in season and out of season. I will not shun to declare the whole counsel of God. My path is clear, and I will follow in it,” (A. Bell, B. A.)

Showing the transgression

The great power of Charles G. Finney in dealing with awakened souls consisted in this: he used to pin a man down to his favourite sins, and say to him: “Are you willing to give up this in order to obey Christ?” At that decisive point came the defeat or victory. He once knelt down beside an inquirer, and as he enumerated various sins the man responded that he would surrender them. At length Mr. Finney said: “I agree to serve God in my business.” The man was silent. “What is the matter?” said Mr. F. kindly; “can you not do that?. . .No,” stammered the poor fellow; “I am in the liquor trade.” And in it he continued. He rose from his knees and went back to his cursed business, with a fresh weight of guilt upon his head.

9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel,

who despise justice and distort all that is right;

BARES. "Hear this, I pray you - The prophet discharges upon them that “judgment” whereof, by the Spirit of God, he was full, and which they “abhorred; judgment” against their perversion of judgment. He rebukes the same classes as before “the heads and judges” Mic_3:1, yet still more sternly. They abhorred judgment, he says, as a thing loathsome and abominable, such as men cannot bear even to look upon; they not only dealt wrongly, but they “perverted, distorted, all equity:” “that so there should not remain even some slight justice in the city” . “All equity;” all of every sort, right, rectitude, uprightness, straight-forwardness, whatever was right by natural conscience or by God’s law, they distorted, like the sophists making the worse appear the better cause. Naked violence crushes the individual; perversion of equity destroys the fountain-head of justice. The prophet turns from them in these words, as one who could not bear to look upon their misdeeds, and who would not speak to them; “they pervert;” building; “her heads, her priests, her prophets;” as Elisha, but for the presence of Jehoshaphat, would not look on Jehoram, nor see him 2Ki_3:14. He first turns and speaks of them, as one man, as if they were all one in evil;

CLARKE, "Hear this - An appeal similar to that in Mic_3:1.

GILL, "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 Mic_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.

HERY, " The prophet exerts this power in dealing with the heads of the house of Jacob, both the princes and the prophets, whom he had drawn up a high charge against in the former part of the chapter. He repeats the summons of their attendance and attention (Mic_3:9), the same that we had Mic_3:1, directing himself to the princes of the house of Israel, yet he means those of Judah; for it appears (Jer_26:18, Jer_26:19, where Mic_3:12 is quoted) that this was spoken in Hezekiah's kingdom; but, the ten tribes being gone into captivity, Judah is all that is now left of Jacob and Israel. The prophet speaks respectfully to them (hear, I pray you) and gives them their titles of heads and princes. Ministers must be faithful to great men in reproving them for their

sins, but they must not be rude and uncivil to them. Now observe here,

JAMISO, "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).

K&D 9-11, "Third strophe. - Mic_3:9. “Hear this, I pray, O he heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, who abhor right, and bend all that is straight.Mic_3:10. Building Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Mic_3:11. Their heads, they judge for reward; and their priests, they teach for hire; and their prophets, they divine for money, and lean upon Jehovah, saying, Is not Jehovah among us? evil will not come upon us.” With the words “Hear this, I pray,” the address returns to its starting-point in Mic_3:1, but only to announce to the leaders of the people the threat of punishment for which the way has been prepared by Mic_3:2-7. To this end their God-forgetting conduct is briefly summed up once more in Mic_3:10, Mic_3:11. The summons to hear is really attached to the end of Mic_3:8. They are to hear the sin of Jacob (Mic_3:9-11); but they are also to hear the punishment for their sin, to which the word “this” points. The civil rulers only are addressed in Mic_3:9, - namely, those who were charged with the administration of justice and of the affairs of the state, but who did the very opposite, who abhorred justice, and made the straight crooked, because they passed sentence for bribes (Mic_3:11). They thereby build Zion with blood, etc., i.e., obtain the means of erecting splendid buildings by cruel extortions, and partly also by actual judicial murders, as Ahab (1 Kings 21 compared with Mic_6:16), and after him Jehoiakim, had done (Jer_22:13-17). The Chaldeans built with blood in a different sense

(Hab_2:12). The participle bōneh (building) is also in apposition to râ'shē�bēth (heads of the house, etc.), and the singular without the article is to be taken collectively. They do not, however, truly build the city by this, they simply labour for its destruction (Mic_3:12). But before saying this, Micah once more sums up briefly all the sins of the leading ranks. The teaching of the priests for reward refers to the fact that they had to give instruction as to the ritual requirements of the law, and were to do this gratuitously (cf. Lev_10:11; Deu_17:11; Deu_33:10), and that in disputed cases the judges were to pronounce sentence accordingly. At the same time, these men (not the prophets merely, but also the priests and the heads of the nation as the administrators of justice) placed their reliance upon Jehovah, upon the assurance that He was in the midst of them enthroned in His temple at Jerusalem, and that He would protect the city and its inhabitants from misfortune, without ever reflecting that Jehovah as the Holy One demands sanctification of life, and exterminates the sinners out of His people.

CALVI, "The Prophet begins really to prove what he had stated, — that he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: and it was, as they say, an actual proof, when the Prophet dreaded no worldly power, but boldly addressed the princes and provoked their rage against him, Hear, he says,ye heads, ye rulers of the house of Jacob, ye men who are cruel, bloody, and iniquitous. We then see that the Prophet had not boasted of what he did not without delay really confirm. But he began with saying, that he was filled with the Spirit of God, that he might more freely address them, and that he might check their insolence. We indeed know that the ungodly are

so led on headlong by Satan, that they hesitate not to resist God himself: but yet the name of God is often to them a sort of a hidden chain. However much then the wicked may rage, they yet become less ferocious when the name of God is introduced. This is the reason why the Prophet had mentioned the Spirit of God; it was, that there might be a freer course to his doctrine.

When he now says, Ye heads of the house of Jacob, ye rulers of the house of Israel, it is by way of concession, as though he had said, that these were indeed splendid titles, and that he was not so absurd as not to acknowledge what had been given them by God, even that they were eminent, a chosen race, being the children of Abraham. The Prophet then concedes to the princes what belonged to them, as though he had said, that he was not a seditious man, who had no care nor consideration for civil order. And this defense was very necessary, for nothing is more common than for the ungodly to charge God’s servants with sedition, whenever they use a freedom of speech as it becomes them. Hence all who govern the state, when they hear their corruptions reproved, or their avarice, or their cruelty, or any of their other crimes, immediately cry out, — “What! if we suffer these things, every thing will be upset: for when all respect is gone, what will follow but brutal outrage? for every one of the common people will rise up against the magistrates and the judges.” Thus then the wicked ever say, that God’s servants are seditious whenever they boldly reprove them. This is the reason why the Prophet concedes to the princes and judges of the people their honor; but a qualifying clause immediately follows, — Ye are indeed the heads, ye are rulers; but yet they hate judgment: ” he does not think them worthy of being any longer addressed. He had indeed bidden them to hear as with authority; but having ordered them to hear, he now uncovers their wickedness, They hate, he says, judgments and all rectitude pervert: (108) each of them builds Zion by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity; that is, they turn their pillages into buildings: “This, forsooth, is the splendor of my holy city even of Zion! where I designed the ark of my covenant to be placed, as in my only habitation, even there buildings are seen constructed by blood and by plunder! See, he says, how wickedly these princes conduct themselves under the cover of their dignity!” (109)

We now see that the word of God is not bound, but that it puts forth its power against the highest as well as the lowest; for it is the Spirit’s office to arraign the whole world, and not a part only.

‘When the Spirit shall come,’ says Christ,‘it will convince the world,’ (John 16:8.)

He speaks not there of the common people only, but of the whole world, of which princes and magistrates form a prominent part. Let us then know, that though we ought to show respect to judges, (as the Lord has honored them with dignified titles, calling them his vicegerents and also gods,) yet the mouths of Prophets ought not to be closed; but they ought, without making any difference, to correct whatever is deserving of reproof, and not to spare even the chief men themselves. This is what ought in the first place to be observed.

o render judgment hateful, (or, abominable,) And distort everything that is right, or more literally, And make crooked everything that is straight.

— Ed.

It may be asked, What is the difference between Zion and Jerusalem? Zion was the church, Jerusalem was the state; or it may be, that, according to the usual style of the Prophets, the more limited idea is given first, and the more extensive one is added to it. — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 9"Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel that abhor justice, and pervert all equity."

"The general picture of a corrupt society given here by Micah agrees well with that presented by Isaiah for the south and by Amos and Hosea for the north."[13] There was a conscious widening of Micah's indictment in this verse. "In the first section (Micah 3:1-4), he had the courts in mind; here he includes them, but only as a part of a wider indictment."[14] Drawing upon Isaiah 3, Allen included the following as composing, "the Judean establishment that held in their hands the reins of society.:

"Generals and professional soldiers, judges, prophets, elders, army captains, aristocrats, counselors, sorcerers, priests, and soothsayers."[15]

TRAPP, "Verse 9Micah 3:9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

Ver. 9. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads, &c.] He had had a bout with them before; but because little good was thereby done, he is at them again; according to that counsel of the wise man, Ecclesiastes 11:6, "In the morning sow thy seed, in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not," &c. "Preach the word," saith the apostle, "be instant" (or stand over the work, επιστηθι) "in season, out of season," 2 Timothy 4:2. Chrysostom told his Antiochians, that he would never give over preaching against that sin of swearing till they gave over their swearing; which, because he could not get them to do, he breaks out into these words, It will be a hard speech unto you, but I will speak it: though there be so many thousands of you, yet there cannot be found a hundred that shall be saved; and I tell you true, I doubt of them too.

Ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel] As bad as they were he gives them their titles. The devil also is to have his due; he is called by the Holy Ghost "Prince of the air," and his angels are styled "principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world," Ephesians 6:12. {See Trapp on "Micah 3:1"}

That abhor judgment] They were not only ignorant of it, Micah 3:1, but abhorred it; and therefore abhorred it because they knew it not. Plato could say, that if moral virtue could be beheld with mortal eyes it would attract all hearts to itself. "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, spake evil of those things that they understood not," 2 Peter 2:12, and "what they knew naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupted themselves," 1:10; being carried away by their impetuous and imperious lusts, they not only did that which was evil, but also hated the light of the law that reproved and sentenced them; licensing others by their practice, at least, to do the like. Such Centaurs and Cyclopes were these princes of Israel grown; such Heteroclites these heads of the house of Jacob. "The whole head was sick," Isaiah 1:5, the rulers were a scab, Isaiah 5:7. The Lord "looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry." They had made the age not unlike that under ero, wherein nothing almost was unlawful; but villany was acted by authority (Dio Cassius).

And pervert all equity] Heb. they pervert, &c. It is spoken to others, in token of abomination; see the like, Genesis 49:4, with the note. ow equity or rectitude is perverted, when the guilty are acquitted and the innocent condemned, see Isaiah 5:20; Isaiah 5:23, when there is accepting of persons. and receiving of gifts,

WHEDO, "Verses 9-11Renewed condemnation of the nation’s religious and political leaders — Doom of Jerusalem, Micah 3:9-12.

After the direct denunciation of the prophets, Micah sums up the sins and crimes which may be laid to the charge of nobles, priests, and prophets, and announces the utter destruction of Jerusalem.

Micah 3:9-10 are addressed exclusively to the “heads” and “princes” (R.V., “rulers”) of the nation, whose duty it was to administer justice. It is worthy of notice that not one word is said in condemnation of the king. This silence concerning the king may be due to the fact that the prophecy was uttered at a time when a king in sympathy with the prophetic teaching was upon the throne, namely, Hezekiah (compare Jeremiah 26:17-19; 2 Kings 18:3-4). The “heads,” instead of administering justice, abhorred and perverted it. How they did this is stated in Micah 3:11. The capital owed its splendor and magnificence very largely to the crimes condemned in Micah 3:9.

Blood — Blood-guiltiness (Isaiah 1:15; compare G.-K., 124n) that is, “violent conduct leading to the ruin of others.” By extortion and other illegitimate means they secured the material needed for the erection of palaces and other majestic structures. The last clause repeats the same thought for the sake of emphasis. Micah 3:11 contrasts the conduct of the rulers, priests, and prophets with their religious professions; and so it contains a summary of all the accusations uttered in the preceding verses, and paves the way for the announcement of doom in Micah 3:12.

Reward — Better, bribe. All the eighth century prophets find it necessary to preach against corruption of this sort (see on Amos 5:12; compare Isaiah 1:23; Micah 7:3).

The priests… teach for hire — It was the duty of the priests to teach the Torah (see on Hosea 4:4 ff., especially Micah 3:6) and to give judgment in difficult legal cases; this they were to do uninfluenced by any personal consideration (Deuteronomy 17:11); but in time the priests became unfaithful, and the question of reward played an important part in the discharge of their duties.

Divine for money — See on Micah 3:5.

Lean upon Jehovah — In the face of this moral depravity rulers, priests, and prophets claimed to be entitled to the favor and protection of Jehovah.

Is not Jehovah among us? — In their opinion the prophet of judgment was a fanatic, a fool; they were convinced that, since Jehovah was on their side, no evil could befall them (see introductory remarks to Amos 3:1 to Amos 4:3; Amos 3:2; Amos 5:14). The mass of people might, perhaps, be excused for laboring under a misapprehension, but not so the leaders; they should have known that Jehovah demands holiness of heart and life rather than a painstaking ritual service.

BESO, "Verses 9-11Micah 3:9-11. Hear this, ye heads of the house of Jacob, &c. — This address to the great men, shows the prophet’s courage and impartiality. That abhor judgment, &c. — Who do not love to pass a right judgment in matters that come before you, because you make no advantage to yourselves by so doing; but covet to have large bribes given you, to pervert equity, and make wrong decisions. They build up Zion with blood, &c. — Who build houses with the riches gotten by violence, and by the condemnation of the innocent. The heads thereof judge for reward — The judges pass sentence, not according to the right of the case, but according as they have been bribed. The priests thereof teach for hire — The priests for the sake of lucre teach those things which are agreeable to the kings and people, and not what God hath commanded to be taught. It was the duty of the priests to instruct the people, as well as to attend upon the service of the temple; for which cause they had cities allotted to them in all parts of the land: but, not being content with that plentiful revenue which the law allowed them, they made a corrupt gain of their office. And the prophets divine for money — This is to be understood of the false prophets. Yet will they lean upon the Lord — Pretend to trust in him, and expect his favour, protection, and blessing. And say, Is not the Lord among us — As our God and our shield? one evil — Such as war, famine, and captivity, can come upon us — While we have him with us to defend and help us.

PETT, "Verses 9-12He Summarises The Situation In The Land And Declares What will Come Upon Them As A Result (Micah 3:9-12).

Micah now advises the corrupt leaders of their sins and of what is coming on them because of them. And yet he also comments on the fact that in spite of their behaviour, they actually claim to lean on YHWH and genuinely consider that nothing can happen to them because YHWH is among them. Well, he says, let them consider this fact, that because of what they are YHWH is intending to plough up Zion like a ploughed field, to turn Jerusalem into heaps, as He had done Samaria, and to make the mountain of YHWH’s house like the high places in the forests. This latter may mean that it will be ravaged like the high places had been ravaged by Hezekiah’s reforms, or that it will simply be seen as another false place of idolatry.

Micah 3:9

‘Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.

PULPIT, "The prophet exemplifies his courage by delivering in full the denunciation with which he commenced (Micah 3:1 : see note there). Hear this. What follows. Pervert all equity. Ye, who by your position ought to be models and guardians of justice and equity, violate all laws, human and Divine, make the straight crooked, distort every notion of right (comp. Isaiah 59:8).

10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.

BARES. "They build up - (literally, building, sing.) Zion with blood This may be taken literally on both sides, that, the rich built their palaces, “with wealth gotten by bloodshed , by rapine of the poor, by slaughter of the saints,” as Ezekiel says, ‘her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves, to shed blood, to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain’ Eze_22:27. Or by blood he may mean that they indirectly took away life, in that, through wrong judgments, extortion, usury, fraud, oppression, reducing wages or detaining them, they took away what was necessary to support life. So it is said; ‘The bread of the needy is their life, he that defraudeth him thereof is a man of blood. He that taketh away his neighbor’s living slayeth him, and he that defraudeth the laborer of his hire is a bloodshedder’ (Ecclus. 34:21, 22). Or it may be, that as David prayed to God, ‘Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem, asking Him thereby to maintain or increase its well-

being’ Psa_51:18, so these men thought to promote the temporal prosperity of Jerusalem by doings which were unjust, oppressive, crushing to their inferiors.

So Solomon, in His degenerate days, made the yoke upon his people and his service grievious 1Ki_12:4. So ambitious monarchs by large standing-armies or filling their exchequers drain the life-blood of their people. The physical condition and stature of the poorer population in much of France was lowered permanently by the conscriptions under the first Emperor. In our wealthy nation, the term poverty describes a condition of other days. We have had to coin a new name to designate the misery, offspring of our material prosperity. From our wealthy towns, (as from those of Flanders,) ascends to heaven against us , “the cry of ‘pauperism’ that is, the cry of distress, arrived at a condition of system and of power, and, by an unexpected curse, issuing from the very development of wealth. The political economy of unbelief has been crushed by facts on all the theaters of human activity and industry.”

Truly we “build up Zion with blood,” when we cheapen luxuries and comforts at the price of souls, use Christian toil like brute strength, tempt men to dishonesty and women to other sin, to eke out the scanty wages which alone our selfish thirst for cheapness allows, heedless of every thing save of our individual gratification, or the commercial prosperity, which we have made our god. Most awfully was “Zion built with blood,” when the Jews shed the innocent Blood, that Joh_11:48 the Romans might not take away their place and nation. But since He has said, “Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it not unto Me” Mat_25:45, and, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” Act_9:4, when Saul was persecuting Christ’s members, then, in this waste of lives and of souls, we are not only wasting the Price of His Blood in ourselves and others, but are slaying Christ anew, and that, from the same motives as those who crucified Him 1Co_8:12. When ye sin (against the members, ye sin against Christ. Our commercial greatness is the Price of His Blood Mat_27:6. In the judgments on the Jews, we may read our own national future; in the woe on those through whom the weak brother perishes for whom Christ died 1Co_8:11, we, if we partake or connive at it, may read our own.

CLARKE, "They build up Zion with blood - They might cry out loudly against that butchery practiced by Pekah, king of Israel, and Pul coadjutor of Rezie, against the Jews. See on Mic_2:9 (note). But these were by no means clear themselves; for if they strengthened the city, or decorated the temple, it was by the produce of their exactions and oppressions of the people.

I do not know a text more applicable than this to slave-dealers; or to any who have made their fortunes by such wrongs as affect the life of man; especially the former, who by the gains of this diabolic traffic have built houses etc.; for, following up the prophet’s metaphor, the timbers, etc., are the bones of the hapless Africans; and the mortar, the blood of the defenceless progeny of Ham. What an account must all those who have any hand in or profit from this detestable, degrading, and inhuman traffic, give to Him who will shortly judge the quick and dead!

GILL, "They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Or, "O thou that buildest up" (g), &c. or "everyone of them that buildeth up" (h), &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.''

HERY 10-11, ". The great wickedness that these heads of the house of Jacob were guilty of, princes, priest, and prophets; in short, they were covetous and prostituted their offices to their love of money. (1.) The princes abhorred all judgment; they would not be governed by any of its laws, either in their own practice or in passing sentence upon appeals made to them; they perverted all equity, and scorned to be under the direction or correction of justice, when it could not be made pliable to their secular interests. When, under pretence of doing right, they did the most palpable wrongs, then they perverted equity, and made it serve a purpose contrary to the intention of the founder of magistracy and fountain of power. It is laid to their charge (Mic_3:10) that they build up Zion with blood. “They pretend, in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they build up Zion and Jerusalem; they add new streets and squares to the holy cities, and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think that therein they do God and Israel good service. But it is with blood and with iniquity, and therefore it cannot prosper; nor will their intentions of good to the city of God justify their contradictions to the law of God.” Those mistake who think that a burning zeal for holy church, and the propagating of the faith, will serve to consecrate robberies and murders, massacres and depredations; no, Zion's walls owe those no thanks that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. “The office of the princes is to judge upon appeals made to them; but they judge for reward (Mic_3:11); they give judgment on the side of those that give the bribe; the most righteous cause shall not be carried without a fee, and for a fee the most unrighteous cause shall be carried.” Miserable is the people's case when the judge's enquiry upon a cause is not, “What is to be done in it?” but, “What is to be got by it?” (2.) The priests' work was to teach the people, and for that the law had provided them a very honourable comfortable maintenance; but that will not content them, they teach for hire over and above, and will be hired to teach any thing, as an oracle of God, which they know will please and gain them an interest. (3.) The prophets, it should seem, had honorary fees given them by way of gratuity (1Sa_9:7, 1Sa_9:8); but these prophets governed themselves in their prophesying by the prospect of temporal advantage and that was the main thing they had in their eye: They divine for money.Their tongues were mercenary; they would either prophesy or let it alone, according as they found it most for their advantage; and a man might have what oracle he would from them if he would but pay them for it. Thus they were fit successors of Balaam, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Note, Though that which is wicked can never be consecrated by a zeal for the church, yet that which is sacred may be, and often is, desecrated, by the love of the world. When men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it loses its excellency, and becomes an abomination both to God and man.

2. Their vain presumption and carnal confidence, notwithstanding: They lean upon the Lord, and because they are, in profession, his people, they think there is neither harm nor danger in these their wicked practices. Faith builds upon the Lord, rests in him, and relies upon him, as the soul's foundation; presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, makes use of him to serve a turn, while still the world is the foundation that is built upon. They speak with a great deal of confidence, (1.) Of their honour: “Is

not the Lord among us? Have we not the tokens of his presence with us, his temple, his ark, his lively oracles?” They are haughty because of the holy mountain and its dignities (Zep_3:11), as if their church-privileges would palliate the worst of practices, or as if God's presence with them were intended to make the priests and people rich with the sale of their performances. It was true that the Lord was among them by his ordinances, and this puffed them up with pride; but, if they imagined that he was among them by his favour and love, they were mistaken: but it is a cheat the children of men often put upon themselves to think they have God with them, when they have by their sin provoked him to depart from them. (2.) They are confident of their own safety: No evil can come upon us. Many are rocked asleep; in a fatal security by their church-privileges, as if those would protect them in sin, and shelter them from punishment, which are really, and will be, the greatest aggravations both of their sin and of their punishment. If men's having the Lord among them will not restrain them from doing evil, it can never secure them from suffering evil for so doing; and it is very absurd for sinners to think that their impudence will be their impunity.

JAMISO, "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).

CALVI, "Then when he says, that Zion was built by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity, it is the same as though the Prophet had said, that whatever the great men expended on their palaces had been procured, and, as it were, scraped together from blood and plunder. The judges could not have possibly seized on spoils on every side, without being bloody, that is, without pillaging the poor: for the judges were for the most part corrupted by the rich and the great; and then they destroyed the miserable and the innocent. He then who is corrupted by money will become at the same time a thief; and he will not only extort money, but will also shed blood. There is then no wonder that Micah says, that Zion was built by blood He afterwards extends wider his meaning and mentions iniquity, as he wished to cast off every excuse from hypocrites. The expression is indeed somewhat strong, when he says, that Zion was built by blood. They might have objected and said, that they were not so cruel, though they could not wholly clear themselves from the charge of avarice. “When I speak of blood,” says the Prophet, “there is no reason that we should contend about a name; for all iniquity is blood before God: if then your houses have been built by plunder, your cruelty is sufficiently proved; it is as though miserable and innocent men had been slain by your own hands.” The words, Zion and Jerusalem, enhance their sin; for they polluted the holy city and the mount on which the temple was built by the order and command of God.

COFFMA, "Verse 10"They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity."

The charge here is that the whole capital of the southern Israel was founded upon injustice, violence, trickery, fraud and blood. "Cases like Ahab's judicial murder of

aboth (1 Kings 21) may have become a pattern for building up estates."[16] In the light of the character of Israel's kings, it must be accounted as certain that that is so; as a matter of fact, that is exactly what Micah was saying here.

"Their whole society was built on blood and wrong. Zion and Jerusalem in this verse are synonymous and stand not only for the great and revered capital city but for all of Judea."[17]

COSTABLE, "Verse 10-11He further described his audience of leaders as those who built Jerusalem by sacrificing the lives of innocent people. Micah used "Zion" and "Jerusalem" as synonyms to describe the same place (cf. Micah 3:12; Micah 4:2; Micah 4:8; Psalm 149:2; Isaiah 4:3; Isaiah 40:9; Amos 6:1). However sometimes, as here, Zion carries theological overtones meaning not just the city but what the city represented, namely, the kingdom of God on earth.

The judges gave favorable verdicts to those who bribed them (cf. Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 27:25), and the priests only taught those who would pay them. The prophets likewise only prophesied for a price (cf. Deuteronomy 16:19). Yet they all claimed to trust in the Lord and encouraged themselves with the false hope that since the Lord was among them He would allow no evil to overtake them (cf. Psalm 46:4-5; Jeremiah 7:4).

TRAPP, "Verse 10Micah 3:10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

Ver. 10. They build up Zion with blood] Heb. bloods, that is, with goods gotten by rapine and robbery, to the utter undoing of many poor oppressed, whose livelihood is their life, Mark 12:44, Luke 8:43. How much better Selimus, the Great Turk, who, being upon his death bed moved by Pyrrhus, the basha, to bestow the great wealth taken by him from the Persian merchants upon some notable hospital for relief of the poor, took order that those evil gotten goods should be forthwith restored again to the right owners, to the shame of many Christians who will not be drawn to do so. Our Henry VII, indeed, in his last will and testament, devised and willed restitution should be made of all such moneys as had unjustly been levied by his officers. But how few such princes are to be found! It is held a goodly thing to build Zion, though it be with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. But God, as he will not have ex rapina holocaustum, so he infinitely abhorreth all those who, under pretext of religion in building some poor hospital with the fragments of their accursed wealth, seek to make him a party, a partaker of their cruelty, as those did, Isaiah 66:8; Isaiah 66:4, Mark 7:11, Matthew 23:14. Our Henry III, when he had, after his many great exactions, sent the friar minors a load of frieze (a) to clothe them, had the same sent back again with this message, That he ought not to give alms of what he had rent from the poor, neither would they accept of that abominable gift. Zion is not to be builded or beautified with bloods.

PETT, "Micah 3:10

‘Those who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.’Instead of building up a pure and righteous Zion which would bring honour to YHWH, they are establishing Zion by violence and murder, and building up Jerusalem on total sinfulness. Thus somehow its filth needs to be washed away and its blood purged (Isaiah 4:4)

PULPIT, "They build up Zion with blood. Blood is, as it were, the cement that binds the building together. They raise palaces with money gained by extortion, rapine, and judicial murders like that of aboth (1 Kings 21:1-29.; comp. Jeremiah 22:13, etc.; Ezekiel 22:27; Habakkuk 2:12). Cheyne thinks this to be a too dark view of the state of public morals, and would therefore consider "blood" to be used for violent conduct leading to ruin of others, comparing Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 59:3; Proverbs 1:11. In these passages, however, actual bloodshed may be meant; and we know too little of the moral condition of Judaea at this time to be able to decide against the darker view.

BI 10-11, "Hear this . . . ye heads of the house of Jacob . . . that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity

Rectitude

I. There is an eternal law of “right” that should govern man in all his relations. Right, as a sentiment, is one of the deepest, most ineradicable and operative sentiments in humanity. All men feel that there is such a thing as right. What the right is is a subject on which there has been and is a variety of opinion. Right implies a standard, and men differ about the standard. Some say the law of your country is the standard; some say public sentiment is the standard; some say temporal expediency is the standard. All these are fearfully mistaken. Philosophy and the Bible teach that there is but one standard, that is the will of the Creator. That will He reveals in many ways—in nature, in history, in conscience, in Christ. Conformity to that will is right.

1. The law of Christ should govern man in his relations with God. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” etc.

2. The law of right should govern man in his relation to his fellow men—“Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.” This law of right is immutable. It admits of no modification. It is universal. It is binding alike on all moral beings in the universe. It is benevolent. It seeks the happiness of all.

II. That a practical disregard of this law leads to fraud and violence. “For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.” The magnates of Samaria had no respect for the practice of right, hence they “stored up violence and robbery in their palaces.” Fraud and violence are the two great primary crimes in all social life.

III. That fraud and violence must ultimately meet with condign punishment. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God: An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.” How was this realised? “Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by

the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes” (2Ki_17:3; 2Ki_17:6; 2Ki_18:9-11). The cheats and murderers of mankind will, as sure as there is justice in the world, meet with a terrible doom. “Punishment is the recoil of crime; and the strength of the backstroke is in proportion to the original blow.” (Homilist.).

11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money.Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? o disaster will come upon us.”

BARES. "The heads thereof judge for reward - Every class was corrupted. One sin, the root of all evil 1Ti_6:10, covetousness, entered into all they did. It, not God, was their one end, and so their God. Her heads, the secular authority who Act_23:3 sat to judge according to the law, judged, contrary to the law, “for rewards.” They sat as the representatives of the Majesty of God, in whose Name they judged, whose righteous Judgment and correcting Providence law exhibits and executes, and they profaned it. “To judge for rewards” was in itself sin, forbidden by the law Exo_23:8; Deu_16:19. To refuse justice, unless paid for it, was unjust, degrading to justice. The second sin followed hard upon it, to judge unjustly, absolving the guilty, condemning the innocent, justifying the oppressor, legalizing wrong.

And her priests teach for hire - The Lord was the portion and inheritance Num_18:20; Deu_18:2 of the priest. He had his sustenance assigned him by God, and, therewith, the duty to (Lev_10:10-11, add Deu_17:10-11; Deu_33:10; Hag_2:11 ff) put difference between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean, and to teach all the statutes, which God had commanded. Their lips were to keep knowledge Mal_2:7. This then, which they were bound to give, they sold. But “whereas it is said to the holy, “Freely ye have received, freely give” Mat_10:8, these, producing the answer of God upon the receipt of money, sold the grace of the Lord for a covetous price.” Probably too, their sin co-operated with and strengthened the sin of the judges. Authorized interpreters of the law, they, to please the wealthy, probably misinterpreted the law. For wicked judges would not have given a price for a righteous interpretation of the law.

The civil authorities were entrusted by God with power to execute the law; the priests were entrusted by Him with the knowledge to expound it. Both employed in its

perversion that which God gave them for its maintenance. The princes obtained by bribery the misjudgment of the priests and enforced it; the priests justified the injustice of the Princes. So Arian Bishops, themselves hirelings , by false expositions of Scripture, countenanced Arian Emperors in the oppression of the faithful . “They propped up the heresy by human patronage;” the Emperors “bestowed on” them their “reign of irreligion.” The Arian Emperors tried to efface the Council of Nice by councils of Arian Bishops . Emperors perverted their power, the Bishops their knowledge.

Not publicly only but privately doubtless also, these priests taught falsely for hire, lulling the consciences of those who wished to deceive themselves as to what God forbade, and to obtain from His priests answers in His Name, which might explain away His law in favor of laxity or sin. So people now try to get ill-advised to do against God’s will what they are bent on doing; only they get ill-advised for nothing. One who receives money for giving an irresponsible opinion, places himself in proximate peril of giving the answer which will please those who pay him . “It is Simony to teach and preach the doctrine of Christ and His Gospel, or to give answers to quiet the conscience, for money. For the immediate object of these two acts, is the calling forth of faith, hope, charity, penitence, and other supernatural acts, and the reception of the consolation of the Holy Spirit; and this is, among Christians, their only value. Whence they are accounted things sacred and supernatural; for their immediate end is to things supernatural; and they are done by man, as he is an instrument of the Holy Spirit.”

Jerome: “Thou art permitted, O Priest, to live 1Co_9:13, not to luxuriate, from the altar 1Co_9:9. The mouth of the ox which treadeth out the corn is not muzzled. Yet the Apostle 1Co_9:18 abused not the liberty, but 1Ti_6:8 having food and raiment, was therewith content 1Th_2:6; 2Th_3:8; laboring night and clay, that he might not be chargeable to anybody. And in his Epistles he calls God to witness that he 1Th_2:10 lived holily and without avarice in the Gospel of Christ. He asserts this too, not of himself alone but of his disciples, that he had sent no one who would either ask or receive anything from the Churches 2Co_12:17-18. But if in the gifts of those who sent, the grace 2Co_8:6-7 of God, he gathers not for himself but for the Rom_15:26 poor saints at Jerusalem. But these poor saints were they who of the Jews first believed in Christ, and, being cast out by parents, kinsmen, connections, had lost their possessions and all their goods, the priests of the temple and the people destroying them.

Let such poor receive. But if on plea of the poor, a few houses are enriched, and we eat in gold, glass and china, let us either with our wealth change our habit, or let not the habit of poverty seek the riches of Senators. What avails the habit of poverty, while a whole crowd of poor longs for the contents of our purse? Wherefore, for our sake who are such, “who build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem by iniquity, who judge for gifts, give answers for rewards, divine for money,” and thereon, claiming to ourselves a fictitious sanctity, say, Evil will not come upon us, hear we the sentence of the Lord which follows. Sion and Jerusalem and the mountain of the temple, that is, the temple of Christ, shall, in the consummation and the end, when “love shall wax cold” Mat_24:12and the faith shall be rare, “be plowed as a field and became heaps as the high places of a forest” Luk_18:8; so that, where once were ample houses and countless heaps of corn, there should only be a poor cottage, keeping up the show of fruit which has no refreshment for the soul.”

The three places, Zion, Jerusalem, the Temple, describe the whole city in its political and religious aspects. Locally, Mount Zion, which occupies the southwest, “had upon it the Upper city,” and “was by much the loftier, and length-ways the straighter.” Jerusalem, as contrasted with Zion, represented the lower city , “supported” on the East by Mount Acra, and including the valley of Tyropoeon. South of Mount Acra and lower

than it, at the South Eastern corner of the city, lay Mount Moriah or the Mount of the Lord’s House, separated at this time from Mount Acra by a deep ravine, which was filled up by the Asmonaean princes, who lowered Mount Acra. It was joined to the northeast corner of Mount Zion by the causeway of Solomon across the Tyropoeon. The whole city then in all its parts was to be desolated.

And her prophets divine for money - The word rendered , “divine,” is always used in a bad sense. These prophets then were false prophets, “her prophets” and not God’s, which “divined,” in reality or appearance, giving the answer which their employers, the rich men, wanted, as if it were an answer from God . Yet they also “judge for rewards,” who look rather to the earthly than to the spiritual good; “they teach for hire,” who seek in the first place the things of this world, instead of teaching for the glory of God and the good of souls, and regarding earthly things in the second place only, as the support of life.

And say, Is not the Lord among us? - And after all this, not understanding their sin, as though by their guilt they purchased the love of God, they said in their impenitence, that they were judges, prophets, priests, of God. They do all this, and yet “lean on the Lord;” they stay and trust, not in themselves, but in God; good in itself, had not they been evil! “And say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can (shall) come upon us.” So Jeremiah says, “Trust ye not in lying words saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are these” Jer_7:4. Sanch.: “He called them lying words, as being ofttimes repeated by the false prophets, to entice the credulous people to a false security” against the threatenings of God. As though God could not forsake His own people, nor cast away Zion which He had chosen for an habitation for Himself, nor profane His own holy place! Yet it was true that God “was among them,” in the midst of them, as our Lord was among the Jews, though they knew Him not.

Yet if not in the midst of His people so as to hallow, God is in the midst of them to punish. But what else do we than these Jews did, if we lean on the Apostolic line, the possession of Holy Scripture, Sacraments, pure doctrine, without setting ourselves to gain to God the souls of our pagan population? or what else is it for a soul to trust in having been made a member of Christ, or in any gifts of God, unless it be bringing forth fruit with patience? : “Learn we too hence, that all trust in the Merits of Christ is vain, so long as any willfully persist in sin.” John H. Mich: “Know we, that God will be in us also, if we have not faith alone, nor on this account rest, as it were, on Him, but if to faith there be added also the excelling in good works. For faith without works is dead. But when with the riches of faith works concur, then will God indeed be with us, and will strengthen us mightily, and account us friends, and gladden us as His true sons, and free us from all evil.”

CLARKE, "The heads thereof judge for reward - This does not apply to the regular law officers, who have their proper salaries for giving up their whole time and attention to the conscientious discharge of the duties of their office; but to those who take a reward, who take Bribes, for the perversion of justice; who will decide in favor of those from whom they get the greatest reward.

The prophets - divine for money - These are evidently the false prophets; for none, professing to be sent by God, used any kind of divination.

Yet will they lean upon the Lord - They will prescribe fasts and public thanksgivings, while not one sin is repented of or forsaken, and not one public grievance is redressed.

Is not the Lord among us? - Here is his temple, here are his ordinances, and here are his people. Will he leave these? Yes, he will abandon the whole, because all are polluted.

GILL, "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, Jer_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, Deu_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.

JAMISO, "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 (Lev_10:11; Deu_17:11; Mal_2:7; compare Jer_6:13; Jud_1:11).

prophets ... divine— that is, false prophets.

Is not the Lord among us?— namely in the temple (Isa_48:2; Jer_7:4, Jer_7:8-11).

K&D, "CALVI, "The Prophet shows here first, how gross and supine was the hypocrisy of princes as well as of the priests and prophets: and then he declares that they were greatly deceived in thus soothing themselves with vain flatteries; for the Lord would punish them for their sins since he had in his forbearance spared them, and found that they did not repent. But he does not address here the common people or the multitude, but he attacks the chief men: for he has previously told us, that he was endued with the spirit of courage. It was indeed necessary for the Prophet to be prepared with invincible firmness that he might freely and boldly declare the judgment of God, especially as he had to do with the great and the powerful, who, as it is well known, will not easily, or with unruffled minds, bear their crimes to be exposed; for they wish to be privileged above the ordinary class of men. But the Prophet not only does not spare them, but he even arraigns them alone, as though the blame of all evils lodged only with them, as indeed the contagion had proceeded from them; for though all orders were then corrupt, yet the cause and the beginning of all the evils could not have been ascribed to any but to the chief men themselves.

And he says, Princes for reward judge, priests teach for reward, (111) the prophets divine for money: as though he had said, that the ecclesiastical as well as the civil government was subject to all kinds of corruptions, for all things were made matters of sale. We know that what the Holy Spirit declares elsewhere is ever true, — that by gifts or rewards the eyes of the wise are blinded and the hearts of the just are corrupted, (Sirach 20:29,) for as soon erg judges open a way for rewards, they cannot preserve integrity, however much they may wish to do so. And the same is the case with the priests: for if any one is given to avarice, he will adulterate the pure truth: it cannot be, that a complete liberty in teaching should exist, except when the pastor is exempt from all desire of gain. It is not therefore without reason that Micah complains here, that the princes as well as the priests were hirelings in his day; and by this he means, that no integrity remained among them, for the one, as I have said, follows from the other. He does not say, that the princes were either cruel or perfidious, though he had before mentioned these crimes; but in this place he simply calls them mercenaries. But, as I have just said, the one vice cannot be separated from the other; for every one who is hired will pervert judgment, whether he be a teacher or a judge. othing then remains pure where avarice bears rule. It was therefore quite sufficient for the Prophet to condemn the judges and the prophets and the priests for avarice; for it is easy hence to conclude, that teaching was exposed to sale, and that judgments were bought, so that he who offered most money easily gained his cause. Princes then judge for reward, and priests also teach for reward

We can learn from this place the difference between prophets and priests. Micah ascribes here the office or the duty of teaching to the priests and leaves divination alone to the prophets. We have said elsewhere, that it happened through the idleness of the priests, that prophets were added to them; for prophesying belonged to them, until being content with the altar, they neglected the office of teaching: and the same thing, as we find, has taken place under the Papacy. For though it be quite evident for what reason pastors were appointed to preside over the Church, we yet see that all, who proudly call themselves pastors, are dumb dogs. Whence is this? Because they think that they discharge their duties, by being only attentive to ceremonies; and they have more than enough to occupy them: for the priestly office under the Papacy is laborious enough as to trifles and scenic performances: (ritus histrionicos — stage-playing rites) but at the same time they neglect the principal thing — to feed the Lord’s flock with the doctrine of salvation. Thus degenerated had the priests become under the Law. What is said by Malachi ought to have been perpetuated, — that the law should be in the mouth of the priest, that he should be the messenger and interpreter of the God of hosts, (Malachi 2:7;) but the priests cast from them this office: it became therefore necessary that prophets should be raised up, and as it were beyond the usual course of things while yet the regular course formally remained. But the priests taught in a cold manner; and the prophets divined, that is professed that oracles respecting future things were revealed to them.

This distinction is now observed by the Prophet, when he says, The priests teach for reward, that is, they were mercenaries, and hirelings in their office: and the prophets divined for money It then follows, that they yet leaned on Jehovah, and said, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? Come then shall not evil upon us. The Prophet shows here, as I have said at the beginning, that these profane men trifled with God: for though they knew that they were extremely wicked, nay, their crimes were openly known to all; yet they were not ashamed to lay claim to the authority of God. And it has, we know, been a common wickedness almost in all ages, and it greatly prevails at this day, — that men are satisfied with having only the outward evidences of being the people of God. There was then indeed an altar erected by the command of God; there were sacrifices made according to the rule of the Law; and there were also great and illustrious promises respecting that kingdom. Since then the sacrifices were daily performed, and since the kingdom still retained its outward form, they thought that God was, in a manner, bound to them. The same is the case at this day with the great part of men; they presumptuously and absurdly boast of the external forms of religion. The Papists possess the name of a Church, with which they are extremely inflated; and then there is a great show and pomp in their ceremonies. The hypocrites also among us boast of Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, and the name of Reformation; while, at the same time, these are nothing but mockeries, by which the name of God and the whole of religion are profaned, when no real piety flourishes in the heart. This was the reason why Micah now expostulated with the prophets and the priests, and the king’s counselors; it was, because they falsely pretended that they were the people of God. (112)

But by saying; that they relied on Jehovah, he did not condemn that confidence

which really reposes on God; for, in this respect, we cannot exceed the bounds: as God’s goodness is infinite, so we cannot trust in his word too much, if we embrace it in true faith. But the Prophet says, that hypocrites leaned on Jehovah, because they flattered themselves with that naked and empty distinction, that God had adopted them as his people. Hence the word,leaning or recumbing, is not to be applied to the real trust of the heart, but, on the contrary, to the presumption of men, who pretend the name of God, and so give way to their own will, that they shake off not only all fear of God, but also thought and reason. When, therefore, so great and so supine thoughtlessness occupies the minds of men, stupidity presently follows: and yet it is not without reason that Micah employs this expression, for hypocrites persuade themselves that all things will be well with them, as they think that they have God propitious to them. As then they feel no anxiety while they have the idea that God is altogether at peace with them, the Prophet declares, by way of irony, that they relied on Jehovah; as though he had said, that they made the name of God their support: but yet the Prophet speaks in words contrary to their obvious meaning, ( καταχρηστικῶς loquitur — speaks catachrestically;) for it is certain that no one relies on Jehovah except he is humbled in himself. It is penitence that leads us to God; for it is when we are cast down that we recumb on him; but he who is inflated with self-confidence flies in the air, and has nothing solid in him. And our Prophet, as I have said, intended indirectly to condemn the false security in which hypocrites sleep, while they think it enough that the Lord had once testified that they would be his people; but the condition is by them disregarded.

He now recites their words, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? Come will not evil upon us This question is a proof of a haughty self-confidence; for they ask as of a thing indubitable, and it is an emphatic mode of speaking, by which they meant to say, that Jehovah was among them. He who simply affirms a thing, does not show so much pride as these hypocrites when they set forth this question, “Who shall deny that Jehovah dwells in the midst of us?” God had indeed chosen an habitation among them for himself; but a condition was interposed, and yet they wished that he should be, as it were, tied to the temple, though they considered not what God required from them. They hence declared that Jehovah was in the midst of them; nay, they treated with disdain any one who dared to say a word to the contrary: nor is there a doubt but that they poured forth blasts of contempt on the Prophets. For whenever any one threatened what our Prophet immediately subjoins, such an answer as this was ever ready on their lips, — “What! will God then desert us and deny himself? Has he in vain commanded the temple to be built among us? Has he falsely promised that we should be a priestly kingdom? Dost thou not make God a covenant-breaker, by representing him as approving of the terrors of thy discourse? But he cannot deny himself:” We hence see why the Prophet had thus spoken; it was to show that hypocrites boasted so to speaks of their proud confidence, because they thought that God could not be separated from them.

ow this passage teaches us how preposterous it is thus to abuse the name of God. There is indeed a reason why the Lord calls us to himself, for without him we are miserable; he also promises to be propitious to us, though, in many respects, we are guilty before him: he yet, at the same time, calls us to repentance. Whosoever, then,

indulges himself and continues sunk in his vices, he is greatly deceived, if he applies to himself the promises of God; for, as it has been said, the one cannot be separated from the other. (113) But when God is propitious to them, they rightly conclude, that all things will be well with them, for we know that the paternal favor of God is a fountain of all felicity. But in this there was a vicious reasoning, — that they promised to themselves the favor of God through a false imagination of the flesh, and not through his word. Thus we see that there is ever in hypocrisy some imitation of piety: but there is a sophistry (paralogismus) either in the principle itself or in the argument.

Cocceius enumerated six things as chargeable on the persons mentioned in this verse: 1. Avarice—the seeking of wealth instead of doing God’s will; 2. A mercenary disposition, influenced by gain and not by sense of duty; 3. The exacting of unlawful reward; 4. The doing, even for reward, of what was evil and wicked; 5. A false pretense of trust in God; and, 6. The tying of God’s favor to external privileges. —Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 11"The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us."

There is no more glaring and sensational example in history of religious confidence predicated upon something apart from doing God's will, than is found in this. The only thing comparable to it is the arrogant conceit of modern Protestantism to the effect that, if one truly believes in Christ, his conduct simply makes no difference at all. Salvation by faith only is the present-day equivalent of the condition described here in ancient Israel. They had "faith in God"; they accepted his promises apart from all conditions; they preempted to themselves the protection and blessing of God without any regard whatever to keeping the solemn covenant he had made with his people. That such an attitude on the part of those people should be thought of as strange and incomprehensible by those present-day commentators who are claiming both for themselves and for their followers that they are "saved by faith alone" is to this writer the truly Incomprehensible Phenomenon!

Those people still claimed to know God, although they had contradicted practically everything in his word and were continuing to do so. They knew God's name, ostensibly invoking his blessings upon all that they did. God's temple which had been given to them, not by their God, but by their kings, stood in their midst; and they supposed that with such visible evidences of God's protection, absolutely no evil could befall them. They were adoring idols; they had accepted Baalism; they were murdering, lying, stealing, committing fornication, defrauding, bribing, perverting, and corrupting all that they touched. Yet these "believers!" claimed all the blessings!

Today, if one truly wishes to know about his status in the eyes of the God of heaven and earth, let him read and understand the ew Testament; he will never hear it

over the radio or see it on TV.

The inevitable end of that tragic corruption of ancient Israel was bluntly thundered by the prophet Micah in the next verse.

TRAPP, "Verse 11Micah 3:11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, [Is] not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

Ver. 11. The heads thereof judge for reward] Being so many locusts, et latrones cum privilegio, both robbers with immunity, as one saith. Well might St Paul say that covetousness is the root of all evil, 1 Timothy 6:10. It is here assigned as one cause, and carnal security as another, of that regiment without righteousness, here justly complained of. And it was the worse, because it had overrun all sorts of such as were in place of power, whether civil or ecclesiastical. The princes and judges took gifts, which they should not only not have taken, but have hated, Proverbs 15:27, they should have shaken their hands from holding of bribes, Isaiah 33:15, since there is a curse to such magistrates with an Amen to it, Deuteronomy 27:25, Psalms 25:5, exclusion out of heaven: Olim didici quid sint munera, said one once. Rain is good (said another), and ground is good, sed ex eorum coniunctione fit lutum, of the mixture of these two is dirt: so, giving is kind and taking is courteous; yet the mixing of them maketh the smooth paths of justice foul and uneven. ec prece nec pretio, neither by request or reward, should be the magistrate’s motto. And Justice justice (as Moses phraseth it, Deuteronomy 16:20 margin), that is, clear sheer justice without mud should run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty torrent, Amos 5:24.

And the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money] They were merely mercenary; and as Apollo’s oracles, corrupted by Philip’s gold, were said φιλιππαζειν, to speak as he would have them, so was it here. Both priests and prophets were ignava ventris mancipia Micah 3:5, {See Trapp on "Micah 3:5"} greedy dogs, slow bellies, they all looked to their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter, Isaiah 56:11. Albertus Magnus complained of the covetousness of pastors in his time. Bernard for this cause calleth them impostors and byseers. Hugo Cardinalis said that the devil had two daughters, Avarice and Luxury; the former whereof he had married to the Jews, the latter to the Gentiles; but now, saith he, the priests have taken away both of them from their right husbands, and make use of them for their own. Si posui aurum in coniugium meum, so the Septuagint read that text, Job 31:24, signifying the covetous man’s great love to money; whence St James calleth such adulterers and adulteresses, James 4:4. St Paul saith they mind only earthly things (sc. their purses and paunches), Philippians 3:19, and incessantly woe this Mundus immundus, this vile strumpet, the world; having eyes full of the adulteress, and that cannot cease to sin, 2 Peter 2:14. But their money shall perish with them that teach for hire, that follow the ministry only as a trade to pick a living out of, qui plus fisco quam Christo vacant, plus attonsioni quam attentioni gregis, et

ubi non vident quaestum, rident Christum. All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s, Philippians 2:21.

Yet will they lean upon the Lord] Or, lay their weight upon him, as upon a staff or crutch, velut sirmissimo seipione. Thus their forefathers, Psalms 78:32; Psalms 78:35, though they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works, yet they would needs believe that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer. So their successors, Jeremiah 3:3-5, when they had spoken and done evil as they could, yet, having a whore’s forehead, they could give goodly words, "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end?" Here were good words (for they are good cheap, as we say), but nothing more. The Lord was much in their mouths, but far from their reins, Jeremiah 12:2. Self-deceivers think they lean upon the Lord when it is no such matter; their faith is a mock faith, a strong fancy, a blind presumption, which will prove but a broken reed, and was never true to those that trusted it. Surely, as he that maketh a bridge of his own shadow cannot but fall into the brook, so neither can he escape the burning lake, that had rather be carnally secured than soundly comforted. Good gold is a cordial; so is not alchemy gold; neither will it pass the seventh fire, as the other will. Security is the forerunner of calamity; neither miscarry any so sure or so soon as the overly confident.

And say, Is not the Lord among us?] And hath he not promised so to be for ever? True, but upon condition that you be with him, and no otherwise, 2 Chronicles 15:2. He is not so tied to you, but that he can go away from you. See his many removes Ezekiel 9:3; Ezekiel 10:4; Ezekiel 10:18; Ezekiel 11:23, and observe, that still as he goes out, some judgment comes in. They call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts is his name, Jeremiah 48:2, but all this was but court holy water, as they call it, empty words, such as our profligate professors are full of. But wilt thou know, O vain man (or, O empty man, κενε), that words without works are bootless? James 2:20, that external privileges alone profit not, Jeremiah 7:4, Acts 6:14, that formal profession and performances are disaccepted, and those that please themselves therewith are but as women travailing with a false birth, Isaiah 26:18. Men are wont to do with these as those conjurers did with the name of Jesus; they thought if they used that name it was enough. They hear, therefore, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" Acts 19:15. So shall it fare with such as glory in this, that they were born in the bosom of the Church, live under the means of grace. Gehazi took the prophet’s staff; but there was something more, else the child had not been raised. Those tell but an ill tale for themselves that have no more to say but this, "Is not the Lord among us?" Men are the worse for his presence with them if they walk not worthy of the Lord in all well pleasing, Colossians 1:10, if they have not grace to serve him with reverence and godly fear: for even our God is a consuming fire, Hebrews 12:28-29.

one evil can come upon us] Let prophets say what they please, we shall have peace,

Deuteronomy 29:19, all shall be well with us while God is with us, and for us. But God will not take the wicked by the hand, saith Job, Job 8:20; neither will he at all acquit the guilty, saith Moses, Exodus 34:7. "The foolish shall not stand in his sight," saith David: "for he hateth all the workers of iniquity," Psalms 5:5. "Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions," Exodus 23:21; or if he do, yet it is two to one that he will take vengeance of your inventions, Psalms 99:8. Shake off, therefore, carnal security; fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

PETT, "Micah 3:11

‘The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon YHWH, and say, “Is not YHWH in the midst of us? o evil will come upon us.’The leading judges make their judgments on the basis of bribes, the priest teach for wages rather than out of a desire to spread God’s word, and the prophets tell people whatever they want to hear, as long as they pay them well enough. And yet these same men profess to lean on YHWH, and then naively declare, ‘Is not YHWH in the midst of us?’ They are so sure that YHWH is among them that they cannot conceive that anything harmful could befall them. Such is people’s naive belief in God. They yet had to learn that God is not to be bought. He is there on behalf of the humble and contrite in spirit.

PULPIT, "Judge for reward. The very judges take bribes (Isaiah 1:23; Ezekiel 22:12), which the Law so stringently forbade (see Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19, etc.). The priests thereof teach for hire. The priests were bound to teach and explain the Law, and decide questions of religion and ritual (Le 10:11; Deuteronomy 17:11; Deuteronomy 33:10; comp. Haggai 2:11, etc.). This they ought to have done gratuitously, but they corruptly made it a source of gain. Divine for money. The accusation in Micah 3:5 is repeated. These false prophets sold their oracles, pretending to have a suitable revelation when paid for it (Ezekiel 22:28; Zephaniah 3:3, Zephaniah 3:4). Yet will they lean upon the Lord. These priests and prophets were worshippers of Jehovah and trusted in him, as though he could not fosake his people. They had faith without love, divorced religion from morality, made a certain outward conformity serve for righteousness and truth. Is not the Lord among us? (Exodus 17:7). As though the very fact that they had in their midst the temple, wherein Jehovah's presence was assured, would protect them from all harm, whatever their conduct might he. Such presumptuous confidence is reproved by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:4, Jeremiah 7:8, etc.; comp. Amos 5:14, and note there).

12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field,Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

BARES. "Therefore shall Zion for your sake - for your sake shall Zion

Be plowed as a field - They thought to be its builders; they were its destroyers. They imagined to advance or secure its temporal prosperity by bloods; they (as men ever do first or last,) ruined it. Zion might have stood, but for these its acute, far-sighted politicians, who scorned the warnings of the prophets, as well-meant ignorance of the world or of the necessities of the state. They taught, perhaps they thought, that “for Zion’s sake” they, (act as they might,) were secure. Practical Antinomians! God says, that, “for their sake,” Zion, defiled by their deeds, should be destroyed. The fulfillment of the prophecy was delayed by the repentance under Hezekiah. Did he not, the elders ask Jer_26:19, fear the Lord and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them? But the prophecy remained, like that of Jonah against Nineveh, and, when man undid and in act repented of his repentanee, it found its fulfillment.

Jerusalem shall become heaps - (Literally, of ruins) and “the mountain of the house,” Mount Moriah, on which the house of God stood, “as the high places of the forest,” literally “as high places of a forest.” It should return wholly to what it had been, before Abraham offered up the typical sacrifice of his son, a wild and desolate place covered with tangled thickets Gen_22:13.

The prophecy had a first fulfillment at its first capture by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah mourns over it; “Because of the mountain of Zion which is desolate, foxes walk” Lam_5:18 (habitually upon it. Nehemiah said, “Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste” Neh_2:17; and Sanballat mocked at the attempts to rebuild it, as a thing impossible; “Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of dust, and these too, burned?” (Neh_4:2, (3:34, Hebrew)), and the builders complained; “The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed (literally, sinketh under them), and there is much dust, and we are not able to build the wall” (Neh_4:10, (Neh_4:4, Hebrew)). In the desolation under Antiochus again it is related; “they saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned up, and shrubs growing in the courts, as in a forest or in one of the mountains” (1 Macc. 4:38). When, by the shedding of the Blood of the Lord, they “filled up the measure of their fathers” Mat_23:32, and called the curse upon themselves, “His Blood be upon us and upon our children” Mat_27:25, destruction came upon them to the uttermost.

With the exception of three towers, left to exhibit the greatness of Roman prowess in destroying such and so strong a city, they , “so levelled to the ground the whole circuit of

the city, that to a stranger it presented no token of ever having been inhabited.” He “effaced the rest of the city,” says the Jewish historian, himself an eyewitness . The elder Pliny soon after, 77 a.d., speaks of it, as a city which had been and was not . “Where was Jerusalem, far the most renowned city, not of Judaea only, but of the East” , a funeral pile.”

With this corresponds Jerome’s statement , “relics of the city remained for fifty years until the Emperor Hadrian.” Still it was in utter ruins . The toleration of the Jewish school at Jamnia the more illustrates the desolation of Jerusalem where there was none. The Talmud relates how R. Akiba smiled when others wept at seeing a fox coming out of the Holy of holies. This prophecy of Micah being fulfilled, he looked the more for the prophecy of good things to come, connected therewith. Not Jerusalem only, but well-nigh all Judaea was desolated by that war, in which a million and a half perished , beside all who were sold as slaves. “Their country to which you would expell them, is destroyed, and there is no place to receive them,” was Titus’ expostulation to the Antiochenes, who desired to be rid of the Jews their fellow-citizens.

A pagan historian relates how, before the destruction by Hadrian , “many wolves and hyenas entered their cities howling.” Titus however having left above 6,000 Roman soldiers on the spot, a civil population was required to minister to their needs. The Christians who, following our Lord’s warning, had fled to Pella , returned to Jerusalem , and continued there until the second destruction by Hadrian, under fifteen successive Bishops . Some few Jews had been left there ; some very probably returned, since we hear of no prohibition from the Romans, until after the fanatic revolt under Barcocheba. But the fact that when toward the close of Trajan’s reign they burst out simultaneously, in one wild frenzy , upon the surrounding pagan, all along the coast of Africa, Libya, Cyrene, Egypt, the Thebais, Mesopotamia, Cyprus , there was no insurrection in Judaea, implies that there were no great numbers of Jews there.

Judaea, aforetime the center of rebellion, contributed nothing to that wide national insurrection, in which the carnage was so terrible, as though it had been one convulsive effort of the Jews to root out their enemies . Even in the subsequent war under Hadrian, Orosius speaks of them, as “laying waste the province of Palestine, once their own,” as though they had gained possession of it from without, not by insurrection within it. The Jews assert that in the time of Joshua Ben Chananiah (under Trajan) “the kingdom of wickedness decreed that the temple should be rebuilt” . If this was so, the massacres toward the end of Trajan’s reign altered the policy of the Empire. Apparently the Emperors attempted to extinguish the Jewish, as, at other times, the Christian faith. A pagan Author mentions the prohibition of circumcision .

The Jerusalem Talmud speaks of many who for fear became uncircumcised, and renewed the symbol of their faith “when Bar Cozibah got the better, so as to reign 2 12 years among them.” The Jews add, that the prohibition extended to the keeping of the sabbath and the reading of the law . Hadrian’s city, Aelia, was doubtless intended, not only for a strong position, but also to efface the memory of Jerusalem by the Roman and pagan city which was to replace it. Christians, when persecuted, suffered; Jews rebelled. The recognition of Barcocheba, who gave himself out as the Messiah , by Akibah and “all the wise (Jews) of his generation” , made the war national.

Palestine was the chief seat of the war, but not its source. The Jews throughout the Roman world were in arms against their conquerors ; and the number of fortresses and villages which they got possession of, and which were destroyed by the Romans , shows that their successes were far beyond Judaea. Their measures in Judaea attest the desolate condition of the country. They fortified, not towns, but “the advantageous positions of the country, strengthened them with mines and walls, that, if defeated, they

might have places of refuge, and communication among themselves underground unperceived.”

For two years, (as appears from the coins struck by Barcocheba They had possession of Jerusalem. It was essential to his claim to be a temporal Messiah. They proposed, at least, to “rebuild their temple” and restore their polity.” But they could not fortify Jerusalem. Its siege is just named ; but the one place which obstinately resisted the Romans was a strong city near Jerusalem , known before only as a deeply indented mountain tract, Bether . Probably, it was one of the strong positions, fortified in haste, at the beginning of the war .

The Jews fulfilled our Lord’s words, “I am come in My Father’s Name and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” Joh_5:43. Their first destruction was the punishment of their Deicide, the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ; their second they brought upon themselves by accepting a false Christ, a robber and juggler . “580,000 are said to have perished in battle” , besides “an incalculable number by famine and fire, so that all Judaea was made well-nigh a desert.” The Jews say that “no olives remained in Palestine.” Hadrian “destroyed it,” making it “an utter desolation” and “effacing all remains of it.” “We read” , says Jerome (in Joe_1:4), “the expedition of Aelius Hadrianus against the Jews, who so destroyed Jerusalem and its walls, as, from the fragments and ashes of the city to build a city, named from himself, Aelia.” At this time there appears to have been a formal act, whereby the Romans marked the legal annihilation of cities; an act esteemed, at this time, one of most extreme severity . When a city was to be built, its compass was marked with a plow; the Romans, where they willed to unmake a city, did, on rare occasions, turn up its soil with the plow. Hence, the saying , “A city with a plow is built, with a plow overthrown.” The city so plowed forfeited all civil rights ; it was counted to have ceased to be.

The symbolical act under Hadrian appears to have been directed against both the civil and religious existence of their city, since the revolts of the Jews were mixed up with their religious hopes. The Jews relate that both the city generally, and the Temple, were plowed. The plowing of the city was the last of those mournful memories, which made the month Ab a time of sorrow. But the plowing of the temple is also especially recorded. Jerome says , “In this (the 5th Month) was the Temple at Jerusalem burnt and destroyed, both by Nebuchadnezzar, and many years afterward by Titus and Vespasian; the city Bether, whither thousands of Jews had fled, was taken; the Temple was plowed, as an insult to the conquered race, by Titus Annius Rufus.” The Gemara says , “When Turnus, (or it may be “when Tyrant) Rutus plowed the porch,” (of the temple) Perhaps Hadrian meant thus to declare the desecration of the site of the Temple, and so to make way for the further desecration by his temple of Jupiter. He would declare the worship of God at an end.

The horrible desecration of placing the temple of Ashtaroth over the Holy Sepulchre was probably a part of the same policy, to make the Holy City utterly pagan. The “Capitoline” was part of its new name in honor of the Jupiter of the Roman Capitol. Hadrian intended, not to rebuild Jerusalem, but to build a new city under his own name . “The city being thus bared of the Jewish nation, and its old inhabitants having been utterly destroyed, and an alien race settled there, the Roman city which afterward arose, having changed its name, is called Aelia in honor of the Emperor Aelius Hadrianus.” It was a Roman colony , with Roman temples, Roman amphitheaters.

Idolatry was stamped on its coins . Hadrian excluded from it, on the North, almost the whole of Bezetha or the new city, which Agrippa had enclosed by his wall, and, on the South, more than half of Mount Zion , which was left, as Micah foretold, to be plowed as a field. The Jews themselves were prohibited from entering the Holy Land , so that the

pagan Celsus says , “they have neither a clod nor a hearth left.” Aelia, then, being a new city, Jerusalem was spoken of, as having ceased to be. The Roman magistrates, even in Palestine, did not know the name . Christians too used the name Aelia and that, in solemn documents, as the Dr. of Nice .

In the 4th century the city was still called Aelia by the Christians , and, on the first Mohammedan coin in the 7th century, it still bore that name. A series of writers speak of the desolation of Jerusalem. In the next century Origen addresses a Jew , “If going to the earthly city, Jerusalem, thou shalt find it overthrown, reduced to dust and ashes, weep not, as ye now do.” : “From that (Hadrian’s) time until now, the extremest desolation having taken possession of the place, their once renowned hill of Zion - now no wise differing from the rest of the country, is cultivated by Romans, so that we ourselves have with our own eyes observed the place plowed by oxen and sown all over. And Jerusalem, being inhabited by aliens, has to this day the stones gathered out of it, all the inhabitants, in our own times too, gathering up the stones out of its ruins for their private or public and common buildings. You may observe with your own eyes the mournful sight, how the stones from the Temple itself and from the Holy of holies have been taken for the idol-temples and to build amphitheaters.” : “Their once holy place has now come to such a state, as in no way to fall short of the overthrow of Sodom.” Hilary, who had been banished into the East, says , “The Royal city of David, taken by the Babylonians and overthrown, held not its queenly dignity under the rule of its lords; but, taken afterward and burnt by the Romans, it now is not.”

Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop of the new town, and delivering his catechetical lectures in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pointed out to his hearers the fulfillment of prophecy ; “The place (Zion) is now filled with gardens of cucumbers.” “If they (the Jews) plead the captivity,” says Athanasius , “and say that on that ground Jerusalem is not.” “The whole world, over which they are scattered,” says Gregory of Nazianzum , “is one monument of their calamity, their worship closed, and the soil of Jerusalem itself scarcely known.”

It is apparently part of the gradual and increasing fulfillment of God’s word, that the plowing of the city and of the site of the Temple, and the continued cultivation of so large a portion of Zion, are recorded in the last visitation when its iniquity was full. It still remains plowed as a field. : “At the time I visited this sacred ground, one part of it supported a crop of barley, another was undergoing the labor of the plow, and the soil, turned up, consisted of stone and lime filled with earth, such as is usually met with in the foundations of ruined cities. It is nearly a mile in circumference.” : “On the southeast Zion slopes down, in a series of cultivated terraces, sharply though not abruptly, to the sites of the Kings’ gardens. Here and around to the south the whole declivities are sprinkled with olive trees, which grow luxuriantly among the narrow slips of corn.” Not Christians only, but Jews also have seen herein the fulfillment upon themselves of Micah’s words, spoken now “26 centuries ago.”

CLARKE, "Therefore shall Zion - be ploughed as a field - It shall undergo a variety of reverses and sackages, till at last there shall not be one stone left on the top of another, that shall not be pulled down; and then a plough shall be drawn along the site of the walls, to signify an irreparable and endless destruction. Of this ancient custom Horace speaks, Odar. lib. i., Od. 16, ver. 18.

Altis urbibus ultimaeStetere causae cur perirentFunditus, imprimeretque muris

Hostile aratrum exercitus insolens.

“From hence proud cities date their utter falls;When, insolent in ruin, o’er their wallsThe wrathful soldier drags the hostile plough,That haughty mark of total overthrow.”Francis.

Thus did the Romans treat Jerusalem when it was taken by Titus. Turnus Rufus, or as he is called by St. Jerome, Titus Arinius Rufus, or Terentius Rufus, according to Josephus, caused a plough to be drawn over all the courts of the temple to signify that it should never be rebuilt, and the place only serve for agricultural purposes. See the note on Mat_24:2. Thus Jerusalem became heaps, an indiscriminate mass of ruins and rubbish; and the mountain of the house, Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood, became so much neglected after the total destruction of the temple, that it soon resembled the high places of the forest. What is said here may apply also, as before hinted, to the ruin of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar in the last year of the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of the Jews.

As the Masoretes, in their division of the Bible, reckon the twelve minor prophets but as one book, they mark this verse (Mic_3:12) the Middle verse of these prophets.

GILL, "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 say (i) of Turnus Rufus before mentioned, that he both ploughed up the city of Jerusalem, and the temple, the ground on which they stood; and Jerom (k) 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 Seneca (l), Horace (m), and other writers, express the utter destruction of a city by such phrases.

HERY, " The doom passed upon them for their real wickedness, notwithstanding their imaginary protection (Mic_3:12): Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This is that passage which is quoted as a bold word spoken by Micah (Jer_26:18), which yet Hezekiah and his princes took well, though in another reign it might have gone near to cost him his head; nay, they repented and reformed, and so the execution of this threatening was prevented, and did not come in those days. (1.) It is the ruin of holy places that is here foretold, places that had been highly honoured with the tokens of God's presence and the performances of his worship; it is Zion that shall be ploughed as a field, the building burnt to the ground and levelled with it. Some observe that this was literally fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, when the ground on which the city stood was ploughed up in token of its utter desolation, and that no city should be built upon that ground without the emperor's leave. Even Jerusalem,the holy city, shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the house, on which the temple is built, shall be overgrown with briars and thorns, as the high places of the forest. If sacred places be polluted by sin, they must expect to be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God. (2.) It is the wickedness of those who preside in them that brings the ruin: “It is for your sake that Zion shall be ploughed as a field; you pretend to build up Zion, but, doing it by blood and iniquity, you pull it down.” Note, The sin of priests and princes is often the ruin of states and churches. Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi -The kings act foolishly and the people suffer for it.

JAMISO, "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.

K&D, "“Therefore will Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem

become stone heaps, and the mountain of the house become forest heights.” Lâkhēn

(therefore) applies primarily to Mic_3:11, directing the threat of punishment by גללכם+to all the sinners mentioned there; but it also points back to Mic_3:9, Mic_3:10, expressing what is there indicated by “this.” Zion is not “the site on which the city stood,” or Jerusalem, “the mass of houses in the city,” as Maurer and Caspari suppose; but Zion is that portion of the city which contained the royal palace, and Jerusalem the rest of the city (cf. Mic_4:8). The mountain of the house, i.e., the temple hill, is also specially mentioned, for the purpose of destroying all false trust in the temple (cf. Jer_7:4). The predicates are divided rhetorically, and the thought is this: the royal palace, the city, and the temple shall be so utterly destroyed, that of all the houses and palaces only

heaps of rubbish will remain, and the ground upon which the city stood will be partly

used as a ploughed field, and partly overgrown with bushes (cf. Isa_32:13-14). On sâdehas an accusative of effect (as a field = becoming a field), see Ewald, §281, e; and for the

plural form יןLע, see Ewald, §177, a. Habbayith (the house) is probably chosen

intentionally instead of bēth�Yehōvâh (the house of Jehovah), because the temple ceased

to be the dwelling-place of Jehovah as soon as it was destroyed. Hence in Ezekiel (Eze_10:18., Eze_11:22.) the Schechinah departs before the Babylonians destroy it. With regard to the fulfilment of this threat, see the points discussed at Mic_4:10.

CALVI, "ow follows a threatening, Therefore, on your account, Zion as a field shall be plowed, and Jerusalem a heap shall be, and the mount of the house as the high places of a forest We here see how intolerable to God hypocrites are; for it was no ordinary proof of a dreadful vengeance, that the Lord should expose to reproach the holy city, and mount Zion, and his own temple. This revenge, then, being so severe, shows that to God there is nothing less tolerable than that false confidence with which hypocrites swell, for it brings dishonor on God himself; for they could not boast that they were God’s people without aspersing him with many reproaches. What then is the meaning of this, “God is in the midst of us,” except that they thereby declared that they were the representatives (vicarios) of God, that the kingdom was sacred and also the priesthood? Since then they boasted that they did not presumptuously claim either the priesthood or the regal power, but that they were divinely appointed, we hence see that their profanation of God’s name was most shameful. It is then no wonder that God was so exceedingly displeased with them: and hence the Prophet says, For you shall Zion as a field be plowed; as though he said, “This is like something monstrous, that the temple should be subverted, that the holy mount and the whole city should be entirely demolished, and that nothing should remain but a horrible desolation, — who can believe all this? It shall however, take place, and it shall take place on your account; you will have to bear the blame of this so monstrous a change.” For it was as though God had thrown heaven and earth into confusion; inasmuch as he himself was the founder of the temple; and we know with what high encomiums the place was honored. Since then the temple was built, as it were, by the hand of God, how could it be otherwise, but that, when destroyed, the waste and desolate place should be regarded as a memorable proof of vengeance? There is therefore no doubt but that Micah intended to mark out the atrocity of their guilt, when he says, For you shall Zion as a field be plowed, Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones; that is, it shall be so desolated, that no vestige of a city, well formed and regularly built, shall remain.

And the mount of the house, etc. He again mentions Zion, and not without reason: for the Jews thought that they were protected by the city Jerusalem; the whole country rested under its shadow, because it was the holy habitation of God. And again, the city itself depended on the temple, and it was supposed, that it was safe under this protection, and that it could hardly be demolished without overthrowing the throne of God himself: for as God dwelt between the cherubim, it was regarded

by the people as a fortress incapable of being assailed. As then the holiness of the mount deceived them, it was necessary to repeat what was then almost incredible, at least difficult of being believed. He therefore adds, The mount of the house shall be as the high places of a forest; that is, trees shall grow there.

Why does he again declare what had been before expressed with sufficient clearness? Because it was not only a thing difficult to be believed, but also wholly inconsistent with reason, when what the Lord had said was considered, and that overlooked which hypocrites ever forget. God had indeed made a covenant with the people; but hypocrites wished to have God, as it were, bound to them, and, at the same time, to remain themselves free, yea, to have a full liberty to lead a wicked life. Since then the Jews were fixed in this false opinion, — that God could not be disunited from his people, the Prophet confirms the same truth, that the mount of the house would be as the high places of a forest. And, by way of concession, he calls it the mount of the house, that is, of the temple; as though he said, “Though God had chosen to himself a habitation, in which to dwell, yet this favor shall not keep the temple from being deserted and laid waste; for it has been profaned by your wickedness.”

Let us now see at what time Micah delivered this prophecy. This we learn from Jeremiah 26:0; for when Jeremiah prophesied against the temple, he was immediately seized and cast into prison; a tumultuous council was held, and he was well nigh being brought forth unto execution. All the princes condemned him; and when now he had no hope of deliverance, he wished, not so much to plead his own cause, as to denounce a threatening on them, that they might know that they could effect no good by condemning an innocent man. “Micah, the Morasthite,” he said, “prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, and said thus, ‘Zion as a field shall be plowed, Jerusalem shall be a heap, and the mount of the house as the high placers of a forest.’” Did the king and the people, he said, consult together to kill him? ay, but the king turned, and so God repented; that is, the Lord deferred his vengeance; for king Hezekiah humbly deprecated the punishment which had been denounced. We now then know with certainty the time.

But it was strange that under such a holy king so many and so shameful corruptions prevailed, for he no doubt tried all he could to exercise authority over the people, and by his own example taught the judges faithfully and uprightly to discharge their office; but he was not able, with all his efforts, to prevent the Priests, and the Judges, and the Prophets, from being mercenaries. We hence learn how sedulously pious magistrates ought to labor, lest the state of the Church should degenerate; for however vigilant they may be, they can yet hardly, even with the greatest care, keep things (as mankind are so full of vices) from becoming very soon worse. This is one thing. And now the circumstance of the time ought to be noticed for another purpose: Micah hesitated not to threaten with such a judgment the temple and the city, though he saw that the king was endued with singular virtues. He might have thought thus with himself, “King Hezekiah labored strenuously in the execution of his high office: now if a reproof so sharp and so severe will reach his ears, he will either despond, or think me to be a man extremely rigid, or, it may be, he will

become exasperated against sound doctrine.” The Prophet might have weighed these things in his mind; but, nevertheless, he followed his true course in teaching, and there is no doubt but that his severity pleased the king, for we know that he was oppressed with great cares and anxieties, because he could not, by all his striving, keep within proper bounds his counselors, the priests and the prophets. He therefore wished to have God’s servants as his helpers. And this is what pious magistrates always desire, that their toils may in some measure be alleviated by the aid of the ministers of the word; for when the ministers of the word only teach in a cold manner, and are not intent on reproving vices, the severity of the magistrates will be hated by the people. “Why, see, the ministers say nothing, and we hence conclude that they do not perceive so great evils; and yet the magistrates with the drawn sword inflict new punishments daily.” When, therefore, teachers are thus silent, a greater odium no doubt is incurred by the magistrates: it is hence, as I have said, a desirable thing for them, that the free reproofs of teachers should be added to the punishments and judgments of the law.

We further see how calm and meek was the spirit of the king, that he could bear the great severity of the Prophet: Behold, he said, on your accounts etc.: “Thou oughtest at least to have excepted” me.” For the king was not himself guilty. Why then did he connect him with the rest? Because the whole body was infected with contagion, and he spoke generally; and the good king did not retort nor even murmur, but, as we have recited from Jeremiah, he humbly deprecated the wrath of God, as though a part of the guilt belonged to him. ow follows

COFFMA, "Verse 12"Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest."

Here the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple is unequivocally prophesied. Let those who will not believe in predictive prophecy explain this. They would, of course, remove the prophecy to some period after the event if they could; but that is impossible. A hundred years after Micah said this, Jeremiah quoted him by name, like God's writers always do when they are quoting another sacred author, and appealed to his (Jeremiah's) own tormentors for the same kind of leniency that Hezekiah had shown to Micah. These prophetic lines were most circumstantially fulfilled when ebuchadnezzar and his generals demolished the city in 586 B.C. Micah lived and wrote in the eighth century B.C.

Since, therefore, it must be allowed as a genuine prophecy, literally fulfilled more than a century afterward, what can the critics do? The answer, of course, is nothing! However, we shall note a few of the things they have tried to do:

(1) They have tried to limit the prophecy to a "surprisingly accurate" discernment of political conditions by Micah, not allowing, at all, that God had anything to do with it. However, as Allen pointed out, although Micah uttered this prophecy as his own words, using the first person and speaking from himself, he had already ascribed the whole prophecy to the Spirit of Jehovah, and to God's message, which

"he saw." Furthermore, a century after Micah, and at a time yet significantly prior to the fulfillment of it, Jeremiah proclaimed the very words of this Micah 3:12 as the word of God. "Thus saith Jehovah" (Jeremiah 26:18). Thus, what the prophet said, all of it, whether he so designated a certain line of it or not, was from Jehovah, God's Word, a "thus saith Jehovah," not the simple word of Micah.

(2) Others insinuate that Micah really expected Jerusalem to be overthrown during his lifetime, but that "it did not occur till a century afterward!" Such a view is false, not appearing anywhere in the passage, and merely seeking to get a contradiction between what Micah allegedly thought and what actually happened. As a matter of fact, Jerusalem probably would have fallen much sooner than it did, except for Micah's warnings and the reform under Hezekiah which led to intervention of God upon behalf of the city in the days of the siege by Sennacherib.

(3) The most incredible of all the critical objections is the complaint that, "Jerusalem has never become a deserted ruin to this day."[18] Well, well. That is the best that anybody can come up with; but that is no contradiction, and such a statement has no place in the exegesis of this text. Micah nowhere said that Jerusalem would become a deserted ruin. He said that it "would become heaps." Did it occur? Yes.

"The Babylonian king overthrew the city to the very foundations and removed all of the people.[19] Jeremiah testified to the desolation of the city, stating that, `foxes walked in it.'"[20]Jerusalem has been rebuilt, of course; but that Jerusalem against which Micah prophesied was never rebuilt. As MacLeod wrote, "The original city extended considerably south of the present southeast wall of Jerusalem."[21] "Fields now cover that ancient site of Zion. Porter, Thompson, and other writers have spoken of seeing "the plow at work on the whole of the hill which is now under cultivation."[22]

That hill which is today called Mount Zion is the southwest hill in Jerusalem and definitely is not the southeast hill where the ancient temple was built. Christians should not be deceived by old dictionaries and last-century opinions on this. As MacLeod said, the ancient Jewish historians as well as many of the present century scholars were deceived and inaccurate on this point. The ancient Jerusalem is a plowed field to this day. This has been determined by excavations, as MacLeod said, by excavations which have fully established that:

The original city, the "Jebus" captured by David, and afterward called "The City of David" was the southeast hill, not the southwest hill.[23]

What a commentary on Micah's prophecy is this! For millenniums the human race did not even know where that Jerusalem had been located!

"For your sake ..." This is the most pitiful phrase in the whole prophecy. "The bitterest words of all for Judah's rulers were these, for they mean because of you

(for your sake, on your account)."[24]

Micah was the first prophet of the Lord to prophesy the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple; but his prophecy was embellished with additional details and repeated again by Jeremiah over a century later.

The impact of this prophecy upon the Judah of Micah's day must have been profound indeed. It was the most unheard-of, impossible thing that could have been imagined in Jewish thought. That the God Jehovah who had brought them up out of slavery in Egypt and shepherded them through their wilderness wanderings, driving out the whole land, that that God would countenance the utter destruction of their capital, even the "City of David," and that he would allow the sacred temple dedicated to God's name to be destroyed, OSESE! But it was not nonsense. God's covenant blessings, then, as now, were predicated upon the keeping of the covenant by his people; and failure to keep the covenant meant the inevitable forfeiture of every blessing. How blind are those who think they have found some "short-cut" to God's favor, lifting from them any blame whatever for the violation of his sacred Word.

COSTABLE, "Micah announced a wholly different future for the Israelites. God would plow up (overthrow) Jerusalem like a field and tear down its buildings until they were only ruins (cf. Micah 1:5-6). Even the temple mount, the most holy place in all Israel, would become like a hilltop in a forest: overgrown and neglected.

Jeremiah , who lived a century later, quoted this portion of Micah"s prophecy to assure the Jerusalemites of his day that the doom of their city was certain ( Jeremiah 26:18). Jeremiah prefaced this quotation with, "Thus the LORD of hosts has said." He viewed Micah"s prophecy as inspired of God (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16).

"Micah"s words, remembered for their shocking severity a hundred years later, deserve to be taken to heart by each generation of God"s people. They challenge every attempt to misuse the service of God for one"s own glory and profit. They are a dire warning against the complacency that can take God"s love and reject his lordship. They are a passionate plea for consistency between creed and conduct. The Lord is content with nothing less." [ote: Allen, p321.]

"If Micah were ministering among us today, he would probably visit denominational offices, pastors" conferences, Bible colleges, and seminaries to warn Christian leaders that privilege brings responsibility and responsibility brings accountability." [ote: Wiersbe, p395.

TRAPP, "Verse 12Micah 3:12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Ver. 12. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field] Even for your sakes, O wicked princes, priests, and prophets; you are the traitors that have

betrayed us all into the hands of Divine justice. To be angry with us for saying so, and telling you what to trust to, is as if some fond people should be angry with the herald, or the trumpet, as the cause of their wars.

Zion shall be plowed as a field] Shall be utterly laid waste and levelled. Conquerors used to plough up those places that they would not have rebuilt; and to sow them with salt, 9:45. It must needs be a dismal destruction that is described in such exquisite terms. Alterius perditio tua sit cautio. This threatening of the prophet took so well that the judgment was respited for over a hundred years, Jeremiah 26:19. But now men’s hearts are more hardened, and therefore their destruction more hastened.

And Jerusalem shall become heaps] Rupes ruderum. This they once thought as possible as to overthrow God’s own throne; the very disciples had a conceit that the world could not outlast the temple, as may be gathered from Matthew 24:3. But they (some of them) lived to see themselves confuted, and our Saviour’s words verified, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down," Matthew 24:2.

And the mountain of the house] That famous house, that was worthily reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world, and stood upon Mount Moriah.

As the high places of the forest] As woody and desert places, fit only for wild beasts. Lege et Luge, Read and weep, saith one, speaking of Jerusalem’s desolation.

WHEDO, "Verse 1212. The inevitable results of such criminal folly must be severe judgment.

Zion… Jerusalem… mountain of the house — The three names might denote three distinct sections of the capital: Zion, the southeast spur of Mount Ophel, the ancient Jebusite stronghold, including the royal palaces; the mountain of the house, the temple area; Jerusalem, the city proper; or they might be understood as synonymous expressions, each denoting the entire city, the three expressions being used to make possible the use of several verbs; such usage would emphasize the completeness of the destruction. Whichever of these two interpretations one may accept, there can be no doubt that the prophet means to foretell the utter destruction of Jerusalem. It will fall into ruin and will be plowed like a field; even the temple mount will be forsaken and will be turned into jungle. Concerning the fulfillment of this prophecy, Stanley says: “The destruction which was then threatened has never been completely fulfilled. Part of the southeast portion of the city has for several centuries been arable land, but the rest has always been within the walls. In the Maccabean wars (1 Maccabees 4:38) the temple courts were overgrown with shrubs, but this has never been the case since.” With this prophecy

compare Isaiah 32:13-14. The utterance of Micah is quoted in Jeremiah 26:18, in defense of Jeremiah, who was accused of blasphemy because he predicted a similar destruction of Jerusalem.

BESO, "Micah 3:12. Therefore shall Zion for your sake — That is, because of your transgressions, ye judges, priests, and prophets; be ploughed as a field —“There is nothing which hinders us from referring this prophecy to the first destruction of Jerusalem: for though the foundations of the walls were left, yet a great number of houses within the city were overturned, as well by the Chaldeans as by the Jews themselves; who possibly used the materials to repair the breaches made in the walls during the long siege they underwent; when there could be no wonder if many places were ploughed as a field, for the purposes of corn, which before were gardens and houses: see 1 Maccabees 4:38. The prophecy, however, may have a further respect to the total destruction of Jerusalem when Terentius Rufus, by the order of Titus, ploughed up the very foundations of it.” See Houbigant and Calmet. And Jerusalem shall become heaps — The word heaps alludes to the heaps of stones laid up together in fields newly ploughed. And the mountain of the house — That is, of the Lord’s house; as the high places of the forest — The place where the temple stood, which was upon mount Moriah, shall be overrun with grass and shrubs, like mountains situated in a forest. This is that passage, quoted Jeremiah 26:18, which Hezekiah and his princes took in good part, yea, it seems, they believed and laid it to heart, in consequence whereof they repented, and so the execution of it did not come in their days.

COKE, "Micah 3:12. Therefore shall Zion—be plowed as a field— There is nothing that hinders us from referring this prophesy to the first destruction of Jerusalem; for, though the foundations of the walls were left, yet a great number of houses within the city were overturned, as well by the Chaldeans as by the Jews themselves; who possibly used the materials to repair the breaches made in the walls during the long siege that they underwent; when there could be no wonder if many places were plowed as a field, for the purposes of corn, which before were gardens and houses. See 1 Maccabees 4:38. The prophesy, however, may have a farther respect to the total desolation of Jerusalem, when Terentius Rufus, by the order of Titus, plowed up the very foundations of it. See Houbigant and Calmet.

REFLECTIOS.—1st, The higher the station, or the more sacred the office, the more dangerously influential will be an ill example, and the more aggravated is every transgression. The princes and priests, who should have been the support of religion, are chief in sin, and shall be chief in suffering.

1. The princes are arraigned and condemned. With great boldness the prophet charges their crimes upon their consciences, and bids them hear what the prince of the kings of the earth hath decreed concerning them. The duty of their station, as magistrates, required that they should be wise to know and impartial to administer justice: but the very reverse had their conduct been. They hate the good, the righteous man and his cause; and love the evil, approving the wicked, and countenancing them; or they hated goodness itself, and delighted in wickedness and

oppression, like wild beasts tearing the flock of God's pasture, fleecing them to the very skin by their exactions and rapine; yea, to the very marrow they devoured them, breaking their bones, and chopping them as for the pot. For which barbarity and rapaciousness God threatens to cast out their prayer in the day of distress, and turn a deaf ear to their cries, as they have done to the cries of the oppressed. And just will be the retaliation.

2. The false prophets are next convicted, and their doom is read. They caused the people to err by their lies, crying Peace, when God had said, There is no peace: they bite with their teeth; either gnash upon the true prophets for their reproofs; or, so long as the people fed them well, they flattered them in their sins: and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him, denounce God's judgments against him, or stir up his neighbours or the princes to persecute him. For which wickedness they shall be brought into the night of dark and dismal calamities, and be for ever silenced, experience giving the lie to their divinations; or because of divination shall these evils come upon them; all their prosperity shall be at an end, their sun shall set, and darkness and dismay surround them: confounded and ashamed, they shall no more dare open their lips; for now it shall be evident to all, that they never had an answer from God, though they made use of his sacred name to preface their pretended revelations. Let those who usurp the office of God's ministers without a divine call remember that the day is near when their sin and shame shall be made manifest to all.

2nd, In opposition to the character of the false prophets Micah declares,

1. Whence he received his commission, and how he discharged it. The Spirit of the Lord had called him, and furnished him with gifts and graces for the work of his ministry; therefore he could say, truly I am full of power: he speaks with confidence; for he knew that he said no more than the truth: and of judgment and of might; he feared neither the many nor the mighty; he delivered his message with dignity, as one having authority; with zeal for God's glory and the good of men's souls; and with judgment, discretion guiding his zeal; and his discernment was clear, both to distinguish truth from falsehood, and to know how to speak a word in season; therefore, being thus qualified for his ministry, he boldly declared to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin, whether they would hear or whether they would forbear. ote; (1.) Those whom God calls into the ministry he qualifies for it. (2.) They who go to bear testimony against a sinful people, need much courage and fidelity to discharge their trust.

2. Being thus sent on God's errand, he, without respect of persons, delivers his message, and calls upon the heads of Jacob, the princes, priests, and prophets, who had been the ringleaders in sin, to hear God's righteous judgments. The princes, as magistrates, abhorred justice, and perverted the law to oppression; the highest bribe with them ever carried the cause, and nothing could be transacted without a fee. They sucked the very blood of the poor, or murdered the innocent to seize their goods, and then built them stately palaces at Jerusalem, or ornamented the temple with the wages of their iniquity. The priests, equally mercenary, and lovers of filthy

lucre, taught for hire, not for God's glory, or the good of men's souls; and, if they were well paid, they readily suited their doctrine to the palate of their hearers. The prophets also divined for money; they who inquired of them were sure to hear good news, if they paid them well: and yet, notwithstanding these abominations, They lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? Because they had the temple and the outward ordinances, they flattered themselves that they had God's favour and presence among them; and therefore no evil can come upon us; as if their external privileges would be their protection: but they were fatally deceived; as all will be, who rest on the form while they deny the power of godliness. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, &c. Their sins had provoked God to send utter destruction on the temple and city in which they placed their confidence; not a stone shall be left on another, but the whole be reduced to a ruinous heap; which was in great measure done by the Chaldeans, and most literally fulfilled by the Romans. ote; (1.) Ministers must know no respect of persons when they speak in God's name, but rebuke the greatest with all authority. (2.) othing is so opposite to the character of Christ's ambassadors, as that of serving for hire, and loving filthy lucre. (3.) Outward privileges abused aggravate the guilt and hasten the ruin of sinners, while they are placing their confidence in them. (4.) The sins of the great bring down those judgments which overwhelm their own country with desolation.

PETT, "Micah 3:12

‘Therefore will Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’And because of their sinfulness, and because of their false view, they will sadly at some time learn how wrong they are. YHWH might come among them, but it will be in order to turn Zion (the outer Jerusalem) into a ploughed field, and to turn the fortress of Jerusalem into ruined heaps. Jerusalem will be destroyed.

That God delayed doing this was probably due to Hezekiah’s loyalty, Isaiah’s prayers, and Micah’s intercession. It would be another hundred years before it came to fruition. But as Micah heard the news of the advancing armies of Assyria, it was not necessarily so unexpected, for he knew that YHWH’s protecting hand could no longer be guaranteed. He was not yet to know that God would yet have mercy and spare Jerusalem for another hundred years. Although we should note that it did come in the end.

Interestingly it was this prophecy of Micah that saved Jeremiah from worse treatment when he too prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, although a contemporary was martyred (Jeremiah 26:17-24).

‘And the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’ This was the mount on which the Temple was built. But his warning here was that the Temple would be no safer than the ‘high places’ of a forest, those sacred shrines scattered throughout the hills of Judah, which would be desecrated by every invading army, as they mocked the gods of the land, and which were destroyed by Hezekiah. So even with its security on a mountain in the very centre of the city of Jerusalem, they must not

think that the Temple was safe from the judgment of God. He could destroy it as easily as the high places had been destroyed by foreign soldiery and by Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4). Its inviolability was a myth.

PULPIT, "This is the prophecy quoted by the elders to King Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26:17, etc.). It may have been delivered before Hezekiah's time originally, and repeated in his reign, when it was productive of a reformation. The denunciation is a mourn-fill contrast to the announcement in Micah 2:12; but it was never completely fulfilled, being, like all such judgments, conditioned by circumstances. Therefore … for your sake. For the crimes of rulers, priests, and prophets. Shall Zion … be ploughed as a field. Three localities are specified which destruction shall overtake Zion, Jerusalem, and the temple. Zion means that part of the city where stood the royal palace. The prophecy relates primarily to the destruction of the city by the Chaldeans, when, as Jeremiah testifies (Lamentations 5:18), Zion was desolate and foxes walked upon it. The expression in the text may be hyperbolical, but we know that the ploughing up of the foundations of captured cities is often alluded to. Thus Horace, 'Carm.,' 1.16, 20—

"... imprimeretque muris

Hostile aratrum exercitus insolens."

(Comp. 'Propert.,' 3.7, 41; and for the whole passage, Isaiah 32:13, Isaiah 32:14.) "The general surface of Mount Zion descends steeply eastwards into the Tyropoeon and Kidron, and southwards into the Valley of Hinnom. The whole of the hill here is under cultivation, and presents a most literal fulfilment of Micah's prophecy". "From the spot on which I stood," says Dr. Porter, "I saw the plough at work in the little fields that now cover the site of Zion". Jerusalem shall become heaps. The city proper shall become heaps of ruins (Jeremiah 9:11; ehemiah 2:17; ehemiah 4:2) Septuagint, ὡς ὀπωροφυλάκιον ἔσται, "as a storehouse for fruits," as in Psalms 78:1-72. (79) 1. The mountain of the house. The mountain on which the temple was built, Mount Moriah, and therefore the temple itself, no longer mentioned as the Lord's dwelling place. As the high places of the forest; or, as wooded heights, returning, as it were, to the wild condition in which it lay when Abraham offered his sacrifice thereon. In the time of the Maccabees, after its profanation by tile heathen, the account speaks of shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest or in one of the mountains (1 Macc. 4:38). Such was to be the fate of the temple in which they put their trust and made their boast.