1 Woe H1945 to them that devise H2803 iniquity, H205 and work H6466 evil H7451 upon their beds! H4904 when the morning H1242 is light, H216 they practise H6213 it, because it is H3426 in the power H410 of their hand. H3027
He deviseth H2803 mischief H205 upon his bed; H4904 he setteth H3320 himself in a way H1870 that is not good; H2896 he abhorreth H3988 not evil. H7451
There is one come out H3318 of thee, that imagineth H2803 evil H7451 against the LORD, H3068 a wicked H1100 counsellor. H3289
For they have made ready H7126 their heart H3820 like an oven, H8574 whiles they lie in wait: H693 their baker H644 sleepeth H3463 all the night; H3915 in the morning H1242 it burneth H1197 as a flaming H3852 fire. H784 They are all hot H2552 as an oven, H8574 and have devoured H398 their judges; H8199 all their kings H4428 are fallen: H5307 there is none among them that calleth H7121 unto me.
The instruments H3627 also of the churl H3596 are evil: H7451 he deviseth H3289 wicked devices H2154 to destroy H2254 the poor H6041 H6035 with lying H8267 words, H561 even when the needy H34 speaketh H1696 right. H4941
It is H3426 in the power H410 of my hand H3027 to do H6213 you hurt: H7451 but the God H430 of your father H1 spake H559 unto me yesternight, H570 saying, H559 Take thou heed H8104 that thou speak not H1696 to Jacob H3290 either good H2896 or bad. H7451
And G2532 the chief priests G749 and G2532 the scribes G1122 the same G1722 G846 hour G5610 sought G2212 to lay G1911 hands G5495 on G1909 him; G846 and G2532 they feared G5399 the people: G2992 for G1063 they perceived G1097 that G3754 he had spoken G2036 this G5026 parable G3850 against G4314 them. G846
Now G3568 therefore G3767 ye G5210 with G4862 the council G4892 signify G1718 to the chief captain G5506 that G3704 he bring G2609 him G846 down G2609 unto G4314 you G5209 to morrow, G839 as G5613 though ye would G3195 enquire G1231 something more perfectly G197 concerning G4012 him: G846 and G1161 we, G2249 or ever G4253 he G846 come near, G1448 are G2070 ready G2092 to kill G337 him. G846
And G1161 when it was G1096 day, G2250 certain G5100 of the Jews G2453 banded together, G4160 G4963 and bound G332 themselves G1438 under a curse, G332 saying G3004 that they would G5315 neither G3383 eat G5315 nor G3383 drink G4095 till G2193 G3757 they had killed G615 Paul. G3972
Jesus G2424 answered, G611 Thou couldest have G2192 no G3756 power G1849 at all against G3762 G2596 me, G1700 except G1508 it were G2258 given G1325 thee G4671 from above: G509 therefore G5124 G1223 he that delivered G3860 me G3165 unto thee G4671 hath G2192 the greater G3187 sin. G266
And G2532 the chief priests G749 and G2532 scribes G1122 sought G2212 how G4459 they might kill G337 him; G846 for G1063 they feared G5399 the people. G2992 Then G1161 entered G1525 Satan G4567 into G1519 Judas G2455 surnamed G1941 Iscariot, G2469 being G5607 of G1537 the number G706 of the twelve. G1427 And G2532 he went his way, G565 and communed with G4814 the chief priests G749 and G2532 captains, G4755 how G4459 he might betray G3860 him G846 unto them. G846 And G2532 they were glad, G5463 and G2532 covenanted G4934 to give G1325 him G846 money. G694 And G2532 he promised, G1843 and G2532 sought G2212 opportunity G2120 to betray G3860 him G846 unto them G846 in the absence G817 of the multitude. G3793
And Haman H2001 said H559 unto king H4428 Ahasuerus, H325 There is H3426 a certain H259 people H5971 scattered abroad H6340 and dispersed H6504 among the people H5971 in all the provinces H4082 of thy kingdom; H4438 and their laws H1881 are diverse H8138 from all people; H5971 neither keep H6213 they the king's H4428 laws: H1881 therefore it is not for the king's H4428 profit H7737 to suffer H3240 them.
And G2532 straightway G2112 in G1909 the morning G4404 the chief priests G749 held G4160 a consultation G4824 with G3326 the elders G4245 and G2532 scribes G1122 and G2532 the whole G3650 council, G4892 and bound G1210 Jesus, G2424 and carried him away, G667 and G2532 delivered G3860 him to Pilate. G4091
When G1161 the morning G4405 was come, G1096 all G3956 the chief priests G749 and G2532 elders G4245 of the people G2992 took G2983 counsel G4824 against G2596 Jesus G2424 to G5620 put G2289 him G846 to death: G2289 And G2532 when they had bound G1210 him, G846 they led him away, G520 and G2532 delivered G3860 him G846 to Pontius G4194 Pilate G4091 the governor. G2232
Then said H559 he unto me, Son H1121 of man, H120 these are the men H582 that devise H2803 mischief, H205 and give H3289 wicked H7451 counsel H6098 in this city: H5892
Then said H559 they, Come, H3212 and let us devise H2803 devices H4284 against Jeremiah; H3414 for the law H8451 shall not perish H6 from the priest, H3548 nor counsel H6098 from the wise, H2450 nor the word H1697 from the prophet. H5030 Come, H3212 and let us smite H5221 him with the tongue, H3956 and let us not give heed H7181 to any of his words. H1697
For your hands H3709 are defiled H1351 with blood, H1818 and your fingers H676 with iniquity; H5771 your lips H8193 have spoken H1696 lies, H8267 your tongue H3956 hath muttered H1897 perverseness. H5766
A good H2896 man obtaineth H6329 favour H7522 of the LORD: H3068 but a man H376 of wicked devices H4209 will he condemn. H7561
A naughty H1100 person, H120 a wicked H205 man, H376 walketh H1980 with a froward H6143 mouth. H6310 He winketh H7169 with his eyes, H5869 he speaketh H4448 with his feet, H7272 he teacheth H3384 with his fingers; H676 Frowardness H8419 is in his heart, H3820 he deviseth H2790 mischief H7451 continually; H6256 he soweth H7971 discord. H4066 H4090 Therefore shall his calamity H343 come H935 suddenly; H6597 suddenly H6621 shall he be broken H7665 without remedy. H4832 These six H8337 things doth the LORD H3068 hate: H8130 yea, seven H7651 are an abomination H8441 unto him: H5315 A proud H7311 look, H5869 a lying H8267 tongue, H3956 and hands H3027 that shed H8210 innocent H5355 blood, H1818 An heart H3820 that deviseth H2790 wicked H205 imaginations, H4284 feet H7272 that be swift H4116 in running H7323 to mischief, H7451 A false H8267 witness H5707 that speaketh H6315 lies, H3577 and he that soweth H7971 discord H4090 among brethren. H251
For they sleep H3462 not, except they have done mischief; H7489 and their sleep H8142 is taken away, H1497 unless they cause some to fall. H3782 H3782
[[To the chief Musician, H5329 A Psalm H4210 of David.]] H1732 Deliver H2502 me, O LORD, H3068 from the evil H7451 man: H120 preserve H5341 me from the violent H2555 man; H376 Which imagine H2803 mischiefs H7451 in their heart; H3820 continually H3117 are they gathered together H1481 for war. H4421 They have sharpened H8150 their tongues H3956 like a serpent; H5175 adders' H5919 poison H2534 is under their lips. H8193 Selah. H5542 Keep H8104 me, O LORD, H3068 from the hands H3027 of the wicked; H7563 preserve H5341 me from the violent H2555 man; H376 who have purposed H2803 to overthrow H1760 my goings. H6471 The proud H1343 have hid H2934 a snare H6341 for me, and cords; H2256 they have spread H6566 a net H7568 by the wayside; H3027 H4570 they have set H7896 gins H4170 for me. Selah. H5542 I said H559 unto the LORD, H3068 Thou art my God: H410 hear H238 the voice H6963 of my supplications, H8469 O LORD. H3068 O GOD H3069 the Lord, H136 the strength H5797 of my salvation, H3444 thou hast covered H5526 my head H7218 in the day H3117 of battle. H5402 Grant H5414 not, O LORD, H3068 the desires H3970 of the wicked: H7563 further H6329 not his wicked device; H2162 lest they exalt H7311 themselves. Selah. H5542
Behold, he travaileth H2254 with iniquity, H205 and hath conceived H2029 mischief, H5999 and brought forth H3205 falsehood. H8267 He made H3738 a pit, H953 and digged H2658 it, and is fallen H5307 into the ditch H7845 which he made. H6466 His mischief H5999 shall return H7725 upon his own head, H7218 and his violent H2555 dealing shall come down H3381 upon his own pate. H6936
But when Esther came H935 before H6440 the king, H4428 he commanded H559 by letters H5612 that his wicked H7451 device, H4284 which he devised H2803 against the Jews, H3064 should return H7725 upon his own head, H7218 and that he and his sons H1121 should be hanged H8518 on the gallows. H6086
Then said H559 Zeresh H2238 his wife H802 and all his friends H157 unto him, Let a gallows H6086 be made H6213 of fifty H2572 cubits H520 high, H1364 and to morrow H1242 speak H559 thou unto the king H4428 that Mordecai H4782 may be hanged H8518 thereon: then go H935 thou in merrily H8056 with the king H4428 unto the banquet. H4960 And the thing H1697 pleased H3190 H6440 Haman; H2001 and he caused H6213 the gallows H6086 to be made. H6213
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Micah 2
Commentary on Micah 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
Mic 2:1-13. Denunciation of the Evils Prevalent: The People's Unwillingness to Hear the Truth: Their Expulsion From the Land the Fitting Fruit of Their Sin: Yet Judah and Israel Are Hereafter to Be Restored.
1. devise … work … practise—They do evil not merely on a sudden impulse, but with deliberate design. As in the former chapter sins against the first table are reproved, so in this chapter sins against the second table. A gradation: "devise" is the conception of the evil purpose; "work" (Ps 58:2), or "fabricate," the maturing of the scheme; "practise," or "effect," the execution of it.
because it is in the power of their hand—for the phrase see Ge 31:29; Pr 3:27. Might, not right, is what regulates their conduct. Where they can, they commit oppression; where they do not, it is because they cannot.
2. Parallelism, "Take by violence," answers to "take away"; "fields" and "houses," to "house" and "heritage" (that is, one's land).
3. against this family—against the nation, and especially against those reprobated in Mic 2:1, 2.
I devise an evil—a happy antithesis between God's dealings and the Jews' dealings (Mic 2:1). Ye "devise evil" against your fellow countrymen; I devise evil against you. Ye devise it wrongfully, I by righteous retribution in kind.
from which ye shall not remove your necks—as ye have done from the law. The yoke I shall impose shall be one which ye cannot shake off. They who will not bend to God's "easy yoke" (Mt 11:29, 30), shall feel His iron yoke.
go haughtily—(Compare Note, see on Jer 6:28). Ye shall not walk as now with neck haughtily uplifted, for the yoke shall press down your "neck."
this time is evil—rather, "for that time shall be an evil time," namely, the time of the carrying away into captivity (compare Am 5:13; Eph 5:16).
4. one take up a parable against you—that is, Some of your foes shall do so, taking in derision from your own mouth your "lamentation," namely, "We be spoiled," &c.
lament with a doleful lamentation—literally, "lament with a lamentation of lamentations." Hebrew, naha, nehi, nihyah, the repetition representing the continuous and monotonous wail.
he hath changed the portion of my people—a charge of injustice against Jehovah. He transfers to other nations the sacred territory assigned as the rightful portion of our people (Mic 1:15).
turning away he hath divided our fields—Turning away from us to the enemy, He hath divided among them our fields. Calvin, as the Margin, explains, "Instead of restoring our territory, He hath divided our fields among our enemies, each of whom henceforward will have an interest in keeping what he hath gotten: so that we are utterly shut out from hope of restoration." Maurer translates as a noun, "He hath divided our fields to a rebel," that is, to the foe who is a rebel against the true God, and a worshipper of idols. So "backsliding," that is, backslider (Jer 49:4). English Version gives a good sense; and is quite tenable in the Hebrew.
5. Therefore—resumed from Mic 2:3. On account of your crimes described in Mic 2:1, 2.
thou—the ideal individual ("me," Mic 2:4), representing the guilty people in whose name he spoke.
none that … cast a cord by lot—none who shall have any possession measured out.
in the congregation of the Lord—among the people consecrated to Jehovah. By covetousness and violence (Mic 2:2) they had forfeited "the portion of Jehovah's people." This is God's implied answer to their complaint of injustice (Mic 2:4).
6. Prophesy ye not, say they—namely, the Israelites say to the true prophets, when announcing unwelcome truths. Therefore God judicially abandons them to their own ways: "The prophets, by whose ministry they might have been saved from shame (ignominious captivity), shall not (that is, no longer) prophesy to them" (Isa 30:10; Am 2:12; 7:16). Maurer translates the latter clause, "they shall not prophesy of such things" (as in Mic 2:3-5, these being rebellious Israel's words); "let them not prophesy"; "they never cease from insult" (from prophesying insults to us). English Version is supported by the parallelism: wherein the similarity of sound and word implies how exactly God makes their punishment answer to their sin, and takes them at their own word. "Prophesy," literally, "drop" (De 32:2; Eze 21:2).
7. O thou … named the house of Jacob—priding thyself on the name, though having naught of the spirit, of thy progenitor. Also, bearing the name which ought to remind thee of God's favors granted to thee because of His covenant with Jacob.
is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?—Is His compassion contracted within narrower limits now than formerly, so that He should delight in your destruction (compare Ps 77:7-9; Isa 59:1, 2)?
are these his doings?—that is, Are such threatenings His delight? Ye dislike the prophets' threatenings (Mic 2:6): but who is to blame? Not God, for He delights in blessing, rather than threatening; but yourselves (Mic 2:8) who provoke His threatenings [Grotius]. Calvin translates, "Are your doings such as are prescribed by Him?" Ye boast of being God's peculiar people: Do ye then conform your lives to God's law?
do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly—Are not My words good to the upright? If your ways were upright, My words would not be threatening (compare Ps 18:26; Mt 11:19; Joh 7:17).
8. Your ways are not such that I can deal with you as I would with the upright.
Even of late—literally, "yesterday," "long ago." So "of old." Hebrew, "yesterday" (Isa 30:33); "heretofore," Hebrew, "since yesterday" (Jos 3:4).
my people is risen up as an enemy—that is, has rebelled against My precepts; also has become an enemy to the unoffending passers-by.
robe with the garment—Not content with the outer "garment," ye greedily rob passers-by of the ornamental "robe" fitting the body closely and flowing down to the feet [Ludovicus De Dieu] (Mt 5:40).
as men averse from war—in antithesis to (My people) "as an enemy." Israel treats the innocent passers-by, though "averse from war," as an enemy" would treat captives in his power, stripping them of their habiliments as lawful spoils. Grotius translates, "as men returning from war," that is, as captives over whom the right of war gives the victors an absolute power. English Version is supported by the antithesis.
9. The women of my people—that is, the widows of the men slain by you (Mic 2:2) ye cast out from their homes which had been their delight, and seize on them for yourselves.
from their children—that is, from the orphans of the widows.
taken away my glory—namely, their substance and raiment, which, being the fruit of God's blessing on the young, reflected God's glory. Thus Israel's crime was not merely robbery, but sacrilege. Their sex did not save the women, nor their age the children from violence.
for ever—There was no repentance. They persevered in sin. The pledged garment was to be restored to the poor before sunset (Ex 22:26, 27); but these never restored their unlawful booty.
10. Arise ye, and depart—not an exhortation to the children of God to depart out of an ungodly world, as it is often applied; though that sentiment is a scriptural one. This world is doubtless not our "rest," being "polluted" with sin: it is our passage, not our portion; our aim, not our home (2Co 6:17; Heb 13:14). The imperatives express the certainty of the future event predicted. "Since such are your doings (compare Mic 2:7, 8, &c.), My sentence on you is irrevocable (Mic 2:4, 5), however distasteful to you (Mic 2:6); ye who have cast out others from their homes and possessions (Mic 2:2, 8, 9) must arise, depart, and be cast out of your own (Mic 2:4, 5): for this is not your rest" (Nu 10:33; De 12:9; Ps 95:11). Canaan was designed to be a rest to them after their wilderness fatigues. But it is to be so no longer. Thus God refutes the people's self-confidence, as if God were bound to them inseparably. The promise (Ps 132:14) is quite consistent with temporary withdrawal of God from Israel for their sins.
it shall destroy you—The land shall spew you out, because of the defilements wherewith ye "polluted" it (Le 18:25, 28; Jer 3:2; Eze 36:12-14).
11. walking in the spirit—The Hebrew means also "wind." "If a man professing to have the 'spirit' of inspiration (Eze 13:3; so 'man of the spirit,' that is, one claiming inspiration, Ho 9:7), but really walking in 'wind' (prophecy void of nutriment for the soul, and unsubstantial as the wind) and falsehood, do lie, saying (that which ye like to hear), I will prophesy," &c., even such a one, however false his prophecies, since he flatters your wishes, shall be your prophet (compare Mic 2:6; Jer 5:31).
prophesy … of wine—that is, of an abundant supply of wine.
12. A sudden transition from threats to the promise of a glorious restoration. Compare a similar transition in Ho 1:9, 10. Jehovah, too, prophesies of good things to come, but not like the false prophets, "of wine and strong drink" (Mic 2:11). After I have sent you into captivity as I have just threatened, I will thence assemble you again (compare Mic 4:6, 7).
all of thee—The restoration from Babylon was partial. Therefore that here meant must be still future, when "all Israel shall be saved" (Ro 11:26). The restoration from "Babylon" (specified (Mic 4:10) is the type of the future one.
Jacob … Israel—the ten tribes' kingdom (Ho 12:2) and Judah (2Ch 19:8; 21:2, 4).
remnant—the elect remnant, which shall survive the previous calamities of Judah, and from which the nation is to spring into new life (Isa 6:13; 10:20-22).
as the sheep of Bozrah—a region famed for its rich pastures (compare 2Ki 3:4). Gesenius for Bozrah translates, "sheepfold." But thus there will be tautology unless the next clause be translated, "in the midst of their pasture." English Version is more favored by the Hebrew.
13. The breaker—Jehovah-Messiah, who breaks through every obstacle in the way of their restoration: not as formerly breaking forth to destroy them for transgression (Ex 19:22; Jud 21:15), but breaking a way for them through their enemies.
they—the returning Israelites and Jews.
passed through the gate—that is, through the gate of the foe's city in which they had been captives. So the image of the resurrection (Ho 13:14) represents Israel's restoration.
their king—"the Breaker," peculiarly "their king" (Ho 3:5; Mt 27:37).
pass before them—as He did when they went up out of Egypt (Ex 13:21; De 1:30, 33).
the Lord on the head of them—Jehovah at their head (Isa 52:12). Messiah, the second person, is meant (compare Ex 23:20; 33:14; Isa 63:9).