6 Therefore night H3915 shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; H2377 and it shall be dark H2821 H2821 unto you, that ye shall not divine; H7080 and the sun H8121 shall go down H935 over the prophets, H5030 and the day H3117 shall be dark H6937 over them.
To the law H8451 and to the testimony: H8584 if they speak H559 not according to this word, H1697 it is because there is no light H7837 in them. And they shall pass H5674 through it, hardly bestead H7185 and hungry: H7457 and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, H7456 they shall fret H7107 themselves, and curse H7043 their king H4428 and their God, H430 and look H6437 upward. H4605 And they shall look H5027 unto the earth; H776 and behold trouble H6869 and darkness, H2825 dimness H4588 of anguish; H6695 and they shall be driven H5080 to darkness. H653
And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 that I will cause the sun H8121 to go down H935 at noon, H6672 and I will darken H2821 the earth H776 in the clear H216 day: H3117 And I will turn H2015 your feasts H2282 into mourning, H60 and all your songs H7892 into lamentation; H7015 and I will bring up H5927 sackcloth H8242 upon all loins, H4975 and baldness H7144 upon every head; H7218 and I will make H7760 it as the mourning H60 of an only H3173 son, and the end H319 thereof as a bitter H4751 day. H3117
We see H7200 not our signs: H226 there is no more any prophet: H5030 neither is there among us any that knoweth H3045 how long. H5704
Give H5414 glory H3519 to the LORD H3068 your God, H430 before he cause darkness, H2821 and before your feet H7272 stumble H5062 upon the dark H5399 mountains, H2022 and, while ye look H6960 for light, H216 he turn H7760 it into the shadow of death, H6757 and make H7896 H7896 it gross darkness. H6205
She that hath borne H3205 seven H7651 languisheth: H535 she hath given up H5301 the ghost; H5315 her sun H8121 is gone H935 down while it was yet day: H3119 H3117 she hath been ashamed H954 and confounded: H2659 and the residue H7611 of them will I deliver H5414 to the sword H2719 before H6440 their enemies, H341 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068
Because with lies H8267 ye have made the heart H3820 of the righteous H6662 sad, H3512 whom I have not made sad; H3510 and strengthened H2388 the hands H3027 of the wicked, H7451 that he should not return H7725 from his wicked H7563 way, H1870 by promising him life: H2421 Therefore ye shall see H2372 no more vanity, H7723 nor divine H7080 divinations: H7081 for I will deliver H5337 my people H5971 out of your hand: H3027 and ye shall know H3045 that I am the LORD. H3068
And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 that I will cut off H3772 the names H8034 of the idols H6091 out of the land, H776 and they shall no more be remembered: H2142 and also I will cause the prophets H5030 and the unclean H2932 spirit H7307 to pass H5674 out of the land. H776 And it shall come to pass, that when any H376 shall yet prophesy, H5012 then his father H1 and his mother H517 that begat H3205 him shall say H559 unto him, Thou shalt not live; H2421 for thou speakest H1696 lies H8267 in the name H8034 of the LORD: H3068 and his father H1 and his mother H517 that begat H3205 him shall thrust H1856 him through when he prophesieth. H5012 And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 that the prophets H5030 shall be ashamed H954 every one H376 of his vision, H2384 when he hath prophesied; H5012 neither shall they wear H3847 a rough H8181 garment H155 to deceive: H3584
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Micah 3
Commentary on Micah 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 3
Mic 3:1-12. The Sins of the Princes, Prophets, and Priests: The Consequent Desolation of Zion.
1. princes—magistrates or judges.
Is it not for you?—Is it not your special function (Jer 5:4, 5)?
judgment—justice. Ye sit in judgment on others; surely then ye ought to know the judgment for injustice which awaits yourselves (Ro 2:1).
2. pluck off their skin … flesh—rob their fellow countrymen of all their substance (Ps 14:4; Pr 30:14).
3. pot … flesh within … caldron—manifold species of cruel oppressions. Compare Eze 24:3, &c., containing, as to the coming punishment, the same figure as is here used of the sin: implying that the sin and punishment exactly correspond.
4. Then—at the time of judgment, which Micah takes for granted, so certain is it (compare Mic 2:3).
they cry … but he will not hear—just as those oppressed by them had formerly cried, and they would not hear. Their prayer shall be rejected, because it is the mere cry of nature for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin.
ill in their doings—Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well.
5. Here he attacks the false prophets, as before he had attacked the "princes."
make my people err—knowingly mislead My people by not denouncing their sins as incurring judgment.
bite with … teeth, and cry, Peace—that is, who, so long as they are supplied with food, promise peace and prosperity in their prophecies.
he that putteth not into their mouths, they … prepare war against him—Whenever they are not supplied with food, they foretell war and calamity.
prepare war—literally, "sanctify war," that is, proclaim it as a holy judgment of God because they are not fed (see on Jer 6:4; compare Isa 13:3; Joe 1:14).
6. night … dark—Calamities shall press on you so overwhelming as to compel you to cease pretending to divine (Zec 13:4). Darkness is often the image of calamity (Isa 8:22; Am 5:18; 8:9).
7. cover their lips—The Orientals prided themselves on the moustache and beard ("upper lip," Margin). To cover it, therefore, was a token of shame and sorrow (Le 13:45; Eze 24:17, 22). "They shall be so ashamed of themselves as not to dare to open their mouths or boast of the name of prophet" [Calvin].
there is no answer of God—They shall no more profess to have responses from God, being struck dumb with calamities (Mic 3:6).
8. I—in contrast to the false prophets (Mic 3:5, 7).
full of power—that which "the Spirit of Jehovah" imparts for the discharge of the prophetical function (Lu 1:17; 24:49; Ac 1:8).
judgment—a sense of justice [Maurer]; as opposed to the false prophets' speaking to please men, not from a regard to truth. Or, "judgment" to discern between graver and lighter offenses, and to denounce punishments accordingly [Grotius].
might—moral intrepidity in speaking the truth at all costs (2Ti 1:7).
to declare unto Jacob his … sin—(Isa 58:1). Not to flatter the sinner as the false prophets do with promises of peace.
9. Hear—resumed from Mic 3:1. Here begins the leading subject of the prophecy: a demonstration of his assertion that he is "full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah" (Mic 3:8).
10. They—change of person from "ye" (Mic 3:9); the third person puts them to a greater distance as estranged from Him. It is, literally, "Whosoever builds," singular.
build up Zion with blood—build on it stately mansions with wealth obtained by the condemnation and murder of the innocent (Jer 22:13; Eze 22:27; Hab 2:12).
11. heads thereof—the princes of Jerusalem.
judge for reward—take bribes as judges (Mic 7:3).
priests teach for hire—It was their duty to teach the law and to decide controversies gratuitously (Le 10:11; De 17:11; Mal 2:7; compare Jer 6:13; Jude 11).
prophets … divine—that is, false prophets.
Is not the Lord among us?—namely in the temple (Isa 48:2; Jer 7:4, 8-11).
12. Jer 26:18 quotes this verse. The Talmud and Maimonides record that at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, Terentius Rufus, who was left in command of the army, with a ploughshare tore up the foundations of the temple.
mountain of the house—the height on which the temple stands.
as the high places of the forest—shall become as heights in a forest overrun with wild shrubs and brushwood.