Micah 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.