Micah3
New International Version
1Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice,
2you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones;
3who 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?”
4Then 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.
5This 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.
6Therefore 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.
7The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.”
8But 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.
9Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;
10who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11Her 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? No disaster will come upon us.”
12Therefore 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.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Micah 3.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The cruelty of the princes, and the falsehood of the prophets. (1–8). Their false security. (9–12).
vv1-8
Men cannot expect to do ill, and fare well; but to find that done to them which they did to others. How seldom do wholesome truths reach the ears of those in high stations or in authority! Those who deceive others are preparing confusion for their own faces. The prophet had ardent love to God and to the souls of men; deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and zeal against sin. The difficulties he met with did not drive him from his work. He had this strength; not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Those who act honestly, may act boldly. And those who come to hear the word of God, must be willing to be told of their faults, must take it kindly, and be thankful.
vv9-12
Zion's walls owe no thanks to those that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. Even when men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it becomes abomination both to God and man. Faith rests in the Lord as the soul's foundation: presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, and would use him to serve a turn. If men's having the Lord among them will not keep them from doing evil, it never can secure them from suffering evil for so doing. See the doom of wicked Jacob; Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This was exactly fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and is so at this day. If sacred places are polluted by sin, they will be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God.
Key Words
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
רֹאשׁ: the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)
יַעֲקֹב: Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarch
קָצִין: a magistrate (as deciding) or other leader
בַּיִת: a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
יָדַע: to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)
מִשְׁפָּט: properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
Cross References
Micah 3Directly quotes Micah 3:12, saving Jeremiah's life by proving prophets of old foretold Jerusalem's ruin.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels the animalistic imagery of princes ravaging the people like wolves tearing prey.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Strikingly similar condemnation of Jerusalem's princes as roaring lions and evening wolves gnawing bones.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Uses the same vivid culinary/judgment metaphor of flesh and bones in a boiling caldron.
Supported by JFB
Identical prophetic mandate to declare to Jacob his transgression and Israel his sin.
Supported by JFB
Echoes building a town with blood and establishing a city by iniquity.
Supported by JFB
Condemns building grand palaces through unrighteousness, oppression, and shedding innocent blood.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts the ignorance of the poor with leaders who ought to know the way of judgment.
Supported by JFB
Prophesies a day when false prophets will be ashamed of their deceptive visions.
Supported by JFB
Explains covering the upper lip as an ancient ritual sign of deep shame and sorrow.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the Spirit-given power, love, and bold moral courage contrasted with fear.
Supported by JFB
Exposes those who presumptuously claim the Lord's name while living in absolute rebellion.
Supported by JFB
Rebukes superstitious trust in the Temple of the Lord as a shield against judgment.
Supported by JFB
Micah's recurring condemnation of princes and judges demanding bribes and rewards.
Supported by JFB
Poetically describes oppressive rulers whose teeth are swords devouring the poor.
Supported by JFB