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 w... [ Continue Reading ]
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 jus... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
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, a... [ Continue Reading ]
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: _a... [ Continue Reading ]
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 shou... [ Continue Reading ]
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,... [ Continue Reading ]
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 c... [ Continue Reading ]
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 rule... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
Now 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 sh... [ Continue Reading ]