Micah 2:4

In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields. IN THAT DAY SHALL ONE TAKE UP A PARABLE AGAINST YOU, AND LAMENT WITH A DOLEFUL LAMENTATION, AND SAY, WE BE UTTERLY SPOILED - namely, some of your foes shall do so, taking in derision from your own mouth your "lamentation," namely, "We be spoiled," etc. LAMENT WITH A DOLEFUL LAMENTATION - literally lament with a lamentation of lamentations. The 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 Yahweh. He transfers to other nations the sacred territory assigned as the rightful portion and inheritance of our people ...

The verse is in broken sentences; and hence interpreters vary. But the meaning of the Prophet appears to me to be simply this, _In that day they shall take up a proverb against you; _that is, it will not be an ordinary calamity, but the report concerning it will go forth every where so that the Jews will become to all a common proverb. This is one thing. As to the word משל, _meshil, _it is taken, we know, for a weighty saying, and in the plural, weighty sayings, called by the Latins, sentences (_sententias_) or sayings, (_dicta,_) and by the Greeks, apophthegmata. αποφθεγματα, But these sayings were thus called weighty by the Hebrews, because he who elevated his style, made use especially of figurative expressions, to render his discourse nobler and more splendid. (82) Hence many render this word, enigmas. It accords well with the Prophet’s meaning, to suppose

1-5 Woe to the people that devise evil during the night, and rise early to carry it into execution! It is bad to do mischief on a sudden thought, much worse to do it with design and forethought. It is of great moment to improve and employ hours of retirement and solitude in a proper manner. If covetousness reigns in the heart, compassion is banished; and when the heart is thus engaged, violence and fraud commonly occupy the hands. The most haughty and secure in prosperity, are commonly most ready to despair in adversity. Woe to those from whom God turns away! Those are the sorest calamities which cut us off from the congregation of the Lord, or cut us short in the enjoyment of its privileges....

Verse Micah 2:4. _TAKE UP A PARABLE AGAINST YOU_] Your wickedness and your punishment shall be subjects of common conversation; and a _funeral_ _dirge_ shall be composed and sung for you as for the _dead_. The _lamentation_ is that which immediately follows: _We be utterly_ _spoiled_; and ends, _Are these his doings_? Micah 2:7....

IN THAT DAY SHALL ONE TAKE UP A PARABLE AGAINST YOU - The mashal or likeness may, in itself, be any speech in which one thing is likened to another: 1) “figured speech,” 2) “proverb,” and, since such proverbs were often sharp sayings against others, 3) “taunting figurative speech.” But of the person himself it is always said, he “is made, becomes a proverb” Deuteronomy 28:37; 1Ki 9:7; 2 Chronicles 7:20; Psalms 44:15;...

EXPOSITION MICAH 2:1 § 6. _The prophet justifies his threat by recounting the sins of which the grandees and guilty._ MICAH 2:1 The prophet, himself one of the people, first inveighs against the sins of injustice and oppression of the poor. DEVISE … WORK … PRACTISE. A gradation. They are not led into these sins by others; they themselves conceive the evil purpose in their own heart; then they prepare and mature their scheme by reflection; then they proceed to execute it. Work evil; _i.e._ prepare the means for carrying out their conception (comp Isaiah 41:4). UPON THEIR BEDS. At night, the natural time for reflection (comp.

IN THAT DAY SHALL [ONE] TAKE UP A PARABLE AGAINST YOU,.... Making use of your name, as a byword, a proverb, a taunt, and a jeer; mocking at your calamities and miseries: or, "concerning you" c; take up and deliver out a narrative of your troubles, in figurative and parabolical expressions; which Kimchi thinks is to be understood of a false prophet, finding his prophecies and promises come to nothing; or rather a stranger, a bystander, a spectator of their miseries, an insulting enemy, mimicking and representing them; or one of themselves, in the name of the rest: AND LAMENT WITH A DOLEFUL LAMENTATION; or, "lament a lamentation of lamentation" d: a very grievous one; or, "a lamentation that is", or "shall be", or "is done" e; a real one, and which will continue: [AND] SAY, WE BE UTTERLY SPOILED; our persons, families, and friends; our estates, fields, and vineyards; our towns and cities...

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The guilt and punishment of Israel (Micah 2:1) _ 2. The future restoration (Micah 2:12) Micah 2:1. In the first two verses the special sins of Israel are mentioned, the same as in Amos--idolatry, covetousness and oppression. Therefore punishment is to fall upon them. There would be a doleful lamentation: “We be utterly spoiled: he changeth the portion of my people; how does he take it away from me!” Their fields would be divided. Nor did they listen to the true prophets; they gave ear to the false prophets who flattered them. It is interesting to note that the sentence, “Prophesy ye not, thus they prophesy,” literally translated is, “Do not sputter, thus they sputter.” They did not give out the

SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND ITS PENALTY. The prophet denounces those for whom might is right (Psalms 36:4; and work evil seems a thoughtless scribal addition), who acquire property by illegal or inequitable process (Isaiah 5:8). Against such plans Yahweh declares His own to bring this family (_i.e._ Israel as a whole, Amos 3:1) under the foreign yoke (Jeremiah 27:12). A lament shall be made over Israel, whose land shall be given to the heathen (Micah 2:4, _mg._ 1; but text is doubtful here, and often to end of...

TAKE UP. PARABLE. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 23:7; Numbers 23:18; Numbers 24:3; Numbers 24:15; Numbers 24:20; Numbers 24:23). Twice in Job (Job 27:1; Job 29:1); once in Isaiah (Isaiah 14:4); once in Habakkuk ...