Micah 7:2

The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. THE GOOD MAN IS PERISHED OUT OF THE EARTH. The Hebrew [ chaaciyd (H2623)] expresses 'one merciful and good in relation to man' rather than to God (Psalms 12:1)....

In the second verse he expresses more clearly his mind, _Perished, _he says, _has the righteous _(182) _from the land, and there is none upright _(183) _among men. _Here now he does not personify the land. It was indeed a forcible and an emphatic language, when he complained at the beginning, that he groaned as though the land was ashamed of its dearth: but the Prophet now performs the office of a teacher, _Perished, _he says, _has the righteous from the land; there is no one upright among men; all lay in wait for blood; every one hunts his brother as with a net _In this verse the Prophet briefly shows, that all were full both of cruelty and perfidy, that there was no care for justice; as though he said, In vain are good men sought among this people; for they are all bloody, they are all fraudulent. When he says, that they _all did lay in wait for blood, _he no doubt intended to

1-7 The prophet bemoans himself that he lived among a people ripening apace for ruin, in which many good persons would suffer. Men had no comfort, no satisfaction in their own families or in their nearest relations. Contempt and violation of domestic duties are a sad symptom of universal corruption. Those are never likely to come to good who are undutiful to their parents. The prophet saw no safety or comfort but in looking to the Lord, and waiting on God his salvation. When under trials, we should look continually to our Divine Redeemer, that we may have strength and grace to trust in him, and to be examples to those around us....

Verse Micah 7:2. _THE GOOD_ MAN _IS PERISHED OUT OF THE EARTH_] A similar sentiment may be found, Psalms 12:1; Isaiah 57:1. As the _early fig_ of excellent flavour cannot be found in the advanced season of summer, or a _choice cluster of grapes_ after vintage, so neither can the good and upright man be discovered by searching in Israel. This comparison, says Bp. _Newcome_, is beautifully implied. _THEY HUNT EVERY MAN HIS BROTHER WITH A NET._] This appears to be an allusion to the ancient mode of duel between the _retiarius_ and _secutor_. The former had a _casting net_, which he endeavoured to throw over the head of his antagonist, that he might then des

THE, GOOD - or godly, or merciful, the English margin MAN - The Hebrew word contains all. It is “he who loveth tenderly and piously” God, for His own sake, and man, for the sake of God. Mercy was probably chiefly intended, since it wits to this that the prophet had exhorted, and the sins which he proceeds to speak of, are against this. But imaginary love of God without love of man, or love of man without the love of God, is mere self-deceit. “Is perished out of the earth,” that is, by an untimely death. The good had either been withdrawn by God from the evil to come Isaiah 57:1, or had Leon cut off by those who laid wait for blood; in which case their death brought a double evil, through the guilt which such sin contracted, and then, through the loss of those who might be an example to others, and whose prayers God would

EXPOSITION MICAH 7:1 § 5. _Israel's penitential acknowledgment of the general corruption._ MICAH 7:1 WOE IS ME! (Job 10:15). Micah threatens no more; he represents repentant Israel confessing its corruption and lamenting the necessity of punishment. I AM AS WHEN THEY HAVE GATHERED THE SUMMER FRUITS; literally, _I am as the gatherings of the fruit harvest. _The point of comparison is only to be inferred from the context. At the fruit. harvest no early figs are to be found, and (in the next clause) after the vintage no more grapes; so in Israel there is none righteous left. The Septuagint gives a plainer exposition, Ἐγενήθην ω

THE GOOD [MAN] IS PERISHED OUT OF THE EARTH,.... Here the prophet expresses in plain words what he had before delivered in figurative terms. The "good" or "godly" man, as in Psalms 12:1; is one that has received the grace of God, and blessings of grace from him, and lives a godly life and conversation; who has the good work of grace begun in him and is found in the performance of good works, and does his duty both to God and man from godly principles; and particularly is kind and merciful to the poor and needy, and those in distress. The complaint is, that there were few, or scarce any, of this character in the earth, in the land of Israel, where there used to be great numbers of them, but now they were all dead and gone; for this is to be understood, not of the perishing of their graces or comforts, much less of their perishing in their sins, or perishing eternally, but of their corpore...

The prophet begins in a sorrowful strain, and there is much that is said in the chapter, yet there is also much of holy confidence in God. Micah 7:1. _Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit._ It is a terrible thing for a good man to find good men growing very scarce, and to see wicked men becoming more wicked than ever. It makes him feel his loneliness very keenly, and joy seems to be banished from his heart. Micah 7:2. _The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net._ Those were sad times in which Micah lived; and yet, under some aspe

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The prophet's complaint (Micah 7:1) _ 2. Confession, prayer and thanksgiving (Micah 7:7) Micah 7:1. It is the prophet's voice complaining over the conditions of the people. But he is also the typical representative of the remnant during the time of travail in Zion. It is to be noted that our Lord quotes from this portion of Micah. (See Matthew 10:21, which dispensationally applies to the future remnant.) In the midst of the conditions the prophet describes we read that his refuge was prayer, looking to the Lord with the assurance that He will hear. “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of m

CONTEMPORARY VIOLENCE, CORRUPTION, AND DISLOYALTY. This passage is distinct from the preceding, though the same introductory remark applies to it; in tone, however, it seems to come nearer to certain Psalms (_cf._ Psalms 12:1 f.). Zion laments that the pious and upright man has become, through violence, as rare in her midst as the fruit in the garden or vineyard after the ingathering; men plot against their fellows as the huntsman against his prey (Psalms 10:8 f.). Micah 7:3 is corrupt; the general meaning appears to be that the powerful secure their interests through the bribery of dishonest judges, but the Hebrew of the first and last clauses cannot be translated. In...