Micah 7:3

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. THAT THEY MAY DO EVIL WITH BOTH HANDS EARNESTLY - literally, 'Their hands are for evil, that they may do it well' (i:e., cleverly and successfully). THE PRINCE ASKETH, AND THE JUDGE ASKETH FOR A REWARD; AND THE GREAT MAN, HE UTTERETH HIS MISCHIEVOUS DESIRE - "the great man, he" - emphatic repetition. As for the great man, he no sooner has expressed his bad desire (literally, the mischief or lust of his soul), than the venal judges are ready to wrest the decision of the case according to his wish. SO THEY WRAP IT UP - the Hebrew [ `aabat (H5686)] is used of intertwining cords together. The "three-fold cord is not quiet...

This verse is properly addressed to the judges and governors of the people, and also to the rich, who oppressed the miserable common people, because they could not redeem themselves by rewards. The Prophet therefore complains, that corruptions so much prevailed in judgments, that the judges readily absolved the most wicked, provided they brought bribes. The sum of what is said then is, that any thing might be done with impunity, for the judges were venal. This is the Prophet’s meaning. But as interpreters differ, something shall be said as to the import of the words. על הרע כפים, _ol ero caphim, For the evil of their hands _to do good. Some give this explanation, “Though they are openly wicked, yet they make pretenses, by which they cover their wickedness:” and the sense would be this, — that though they had cast aside every care for what was right, they yet had become so hardened in ini...

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 7:3. _THAT THEY MAY DO EVIL WITH BOTH HANDS_] That is, earnestly, greedily, to the uttermost of their power. The _Vulgate_ translates: Malum manuum suarum dicunt bonum; "The evil of their hands they call good." _THE PRINCE ASKETH_] A bribe, to forward claims in his court. _THE JUDGE_ ASKETH _FOR A REWARD_] That he may decide the cause in favour of him who gives most money, whether the cause be _good_ or _evil_. This was notoriously the case in our own country before the giving of _Magna Charta_; and hence that provision, Nulli vendemus justitiam aut rectum: "We will not sell justice to any man." And _this_ was not the only _country_ in which justice and judgment were put to sale. _THE GREAT_ MAN, HE UTTERETH HIS MISCHIEVOUS DESIRE

THAT THEY MAY DO EVIL WITH BOTH HANDS EARNESTLY - (Literally, upon evil both hands to do well,) that is, “both their hands are upon evil to do it well,” or “earnestly” , as our translation gives the meaning; only the Hebrew expresses more, that evil is their good, and their good or excellence is in evil. Bad men gain a dreadful skill and wisdom in evil, as Satan has; and cleverness in evil is their delight. Jerome: “They call the evil of their hands good.” “The prince asketh, and the judge asketh (or, it may more readily be supplied, judgeth, doth that which is his office,) against right “for a reward”, (which was strictly forbidden,) “and the great man he uttereth his mischievos desire” (Deuteronomy 16:19. See above Micah 3:11), (or the “desire of his soul”.) Even the shew

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

THAT THEY MAY DO EVIL WITH BOTH HANDS EARNESTLY,.... Or "well" t, strenuously, diligently, to the utmost of their power, labouring at it with all their might and main; as wicked men generally are more industrious, and exert themselves more to do evil than good men do to do good; and even weary themselves to commit iniquity: or, "instead of doing good", as Marinus in Aben Ezra, take a great deal of pains to do evil; work with both hands at it, instead of doing good. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "they prepare their hands for evil"; the Syriac version is, "their hands are read? to evil, and they do not do good"; with which agrees the Targum, "they do evil with their hands, and do not do good.'' Some make the sense to depend on what goes before and follows; "to do evil, both hands" are open and ready, and they hurt with them; "but to do, good the prince asketh, and the jud...

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...