About Micah

Micah condemns social injustice while prophesying the Messiah's birthplace and God's ultimate mercy.

Author: MicahWritten: c. 735-700 BCReading time: ~2 minVerses: 12
JusticeJudgmentHopeMessiahCompassionTrue Religion

King James Version

Micah 3

12 verses with commentary

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?</strong> Micah directly confronts corrupt leadership with a devastating rhetorical question. The phrase <strong>רָאשֵׁי יַעֲקֹב</strong> (roshei Ya'akov, "heads of Jacob") and <strong>קְצִינֵי בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל</strong> (qetziney beit-Yisrael, "rulers of the house of Is...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

III. (1) **Hear, I pray you.**—In the second division of his prophecy Micah protests against the evil influences exercised upon the people in high places. The princes, the prophets, and the priests, to whom their interests were confided, were guilty of wrong, oppression, and robbery. **Ye princes.**—Rather, *judges, magistrates;* but a different word is used from that which was given to the chiefs...
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Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;</strong> This verse unveils the leaders' moral inversion and predatory violence. <strong>שֹׂנְאֵי טוֹב וְאֹהֲבֵי רָע</strong> (sone'ei tov ve-ohavei ra', "haters of good and lovers of evil") describes not occasional lapses but settled disposition—they actively hate what's goo...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(2, 3) **Who hate the good.**—The judges, instead of fulfilling the obligations of their office, whereby they should be “for the people to God-ward,” perpetrated the most flagrant cruelty upon them. Micah compares it to the process of preparing food, in which every part of the animal, even to the bones, is utilised. So the judges robbed the people until there was nothing left to them.

Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.</strong> The cannibalistic metaphor reaches its climax. <strong>וַאֲשֶׁר אָכְלוּ שְׁאֵר עַמִּי</strong> (va'asher akhlu she'er ammi, "who eat the flesh of my people") emphasizes the possessive: "MY people." God identif...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**31. gates--**(Re 21:12, &amp;c.). The twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes to imply that all are regarded as having an interest in it.

Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

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KJV Study Commentary

This prophetic judgment pronounces devastating spiritual consequences. The phrase <strong>אָז יִזְעֲקוּ אֶל־יְהוָה</strong> (az yiz'aqu el-YHWH, 'Then they shall cry out to the LORD') uses <strong>זָעַק</strong> (za'aq), meaning desperate screaming in distress—the kind of cry uttered in mortal danger. But it will be too late. The stark declaration <strong>וְלֹא־יַעֲנֶה אוֹתָם</strong> (velo-ya'ane...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **Then shall they cry.**—“Then”—*i.e.,* in the day of retribution—“then shall they call upon me, saith the Lord, but I will not hear; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; and that because they hated knowledge, and received not the fear of the Lord, but abhorred my counsel and despised my correction. Then shall it be too late to knock when the door shall be shut, and too late t...
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Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.</strong> God now turns from corrupt rulers (vv. 1-4) to false prophets. <strong>הַנְּבִיאִים הַמַּתְעִים אֶת־עַמִּי</strong> (ha-nevi'im hama'tim et-ammi, "the prophets that make my people err") indict...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(5) **That bite with their teeth.**—The concluding statement that the false prophets declare war against those who do not put into their mouth indicates the meaning of the former expression, namely, “they say peace to those who feed and bribe them.” The Hebrew word, *nashak,* which is rendered “bite,” is strictly applied to serpents, to “an adder in the path,” and is therefore especially appropria...
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Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. that: vision: Heb. from a vision that: divine: Heb. from divining

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.</strong> Divine judgment on false prophets is spiritual darkness and silence. <strong>לָכֵן לַיְלָה לָכֶם מֵחָזוֹן</strong> (lakhen laylah lakhem me-chazon, "Therefore night unto you fr...
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Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. lips: Heb. upper lip

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.</strong> Public humiliation awaits false prophets. <strong>וּבֹשׁוּ הַחֹזִים</strong> (u-voshu ha-chozim, "and the seers shall be ashamed") uses <strong>בּוֹשׁ</strong> (bosh), meaning deep shame or disgrace. <strong>חֹזֶה</strong> (chozeh, "seer") is one who s...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(7) **They shall all cover their lips.**—As the lepers, who were cut off from all communication with men, so also these false prophets, being cut off from all communion with God, were to “put a covering upon the upper lip.” It was also a sign of mourning for one dead, and Ezekiel was commanded to awaken the astonishment of the people by omitting to cover his upper lip when his wife died.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**35. Lord is there--**Jehovah-Shammah. Not that the city will be called so in mere name, but that the reality will be best expressed by this descriptive title (Jr 3:17; 33:16; Zec 2:10; Re 21:3; 22:3).

But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.</strong> In stunning contrast to false prophets, Micah declares authentic prophetic authority. <strong>וְאוּלָם אָנֹכִי מָלֵאתִי כֹחַ אֶת־רוּחַ יְהוָה</strong> (ve-ulam anokhi maleti choach et-ruach YHWH, "But truly I am filled with power, t...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **I am full of power.**—Micah reverts to his denunciation of sin in high places with the fearlessness of his namesake. He contrasts himself with the prophets of the “lying spirit,” and declares his own commission from the Spirit of the Lord, and the ample equipment with which he was endowed.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

THE BOOK OF DANIEL.

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.</strong> Micah resumes his indictment of corrupt leadership, repeating his opening summons (v. 1) with intensified charges. <strong>רָאשֵׁי בֵּית יַעֲקֹב וּקְצִינֵי בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל</strong> (roshei beit-Ya'akov u-qetziney beit-Yisrael, "heads of the house...
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They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. blood: Heb. bloods

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.</strong> This verse delivers a devastating indictment in concise, powerful language. <strong>בֹּנֶה צִיּוֹן בְּדָמִים</strong> (boneh Tsiyon be-damim, "building Zion with blood") exposes how Jerusalem's expansion and beautification came through violence and exploitation. <strong>דָּמִים</strong> (damim, "blood") is plural, emphasi...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(10) **They build up Zion with blood**—*i.e.*, they acquire money for the erection of splendid buildings by spoliation and robbery, not stopping short of murder. So also Habakkuk (Micah 2:12) denounces the king of Babylon for the bloody wars with which he obtained wealth for the enlargement of the city.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

INTRODUCTION Daniel, that is, "God is my judge"; probably of the blood royal (compare Da 1:3, with 1Ch 3:1, where a son of David is named so). Jerusalem may have been his birthplace (though Da 9:24, "thy holy city," does not necessarily imply this). He was carried to Babylon among the Hebrew captives brought thither by Nebuchadnezzar at the first deportation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. As h...
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The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. and say: Heb. saying

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KJV Study Commentary

Micah indicts corrupt leadership: 'The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.' Three leadership categories corrupted by greed: judges taking bribes (shoftime be-shohad yishpotu), priests teaching for payment (kohaneha be-mehir ...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(11) **For reward.**—Every function is carried out by judges, priests, and prophets through bribery, and yet they claim and count upon the protection of Jehovah. They rely for safety upon the presence of the sacred buildings; they cry, “The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these!” “Is not the Lord among us?” Isaiah contrasts in scathing terms the profession of...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**2. Shinar--**the old name of Babylonia (Ge 11:2; 14:1; Is 11:11; Zec 5:11). Nebuchadnezzar took only "part of the vessels," as he did not intend wholly to overthrow the state, but to make it tributary, and to leave such vessels as were absolutely needed for the public worship of Jehovah. Subsequently all were taken away and were restored under Cyrus (Ezr 1:7). **his god--**Bel. His temple, as ...
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Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps</strong> (לָכֵן בִּגְלַלְכֶם צִיּוֹן שָׂדֶה תֵחָרֵשׁ וִירוּשָׁלִַם עִיִּין תִּהְיֶה, <em>lakhen biglalkhem Tsiyyon sadeh techaresh wi-Yerushalayim iyyim tihyeh</em>). This stunning prophecy declares Jerusalem's complete destruction—plowed like a field (חָרַשׁ, <em>charash</em>, plow), reduced to עִיִּ...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(12) **Therefore shall Zion** . . .—Micah declared this sentence of Divine judgment with an intrepidity that was long remembered by the Jews. More than a century later the elders of the land, speaking in justification of the course taken by Jeremiah, used as a precedent the example of Micah. They spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, “Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezek...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**3. master of ... eunuchs--**called in Turkey the kislar aga. **of the king's seed--**compare the prophecy, 2Ki 20:17, 18.

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