Micah 3 commentary

MICAH 3 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
1 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
BAR ES. "And I said - God’s love for us is the great incitement, constrainer,
vivifier of His creature’s love. Micah had just spoken of God’s love of Israel; how He
would gather them into one fold under One Shepherd, guard them, lead them, remove
all difficulties before them, be Himself their Head and enable them to follow Him. He
turns then to them. These are God’s doings; this, God has in store for you hereafter.
Even when mercy itself shall require chastisement, He doth not cast off forever. The
desolation is but the forerunner of future mercy. What then do ye? The prophet appeals
to them, class by class. There was one general corruption of every order of men, through
whom Judah could be preserved, princes Mic_3:1-4, prophets Mic_3:5-7, priests Mic_
3:11. The salt had lost its savor; wherewith could it be seasoned? whereby could the
decaying mass of the people be kept from entire corruption?
Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel -
He arraigns them by the same name, under which He had first promised mercy. He had
first promised mercy to all Jacob and the remnant of Israel. So now he upraids the
“heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel,” lest they should deceive
themselves. At the same time he recalls them to the deeds of their father. Judah had
succeeded to the birthright, forfeited by Reuben, Simeon and Levi; and in Judah all the
promises of the Messiah were laid up. But he was not like the three great patriarchs, the
father of the faithful (Abraham), or the meek Isaac, or the much-tried Jacob. The name
then had not the reminiscences, or force of appeal, contained in the titles, seed of
Abraham, or Isaac, or Israel.
Is it not for you to know judgment? - It is a great increase of guilt, when persons
neglect or pervert what it is their special duty and office to guard; as when teachers
corrupt doctrine, or preachers give in to a low standard of morals, or judges pervert
judgment. The “princes” here spoken or are so named from judging, “deciding” causes.
They are the same its the “rulers,” whom Isaiah at the same time upbraids, as being,
from their sins, rulers of Sodom , whose hands were full of blood Isa_1:15. They who do

not right, in time cease, in great measure, to know it. As God withdraws His grace, the
mind is darkened and can no longer see it. So it is said of Eli’s sons, they were sons of
Belial, they knew not the Lord 1Sa_2:12; and, Into a malicious soul Wisdom shall not
enter, nor dwell in a body that is subject unto sin (Wisd. 1:4). Such , “attain not to know
the judgments of God which are a great deep: and the depth of His justice the evil mind
findeth not.” But if men will not “know judgment” by doing it, they shall by suffering it.
CLARKE, "Hear - O heads of Jacob - The metaphor of the flock is still carried on.
The chiefs of Jacob, and the princes of Israel, instead of taking care of the flocks,
defending them, and finding them pasture, oppressed them in various ways. They are
like wolves, who tear the skin of the sheep, and the flesh off their bones. This applies to
all unjust and oppressive rulers.
Suetonius tells us, in his Life of Tiberius, that when the governors of provinces wrote
to the emperor, entreating him to increase the tributes, he wrote back: “It is the property
of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them.” Praesidibus onerandas tributo
provincias suadentibus rescripsit: Boni Pastoris esse Tondere pecus, non Deglubebe.
This is a maxim which many rulers of the earth do not seem to understand.
GILL, "And I said, hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the
house of Israel,.... This seems to be a new sermon or discourse, delivered at another
time and to another people than the preceding for, as that chiefly concerns the ten tribes,
this the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and was spoken to them in the times of
Hezekiah, as appears from Jer_26:18; for though Jacob and Israel generally design the
ten tribes, yet here the other two, as is manifest from the above cited place, and also
from Mic_3:9; and not only heads of families, but such as were the highest posts under
the government, the sanhedrim of the nation, judges, rulers, and nobles, are here
addressed; and who had a great share in national guilt, being ringleaders in sin, who
ought to have set good examples to others; and these are not to be spared because of
their grandeur and dignity, but to faithfully reproved for their vices, and which they
should diligently attend unto; though they are to be addressed in a respectful and
honourable manner, and be entreated to hearken to the word of the Lord by his prophet;
all which was carefully observed by Micah; and it was with pleasure he could reflect
upon his plain, faithful, and affectionate reproof of those great men:
is it not for you to know judgment? what is just and right to be done by men, and
what sentence is to be passed in courts of judicature, in cases brought before them and
not only to know, in a speculative way, what is equitable, but to practise it themselves,
and see that it is done by others; and when they duly considered this, they would be able
to see and own that what the prophet from the Lord would now charge them with, or
denounce upon them, was according to truth and justice.
HE RY, "Princes and prophets, when they faithfully discharge the duty of their
office, are to be highly honoured above other men; but when they betray their trust, and
act contrary to it, they should hear of their faults as well as others, and shall be made to
know that there is a God above them, to whom they are accountable; at his bar the
prophet here, in his name, arraigns them.
I. Let the princes hear their charge and their doom. The heads of Jacob, and the

princes of the house of Israel, are called upon to hear what the prophet has to say to
them, Mic_3:1. The word of God has reproofs for the greatest of men, which the
ministers of that word ought to apply as there is occasion. The prophet here has comfort
in the reflection upon it, that, whatever the success was, he had faithfully discharged his
trust: And I said, Hear, O princes! He had the testimony of his conscience for him that
he had not shrunk from his duty for fear of the face of men. He tells them,
1. What was expected from them: Is it not for you to know judgment? He means to do
judgment, for otherwise the knowledge of it is of no avail. “Is it not your business to
administer justice impartially, and not to know faces” (as the Hebrew phrase for
partiality and respect of persons is), “but to know judgment, and the merits of every
cause?” Or it may be taken for granted that the heads and rulers are well acquainted with
the rules of justice, whatever others are; for they have those means of knowledge, and
have not those excuses for ignorance, which some others have, that are poor and foolish
(Jer_5:4); and, if so, their transgression of the laws of justice is the more provoking to
God, for they sin against knowledge. “Is it not for you to know judgment? Yes, it is;
therefore stand still, and hear your own judgment, and judge if it be not right, whether
any thing can be objected against it.”
JAMISO , "Mic_3:1-12. The sins of the princes, prophets, and priests: The
consequent desolation of Zion.
princes — magistrates or judges.
Is it not for you? — Is it not your special function (Jer_5:4, Jer_5:5)?
judgment — justice. Ye sit in judgment on others; surely then ye ought to know the
judgment for injustice which awaits yourselves (Rom_2:1).
K&D 1-4, "First strophe. - Mic_3:1. “And I said, Hear ye, O heads of Jacob, and
princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know the right? Mic_3:2. Ye who hate
good, and love evil; who draw off their skin from them, and their flesh from their
bones. Mic_3:3. And who have eaten the flesh of my people, and stripped off their skin
from them; and broken their bones, and cut them in pieces, as if in the pot, and like
flesh in the midst of the caldron. Mic_3:4. Then will they cry to Jehovah, and He will
not hearken; and let Him hide His face from them at the same time, as they have made
their actions evil.” By the expression “And I said” (vâ'ōmar), the following address is
indicated as a continuation of the preceding one. The reproofs of this chapter are also a
still further expansion of the woe pronounced in Mic_2:1-2 upon the godless chiefs of
the nation. The heads of Jacob are addressed, that is to say, the princes of the tribes and
families of Israel, and the qe
tsınım, lit., deciders (answering to the Arabic qâᏻy, a judge) of
the house of Israel, i.e., the heads of families and households, upon whom the
administration of justice devolved (cf. Isa_1:10; Isa_22:3). ‫ן‬ ֶ‫כ‬ ָ‫ל‬ ‫לוֹא‬ ֲ‫,ה‬ is it not your duty
and your office to know justice? Da‛ath is practical knowledge, which manifests itself in
practice; mishpât, the public administration of justice. Instead of this, they do the
opposite. The description of this conduct is appended by participles, in the form of
apposition to the heads and princes addressed in Mic_3:1. Hating good and loving evil
refer to the disposition, and indicate the radical corruption of these men. ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ָ‫,ר‬ generally

misfortune, here evil; hence the Masoretes have altered it into ‫ע‬ ָ‫;ר‬ but the very fact that it
deviates from the ordinary rule shows that it is the original word. Instead of
administering justice to the people, they take off their skin, and tear the flesh from the
bones. The suffixes attached to ‫ם‬ ָ‫עוֹר‬ and ‫ם‬ ָ‫ר‬ ֵ‫א‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ point back to ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫שׂ‬ִ‫ית־י‬ ֵ in Mic_3:1. The
words answer to the German expression, “to pull the skin over the ears.” In Mic_3:3 the
expression is still stronger; but the address is continued in the form of a simple
description, and instead of the participles, ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ is used with the finite verb. They not only
flay the people, i.e., rob them of all their means of subsistence, but even devour them -
treat them like cattle, which men first of all flay, then break their bones, but the flesh
into pieces, and boil it in the pot. In this figure, which is carried out into the most
minute details, we must not give any special meaning to the particular features, such as
that “the skin, and boiling portions, which are cut up and put into the pot, are figures
signifying the pledged clothing and coveted fields (Mic_2:2, Mic_2:8).” The prophet
paints in very glaring colours, to make an impression upon the ungodly. Therefore, in
the time of judgment, God will not hear their crying to Him for help, but will hide His
face from them, i.e., withdraw His mercy from them. ‫ז‬ፎ and ‫יא‬ ִ‫ה‬ ַ‫ה‬ ‫ה‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ָ point back to the
evil time announced in Mic_2:3. For Mic_3:4, compare Pro_1:28. Ve
yastēr in Mic_3:4 is
an optative. The prophet continues the announcement of the punishment in the form of
a desire. ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ ַⅴ, as = according to the way in which, as in 1Sa_28:18; Num_27:14, etc., i.e.,
answering to their evil doings.
CALVI , "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 which he inveighed
against them. We have said elsewhere, that the Prophets did not record all that they
had spoken, but only touched shortly on the heads or chief points: and this was done
by Micah, that we might know what he did for forty or more years, in which he
executed his office. He could have related, no doubt, in half-an-hour, all that exists
of his writings: but from this small book, however small it is, we may learn what
was the Prophet’s manner of teaching, and on what things he chiefly dwelt. I will
now return to his words.
He says that the chief men of the kingdom had been reproved by him. It is probable,
that these words were addressed to the Jews; for though at the beginning he
includes the Israelites, we yet know that he was given as a teacher to the Jews, and
not to the kingdom of Israel. It was as it were accidental, that he sometimes
introduces the ten tribes together with the Jews. This address then was made, as I
think, to the king as well as to his counselors and other judges, who then ruled over
the people of Judah.
Hear this, I pray, he says. Such a preface betokens carelessness in the judges; for
why does he demand a hearing from them, except that they had become so torpid in
their vices, that they would attend to nothing? Inasmuch then as so brutal a stupor

had seized on them, he says, Hear now ye chiefs, or heads, of Jacob, and ye rulers
(92) of the house of Israel But why does he still speak of the house of Israel? Because
that name was especially known and celebrated, whenever a mention was made of
the posterity of Abraham: and the other Prophets, even while speaking of the
kingdom of Judah, often make use of this title, “ye who are called by the name of
Israel;” and they did this, on account of the dignity of the holy Patriarch; and the
meaning of the word itself was no ordinary testimonial of excellency as to his whole
race. And this is what is frequently done by Isaiah. But the name of Israel is not put
here, as elsewhere, as a title of distinction: on the contrary, the Prophet here
amplifies their sin, because they were so corrupt, though they were the chief men
among the chosen race, being those whom God had honored with so much dignity,
as to set them over his Church and elect people. It was then an ingratitude, not to be
endured to abuse that high and sacred authority, which had been conferred on them
by God.
Does it not belong to you, he says, to know judgment? Here he intimates that
rectitude ought to have a place among the chief men, in a manner more especial
than among the common people; for it behaves them to excel others in the
knowledge of what is just and right: for though the difference between good and evil
be engraven on the hearts of all, yet they, who hold supremacy among the people,
and excel in power, are as it were the eyes of the community; as the eyes direct the
whole body, so also they, who are placed in any situation of honor, are thus made
eminent, that they may show the right way to others. Hence by the word, to know,
the Prophet intimates that they wickedly subverted the whole order of nature, for
they were blind, while they ought to have been the luminaries of the whole people. Is
it not for you, he says, to know judgment and equity? But why was this said,
especially to the chief men? Because they, though they of themselves knew what was
right, having the law engraven within ought yet as leaders to have possessed
superior knowledge, so as to outshine others. It is therefore your duty to know
judgment. We hence learn that it is not enough for princes and magistrates to be
well disposed and upright; but it is required of them to know judgment and wisdom
that they may discern matters above the common people. But if they are not thus
endued with the gift of understanding and wisdom let them ask of the Lord. We
indeed know, that without the Spirit of God, the acutest men are wholly unfit to
rule; nor is it in vain, that the free Spirit of God is set forth, as holding the supreme
power in the world; for we are thus reminded, that even they who are endued with
the chief gifts are wholly incapable of governing except the Spirit of God be with
them. This passage then shows that an upright mind is not a sufficient qualification
in princes; they must also excel in wisdom, that they may be, as we have already
said, as the eyes are to the body. In this sense it is that Micah now says that it
belonged to the leaders of the people to know judgment and justice. (93)
COFFMA , "This chapter is composed of three brief sections exposing the sins of
the rulers of the people, the princes and judges (Micah 3:1-4), the sins of the false
prophets (Micah 3:5-8), and the sins of the establishment, actually including those
already mentioned (Micah 3:9-12). The highlight of the chapter is Micah 3:12 in

which the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple mountain itself are
specifically predicted, events that occurred some 125 years, at least, after the times
of Micah, being fulfilled in the devastation of the city by ebuchadnezzar in 586
B.C.
Micah 3:1
"And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is
it not for you to know justice?"
We fully agree with Harley that this chapter is not a continuation of the
denunciations already given in the first two chapters, but an introductory passage
preparatory "to the great Messianic messages of Micah 4-5."[1]
The message of Micah here is directed squarely against Judah, the southern
kingdom; and although both terms "Israel" and "Jacob" are used, "The terms are
used of the southern kingdom, as in Micah 1:13f."[2]
"Is it not for you to know justice ...?" This is a sarcastic and uncomplimentary
question with the implication that, "You guardians of justice do not even know what
justice is!"
CO STABLE, "This second oracle begins like the first and third ones, with a
summons to hear the prophet"s message (cf. Micah 1:2; Micah 6:1). The initial
"And I said" ties this oracle to the preceding one and provides continuity. Micah
asked rhetorically if it was not proper for Israel"s rulers to practice justice
(fairness, equity). It was not only proper, but it was essential. Again, Jacob and
Israel are synonyms for all12tribes (cf. Micah 1:5; et al.).
TRAPP, " 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?
Ver. 1. And I said] viz. At another time, and in a new discourse; the heads whereof
we have here recorded. A stinging sermon it is, preached to the princes and
prophets, those great heteroclites (a) in the house of Israel. For as in a fish, so in a
Church and state, corruption begins at the head; and as rheum (b) falling from the
head upon the lights, breeds a consumption of the whole body, so is it here. To the
chieftains therefore, and capitanei, capital, our prophet applieth himself. And as it is
said of Suetonius, that ea libertate, scripsit Imperatorum vitas qua ipsi vixerunt,
that he wrote the emperors’ lives with as much liberty as they lived them; so did
Micah as boldly reprove the princes’ sins as they committed them. Such another
preacher among us was Latimer, and after him Deering; who in his sermon before
Queen Elizabeth, speaking of the disorders of the times; These things are so, saith
he, and you sit still and do nothing. And again, May we not well say with the
prophet, saith he, It is the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed, seeing there is so
much disobedience both in subjects and prince. Once it was Tanquam ovis, as a

sheep, before the shearer: but now it is Tanquam iuvenca petulca, as an untamed
heifer. In our days Reverend Mr Stock had this commendation given him by a
faithful witness; that he could speak his mind fitly, and that he dared speak it freely.
I will go to the Bishop (Stephen Gardiner, then lord chancellor), and tell him to his
beard that he doth naught, said Dr Taylor, martyr; and he did so, though his friends
dissuaded him. Truth must be spoken, however it be taken. And if God’s messengers
must be mannerly in the form, yet in the matter of their message they must be
resolute and plain dealing. It is probable that Joseph used some kind of preface to
Pharaoh’s baker in reading him that hard destiny, Genesis 40:19, such haply as was
that of Daniel to ebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:19, or as Philo brings him in with a
Utinam tale somnium non vidisses. But for the matter he gives him a sound, though
a sharp, interpretation. So dealeth Micah by these corrupt princes, to whom
nevertheless he giveth their due titles; and of whom he fairly begs audience. "Hear, I
pray you, ye heads of Jacob," &c. Or, hear ye now, who formerly have refused to
hearken. It was in Hezekiah’s days that this sermon was preached, as appeareth
Jeremiah 26:18, not long before Sennacherib invaded the land, Micah 5:5. And
although the king himself were religious and righteous, yet many of his princes and
courtiers, who in the reign of his father Ahaz had been habituated in rapine and
wrong-dealing, still played their pranks, and are here as barely told their own.
Is it not for you to know judgment?] To know it and do it? as it is said of our
Saviour, that he knew no sin, that is, he did none. And have the workers of iniquity
no knowledge? "they eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon God,"
Psalms 14:4. Of all men magistrates should be knowing men, fearing God, hating
covetousness and cruelty, Exodus 18:21. They are the eyes of their country, and if
they be dark, how great is that darkness! They are the common lookingglasses by
which other men use to dress themselves. Judges they are, to discern and decide
controversies; fit it is, therefore, and necessary that they know judgment, how else
shall they execute it? Cicero complaineth of the Roman priests in his days, that there
were many things in their own laws that themselves understood not. "I will get me
to the great men," saith Jeremiah (when he found things far amiss among the
Vulgate), "and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and
the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the
bonds," Jeremiah 5:5.
WHEDO , "Verses 1-4
Outrages committed by civil rulers, Micah 3:1-4.
The denunciation in Micah 3:1-4, is addressed to the nobles, called “heads” and
“princes” or “magistrates” (compare Isaiah 1:10). They are reminded, by means of
a rhetorical question, that it is their duty to know the principles of righteousness
and equity; ignorance of these does not excuse their unrighteous conduct.
Jacob,… Israel — These are synonymous expressions, which, in the light of Micah
3:10, must refer to Judah (Micah 3:9; but compare Micah 2:12). Samaria may have
fallen before these words were uttered, so that Judah had become the sole

representative of Israel.
Know judgment — R.V., “justice,” or equity. In view of the special privileges
enjoyed by Israel (Amos 2:11; Hosea 11:1-4; Isaiah 1:2) there was no reasonable
excuse for ignorance concerning the principles of righteousness on the part of
anyone, certainly not on the part of the leaders of the people.
Their conduct is so different from what one might expect.
Hate the good — Wrongdoing has become their second nature (Amos 3:10); their
disposition has become utterly perverted, so that they hate that which they should
love, and love that which they should hate (compare Isaiah 1:16-17). This
corruption expresses itself in appalling cruelties. 2b, 3 describe in the strongest
language possible the cruelties of the nobles. They flay the poor people alive, tear
the flesh from their bones; they break their bones (others, “they lay bare their
bones”), chop them in pieces, boil them in the caldron, and devour them. It is hardly
necessary to state that the expressions are not to be understood literally as implying
cannibalism; they are vivid pictures of heartless cruelty and oppression. Similar
expressions are found in Isaiah 3:15, “What mean ye that ye crush my people and
grind the faces of the poor?” and Amos 2:7 (Jerome), “Who crush the heads of the
poor upon the dust of the earth.” For the simple “as for the pot” LXX. reads “as
flesh for the pot,” which furnishes a suitable parallel to the next clause.
BE SO , "Verses 1-4
Micah 3:1-4. Hear, O heads of Jacob, &c. — That the justice of God, in bringing
upon them the punishments which he had threatened, might more evidently appear,
the prophet here shows that there was no rank of them free from very grievous
crimes; that even those, who ought to have excelled others in piety and virtue, were
the first in offences. We find Ezekiel making the same complaint, Ezekiel 22:6, &c.
Is it not for you to know judgment — Ought not you to understand and conform to
the just laws of your God? You princes, magistrates, and ruling officers, ought of all
men to know and do right. And, as it is your province to judge and punish those
who break human laws, this ought to make you reflect that God will certainly
execute judgment on the breakers of his laws. If you make any reflection, you must
needs be sensible, that punishment must await you for your crimes. Who hate the
good — Ye who hate, not only to do good, but the good which is done, and those that
do it; and love the evil — Choose and delight in both evil works and evil workers;
who pluck off their skin from off them — Who use the people, whom you govern, as
cruelly as the shepherd would use his flock, who, instead of shearing the fleece,
would pluck the skin and flesh from off their bones. Who eat the flesh of my people,
&c. — Who devour the goods and livelihood of your brethren. And break their
bones, &c. — An allusion to lions, bears, or wolves, which devour the flesh, and
break the bones of the defenceless lambs. And chop them in pieces as for the pot,
&c. — All these are metaphorical expressions, to signify the oppressions of the
people by their heads, or great men; and how they, by one means or other, deprived
them of their substance, and divided it among themselves. Then shall they —
amely, the heads of the people and princes spoken of above; cry unto the Lord —

When these miseries come upon them; but he will not hear them, he will even hide,
&c. — As they have showed no pity to others, he will have no pity on them.
PETT, "Micah’s Indictment of Judah (Micah 3:1-8).
Micah inveighs first against the leadership of Judah, and then against the prophets
who make people err for the sake of money, and the priests who teach for hire. We
can compare Isaiah’s similar indictment in e.g. Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 3:1-4.
Micah 3:1
‘And I said, “Hear, I pray you, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel:
is it not for you to know justice?” ’
‘And I said.’ A loose opening phrase simply declaring ‘and this is another thing that
I prophesied, although at another time’.
He calls on them to remember who they are. Are they not the heads of Jacob and the
rulers of Israel, the very people of God? Should they not then be models of justice?
Is that not why they have been put in their positions by God?
Largely in mind here are those who have been put in authority to maintain the
justice and wellbeing of God’s people. Such a system of justice had originally been
set up by Moses (Exodus 18:25-26) and applied to the situation in the land by
Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:4-7). And there would be numerous local leaders who
would be responsible for local justice, family heads who would act as the
magistrates of the day.
PULPIT, "Micah 3:1
The prophet denounces the sins of the rulers, false prophets, and priests; and begins
with the injustice and oppression practised by the great men. And I said. The new
address is thus introduced as being analogous to the denunciations in the preceding
chapter, which were interrupted by the promise of deliverance, to which there is no
reference here. O heads of Jacob; synonymous with princes of the house of Israel
(comp. Micah 3:8; Micah 1:5). Micah addresses the heads of families and the
officials to whom the administration of justice appertained. These magistrates and
judges seem to have been chiefly members of the royal family, at any rate in Judah;
see Jeremiah 21:11, Jeremiah 21:12 (Cheyne). Septuagint, οἱ κατάλοιποι οἴκου
ἰσραήλ, "ye remnant of the house of Israel." Is it not for you to know judgment? Ye,
of all men, ought to know what is just and fair, and to practise it (compare the
opening of the Book of Wisdom).
BI 1-4, "Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel
Civil rulers
I.
What civil rulers ought always to be. They ought always to “know judgment,” that is,

always practically to know the right. What is the standard of right? Not public sentiment,
not human law, but the Divine will. God’s being is the foundation of right; God’s will is
the standard of right; God’s Christ is the completest revelation of that standard.
II. What civil rulers often are. What were these rulers?
1. Morally corrupt.
2. Socially cruel.
3. Divinely abandoned.
The Monarch of the universe is no respecter of persons. (Homilist.)
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;
BAR ES. "Who hate the good and love the evil - that is, they hate, for its own
sake, that which is good, and love that which is evil. The prophet is not here speaking of
their “hating good” men, or “loving evil” men, but of their hating goodness and loving
wickedness . : “It is sin not to love good; what guilt to hate it! it is faulty, not to flee from
evil, what ungodliness to love it!” Man, at first, loves and admires the good, even while
he cloth it not; he hates the evil, even while he does it, or as soon as he has done it. But
man cannot bear to he at strife with his conscience, and so he ends it, by excusing
himself and telling lies to himself. And then, he hates the truth or good with a bitter
hatred, because it disturbs the darkness of the false peace with which he would envelop
himself. At first, men love only the pleasure connected with the evil; then they make
whom they can, evil, because goodness is a reproach to them: in the end, they love evil
for its own sake Rom_1:32. pagan morality too distinguished between the incontinent
and the unprincipled , the man who sinned under force of temptation, and the man who
had lost the sense of right and wrong Joh_3:20. “Everyone that doeth evil, hateth the
light. Whoso longeth for things unlawful, hateth the righteousness which rebuketh and
punisheth” .
Who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their
bones - He had described the Good Shepherd; now, in contrast, he describes those who
ought to be “shepherds of the people,” to feed, guard, direct them, but who were their
butchers; who did not shear them, but flayed them; who fed on them, not fed them. He
heaps up their guilt, act by act. First they flay, that is, take away their outer goods; then

they break their bones in pieces, the most solid parts, on which the whole frame of their
body depends, to get at the very marrow of their life, and so feed themselves upon them.
And not unlike, though still more fearfully, do they sin, who first remove the skin, as it
were, or outward tender fences of God’s graces; (such as is modesty, in regard to inward
purity; outward demeanor, of inward virtue; outward forms, of inward devotion;) and so
break the strong bones of the sterner virtues, which hold the whole soul together; and
with them the whole flesh, or softer graces, becomes one shapeless mass, shred to pieces
and consumed. So Ezekiel says; “Woe to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves;
should not the shepherds feed the flock? Ye eat the fat and ye clothe you, with the wool,
ye kill them that are fed, ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened ...”
(Eze_34:2-4, add Eze_34:5-10).
GILL, "Who hate the good, and love the evil,.... Instead of knowing and doing
what was just and right; or, directly contrary to their light and knowledge, and the duty
of their office, they hated that which is good, which is agreeable to the law, nature, and
will of God, and loved that which is evil, which is contrary thereunto; or they hated to do
good, and loved to do evil, as the Targum; as men do who are averse to good, and prone
to evil; or they hated a good man, as Aben Ezra, and loved the evil man; not only
delighted in committing sin themselves, but took pleasure in those that did it; and could
not endure the company and conversation of holy and good men:
who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones:
like wild beasts that tear off skin and flesh from the bones, and then devour them; or like
cruel shepherds, that, not content to fleece their flocks, skin them, and take their flesh
also, and feed themselves, and not the flock; or like butchers, that first take off the skin
off a beast, and then cut up its flesh. The design of the expressions is to show what
rigour, cruelty, and oppressions, these rulers exercised on the people and by their heavy
taxes and levies, and exorbitant penalties and fines, pillaged and plundered them of all
they had in the world, and left them quite bare, as bones stripped of their skin and flesh.
So the Targum,
JAMISO , "pluck off their skin ... flesh — rob their fellow countrymen of all
their substance (Psa_14:4; Pro_30:14).
CALVI , "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 justice, but were also given to
wickedness and hated good. He means then that they were openly wicked and
ungodly, and also that they with a fixed purpose carried on war against every thing
just and right. We hence learn how great and how abominable was the corruption of
the people, when they were still the peculiar possession and heritage of God.
Inasmuch then as the state of this ancient people had become so degenerated, let us
learn to walk in solicitude and fear, while the Lord governs us by pious magistrates
and faithful pastors: for what happened to the Jews might soon happen to us, so
that wolves might bear rule over us, as indeed experience has proved even in this
our city. The Prophet afterwards adds the kinds of cruelty which prevailed; of
which he speaks in hyperbolical terms, though no doubt he sets before our eyes the
state of things as it was. He compares the judges to wolves or to lions, or to other

savage beasts. He says not that they sought the property of the people, or pillaged
their houses; but he says that they devoured their flesh even to the very bones; he
says that they pulled off their skin: and this he confirms in the next verse.
The idea of sheep or flock, to which the people are compared in the last chapter, is
still retained here. Adam Clarke quotes from Suetonius a striking answer of
Tiberius, the Emperor, to some governors, who solicited him to increase the taxes,
— “It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them” —
Boni pastoris esse tondere pectus, non deglubere
To “hate good, and to love evil,” in the former sentence, betokens a character
dreadful in the extreme; for good here, ‫טוב‬ means kindness, benevolence, the doing
of good to others; this they hated: and evil, ‫,רעה‬ means wrong, mischief, injury, the
doing of harm, of wrong, and of injustice to others; and this they loved. How
transmuted they were in their spirit into that of very fiends! “They hate to do good,
hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good; and they love the evil,
delight in mischief, and in those that do mischief.” These words of Henry, no doubt,
convey a correct view of the sentence. It might therefore be rendered, “Haters of
benevolence, and lovers of mischief.” — Ed.
COFFMA , ""Ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin
from off them, and their flesh from off their bones."
In this and the next two verses, the false rulers of the people are accused in a
metaphor of cannibalism. "You cannibals are eating the people up!" "We must not
give any special meaning to the particular features, such as taking off the skin, and
the boiling portions that are put into the pot."[3] The metaphor stands for robbing
the people, defrauding them, oppressing them, denying them justice, etc., through
such means as biased courts, political preference, bribery, and actual murder, as in
the case of Ahab's violent dispossession of aboth (1 Kings 21). Those whose duty it
was to guard the public interest, that is, the rulers and judges of the people, were the
leaders in such gross wickedness, totally perverting and corrupting the entire state.
CO STABLE, "Yet these rulers had stood justice on its head. They hated good and
loved evil (cf. Proverbs 8:13; Isaiah 1:16-17; Amos 5:15). Tearing the flesh off the
people, eating their flesh, and cooking their bones all represent abuse of their
victims for their own selfish ends. The figure is of a hunter, and the implication is
that the rulers regarded and treated the ordinary citizens as mere animals rather
than as human beings. The rich stripped the poor of their money and property and
oppressed them unmercifully (cf. Zephaniah 3:3)
" othing short of new appetites, resulting from the new birth ( John 3:3-8) can
remedy moral corruption." [ ote: Waltke, in Obadiah , . . ., p162.]
TRAPP, "Micah 3:2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin
from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Ver. 2. Who hate the good, and love the evil] q.d. That you know not judgment, but
are men ignorant of the truth which is according to godliness, appeareth by your
wicked practices. For you stand across to what God requireth, hating what you
should love, and loving where you should hate, Homo est inversus decalogus.
Goodness is in itself amiable and attractive but you are perfect strangers to it, and
therefore hate it and those that profess it. Evil is of the devil, and must therefore
needs be loathsome; and yet you love it, allow it, and wallow in it; whereas you
should "abhor that which is evil," hate it as hell, αποστυγουντες, "and cleave," or
be fast glued, κολλωµενοι, "to that which is good," Romans 12:9. You are direct
antipodes to the godly, Psalms 15:4, and have nothing in you of the Divine nature, 2
Peter 1:4, or of the spot of God’s children, but are a "perverse and crooked
generation," Deuteronomy 32:3.
Who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones] Like so
many carnivorous cannibals or truculent wild beasts. As the ossifrage, or
breakbone, pursueth the prey, tears off the flesh, breaks the bones, and sucks out
the marrow: such were these griping tyrants, their furious rapacity surmounted all
bounds of humanity. Such a one was Verres among the Romans, as Cicero
describeth him; that tiger, Tiberius, those Romish usurers in King John’s time here,
called Caursini, quasi capientes ursi (quoth Paris), devouring bears, who left not so
much money in the whole kingdom as they either carried with them or sent to Rome
before them. Money and lands are here called men’s skin, flesh, and bones; and a
poor man’s substance is his life. See Mark 12:44, Luke 8:48. Hence oppression is
called a bony sin, Amos 5:12; Amos 5:18, and oppressors, men eaters, Psalms 14:4,
and murderers, Habakkuk 2:12. Cyprian cries out, Ferae parcunt Danieli, Ayes
pascunt Eliam, homines saeviunt; Lions spare Daniel, ravens feed Elias, but men
rage and are worse than both. Melancthon makes mention of a certain prince, some
few years before his time, who, to get money out of his subjects, would send for
them, and by knocking out first one tooth, and then another (threatening to leave
them toothless else), would extort from them what sums soever he pleased. Our King
John’s exactors received from his subjects no less sums of curses than of coin, saith
the chronicler; and so did Cardinal Woisey, under Henry VIII, by his importable
subsidies, which caused Suffolk to rise up in arms, making poverty their captain.
PETT, "Micah 3:2
“You who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them,
and their flesh from off their bones;”
But instead of being a friend of justice they loved the evil and hated the good.
(Compare Isaiah 5:19-20; Amos 5:14-15). They took advantage of the system for
their own benefit. It is as though because of their greedy ways they skinned people
alive, and took the flesh from their bones. For they seek to strip them of everything.
In modern parlance they bled them dry.
This is always the way in an affluent society. People become more and more greedy
for possessions and for status and for ‘fun’. Instead of being full of gratitude to God,

they indulge in sin and pleasure, and reject godliness. It is indeed strange how
prosperity leads to sin. It is because men are no longer then driven to God in their
need, and want rather to enjoy to the full what they have got. And of course because
they are driven by the desires of the flesh.
PULPIT, "Micah 3:2
The good …the evil; i.e. goodness and wickedness. Septuagint, τὰ καλά τὰ πονηρά
(Amos 5:14, etc.; John 3:20; Romans 1:32). Who pluck off their skin from off them.
They are not shepherds, but butchers. We have the same figurative expression for
merciless extortion and pillage. Ezekiel makes a similar complaint (Ezekiel 34:2-4).
Cheyne sees in this and the following verse a possible allusion to cannibalism as at
least known to the Israelites by hearsay or tradition. There is a passage in Wisdom
(Ezekiel 12:5) which somewhat countenances the idea that the Canaanites were
guilty of this enormity, but it is probably only a rhetorical exaggeration of the
writer. In the present passage the terms seem to be simply metaphors taken from the
preparation of meat for human food. Such an allusion is natural in the mouth of one
who had just been speaking of Israel as a flock (Micah 2:12).
3 who eat my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?”
GILL, "Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skins from off
them,.... Like cannibals, flay them alive, and then eat their flesh: this signifies, as before,
devouring their substance, only expressed in terms which still more set forth their
savageness, inhumanity, barbarity, and cruelty. So the Targum,
"who spoil the substance of my people, and their precious mammon they take from
them;''

and what aggravated their guilt was, that they were the Lord's people by profession and
religion they so used; whom he had committed to their care to rule over, protect, and
defend:
and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces as for the pot, and as
flesh within the caldron: did with them as cooks do, who not only cut flesh off the
bones, and into slices, but break the bones themselves, to get out the marrow, and chop
them small, that they may have all the virtue that is in them, to make their soup and
broth the richer; by which is signified, that these wicked and avaricious rulers took every
method to squeeze the people, and get all their wealth and riches into their hands, that
they might have in a more riotous and luxurious manner.
HE RY, " How wretchedly they had transgressed the rules of judgment, though they
knew what they were. Their principle and disposition are bad: They hate the good and
love the evil; they hate good in others, and hate it should have any influence on
themselves; they hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are
good and do good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief. This being their principle,
their practice is according to it; they are very cruel and severe towards those that are
under their power, and whoever lies at their mercy will find that they have none. They
barbarously devour those whom they should protect, and, as unfaithful shepherds, fleece
the flock they should feed; nay, instead of feeding it, they feed upon it, Eze_34:2. It is fit
indeed that he who feeds a flock should eat of the milk of the flock (1Co_9:7), but that
will not content them: They eat the flesh of my people. It is fit that they should be
clothed with the wool, but that will not serve: They flay the skin from off them, Mic_3:3.
By imposing heavier taxes upon them than they can bear, and exacting them with rigour,
by mulcts, and fines, and corporal punishments, for pretended crimes, they ruined the
estates and families of their subjects, took away from some their lives, from others their
livelihoods, and were to their subjects as beasts of prey, rather than shepherds. “They
break their bones to come at the marrow, and chop the flesh in pieces as for the pot.”
This intimates that they were, (1.) Very ravenous and greedy for themselves, indulging
themselves in luxury and sensuality. (2.) Very barbarous and cruel to those that were
under them, not caring whom they beggared, so they could but enrich themselves; such
evil is the love of money the root of.
JAMISO , "pot ... flesh within ... caldron — manifold species of cruel
oppressions. Compare Eze_24:3, etc., containing, as to the coming punishment, the
same figure as is here used of the sin: implying that the sin and punishment exactly
correspond.
CALVI , "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, but cuts it into pieces, and
having broken it, he then fills with these pieces his pot or his caldron. The Prophet
then enhances the cruelty of the princes; they were not content with one kind of
oppression, but exercised every species of barbarous cruelty towards the people, and
were in every respect like bears, or wolves, or lions, or some other savage beasts,
and that they were also like gluttons. We now then perceive the Prophet’s meaning.

ow this passage teaches us what God requires mainly from those in power, — that
they abstain from doing injustice: for as they are armed with power, so they ought
to be a law to themselves. They assume authority over others; let them then begin
with themselves, and restrain themselves from doing evil. For when a private man is
disposed to do harm, he is restrained at least by fear of the laws, and dares not to do
any thing at his pleasure; but in princes there is a greater boldness; and they are
able to do greater injustice: and this is the reason why they ought to observe more
forbearance and humanity. Hence levity and paternal kindness especially become
princes and those in power. But the Prophet here condemns the princes of his age
for what deserved the highest reprehension; and their chief crime was cruelty or
inhumanity, inasmuch as they spared not their own subjects.
We now see that the Prophet in no degree flattered the great, though they took great
pride in their own dignity. But when he saw that they wickedly and basely abused
the power committed to them, he boldly resisted them, and exercised the full
boldness of the Spirit. He therefore not only calls them robbers or plunderers of the
people; but he says, that they were cruel wild beasts; he says, that they devoured the
flesh, tore and pulled it in pieces, and made it small; and he says all this, that he
might convey an idea of the various kinds of cruelty which they practiced. ow
follow threatenings —
COFFMA , "Verse 3
"Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break
their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the
cauldron."
In the protests against violent injustice and wickedness, throughout all history,
where is there anything else that compares with the shocking and dramatic words of
this passage? The impact of this verse is witnessed even today throughout the world
by such idiomatic expressions as, "he skinned me," describing a crooked deal.
Micah gave mankind a metaphor here which they found it impossible to forget.
There are some intimations that the actual practice of cannibalism was found
among the ancient Canaanites, as in the book of Wisdom;[4] and Micah's
denunciation could therefore have the effect of charging Israel with complete
reversion to that status of unqualified paganism for which God had dispossessed the
Canaanites in order to make room for Israel. Hailey summarized this whole passage
through Micah 3:4 thus:
"In this highly exaggerated figure, Micah expresses the white heat of his indignation
at the treatment dealt the common people by the rulers. Therefore when judgment
falls on these heartless rulers and they cry to Jehovah His face will be hid from
them. Have they sown, so will they reap. They have destroyed the people without
mercy, and so without mercy shall their destruction come."[5]
"Of my people ..." It should not be overlooked that the extreme provocation against
the Almighty in such uninhibited wickedness of the princes and judges of Israel lay
in the fact of the very people of God being the objects of their rapacious evil. Sins

against the covenant people were certain to incur the avenging wrath of God
Himself.
Instead of protecting and shepherding the people whom it was their sworn duty to
honor and guard against every encroachment upon their rights and liberties, those
very nobles and justices were themselves their most savage exploiters. Their attitude
reminded Ironside of a statement by Pope Leo X, who said to his companion princes
in the church, "What a profitable thing this myth about Jesus Christ has been to
us!"[6]
CO STABLE, "Because these rulers had turned deaf ears to the pleas of orphans
and widows, they would eventually cry out to Yahweh in prayer asking Him for
help. But He would not answer them (cf. Psalm 27:7-9; Proverbs 21:13; Jeremiah
7:12-15). God hiding His face from them is an anthropomorphism picturing God
disregarding them, turning His back on them. God hears all prayers because He is
omniscient, but He chooses not to respond to some of them.
TRAPP, "Micah 3:3 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.
Ver. 3. Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skins, &c.] He still
proceeds in the allegory, the better to argue and aggravate their extreme cruelty.
Money, saith the heathen, is a man’s flesh, blood, life, all. Of this, when the people
were pilled and polled by their cruel princes, who are here compared to butchers
and cooks, they are looked upon as not only excoriated, but excarnified, and even
exossated, and laid for dead; for mortis habet vices quae trahitur vita genitibus. It is
a lifeless life that many poor people live for want of necessaries. Such savage
shepherds Ezekiel inveighs against, that not only shear their sheep, but hold them
and suck their blood, Ezekiel 34:1-10. Atqui pastoris est pecus tondere, non
deglubere, non carnem et ossa concidere. (Tiber. ap. Sueton.).
Chop them in pieces, as for the pot, &c.] Making no more bones of undoing them
and their families than to eat a meal’s meat when hungry; yea, nourishing their
hearts therewith, "as in a day of slaughter," or good cheer, James 5:5.
PETT, "Micah 3:3
“Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break
their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the
cauldron.”
This is certainly not intended to be taken literally, although at times it may have
occurred during sieges. It is continuing the hyperbole of the previous verse. To ‘eat
the flesh’ and similar phrases regularly mean to harm or kill (Psalms 27:2 compare
Psalms 14:4; Psalms 53:4). o doubt regular savage beatings did take place, but the

picture here goes a little beyond that.. The remainder would have been the actions of
cannibals, which they would certainly not actually have been. It is all rather a vivid
description of viciousness and of a total lack of concern for people, and an instance
of great wickedness. It is a revelation of man’s inhumanity to man.
PULPIT, "Micah 3:3
The idea of the last verse is repeated here with more emphasis. The people are
treated by their rulers as cattle made to be eaten, flayed, broken up, chopped into
pieces, boiled in the pot (comp Psalms 14:4). (For an analogous figure, see Ezekiel
34:3-5.)
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them
because of the evil they have done.
BAR ES. "Then shall they cry unto the Lord - “Then.” The prophet looks on to
the Day of the Lord, which is always before his mind. So the Psalmist, speaking of a time
or place not expressed, says, “There were they in great fear” Psa_53:5. He sees it, points
to it, as seeing what those to whom he spoke, saw not, and the more awfully, because he
saw, with superhuman (certain) vision, what was “hidden from their eyes.” The then was
not then, “in the time of grace,” but when the Day of grace should be over, and the Day of
Judgment should be come. So of that day, when judgment should set in, God says in
Jeremiah, “Behold I will bring evil upon them which they shall not be able to go forth of,
and they will cry unto Me, and I will not hearken unto them” Jer_11:11. And David,
“They cried and there was none to save; unto the Lord, and He answered them not” Psa_
18:41. And Solomon; “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself
and shall not be heard” Pro_21:13. And James, “He shall have judgment without mercy,
that hath shewed no mercy” Jam_2:13. The prayer is never too late, until judgment
comes ; the day of grace is over, when the time of judgment has arrived. “They shall cry
unto the Lord, and shall not be heard, because they too did not hear those who asked
them, and the Lord shall turn His Face from them, because they too turned their face
from those who prayed them.”
He will even hide His Face - He will not look in mercy on those who would not
receive His look of grace. Your sins, He says by Isaiah, “have hid His face from you, that

He heareth not.” O what will that turning away of the Face be, on which hangs eternity!
As - There is a proportion between the sin and the punishment . As I have done, so
God hath requited me. “They have behaved themselves ill in their doings. literally have
made their deeds evil.” The word rendered doings is almost always used in a bad sense,
mighty deeds, and so deeds with a high hand. Not ignorantly or negligently, nor through
human frailty, but with set purpose they applied themselves, not to amend but to
corrupt their doings, and make them worse. God called to them by all His prophets,
make good your doings Jer_35:15; and they, reversing it, used diligence to make their
doings evil. Jerome: “All this they shall suffer, because they were not rulers, but tyrants;
not Prefects, but lions; not masters of disciples, but wolves of sheep; and they sated
themselves with flesh and were fattened, and, as sacrifices for the slaughter, were made
ready for the punishment of the Lord. Thus far against evil rulers; then he turns to the
false prophets and evil teachers, who by flatteries subvert the people of God, promising
them the knowledge of His word.”
CLARKE, "Then shall they cry - When calamity comes upon these oppressors,
they shall cry for deliverance: but they shall not be heard; because, in their unjust
exactions upon the people, they went on ruthlessly, and would not hear the cry of the
oppressed.
GILL, "Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them,.... When
all the above evils threatened them in the preceding chapters shall come upon them;
when the enemy shall invade their hind, besiege their cities, and take them, and they,
their families and substance, just ready to fall into their hands, they shall cry unto the
Lord; or pray unto him, as the Targum, in the time of their distress; but he will not hear
their prayer, so as to answer it according to their desire; that is, he will not save them
from imminent danger, but deliver them up, them, and all that belong unto them, into
the hands of such that shall use them as they have done others:
he will even hide his face from them at that time; turn his back upon them, and a
deaf ear to them, and show them no favour, nor grant them any help and protection:
as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings; he will punish them
according to the law of retaliation; as when the poor cried unto them, when they were
stripping them of their substance, and they would not hearken to them, so now, when
they cry unto the Lord in their distress, he will not hearken to them; and as they turned
their backs, and hid their faces from those that were afflicted by them, and would show
them no favour, so will the Lord deal with them; and as they exercised the utmost cruelty
and barbarity that could be done, they will now be given up into the hands of cruel and
merciless men, that will use them in like manner: or, "because they have done ill in their
doings" (b) to the poor, whose cause God will defend and vindicate.
HE RY, " How they might expect that God should deal with them, since they had
been thus cruel to his subjects. The rule is fixed, Those shall have judgment without
mercy that have shown no mercy (Mic_3:4): “They shall cry to the Lord, but he will not
hear them, in the day of their distress, as the poor cried to them in the day of their

prosperity and they would not hear them.” There will come a time when the most proud
and scornful sinners will cry to the Lord, and sue for that mercy which they once neither
valued nor copied out. But it will then be in vain; God will even hide his face from them
at that time, that time when they need his favour, and see themselves undone without it.
At another time they would have turned their back upon him; but at that time he will
turn his back upon them, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Note, Men
cannot expect to do ill and fare well, but may expect to find, as Adoni-bezek did, that
done to them which they did to others; for he is righteous who takes vengeance. With
the froward God will show himself froward, and he often gives up cruel and unmerciful
men into the hands of those who are cruel and unmerciful to them, as they themselves
have formerly been to others. This agrees with Pro_21:13, Whoso stoppeth his ears at
the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard; but the merciful have
reason to hope that they shall obtain mercy.
JAMISO , "Then — at the time of judgment, which Micah takes for granted, so
certain is it (compare Mic_2:3).
they cry ... but he will not hear — just as those oppressed by them had formerly
cried, and they would not hear. Their prayer shall be rejected, because it is the mere cry
of nature for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin.
ill in their doings — Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well.
CALVI , "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, as though the
Prophet pointed out by his finger things which could be seen, though they were far
away from the sight of men. But in this place, the Prophet seems rather to pursue
the subject to which I have already referred: for he had before stated that God
would take vengeance on that people. This adverb of time then is connected with the
other combinations, which have been already explained. (96) If, however, any one
prefer a different meaning, namely that the Prophet meant here to hold them in
suspense, as to the nearness of God’s vengeance, I do not oppose him, for this sense
is not unsuitable. However this may be, the Prophet here testifies that the crimes of
the chief men would not go unpunished, though they did not think themselves to be
subject either to laws or to punishment. As then the princes and magistrates
regarded themselves as exempt, by some imaginary privilege, from the lot of other
people, the Prophet declares here expressly, that a distress was nigh at hand, which
would extort a cry from them: for by the word, cry, he means the miseries which
were nigh at hand. They shall then cry in their distress. I have now explained the
design of the Prophet.
We indeed see how at this day those who are in high stations swell with arrogance;
for as they abound in wealth, and as honor is as it were an elevated degree, so that
being propped up by the shoulders of others they seem eminent, and as they are also
feared by the rest of the people, they are on these accounts led to think that no
adversity can happen to them. But the Prophet says, that such would be their
distress, that it would draw a cry from them.

They shall then cry, but Jehovah will not hear; that is, they shall be miserable and
without any remedy. Jehovah will not answer them, but will hide from them his
face, as they have done perversely; that is, God will not hear their complaints; for he
will return on their own heads all the injuries with which he now sees his own
people to be afflicted. And thus God will show that he was not asleep, while they
were with so much effrontery practicing all kinds of wrong.
It may however be asked here, how it is that God rejects the prayers and entreaties
of those who cry to him? It must first be observed, that the reprobate, though they
rend the air with their cries, do not yet direct their prayers to God; but if they
address God himself, they do this clamorously; for they expostulate with him, and
contend with him, yea, they vomit out their blasphemies, or at least they murmur
and complain of their evils. The ungodly then cry, but not to the Lord; or if they
address their cries to God, they are, as it has been said, full of glamour. Hence,
except one is guided by the Spirit of God, he cannot pray from the heart. And we
know that it is the peculiar office of the Spirit to raise up our hearts to heaven: for
in vain we pray, except we bring faith and repentance: and who is the author of
these but the Holy Spirit? It appears then that the ungodly so cry, that they only
violently contend with God: but this is not the right way of praying. It is therefore
no wonder that God rejects their clamors. The ungodly do indeed at times pour
forth a flood of prayers and call on God’s name with the mouth; but at the same
time they are, as we have said, full of perverseness, and they never really humble
themselves before God. Since then they pour forth their prayers from a bitter and a
proud heart, this is the reason why the Prophet says now, that the Lord would not
then hear, but hide his face from them at that time, inasmuch as they acted
perversely (97)
He shows here that God would not be reconciled to men wholly irreclaimable, who
could not be restored by any means to the right way. But when any one falls [and
repents] he will ever find God propitious to him, as soon as he cries to him; but
when with obstinate minds we pursue our own course, and give no place to
repentance, we close up the door of mercy against ourselves; and so what the
Prophet teaches here necessarily takes place, — the Lord hides his face in the day of
distress. And we also hear what the Scripture says, — that judgment will be without
mercy to those who are not merciful, (James 2:11.) Hence if any one be inexorable to
his brethren, (as we see at this day many tyrants to be, and we also see many in the
middle class to be of the same tyrannical and wholly sanguinary disposition,) he will
at length, whoever he may be, meet with that judgment which Micah here
denounces. The sentence then is not to be taken in a general sense, as though he had
said, that the Lord would not be reconciled to the wicked; but he points out
especially those irreclaimable men, who had wholly hardened themselves, so that
they had become, as we have already seen, altogether inflexible. The Prophet now
comes to his second reproof.
Because they have corrupted their doings.

— Ed.
COFFMA , ""Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea,
he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in
their doings."
o one squeals for mercy like the violent criminal whose bloody and heartless
wickedness results at last in his arraignment before the bar of justice, the tragedy of
our own times being that instead of receiving prompt and adequate punishment, the
criminal is often the beneficiary of a sob-sister coddling and leniency that take no
account whatever of what the crimes deserved. The ultimate justice of God will not
be thwarted by any such foolish leniency. Yes, of course, the false rulers would
scream to God for mercy, but at a time long past any opportunity for repentance.
"He will hide his face from them." Proverbs 1:24-28, in great detail, describes the
unavailing prayers of the wicked who waited too long to repent. "I will laugh in the
day of your calamity: and I will mock when your fear cometh." When the promised
punishment came to Israel, there were prayers and screams to God, old hyprocrites
praying in public to high heaven, sudden and enthusiastic revivals of old forms and
services of holy religion; but the time for all that had passed. "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, if thou hadst known the things that belong unto thy peace; but now are
they hidden from thine eyes" (Luke 19:42). That heart-breaking story was unfolded
in Israel when the Babylonians came (586 B.C); but it happened a second time, as
prophesied by the Saviour himself, when the Romans came in 70 A.D.
CO STABLE, "The Lord also had a message concerning the false prophets who
were misleading His people. The false prophets gave benedictions to those who paid
them, but people who did not give them anything received maledictions of doom and
gloom (cf. Lamentations 2:14; Jeremiah 6:14). Self-interest motivated these prophets
rather than the fear of the Lord (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3).
"It was an ancient and respectable practice for a prophet to accept payment for
services rendered to his clients. After all, as Jesus affirmed, "the worker is entitled
to his wages" ( Luke 10:7). But with so apparently subjective a craft as prophecy
there was ever a temptation. Why not make the message match the customer"s
pocket?" [ ote: Allen, p311.]
Even today some ministers favor those who treat them well and neglect, or worse,
those who do not.
"Few men are as pitiable as those who claim to have a call from God yet tailor their
sermons to please others. Their first rule is "Don"t rock the boat"; their second is
"Give people what they want."" [ ote: Wiersbe, p394.]
TRAPP, "Micah 3:4 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.

Ver. 4. Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them] Then, sc. when
God shall have changed their cheer, pulled the fat morsel from between their teeth,
and fed them with the bread of affliction and water of affliction, 1 Kings 22:27, with
prisoners’ pittance, as they call it, which will neither keep them alive nor suffer
them to die; then shall they cry and whine as hogs when hungry, as dogs when tied
up from their meat; but God will not hear them. He will even cast out their prayers
with contempt, as being the prayers of the flesh for ease, and not of the spirit for
grace. They cry unto the Lord aloud, but it is only to be rid of his rod; they roar
when upon the rack, but it is only to get off; they look ruefully, as the fox doth when
taken in a gin, but it is only to be set at liberty; they chatter out a charm when God’s
chastening is upon them, yea, they may be with child (as it were) of a prayer, and yet
bring forth nothing but wind, Isaiah 26:16-18. For either God answereth them not
at all, which was Saul’s case and curse, 1 Samuel 28:15, and Moab’s, Isaiah 16:12,
and David’s enemies’, Psalms 18:41; or else he give them bitter answers, Ezekiel
14:4, 10:13-14. Or if better; it is but for a further mischief, that he may curse their
blessings, and consume them after that he had done them good, Joshua 24:20. Their
preservation from one evil is but a reservation to seven worse; as we see in Pharaoh,
Sennacherib, Ahab, and others. "Lo, this is the portion of a wicked man with God,
and the heritage of oppressors which they shall receive of the Almighty," Job 27:13-
15, &c. See the place. Remediless misery shall befall them, calamities that shall
wring from them clamours, but to no purpose or profit. See Proverbs 1:28.
He will even hide his face from them] That is, withdraw his favour, care,
providence, help, presence, and benefits, of all which the face is the symbol: that like
as they have turned upon God the back and not the face, and have been merciless to
men, hiding their eyes from their own flesh, Isaiah 58:7; so shall it be done to them
in the day of their distress. God will award them judgment without mercy who
showed no mercy, James 2:18. He will set off all hearts from them, as he did from
wicked Haman, when the king frowned upon him. Lastly, he will turn their own
consciences loose upon them (as once he did upon Joseph’s brethren, Genesis 42:21),
to ring that doleful knell in their ears, Isaiah 33:1, "Woe to thee that spoileth," &c.
"when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled," &c. Talionis lege mulctabere,
as Adonibezek, Phocas, Charles IX. See Proverbs 21:18. {See Trapp on "Proverbs
21:18"}
WHEDO , "Verse 4
4. Such criminals Jehovah will forsake in the hour of judgment.
ot hear — They will cry unto him for deliverance, but he will leave them to their
terrible fate. As they would not heed the cry of the oppressed, so Jehovah will not
heed them.
Hide his face — In anger (compare Hosea 5:15).
Then… at that time — The context leaves no doubt that these words refer to the

time of judgment. Cheyne says, “We must suppose that, when Micah delivered this
prophecy (of which we can have but a summary), he introduced between Micah 3:3-
4 a description of the ‘day of Jehovah,’ the day of just retribution.” That we have
but a summary of the prophet’s message is probably true, but it is not so certain
that a description of the day of Jehovah, or even a specific reference to it, was
needed; the people would comprehend the prophet’s meaning without it (compare
the use of “now” in Amos 6:7; Hosea 2:10).
PETT, "Micah 3:4
‘Then will they cry to YHWH, but he will not answer them; yes, he will hide his face
from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.’
And then having behaved in this way they turn to YHWH and expect Him to hear
their prayer. Well, here is His answer. they will cry to Him but He will not answer
them, He will instead at that time of need hide His face from them, in accordance
with their evil behaviour, because in their actions they have wrought evil. He will
treat them as they have treated others.
PULPIT, "The merciless shall not obtain mercy. Then, when the day of
chastisement has come, "the day of the Lord," of which, perhaps, the prophet spoke
more fully when he originally delivered this address. He will not hear them. A just
retribution on those who refused to hearken to the cry of the poor and needy (comp.
Psalms 18:41; Proverbs 1:28; Jeremiah 11:11; James 2:13). As they have behaved
themselves ill in their doings; according as they have made their actions evil, or
because they have, etc.; ἀνθ ὦν
5 This is what the Lord says:
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,
they proclaim ‘peace’
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.

BAR ES. "The prophets that make My people err - Flattering them in their
sins and rebellions, promising that they shall go unpunished, that God is not so strict,
will not put in force the judgments tie threatens. So Isaiah saith Isa_3:12; O my? people,
they which lead thee, mislead thee; and (Isa_9:16, (Isa_9:15 in Hebrew)), the leaders of
this people are its misleaders, and they that are led of them are destroyed. And
Jeremiah, “The prophets have seen for thee vanity and folly; and they have not
discovered thine iniquity to turn away thy captivity, and have seen for thee false burdens
and causes of banishment” Lam_2:14. No error is hopeless, save what is taught in the
Name of God.
That bite with their mouths - The word is used of no other biting than the biting
of serpents. They were doing real, secret evil “while they cry, that is, proclaim peace;”
they bit, as serpents, treacherously, deadlily. They fed, not so much on the gifts, for
which they hired themselves to Eze_13:10 speak peace when there was no peace, as on
the souls of the givers. So God says by Ezekiel, “Will ye pollute Me among My people for
handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to
save the souls live that should not live, by your lying to My people that hear your lies?
Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made
sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his
wicked way, by promising him life - therefore ye shall see no more vanity nor divine
divinations” Eze_19:1-14, 22-23. It was with a show of peace that Joab slew Abner and
Amasa, and with a kiss of peace Judas betrayed our Lord.
And he that putteth not into their mouths, they prepare war against him -
Literally, and (that is, immediately; it was all one; bribes refused, war proclaimed,) “they
sanctify war against him.” Like those of whom Joel prophesied , they proclaim war
against him in the Name of God, by the authority of God which they had taken to
themselves, speaking in His Name who had not sent them. So when our Lord fed the
multitude, they would take Him by force and make Him a king; when their hopes were
gone and they saw that His Kingdom was not of this world, they said, Crucify him,
crucify Him. Much more the Pharisees, who, because He rebuked their covetousness,
their devouring widows’ houses, their extortion and excess, their making their proselytes
more children of hell than themselves, said, Thou blasphemest. So, when the masters of
the possessed damsel whom Paul freed Act_16:19-21, saw that the hope of their gains
was gone, they accused him, that he exceedingly troubled their city, teaching customs
not lawful to be received.
So Christians were persecuted by the pagan as “hating the human race,” because they
would not partake of their sins; as “atheists,” because they worshiped not their gods; as
“disloyal” and “public enemies,” because they joined not in unholy festivals; as
“unprofitable,” because they neglected things not profitable but harmful. So men are
now called “illiberal,” who will not make free with the truth of God; “intolerant,” who
will not allow that all faith is matter of opinion, and that there is no certain truth;
“precise,” “censorious,” who will not connive at sin, or allow the levity which plays,
mothlike, around it and jests at it. The Church and the Gospel are against the world, and
so the world which they condemn must be against them; and such is the force of truth
and holiness, that it must carry on the war against them in their own name.

CLARKE, "That bite with their teeth - That eat to the full; that are well provided
for, and as long as they are so, prophesy smooth things, and cry, Peace! i.e., Ye shall have
nothing but peace and prosperity. Whereas the true prophet, “who putteth not into their
mouths,” who makes no provision for their evil propensities, “they prepare war against
him.” ‫מלחמה‬ ‫עליו‬ ‫קדשו‬ kiddeshu alaiv milchamah, “They sanctify a war against him.” They
call on all to help them to put down a man who is speaking evil of the Lord’s people; and
predicting the destruction of his temple, and Israel his inheritance.
GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, concerning the prophets that make my people
err,.... The false prophets, as the Targum; and as the description given of them shows;
who, instead of directing the people in the right way, as by their office and characters as
prophets they should have done, they led them into mistakes about matters of religion
and civil government, and out of the way of their duty to God and men, and exposed
them to great danger and distress; and this was the more aggravating, as they were the
Lord's people by name and profession, whom they caused to err from his ways and
worship, which brought his displeasure upon them:
that bite with their teeth, and cry, peace; prophesy smooth things, promise all
kind of prosperity and plenty, and bite their lips, and keep in those distresses and
calamities which they could not but see coming upon the people; or, while they are
prophesying good things, they gnash their teeth against the prophets of the Lord, and
bitterly inveigh against them for threatening with war, destruction, and captivity; or, by
flattering the people with their lips, they bite them, devour their substance, and are the
cause of their hurt and ruin; or rather, so long as the people fed them well, and they had
a sufficiency to bite and live upon, they foretold happy days unto them, So the Targum,
"he that feeds them with a feast of flesh, they prophesy peace to him;''
which sense is confirmed by what follows,
and he that putteth not into their mouth, they even declare war against him;
who do not give them what they ask, or do not feed them according to their desire, do
not keep a good table for them, and cram and pamper them, but neglect them, and do
not provide well for them; these they threaten with one calamity or another that shall
befall them; and endeavour to set their neighbours against them, and even the
government itself, and do them all the mischief they can by defamation and slander.
HE RY, " Let the prophets hear their charge too, and their doom; they were such as
prophesied falsely, and the princes bore rule by their means. Observe,
1. What was their sin. (1.) They made it their business to flatter and deceive the people:
They make my people err, lead them into mistakes, both concerning what they should
do and concerning what God would do with them. It is ill with a people when their
leaders cause them to err, and those draw them out of the way that should guide them
and go before them in it. “They make them to err by crying peace, by telling them that
they do well, and that all shall be well with them; whereas they are in the paths of sin,
and within a step of ruin. They cry peace, but they bite with their teeth,” which perhaps
is meant of their biting their own lips, as we are apt to do when we would suppress
something which we are ready to speak. When they cried peace their own hearts gave

them the lie, and they were just ready to eat their own words and to contradict
themselves, but they bit with their teeth, and kept it in. They were not blind leaders of
the blind, for they saw the ditch before them, and yet led their followers into it. (2.) They
made it all their aim to glut themselves, and serve their own belly, as the seducers in St.
Paul's time (Rom_16:18), for their god is their belly, Phi_3:19. They bite with their
teeth, and cry peace; that is, they will flatter and compliment those that will feed them
with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those that put not into their
mouths, that are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies;
to them they do not cry peace, as they do to those whom they look upon as their
benefactors, but they even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the
judgments of God, but as they are to them, as the crafty priests of the church of Rome, in
some places, make their image either to smile or frown upon the offerer according as his
offering is. Justly is it insisted on as a necessary qualification of a minister (1Ti_3:3, and
again Tit_1:7) that he be not greedy of filthy lucre.
JAMISO , "Here he attacks the false prophets, as before he had attacked the
“princes.”
make my people err — knowingly mislead My people by not denouncing their sins
as incurring judgment.
bite with ... teeth, and cry, Peace — that is, who, so long as they are supplied with
food, promise peace and prosperity in their prophecies.
he that putteth not into their mouths, they ... prepare war against him —
Whenever they are not supplied with food, they foretell war and calamity.
prepare war — literally, “sanctify war,” that is, proclaim it as a holy judgment of God
because they are not fed (see on Jer_6:4; compare Isa_13:3; Joe_1:14).
K&D 5-8, "In the second strophe, Micah turns from the godless princes and judges to
the prophets who lead the people astray, with whom he contrasts the true prophets and
their ways. Mic_3:5. Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets who lead my people
astray, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and whoever should put nothing
into their mouths, against him they sanctify war. Mic_3:6. Therefore night to you
because of the visions, and darkness to you because of the soothsaying! and the sun will
set over the prophets, and the day blacken itself over them. Mic_3:7. And the seers will
be ashamed, and the soothsayers blush, and all cover their beard, because (there is) no
answer of God. Mic_3:8. But I, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of Jehovah, and
with judgment and strength, to show to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.”
As the first strophe attaches itself to Mic_2:1-2, so does the second to Mic_2:6 and Mic_
2:11, carrying out still further what is there affirmed concerning the false prophets.
Micah describes them as people who predict peace and prosperity for a morsel of bread,
and thereby lead the people astray, setting before them prosperity and salvation, instead
of preaching repentance to them, by charging them with their sins. Thus they became
accomplices of the wicked rulers, with whom they are therefore classed in Mic_3:11,
together with the wicked priests. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫ת‬ ַ ַ‫,ה‬ leading astray (cf. Isa_3:12; Isa_9:15) my
people, namely, by failing to charge them with their sins, and preach repentance, as the
true prophets do, and predicting prosperity for bread and payment. The words, “who
bite with their teeth,” are to be connected closely with the next clause, “and they preach
peace,” in the sense of “who preach peace if they can bite with their teeth,” i.e., if they

receive something to bite (or eat). This explanation, which has already been expressed by
the Chaldee, is necessarily required by the antithesis, “but whoever puts nothing into
their mouth,” i.e., gives them nothing to eat, notwithstanding the fact that in other
passages nâshakh only signifies to bite, in the sense of to wound, and is the word
generally applied to the bite of a snake (Amo_5:19; Gen_49:17; Num_21:6, Num_21:8).
If, however, we understand the biting with the teeth as a figurative representation of the
words of the prophets who always preach prosperity, and of the injury they do to the real
welfare of the people (Ros., Casp., and others), the obvious antithesis of the two double
clauses of Mic_3:5 is totally destroyed. The harsh expression, to “bite with the teeth,” in
the sense of “to eat,” is perfectly in harmony with the harsh words of Mic_3:2 and Mic_
3:3. Qiddēsh milchâmâh, to sanctify war, i.e., to preach a holy war (cf. Joe_3:9), or, in
reality, to proclaim the vengeance of God. For this shall night and darkness burst upon
them. Night and darkness denote primarily the calamity which would come upon the
false prophets (unto you) in connection with the judgment (Mic_2:4). The sun which
sets to them is the sun of salvation or prosperity (Amo_8:9; Jer_15:9); and the day
which becomes black over them is the day of judgment, which is darkness, and not light
(Amo_5:18). This calamity is heightened by the fact that they will then stand ashamed,
because their own former prophecies are thereby proved to be lies, and fresh, true
prophecies fail them, because God gives no answer. “Convicted by the result, they are
thus utterly put to shame, because God does not help them out of their trouble by any
word of revelation” (Hitzig). Bōsh, to be ashamed, when connected with châphēr (cf. Jer_
15:9; Psa_35:26., etc.), signifies to become pale with shame; châphēr, to blush, with min
causae, to denote the thing of which a man is ashamed. Qōse
mım (diviners) alternates
with chōzım (seers), because these false prophets had no visions of God, but only
divinations out of their own hearts. ‛Atâh sâphâm: to cover the beard, i.e., to cover the
face up to the nose, is a sign of mourning (Lev_13:45), here of trouble and shame (cf.
Eze_24:17), and is really equivalent to covering the head (Jer_14:4; Est_6:12). Ma‛ănēh,
the construct state of the substantive, but in the sense of the participle; some codd. have
indeed ‫ה‬ֶ‫נ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ ַ‫.מ‬ In Mic_3:8 Micah contrasts himself and his own doings with these false
prophets, as being filled with power by the Spirit of Jehovah (i.e., through His
assistance) and with judgment. Mishpât, governed by ‫א‬ ֵ‫ל‬ ָ‫,מ‬ is the divine justice which the
prophet has to proclaim, and ge
bhūrâh strength, manliness, to hold up before the people
their sins and the justice of God. In this divine strength he can and must declare their
unrighteousness to all ranks of the people, and predict the punishment of God (Mic_3:9-
12).
CALVI , "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: and he calls them
the deceivers of the people: but at the same time he points out the source of the evil,
that is, why or by what passion they were instigated to deceive, and that was,
because the desire of gain had wholly possessed them, so that they made no

difference between what was true and what was false, but only sought to please for
the sake of gain. And he shows also, on the other hand, that they were so covetous of
gain, that they declared war, if any one did not feed them. And God repeats again
the name of his people: this had escaped my notice lately in observing on the words
of Micah, that the princes devoured the flesh of God’s people; for the indignity was
increased when this wrong, was done to the people of God. Had the Assyrians, or
the Ethiopians, or the Egyptians, been pillaged by their princes, it would have been
more tolerable; but when the very people of God were thus devoured, it was, as I
have said, less to be borne. So when the people of God were deceived, and the truth
was turned to a lie, it was a sacrilege the more hateful.
This then was the reason why he said, Who deceive my people (98) “This people is
sacred to me, for I have chosen them for myself; as then they are destroyed by
frauds and deceptions, is not my majesty in a manner dishonored — is not my
authority lessened?” We now then see the reason why the Prophet says, They
deceive my people. It is indeed certain, that the Jews were worthy of such
deceptions; and God elsewhere declares, that whenever he permitted false prophets
to come among them, it was to try them to see what sort of people they were,
(Deuteronomy 13:0.) It was then their just reward, when liberty was given to Satan
to prevent sound doctrine among the people. And no one is ever deceived, except
through his own will. Though their own simplicity seems to draw many to
destruction, yet there is ever in them some hypocrisy. But it does not extenuate the
sin of false teachers, that the people deserve such a punishment: and hence the
Prophet still goes on with his reproof and says, that they were the people of God, —
in what respect? By adoption. Though then the Jews had rendered themselves
unworthy of such an honor, yet God counts them his people, that he might punish
the wickedness of the false teachers, of which he now accuses them. It now follows,
that they did bite with their teeth But I cannot finish today.
COFFMA , "Verse 5
"Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that make my people to err: that bite
with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even
prepare war against him."
These verses (Micah 3:5-8) were directed principally against the reprobate
priesthood and the false prophets associated with them. In later centuries, after the
captivity and prior to the coming of Christ, there were indeed, here and there, a few
righteous men to be found in such positions of trust, such as Zachariah and others;
but on the whole, the unqualified apostasy of the whole establishment of the priestly
system had occurred by the times of Micah; and even in the times of Christ, the
temple itself was "a den of thieves and robbers." True prophecy from God perished
from the earth throughout the long intertestamental period. Gomer did indeed "sit
still" for God throughout centuries of time. othing ever proved any more
conclusively than the experience of Israel that the very conception of sacerdotal man
does not work. In vain do men bestow upon any of their fellows a special education,
a special dress, and special emoluments, and then invest them with the business of

procuring forgiveness from God and then bestowing it upon others! Five thousand
years of recorded history, plus the universal experience of our own times, prove that
it will not work. The genius of Christianity lies in the endowment of every Christian
with the right and privilege of priesthood and in the elevation of one High Priest,
only, Jesus Christ the righteous.
"Bite with their teeth ..." Two diverse meanings are found by expositors in this.
Some hold that these words are merely a reference to eating, with the implication
that the false priests received favorably only those who fed them. While that was no
doubt true, we do not believe this passage says that. Both Harley and Deane agree
that. "Wherever this word occurs in the scriptures, it means `to bite like a serpent,'
or `to wound.'"[7] Surely this is what Micah said. Those false prophets were like a
den of poison snakes to God's people. In conjunction with the metaphor of
cannibalism, used of the rulers, this is most appropriate for the false prophets, The
majority of commentators prefer the view expressed by Mays thus:
"Two scornful and derisive lines uncover the true source of the (false) prophet's
words. What comes out of their mouths depends on whether anything goes in. Feed
them, and you hear good words. Slight them, and you hear of your doom."[8]
Affluent clients were no doubt catered to by the false prophets, and what numerous
commentators say about that is undoubtedly true; but, somehow it appears
impossible to find that particular meaning in the expression, "they bite with their
teeth." The implication of such an expression seems to be more in line with the
words of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7), and especially those of Jesus our Lord
who said of the false priests of his earthly ministry:
"Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell
(Matthew 23:33). These words could also be appropriately applied to the false
prophets addressed by Micah here, and we believe that such is implied by this
verse."
The existence of false prophets concurrently with the lives of the true prophets had
come about, almost from the beginning of Israel's existence as a nation. Following
the consecration of the Israelites to the Baalim at Baal-peor, the pagan priests found
ready access to the populations of the chosen people; and following the days of
Jezebel, the false priests and prophets proliferated. They certainly made up the vast
majority of spiritual advisors to Ahab and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22), a full century
earlier. As time went on, the true prophets were more and more a hated and
persecuted minority in both kingdoms of Israel.
"They even prepare war against them ..." This is no mere metaphor. Jezebel had
slain all of the Lord's prophets except Elijah, and she was hunting him (1 Kings 18).
The war against the true prophets went on a long as Israel remained.
The terrible warnings against the corrupt judiciary and prophetic establishments of
the chosen people had their impact. "Of course, it could not prevent the nation's
ultimate tragedy, but it did succeed in postponing it."[9] That Israel (the southern
kingdom) still existed a century later (Jeremiah 26:18) is a mute but eloquent

testimony to the effectiveness of Micah's fearless proclamation of divine truth.
TRAPP, "Micah 3:5 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.
Ver. 5. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets] False prophets, who pretended
Divine authority, when as God never sent them, but expressly declareth here against
them, and threateneth them. Those profane princes had their fleshflies, those court
parasites, to soothe and smooth them up in their sins; to promise them peace, albeit
they walked in the imagination of their own hearts, "to add drunkenness to thirst,"
and to live as they wanted, Deuteronomy 29:19. Mirifica est sympathia inter
Magnates et parasites, saith Bucholcer. There is a strange sympathy between great
men and clawbacks: nothing so troublesome to such as truth, nothing so toothsome
as flattery: this is the fruit of sinful selflove; and the end thereof are the ways of
death Proverbs 16:25.
That make my people to err] That seduce them and carry them out of the right way
into bypaths and blind thickets of error, where they are lost for ever, Deuteronomy
13:18. Seducers are said to draw men violently, αποσταν, Acts 20:30, or to thrust
them onward. Jeroboam is said to have "driven Israel from following the Lord";
and the false apostles to drag disciples after them, Acts 20:29-30, compelling them,
by their persuasions, to embrace those distorted doctrines that cause convulsions of
conscience.
That bite with their teeth] The dogs of Congo bite though they bark not, saith Mr
Purchas (Pilgr. of Religion): there are a sort of cur dogs, saith another, that suck a
man’s blood only with licking (Christ’s Politician, by The. Scot). Seducers are such:
"Beware of false prophets for they come to you in sheep’s clothing; but inwardly
they are ravening wolves." And in this sense Jerome and Theodoret take this text:
they devour those they make prize of, as the apostle’s word signifieth, συλαγωγειν,
Colossians 2:8. Others think their covetousness and gormandise is noted.
“ O Monachi, vestri stomachi sunt amphora Bacchi:
Vos estis, Deus est testis, certissima pestis. ”
As hungry dogs they snap at a crust, and make clean work, such is their voracity
and unsatisfiableness.
“ Ingluvies, et tempestas, barathrumque macelli. ”
And cry, Peace] Pαντα καλως εσται. All shall be as well as heart can wish or need

require. Let these Cerberuses (a) but be morselled and you shall hear no worse of
them. Like they are to the ravens of Arabia, that, full gorged, have a tuneably sweet
record, but empty, screech horribly. Si veatri bene si lateri, as Epicurus saith in
Horace; Let their bellies be filled and their backs fitted, and they will prophesy all
good to you: as those false prophets, nourished by Jezebel, did to Ahab; as the
Pharisees cried up to the centurion, who had built them a synagogue, Luke 7:5; as
the Popish clergy canonize their benefactors, and extol them to the skies. Wulfin,
Bishop of Sherborn, displaced secular priests and put in monks. Hence the monkish
writers make him a very holy man, and report of him, that when he lay dying he
cried out suddenly, "I see the heavens open and Jesus Christ standing at the right
hand of God," and so died. Yea, they had a trick to make their images speak their
minds this way. As the cross of grace here in England had a man within it enclosed
with a hundred wires to make the image goggle with the eyes, nod with the head,
hang the lip, move and shake his jaws, according as the value was of the gift that
was offered. If it were a small piece of silver, he would hang a frowning lip; if a
piece of gold, then should his jaws go merrily. This idolatrous forgery was at last, by
Cromwell’s means, disclosed, and the image, with all his engines, showed openly at
Paul’s Cross, and there torn in pieces by the people who had been so seduced (Acts
and Mon. fol. 1084).
And he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him] Heb.
sanctify a war, id est, excommunicatis aqua et igni interdicunt, crucem adversus eos
praedicant, they thunder against them, and throw them out of the Church: publish
their crusades, as they did against the Waldenses in France, the Hussites in
Bohemia, and Luther in Germany, whom the Pope excommunicated, the emperor
proscribed, various divines wrote against: the reason whereof, when Erasmus was
asked by the Elector of Saxony, he rightly answered, Because he meddleth with the
Pope’s triple crown and with the friar’s fat paunches.
WHEDO , "Verse 5
Condemnation of the mercenary prophets, Micah 3:5-8.
5. Micah considers the mercenary prophets largely responsible for the moral and
spiritual decline of the nation.
Make my people err — They lead the people astray by preaching the divine favor
and peace, when their message should have been one of repentance and judgment.
5b sets forth the motives determining the character of their message.
That bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace — If they receive something to eat, or, in a
more general sense, if by doing so they can serve their own interests, they announce,
without regard for the truth, peace, that is, something that will please the hearers.
The rough expression “bite with their teeth,” instead of the simple “eat,” is in
perfect harmony with the strong language of Micah 3:2-3.
He that putteth not into their mouths — He who fails to purchase their favor.

Micah 3 commentary

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Micah 3 commentary