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Micah 6

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The LORD's Lawsuit Against Israel 1–5

1
Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. ​
2
Hear, O ye mountains, Jehovah’s controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. ​
3
O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. ​
4
For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. ​
5
O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah. ​

What the Lord Requires 6–8

6
Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old? ​
7
will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ​
8
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God? ​

Judgment for Oppression 9–16

9
The voice of Jehovah crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. ​
10
Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable? ​
11
Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights? ​
12
For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. ​
13
Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins. ​
14
Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword. ​
15
Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine. ​
16
For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of my people. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Micah 6

Verse 1

contend thou before the mountains — Riv is a case brought at law, and the mountains and hills are called to hear it, as Moses called 'the heavens' and 'the earth' (Deut 32:1). The call to 'Hear' returns from 1:2 ('let the Lord GOD be witness against you'), 3:1 ('Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob') and 3:9.

Verse 2

the LORD'S controversy — The same word riv, now as the LORD's own suit. Hosea opens the LORD's charge with it, 'the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land' (Hos 4:1), and again at Hos 12:2. 'Plead' is yakach, the verb of 'rebuke' in 4:3. The 'strong foundations' (eitan, enduring) are the earth's lasting witnesses.

Verse 3

wherein have I wearied thee? — La'ah, to tire. In Isa 43:22 the charge runs the other way, 'thou hast been weary of me, O Israel'; here the LORD asks what he has done to deserve it, and 'testify' (anah, to answer) is the verb of Balaam's 'answered' in v.5. Jeremiah asks the same, 'What iniquity have your fathers found in me?' (Jer 2:5).

Verse 4

redeemed thee out of the house of servants — Padah, to ransom, the verb of Deut 7:8, where the LORD 'redeemed you out of the house of bondmen'. The leaders sent are three: Moses, Aaron, and 'Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron' (Ex 15:20), who led the women in the song at the sea.

Verse 5

Balak king of Moab consulted — Balak sent for Balaam 'curse me this people' (Num 22:6), and Balaam's answers turned the curse into blessing. 'Consulted' is ya'ats, the verb of 'counsellor' in 4:9. 'From Shittim unto Gilgal' is the march from the plains of Moab (Josh 3:1) to the first camp in Canaan (Josh 4:19).

Verse 6

burnt offerings, with calves of a year old — Olah is the burnt offering wholly given to God, and 'a calf… of the first year' is a prescribed victim (Lev 9:3). The worshipper asks what to bring, and the offerings first named are ones the law prescribes. Psalm 51 states what is missing: 'thou delightest not in burnt offering' without 'a broken and a contrite heart' (Ps 51:16–17).

Verse 7

thousands of rams — The questions rise from rams to 'rivers of oil' to a man's own child. The firstborn was the LORD's by right and was to be redeemed (Ex 13:2, 13). Ahaz, king in Micah's days (Mic 1:1), 'made his son to pass through the fire' (2 Kgs 16:3). 'Transgression' is pesha, rebellion.

Verse 8

to do justly, and to love mercy — 'Justly' is mishpat, justice, and 'mercy' is chesed, covenant love. 'Walk humbly' is tsana', found elsewhere only in Prov 11:2, 'with the lowly is wisdom'. Christ names 'judgment, mercy, and faith' as 'the weightier matters of the law' (Matt 23:23) and twice quotes Hos 6:6, 'I desired mercy, and not sacrifice'.

Verse 9

hear ye the rod — Matteh, a rod or staff, the instrument of correction; Isaiah calls Assyria 'the rod of mine anger' (Isa 10:5). 'The man of wisdom' is the one who has tushiyyah, 'sound wisdom' (Prov 2:7), and he 'shall see thy name', the LORD's name proved by his work. The rod comes with an appointment: 'who hath appointed it'.

Verse 10

the scant measure that is abominable — Literally the lean ephah, the dry measure of Lev 19:36, 'a just ephah'. The treasures are those stored up by wrong. Amos names the trade in the same terms: 'making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit' (Amos 8:5).

Verse 11

the bag of deceitful weights — The law forbade it: 'Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small' (Deut 25:13). 'Count… pure' is zakah, to hold clean. Solomon's book gives the principle, 'A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag are his work' (Prov 16:11).

Verse 12

full of violence — 'Violence' is chamas, wrong done to another by force. The rich are 'full' of it while the people speak sheqer, lies, and their tongue is remiyyah, deceit, the word of the psalmist's prayer 'Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue' (Ps 120:2).

Verse 13

make thee sick in smiting thee — Chalah, to make ill, is the word of Deut 29:22, 'the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it'; Lev 26:16 lists the same kind of curse, 'terror, consumption, and the burning ague'. 'Desolate' is shamem, to be stunned or laid waste, from which comes the 'desolation' (shammah) of v.16.

Verse 14

eat, but not be satisfied — The words of Lev 26:26: 'ye shall eat, and not be satisfied'. 'Casting down' is yeshach, a word found only here. The verb 'deliver' (palat, to carry to safety) is used twice: what is rescued is itself given 'up to the sword'.

Verse 15

sow, but … not reap — The labour of the year is done and the harvest not enjoyed, as in Deut 28:39–40: 'thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine' and 'thou shalt have olive trees… but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil'. Micah lists the same losses, with sown grain added (Deut 28:38): grain, olives and 'sweet wine' (tirosh).

Verse 16

the statutes of Omri — Omri 'did worse than all that were before him' (1 Kgs 16:25), and his son Ahab 'did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him', taking Jezebel and serving Baal (1 Kgs 16:30–31). Outside Kings and Chronicles his name is found only here. 'Hissing' (sheriqah) is derision, the whistling of those who pass a ruin.