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Micah 7

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The Prophet's Lament over Corruption 1–6

1
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-ripe fig. ​
2
The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. ​
3
Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together. ​
4
The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.
5
Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. ​
6
For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. ​

A Resolution of Faith and Hope 7–10

7
But as for me, I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. ​
8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me. ​
9
I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. ​
10
Then mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes shall see my desire upon her; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. ​

Promise of Restoration and Return 11–13

11
A day for building thy walls! in that day shall the decree be far removed. ​
12
In that day shall they come unto thee from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. ​
13
Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. ​

A Prayer for the Shepherd's Care 14–17

14
Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. ​
15
As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt will I show unto them marvellous things. ​
16
The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf. ​
17
They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.

Doxology: God's Matchless Mercy 18–20

18
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness. ​
19
He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. ​
20
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. ​

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

Study Notes for Micah 7

Verse 1

Woe is me! — Alelai is found only here and at Job 10:15. The speaker is like one who comes to the vineyard after the harvest (qayits, summer fruit) and the gleaning, and finds no cluster. He wants 'the firstripe fruit' (bikkurah), the earliest figs, the fruit to which the LORD likens Israel's fathers: 'I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree' (Hos 9:10).

Verse 2

The good man is perished — 'Good man' is chasid, the one who keeps chesed, the 'godly man' who 'ceaseth' in Ps 12:1. The 'net' is cherem, the word Habakkuk uses for the fisherman's net in which the wicked 'catch' men (Hab 1:15). Here the hunters and the hunted are brothers.

Verse 3

the judge asketh for a reward — The leaders are the 'heads' of 3:11, who 'judge for reward'. 'Reward' is shillum, a payment, here a bribe. 'Wrap it up' is abath, to twist strands into a cord; the word is found only here, and it describes the three men's desires braided into one rope.

Verse 5

Trust ye not in a friend — The words undo the trust of Ps 118:8, 'It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man', for the verb batach, 'put confidence', is the same. Jeremiah says it of brothers, 'trust ye not in any brother' (Jer 9:4). Even the wife 'that lieth in thy bosom' is to be guarded against.

Verse 6

a man's enemies are the men of his own house — Christ applies the verse to the division his coming brings: 'I am come to set a man at variance against his father… and a man's foes shall be they of his own household' (Matt 10:35–36; Luke 12:53). 'Dishonoureth' is nabel, to despise or disgrace.

Verse 7

I will look unto the LORD — 'Look' is tsaphah, the watchman's verb, used of 'thy watchmen' in v.4 and of Habakkuk's 'I will stand upon my watch… and will watch to see what he will say' (Hab 2:1). 'The God of my salvation' is Habakkuk's phrase too: 'I will joy in the God of my salvation' (Hab 3:18).

Verse 8

when I fall, I shall arise — The speaker is the LORD's people, and the enemy is the one who said 'Where is the LORD thy God?' (v.10). The pattern of the righteous is that 'a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again' (Prov 24:16). 'The LORD shall be a light unto me' is the confession of Ps 27:1; Christ says 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:12).

Verse 9

until he plead my cause — Riv, the word for the LORD's case against Israel in 6:2, is now the people's own cause, which he takes up. They 'bear the indignation' (za'aph) 'because I have sinned', and the same LORD whose anger they bear will 'execute judgment for me'. 'I shall behold his righteousness' recalls Ps 37:6, 'he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light'.

Verse 10

Where is the LORD thy God? — The taunt of the nations in Ps 42:10 and Ps 79:10, 'Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God?'. Shame 'shall cover' the enemy who said it. 'Trodden down as the mire of the streets' is the fate Isaiah gave to the people of God's wrath, 'to tread them down like the mire of the streets' (Isa 10:6).

Verse 11

the decree be far removed — 'Decree' is choq, a statute or appointed term, as in Prov 8:29, where the LORD 'gave to the sea his decree'. When the walls (gader, an enclosure) are built, the decree that held the people is set aside, as in the word to Jerusalem, 'Thou shalt be built' (Isa 44:28), and v.12 shows them coming from every side.

Verse 12

from Assyria… to the river — The people come from Assyria to 'the river', the Euphrates that bounded the promised land (Gen 15:18), and from sea to sea. Isaiah has the same road: 'In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria' (Isa 19:23). Hosea has the dove 'out of the land of Assyria' (Hos 11:11).

Verse 13

the fruit of their doings — The land is 'desolate' (shemamah) for the sin of those who lived on it. 'Fruit of their doings' is the phrase of Isa 3:10, 'they shall eat the fruit of their doings', and of Jer 17:10, 'according to the fruit of his doings'. The restoration of vv.11–12 comes after this judgment and does not remove it.

Verse 14

Feed thy people with thy rod — Ra'ah, to shepherd. The 'rod' (shebet) is the shepherd's, as in Ps 23:4, 'thy rod and thy staff they comfort me'. 'Dwell solitarily' echoes 'Israel then shall dwell in safety alone' (Deut 33:28). Gilead, east of Jordan, was 'a place for cattle' (Num 32:1), and Bashan lay beside it.

Verse 15

marvellous things — Pala, to do what is beyond the ordinary, is the word of Ps 78:12, 'Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt'. The LORD had foretold it to Moses: 'I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders' (Ex 3:20). 'The days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt' set the measure.

Verse 16

lay their hand upon their mouth — The gesture of silence before something that cannot be answered, as in Job 29:9, 'The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth', and Isa 52:15, 'the kings shall shut their mouths at him'. 'Confounded' is bush, to be put to shame; 'deaf' is charash, to be silent or deaf.

Verse 18

Who is a God like unto thee — The prophet's name, Mikah, is a short form of 'Who is like the LORD?', and it is the question of the song at the sea: 'Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?' (Ex 15:11). 'Pardoneth' is nasa, to lift and carry away; it is the work of the name proclaimed to Moses, 'forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin' (Ex 34:7).

Verse 19

cast all their sins into the depths of the sea — Metsulah, a deep place, is the word for the Red Sea in which Pharaoh's host sank: 'they sank into the bottom as a stone' (Ex 15:5), and 'their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps' (Neh 9:11). 'Subdue' is kabash, to tread down, the verb of Gen 1:28 for subduing the earth, here used of iniquities.

Verse 20

the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham — Emet (faithfulness) and chesed (covenant love) are the two words of the name in Ex 34:6, 'abundant in goodness and truth'. Zacharias gives the same assurance, 'to perform the mercy promised to our fathers… the oath which he sware to our father Abraham' (Luke 1:72–73).