Micah 2:11 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. The sins with which the people of Israel are charged - covetousness and oppression, fraudulent and violent practices (Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2), dealing barbarously, even with women and children, and other harmless people (Mic 2:8, Mic 2:9). Opposition of God's prophets and silencing them (Mic 2:6, Mic 2:7), and delighting in false prophets (Mic 2:11). II. The judgments with which they are threatened for those sins, that they should be humbled, and impoverished (Mic 2:3-5), and banished (Mic 2:10). III. Gracious promises of comfort, reserved for the good people among them, in the Messiah (Mic 2:12, Mic 2:13). And this is the sum and scope of most of the chapters of this and other prophecies.

INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 2 In this chapter complaint is made of the sins of the people of Israel, and they are threatened with punishment for them. The sins they are charged with are covetousness, oppression, and injustice, which were premeditated, and done deliberately, Mic 2:1; therefore the Lord devised evil against them, they should not escape; and which would bring down their pride, and cause them to take up a lamentation, because they should not enjoy the portion of land that belonged to them, Mic 2:3; they are further charged with opposing the prophets of the Lord, the folly and wickedness of which is exposed, Mic 2:6; and with great inhumanity and barbarity, even to women and children, Mic 2:8; and therefore are ordered to expect and prepare for a removal out of their land, Mic 2:10; and the rather, since they gave encouragement and heed to false prophets, and delighted in them, Mic 2:11; and the chapter is concluded with words of comfort to the remnant among them, and with precious promises of the Messiah, and the blessings of grace by him, Mic 2:12.

If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie,.... Who pretends to be a prophet, and a spiritual man, and to be under the inspiration and influence of the Spirit of God, but utters nothing but lies and falsehoods; or who is actuated by a spirit of falsehood and lying; or, as in the margin, "walks with the wind, and lies falsely" (u); is full of wind and vanity; "after the wind" (w); and follows the dictates of his vain mind, and coins lies, and speaks false things: saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; or "drop a word unto thee" (x); that there will be good times, and nothing but good eating and drinking; and that men need not fear such dismal things befalling them as the prophets of the Lord spoke of; but may be cheerful and merry, and drink wine and strong drink, and not be afraid of their evil tidings: or, for wine and strong drink (y), so Kimchi; and the meaning is, that if they would give him a cup of wine, or a draught of strong drink, he would prophesy good things to them; the reverse of what is before said, as that they should continue in their land, and not depart from it; that this should be their rest, and they should remain therein, and not be destroyed in it, or cast out of it: he shall even be the prophet of this people; a "dropper" (z) to them; see Mic 2:6; such an one shall be acceptable to them; they will caress him, and prefer him to the true prophets of the Lord; which is mentioned to show the temper of the people, and how easily they were imposed upon, and their disrespect to the prophets of the Lord, as in Mic 2:6; to which subject the prophet here returns, as Kimchi observes. (u) "qui ambulat cum vento et falsitate mentiatur", Piscator; "ambulantem cum vento et fasitate mendacem", Cocceius. (w) So Hillerus in Burkius. (x) "stillabo tibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Burkius. (y) "pro vino", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius. (z) "stillator", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Cocceius.

(Verse 11, 12.) I wish I were not a man with a spirit, and I spoke lies instead. I will pour for you into wine and into drunkenness, and this people on whom it is poured will be overcome. I will gather Jacob together, I will gather all of you: I will bring the remnants of Israel together. And in this chapter, the Septuagint interpreters differ greatly from Hebrew. Therefore, let us first explain according to what has been handed down to us by the Hebrews, and then, if the Lord wills, we will discuss their translations. O Jewish people, to whom belong the promises, the covenants, the law, and from whom Christ came according to the flesh (Rom. 9), to whom, facing the imminent Babylonians or Romans, I have said: Rise up and go into captivity, for there is no rest for you in this land, which will be devastated by its own wickedness in the final destruction. Do not think that I am unwilling to speak and preach joyfully, for I see the coming of the Lord. I myself would wish to be accursed for the sake of my brethren, the Israelites (Rom. 9:3). I wish I could speak of my own understanding, and not have the Holy Spirit; and be counted among the false prophets, and perish alone, and not have the things I say be true: and such a multitude would believe in the Son of God, and not be handed over to eternal captivity. But because I speak with the spirit of prophecy, and am sent from divinity (or truth), I proclaim the truth: therefore I will pour out my words to you like bitter wine that intoxicates you and makes you fall. But while I am still dripping, and singing of the evil of the future captivity, this people will receive my rain, whether they want it or not, for it has the capability to endure what I say. And do not think, that I am only a prophet of evils (although great evils indeed), for now the predicted captivity will come; but behold, in me the word speaks, a word that is applicable to all the prophets. For when the prophet is silent, he does not speak, and now he says: I will come, and I will assume a human body, I will be born of a Virgin. Either this: Because I came in the humility of flesh, and you did not believe in me, I will come in the consummation of the world in my majesty with the angels and other powers, and then I will gather you, Jacob, completely. Then I will bring together the remnants of Israel and join them together with the people of the nations in my fold. Then I will surround you with a most strong wall, and there will be such a multitude of believers and such a commotion among the sheepfold that the number of sheep will be overcome by the abundance. Lest you possibly think, because I said, I will place him like a flock in a sheepfold, and like a herd in a stable, that I am speaking of sheep, understand that these sheep are men. For it follows: They will be troubled by the multitude of men. Tumult is the voice of many, and the shout of an excessive multitude equally emitted: let us not think it is the voice of one man, but the common voice of all, praising the good shepherd, who has leveled every difficulty and made it equal with his foot, he himself is the gate of paradise, and says: I am the gate: by which, dividing and preceding the journey, and the gate of the way, the believing flock will pass through him. But this shepherd is a king and Lord. Hence follows: And their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them. And if we wish to understand all these things about His first coming, and the whole of Jacob and the remnant of Israel as signifying the apostles, and that multitude saved out of the Jews which is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, we shall not depart from the truth in the interpretation of the expositor. For the Lord has truly gathered these together in His sheepfold, and has placed them in the midst of the folds, and has gone before them, and has brought them into the Church, and has been their king before them, and shall be the Lord at the head of them for ever. LXX: The spirit establishes a falsehood. It drips into wine and drunkenness, and it will be from the drop of this people, Jacob will be gathered together. Not, as many think, the spirit stood as a liar; but the spirit establishes a falsehood, it is read, which in Greek is called πνεῦμα ἔστησε ψευδὲς, that is, deception. Just as in putrid wounds, so that cancer does not spread and devour the dead flesh, doctors establish and burn the wound with a cautery, or with a caustic powder: in the same way, the spirit of God has set a limit to falsehood, so that the people of God are not overthrown by the voices of false prophets. But the Spirit, wherever it is mentioned without addition, should be understood in a good sense, as we have often said, and now we will partially explain, so that no one should be in doubt. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace (Galatians 5:22). And: If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit (Galatians 6:25). And elsewhere: But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8:13). And in the Old Testament: Giving breath to the people who are in it, and spirit to those who tread on it (Isaiah XLII): without doubt from what comes before that it signifies the earth. For those who trample earthly works and subject them to their feet, certainly deserve to receive not an evil, but a good spirit. On the contrary, an evil spirit is always read with an additional clause, as in this passage: But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man (Matthew XII, 43). And in another place: He rebuked the unclean spirit (Luke 9:43). And: An evil spirit came upon Saul (1 Samuel 16:14), and similar things to these. Therefore, the Spirit of God, who puts an end to deceit in false prophets, will pour into you wine and drunkenness. Wine that gladdens the heart of man (Psalm 104); and drunkenness with which Noah was intoxicated, and of which it is said: Eat, O friends, and drink until drunk (Song of Solomon 5:1). But all this joy and drunkenness, in comparison to the wisdom of God, is like a heavenly river that waters Jerusalem, it is a drop, and a very small drop. The wisdom of God will not hesitate to call a drop in men, those who have gathered a stone cut from a mountain without hands (Dan. II), and the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the Apostles themselves have known in part, and have prophesied in part (I Cor. XIII, 9). Therefore, concerning this wisdom, that is, concerning the tribe of the Jewish people (for He came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel), Jacob was gathered: every one who supplants Esau and steals his birthright and blessing, and even before he is born, in his mother's womb, he attacks the heel of his hairy brother. LXX: When I receive the remnant of Israel with all the Gentiles, and the entire world is brought to my faith, and the fullness of the Gentiles enters, then the remnant of Israel will also be saved, not those remnants about which it is written in the Book of Kings: I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed their knees to Baal (3 Kings 19:18). And concerning them, Paul says: Therefore, even in this present time, the remnants according to the election of grace have been saved (Romans 11:5); concerning whom, the prophet testifies above: And he will gather together the remnant of his people from this drop of water, Jacob will be gathered together. But those remaining, who after all have been received, will be received in the end by God. And concerning them it is now said: 'Gathering the rest of Israel, I will surely receive all, just as it is written: God will conclude all under sin, and have mercy on all.' (Rom. 11:32). LXX: I will make their destruction like that of sheep in distress. The remaining ones of Israel, whom I will take in after I have taken in all, I will take in: now in the meantime, because they have turned away from me, I will put them in distress, and I will oppress them, and I will make them sit, without priest, without altar, and without prophet: so that those whom they did not perceive through blessings, they may understand through punishments. LXX: Like a flock in the midst of their fold: it is understood, I will set. Not only, he says, will their aversion, by which they have turned away from me, be set like a flock in tribulation; but after they have been troubled and the time of distress has been completed, they will be set at rest, that is, in their fold. And then (now) they will migrate from men and surpass the state of human condition, and fulfill what follows: They will rise up from among men. Not only they will leap out and go away, but all those to whom the word of God comes, and who, forsaking human vices, imitate the behavior of the divine, and hear: I said, you are gods, and all of you children of the Most High, they will leap out from among men, and be carried as if to heaven. LXX: Ascend by division. The present passage has a sort of proper beginning and apostrophe of prophetic discourse, speaking to someone who wishes to be saved and commanding them to ascend by division. This will be made clearer if we take an example from Genesis, where twins are born to Tamar, with whom the patriarch Judah had relations: 'And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.' But when he withdrew his hand, his brother came out, and she said, 'Why has the wall been divided because of you?' And she called his name Perez, which means division. And after this his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and she called his name Zerah, which in our language means seed or east (Gen. XXXVIII, 27, seqq.). Therefore, the elder people showed with their hand, in which there was origin and seed before the Church was born from the nations, and afterwards they withdrew it, hearing the words of Isaiah: For your hands are full of blood (Isai. I, 15). And when he pulled back his hand, and ceased from the works of justice, his brother went out among the nations. And because of him the fence was divided, and the Lord and Saviour destroyed the wall in the middle, and the barrier that separated two peoples: and he made one flock, and in himself he created two, making peace in the new man. Hence the prophetic midwife speaks to the younger people, saying to Phares: Why was the wall divided because of you? If you understand the example from Genesis, ascend to be saved not through the old people who have a contracted hand, but through the new people, in whom is the way of Christ, in whom is the door Jesus, through whom we walk toward the Father, for he himself broke through the middle wall and partition, that is, the darkness of the old prophets, and opened all the sacraments of the ancient Law, and by dispelling the difficulty of walking, revealed the way to the eyes of all: so that whoever wants to proceed is not entangled by any obstacle, nor is he terrified by the darkness of obscurity. LXX: Before their face they divided and passed through the gate, and went out through it. Their king went out before their face: but the Lord their prince (Heb. shall be) before them. Therefore I said to you: Ascend through the division, you who have risen with Christ, and seek those things that are above: because the Angels, whether the Father and Son, and Holy Spirit, have divided what seemed to obstruct, and have made a way for those who wish to enter, and because they have invaded the path, not only have they entered the gate, but they have also passed through it. But they entered because their king also entered the same gate, and he opened for them the way, so that they could walk without any difficulty. For he himself is the Lord, and king, and shepherd, and the way and the gate, and he says: I am the gate: through me whoever enters will be saved: he will enter and he will go out, and he will find pastures. (John 10:9). Concerning this gate, it is also prophesied elsewhere: This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter through it. (Psalm 127:20). But whoever enters, should not remain in the state in which they entered; but should go out to the pastures, so that in entering there may be a beginning, in going out and in finding pastures, there may be the perfection of virtues. Whoever enters is still in the world, and through creatures understands the Creator. But whoever goes out, transcends the whole creation, and considering all that can be seen as nothing, will find pastures above the heavens, and will feed on the word of God, and will say: The Lord feeds me, and I shall lack nothing (Psalm 23:1). This is why, in order to understand the Gospel testimony: He will enter and He will go out, and will find pasture; and what is now said through the Prophet: And they passed through the gate, and went out through it: which passage and going out, however, cannot be attributed to our king and Lord Christ, who is king and Lord. For immediately it is connected: But the Lord shall be the Prince.

St. Paul wished that he could be accursed if the people of Israel be saved to God’s glory. The man who knows that death is not the end is confident in his readiness to die for Christ. Again, “We rejoice when we are weak, but you are strong.” It is no wonder if St. Paul, for the glory of Christ and the conversion of his brother Jews and of the Gentiles, should be ready to be accursed of Christ. Even the prophet Micah wanted to be a liar and to lose the inspiration of the Holy Spirit if the Jews could escape the punishment and the destruction which he had prophesied: “Would that I were not man that had the Spirit, and that I rather spoke a lie.” And there was the case of the lawgiver, Moses, who did not refuse to perish with his brothers who were doomed to die but said, “I beseech you, O Lord, this people have sinned a heinous sin; either forgive them this trespass, or, if you do not, blot me out of the book which you have written.”

Here the prophet denounces a wo against the plotters of wickedness, the covetous and the oppressor, Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2. God is represented as devising their ruin, Mic 2:3. An Israelite is then introduced as a mourner, personating his people, and lamenting their fate, Mic 2:4. Their total expulsion is now threatened on account of their very numerous offenses, Mic 2:5-10. Great infatuation of the people in favor of those pretenders to Divine inspiration who prophesied to them peace and plenty, Mic 2:11. The chapter concludes with a gracious promise of the restoration of the posterity of Jacob from captivity; possibly alluding to their deliverance from the Chaldean yoke, an event which was about two hundred years in futurity at the delivery of this prophecy, Mic 2:12, Mic 2:13.

If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood - The meaning is: If a man who professes to be Divinely inspired do lie, by prophesying of plenty, etc., then such a person shall be received as a true prophet by this people. It not unfrequently happens that the Christless worldling, who has got into the priest's office for a maintenance, and who leaves the people undisturbed in their unregenerate state, is better received than the faithful pastor, who proclaims the justice of the Lord, and the necessity of repentance and forsaking sin, in order to their being made partakers of that holiness without which no man shall see God.

DENUNCIATION OF THE EVILS PREVALENT: THE PEOPLE'S UNWILLINGNESS TO HEAR THE TRUTH: THEIR EXPULSION FROM THE LAND THE FITTING FRUIT OF THEIR SIN: YET JUDAH AND ISRAEL ARE HEREAFTER TO BE RESTORED. (Mic 2:1-13) devise . . . work . . . practise--They do evil not merely on a sudden impulse, but with deliberate design. As in the former chapter sins against the first table are reproved, so in this chapter sins against the second table. A gradation: "devise" is the conception of the evil purpose; "work" (Psa 58:2), or "fabricate," the maturing of the scheme; "practise," or "effect," the execution of it. because it is in the power of their hand--for the phrase see Gen 31:29; Pro 3:27. Might, not right, is what regulates their conduct. Where they can, they commit oppression; where they do not, it is because they cannot.

walking in the spirit--The Hebrew means also "wind." "If a man professing to have the 'spirit' of inspiration (Eze 13:3; so 'man of the spirit,' that is, one claiming inspiration, Hos 9:7), but really walking in 'wind' (prophecy void of nutriment for the soul, and unsubstantial as the wind) and falsehood, do lie, saying (that which ye like to hear), I will prophesy," &c., even such a one, however false his prophecies, since he flatters your wishes, shall be your prophet (compare Mic 2:6; Jer 5:31). prophesy . . . of wine--that is, of an abundant supply of wine.

Guilt and Punishment of Israel. Its Future Restoration - Mic 2:1-13 After having prophesied generally in ch. 1 of the judgment that would fall upon both kingdoms on account of their apostasy from the living God, Micah proceeds in Mic 2:1-13 to condemn, as the principal sins, the injustice and oppressions on the part of the great (Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2), for which the nation was to be driven away from its inheritance (Mic 2:3-5). He then vindicates this threat, as opposed to the prophecies of the false prophets, who confirmed the nation in its ungodliness by the lies that they told (Mic 2:6-11); and then closes with the brief but definite promise, that the Lord would one day gather together the remnant of His people, and would multiply it greatly, and make it His kingdom (Mic 2:12, Mic 2:13). As this promise applies to all Israel of the twelve tribes, the reproof and threat of punishment are also addressed to the house of Jacob as such (Mic 2:7), and apply to both kingdoms. There are no valid grounds for restricting them to Judah, even though Micah may have had the citizens of that kingdom more particularly in his mind.