Micah 2:8 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.

Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy,.... Or "yesterday" (o); meaning a very little while before this prophecy, the people of Israel, those of the ten tribes, who were the people of God by profession, rose up as an enemy, not only to God and true religion, worshipping idols; but rather to their brethren, those of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; as they did in the times of Pekah king of Israel, who slew a hundred and twenty thousand of them in one day, Ch2 28:6; and which is here mentioned as a reason why the Spirit of the Lord in his prophets threatened them with evil, and did not promise them good things: ye pull off the robe with the garment; the upper and nether garment, and so stripped them naked: or, "they stripped the robe from off the garment", as some (p); they took the upper garment or cloak from them, and left them only the under garment: for them that pass by securely, as men averse from war: who were travelling from place to place about their proper business, and thought themselves very safe; were peaceable men themselves, and suspected no harm from others: or, "returning from war" (q); such who escaped in the battle, and fled for their lives; and when they imagined they, were safe, and out of danger, fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped them of their garments. Gussetius (r) interprets it of such who were returning to the battle, and yet so used. (o) "heri", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Burkius. (p) "a veste togam spoliatis", Noldius; "a veste pallium exuitis", Burkius. (q) "revertentibus a bello", Piscator; "redeunt a bello", Cocceius; "et revertuntur a bello", De Dieu; "uti essetis reversi ex bello", Burkius. (r) "Redeuntes in bellum", Comment. Ebr. p. 836.

(Verses 6-8) Do not speak, speaking ones, for the droppings will not fall upon them, confusion will not overtake them, says the house of Jacob. Has the spirit of the Lord been shortened, or are such his thoughts? Are not my words good when dealing with the one who walks rightly? And yet my people have risen up against me as an adversary, you have lifted up the tunic, the cloak, over those who pass by innocently, and you have turned them into battle. In the church of the Lord, should you not weep with tears, nor should you mourn over them? For he will not reject reproaches, saying, 'The house of Jacob has provoked the spirit of the Lord, if these are his inventions: are not his words good with him, and have they not walked uprightly?' And before, my people resisted against their own peace with enmities: they scraped off its skin, to take away the hope of crushing war. 'Do not speak,' he said, speaking; for which Aquila interpreted: 'Do not be silent, dripping droplets, formerly in the Hebrew idiom, calling the speech that flows and reaches the ears of the hearers, likening it to descending rain, calling it a drip.' Do not let yourselves be deceived, O house of Jacob, and do not say to one another in mutual consolation, God is good: the captivity that we fear will not come. Will his great mercy, his most compassionate spirit, who has risen up widely and abundantly for all, be so limited and severe in us? Or are his thoughts like those that we see in humans, that he holds onto ancient anger and is suddenly stirred up with fury for vengeance? To which the Lord responded: I am certainly good, and my words sound like kindness: but to those who walk the right path. But as for the one who, not just once, but yesterday, revered idols in my dishonor, and as much as he could, seized tyrannical weapons against me, who plundered the unfortunate people with the help of God, and like a garment from above, took away their cloak, who turned even the simplest of believers and those who acquiesce to the authority of their elders into enemies against me, will not the Lord rain down punishment from above and bring confusion upon him? But what we translate as 'Et econtrario populus meus in adversarium consurrexit;' Symmachus translates more openly to say: 'my people rose up against me as an enemy, one day before;' in order to solve the question of why God would not impute past sins to the people, but rather recent ones that seemed like they were committed yesterday. This is according to the Hebrew understanding, but the Septuagint translators do not agree with this interpretation in this passage. For to that which has been said, 'In the Church of the Lord do not weep,' which is a consequence, it is inferred, for he will not reject the reproaches which he says, 'The house of Jacob has provoked the spirit of the Lord.' But also that which follows: 'If these are his inventions: are not his words good with him, and have they not walked uprightly?' What do the following refer to, which are said: 'And my people resisted first, against their own peace, they have flayed his skin, to take away the wound of war?' However, it seems to me that, in a difficult place, the meaning can be rendered or expressed in this way, if the wise reader agrees with our reasoning. Therefore, it is commanded to the Church not to have sadness and concern about worldly matters, and the losses that usually happen in this world, and it is said to the inhabitants of it, O you who are in the Church of the Lord, always rejoice, and whatever judgments may befall you, be glad. I do not say this so that you should not weep; for blessed are those who weep, for they themselves shall laugh (Luke 6:21). But I warn you not to mourn over the things of the world. If someone among your close ones has died, if the treasury has seized your property, if your body is oppressed by gout or any other illness, do not weep, do not shed tears, and do not consider the present, but the future, and be more burdened that you dwell longer in this mortal tent. Rather, be careful not to insult those who have fallen, and do not consider their ruin to be your own accomplishment: let each person measure themselves by their own strength, not the weakness of others. Otherwise, what kind of justice is it to insult the branches of an olive tree with the branches of an olive tree that were broken off due to their unbelief (Rom. XI), and to say, 'The house of Jacob has provoked the spirit of the Lord to anger, killing the prophets, worshiping idols, crucifying the Son of God'? Whoever does this will not be unfamiliar with shame, and the measure by which he judged will be used to judge him. And just as he speaks of the sins of the falling, so another will insult him in his ruin. It follows: If these are his inventions, are not his words good with him, and have they walked uprightly? What offends, he says, the Jewish people, so that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter, is the dispensation of God, so that afterwards, with Israel believing, all might be saved, and all might need God's mercy. And so the Apostle, coming to this place, declares that the depths of wisdom and knowledge and judgments of God are unfathomable. Therefore, if the inventions and thoughts of God are such that the previous branches of the olive tree are broken off, and other branches are grafted in from the wild olive tree, you should not insult, but fear lest you fall, nor should you think that you please God if you read His words, that is, His Scriptures. Then the Scriptures are of benefit to the reader if what is read is fulfilled by deeds. If you can speak about the Scriptures: Are you seeking a proof of Christ speaking in me (II Cor. XIII, 3)? For the Lord will give his word with great power to those who proclaim the Gospel (Ps. LXVII, 12): Ascend to the high mountain, you who proclaim good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who proclaim good news to Jerusalem (Isai. XL, 9). In this way, the words of God are good if they are accompanied by Him, that is, if God does not abandon the preacher, whose heart and lips are in agreement. Moreover, he who confesses with his lips and his heart is far from God, and narrates his righteousness, and takes his testament on his mouth, and is defiled with the filth of sins, with this, the words of God are not good. Not only of the sinner, but also of him who does not have spiritual grace, that is, of prophecy and doctrine, and interpretation, and the greater charisms, it must be said that if such a man wishes to give reasons for the causes of the elements and for his own faith, and why God, who is good and the Creator of all, came only to the Jews and called the nations in the last age, he does not have good words of God with him; but even those things which are good, he contaminates the words of God, which walk rightly and require righteous ears. And indeed, the Lord commands the people who are his successors and the Church gathered from the nations, not to insult the previous generation and not to be alienated by insulting others. However, it is important to note that he himself, who is the true judge and speaks without disturbance, reveals how in his suffering Israel was against him, and he did this not because the Creator could be harmed by his actions, but because he committed everything against his own peace. Hence, the word came to Jerusalem: If you knew what is for your peace (Luke 19:42). But with peace lost, they stripped off their own skin, that is, they took away from themselves the protection of God, and left themselves like naked flesh without skin and covering, so that whatever appeared beautiful, with the mercy of God covering it from above, would offer ugliness to those who saw it when it withdrew. But with peace and the help of God withdrawing, because they resisted the Lord, of whom it is said: The Lord who breaks wars, the Lord is his name (Judith XVI, 3), they could not resist their adversaries, but in every battle they were defeated, and there was no one to crush the wars that arose against them, on either side of the enemy, or of the men who took them captive, or the strength of their adversaries, who slaughtered their souls daily with blasphemy.

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.

My people is risen up as an enemy - Ye are not only opposed to me, but ye are enemies to each other. Ye rob and spoil each other. Ye plunder the peaceable passenger; depriving him both of his upper and under garment; ye pull off the robe from those who, far from being spoilers themselves, are averse from war.

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.

Your ways are not such that I can deal with you as I would with the upright. Even of late--literally, "yesterday," "long ago." So "of old." Hebrew, "yesterday" (Isa 30:33); "heretofore," Hebrew, "since yesterday" (Jos 3:4). my people is risen up as an enemy--that is, has rebelled against My precepts; also has become an enemy to the unoffending passers-by. robe with the garment--Not content with the outer "garment," ye greedily rob passers-by of the ornamental "robe" fitting the body closely and flowing down to the feet [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU] (Mat 5:40). as men averse from war--in antithesis to (My people) "as an enemy." Israel treats the innocent passers-by, though "averse from war," as an enemy" would treat captives in his power, stripping them of their habiliments as lawful spoils. GROTIUS translates, "as men returning from war," that is, as captives over whom the right of war gives the victors an absolute power. English Version is supported by the antithesis.

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.

"But yesterday my people rises up as en enemy: off from the garment ye draw the cloak from those who pass by carelessly, averted from war. Mic 2:9. The women of my people ye drive away out of the house of their delights; from their children ye take my ornament for ever." 'Ethmūl, yesterday, lately, not = long ago, but, as yeqōmēm shows, denoting an action that is repeated, equivalent to "again, recently." קומם is not used here in a causative sense, "to set up," but as an intensified kal, to take a standing = to stand up or rise up. The causative view, They set up my people as an enemy (Ewald), yields no fitting sense; and if the meaning were, "My people causes me to rise up as its enemy" (Caspari), the suffixes could not be omitted. If this were the thought, it would be expressed as clearly as in Isa 63:10. There is no valid ground for altering the text, as Hitzig proposes. It is not stated against whom the people rise up as an enemy, but according to the context it can only be against Jehovah. This is done by robbing the peaceable travellers, as well as the widows and orphans, whereby they act with hostility towards Jehovah and excite His wrath (Exo 22:21.; Deu 27:19). ממּוּל שׂלמה, from before, i.e., right away from, the garment. Salmâh is the upper garment; אדר = אדּרת the broad dress-cloak. They take this away from those who pass carelessly by. שׁוּבי is an intransitive participle: averted from the war, averse to conflict, i.e., peaceably disposed (see Psa 120:7). We have not only to think of open highway robbery, but also of their taking away the cloak in the public street from their own poor debtors, when they are walking peaceably along, suspecting nothing, for the purpose of repaying themselves. The "wives of my people" are widows, whom they deprive of house and home, and indeed widows of the people of Jehovah, in whose person Jehovah is injured. These children are fatherless orphans (עלליה with a singular suffix: the children of the widow). Hădârı̄, my ornament, i.e., the ornament which I have given them. The reference, as מעל shows, is to the garment or upper coat. The expression "for ever" may be explained from the evident allusion to the Mosaic law in Exo 22:25, according to which the coat taken from the poor as a pledge was to be returned before sunset, whereas ungodly creditors retained it for ever.