Michea 3:3 Commento

What the apostle says of another of the prophets is true of this, who was also his contemporary - "Esaias is very bold," Rom 10:20. So, in this chapter, Micah is very bold in reproving and threatening the great men that were the ringleaders in sin; and he gives the reason (Mic 3:8) why he was so bold, because he had commission and instruction from God to say what he said, and was carried out in it by a higher spirit and power than his own. Magistracy and ministry are two great ordinances of God, for good to his church, but these were both corrupted and the intentions of them perverted; and upon those that abused them, and so abused the church with them, the prophet is very severe, and justly so. I. He gives them their lesson severally, reproving and threatening princes (Mic 3:1-4) and false flattering prophets (Mic 3:5-7). II. He gives them their lesson jointly, putting them together, as acting in conjunction for the ruin of the kingdom, which they should see the ruins of (Mic 3:9-12).

INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 3 In this chapter the prophet reproves and threatens both princes and prophets, first separately, and then conjunctly; first the heads and princes of the people, civil magistrates, for their ignorance of justice, and hatred of good, and love of evil, and for their oppression and cruelty; and they are threatened with distress when they should cry unto the Lord, and should not be heard by him, Mic 3:1; next the prophets are taken to task, for their voraciousness, avarice, and false prophesying; and are threatened with darkness, with want of vision, and of an answer from the Lord, and with shame and confusion, Mic 3:5; and the prophet being full of the Spirit and power of God, to declare the sins and transgressions of Jacob and Israel, Mic 3:8, very freely declaims against princes, priests, and prophets, all together; who, though guilty of very notorious crimes, yet were in great security, and promised themselves impunity, Mic 3:9; wherefore the city and temple of Jerusalem are threatened with an utter desolation, Mic 3:12.

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.

(Chapter III, verses 1 and following) And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know judgment, you who hate good and love evil, who violently take off their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones, who have eaten the flesh of my people, and have stripped off their skin from them, and have broken their bones and cut them up like meat in a pot. Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have acted wickedly in their deeds. Clearly, this speech is directed against the princes of Israel, and under the metaphor of lions or robbers, their cruelty is described: that they have plundered the poor, killed them, broken their flesh and bones, and afflicted the miserable people of Jerusalem as if in the midst of a pot. And because of these things, punishment will be brought upon them later on the day of captivity, either by Nebuchadnezzar or by Vespasian and Titus. And they cry out to the Lord, but He does not hear them, and He hides His face from them, because they have acted wickedly in their crimes. LXX: And he will say: Listen to these things, leaders of the house of Jacob, and the rest of the house of Israel. The idea clings to what precedes. For he had said before: But the Lord will be a leader, and he will say: Listen, leaders of the house of Jacob, and the rest of the house of Israel. Regarding the rest of the house of Israel, except for the Seventy, all the leaders of the house of Israel have passed away. Therefore, the Lord who made a way for his people, and went before them, is the leader of the simpler journey of the people, whom he calls a flock: to those who do not want to follow the easier path, but act arrogantly, and do not follow the footsteps of that judge of the people, he threatens and says: Listen, leaders of the house of Jacob, and leaders of the house of Israel. But why is it that they are determined to hear? It is not your place, he says, to know judgment, you who hate good and seek evil: that is, you do not deserve to understand the judgment that is a bottomless pit; and the twisted mind of justice does not find the depths of his righteousness. Or how can you know the judgment of God, you who hate good, how can you know the judgment of God, you who hate good and seek evil, you who detest the holy poor, and honor sinful rich? At the same time, let us consider the significance of words: to not love good is a sin; how great a wickedness is it to even hate? And conversely, if one does not flee from evil, it is a fault; how great an impiety is it to even diligently inquire? After this, the cruelty of judges is described, and the cruelty towards those who are subject. LXX: They will take their skins from them, and their flesh from their bones. Just as they devoured the flesh of my people, and peeled the skin from them, and broke their bones, and cut them up like meat in a kettle, so they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not listen to them, and he will turn his face away from them at that time, because they have acted wickedly in their inventions. It was not enough to plunder the helpless flock; they also afflicted their bodies with a harsh rule, and broke their bones, so that they would break and crush whatever happened to be in them. So how they plundered my people and stripped them of all beauty and adornment of skin, and put flesh and bones into a boiling pot, which the Assyrian king lit, delivering my flock to the devil and his angels: so they themselves, when the day of vengeance comes, will cry out to the Lord, and they will not be heard, because they did not hear those who were praying: and they will stretch out their hands to the Lord, and God will turn his face away from them, because they also turned their face away from those who were praying. And all these things suffer, because they acted very badly in their studies and pleasures: and they were not kings, but tyrants: not leaders, but lions: not masters of disciples, but wolves of sheep, and they satisfied themselves with flesh, and they became fat, and like the fattest victim of slaughter, and prepared for the punishments of the Lord. So far against evil rulers: but the following discourse is against false prophets and very bad teachers, who deceive the people of God with flattery, promising knowledge of the Scriptures.

In this chapter the prophet inveighs with great boldness and spirit against the princes and prophets of Judah; and foretells the destruction of Jerusalem as the consequence of their iniquity, Mic 3:1-12. The last verse was fulfilled to a certain extent by Nebuchadnezzar; but most fully and literally by the Romans under Titus. See Josephus.

THE SINS OF THE PRINCES, PROPHETS, AND PRIESTS: THE CONSEQUENT DESOLATION OF ZION. (Mic 3:1-12) princes--magistrates or judges. Is it not for you?--Is it not your special function (Jer 5:4-5)? judgment--justice. Ye sit in judgment on others; surely then ye ought to know the judgment for injustice which awaits yourselves (Rom 2:1).

pot . . . flesh within . . . caldron--manifold species of cruel oppressions. Compare Eze 24:3, &c., containing, as to the coming punishment, the same figure as is here used of the sin: implying that the sin and punishment exactly correspond.

II. Zion's Deepest Degradation and Highest Exaltation - Micah 3-5 The prophet's second address is of a predominantly Messianic character. The announcement of the utter desolation of Zion on account of the corruption of both the civil rulers and the spiritual leaders of the nation, with which this address opens in Mic 3:1-12, serves to a certain extent simply as a foil for the prophecy which follows in Mic 4:1-13 and Mic 5:1-15 of the salvation with which the remnant of Israel, that has been rescued throughout the judgment, will be blessed in the future. This salvation is depicted first of all in all its fulness (Mic 4:1-7); then in its gradual development, in the re-erection of the former dominion of the daughter of Zion, by her redemption out of Babylon, and her victory over the powers of the world (Mic 4:8-13); and lastly, in its realization by the Ruler proceeding out of Bethlehem, and by the power and blessing of His rule (Mic 5:1-15). Sins of the Leaders of the Nation, and Destruction of Jerusalem - Mic 3:1-12 The threatening of punishment contained in this chapter is specially directed against the heads and leaders of Israel, and proclaims, in three strophes of four verses each, (a) to the princes, who turn right into wrong and flay the people (Mic 3:1-4), and (b) to the false prophets, who lead the people astray and confirm them in their sin by lying prophecies of peace (Mic 3:5-8), retribution for their wicked conduct; and (c) to all three classes of the divinely-appointed chiefs of the nation - the princes, the priests, and the prophets - the destruction of Jerusalem, and the turning of Zion and the temple mountain into a ploughed field and wooded heights on account of their degeneracy (Mic 3:9-12).