[1] And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
Is it not for you — Ought not you to understand, and conform to, the just laws of your God. You princes, magistrates, and ruling officers, ought of all men to know and do right.
Verse 2
[2] Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
The good — Ye who hate not only to do good, but the good which is done, and those that do it.
The evil — Chuse, and delight in, both evil works and evil workers.
Who pluck it off — Ye who use the flock as cruelly as the shepherd, who instead of shearing the fleece, would pluck off the skin and flesh.
Verse 3
[3] Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
The flesh — Ye who devour the goods, and livelihood of your brethren.
Break their bones — An allusion to wolves, bears, or lions, which devour the flesh, and break the bones of the defenceless lambs.
Verse 4
[4] Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
Then — When these miseries come upon them.
Verse 5
[5] Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
That bite — When they are furnished with gifts, and well fed.
Prepare war — They do them all the mischief they can.
Verse 6
[6] Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Night — Heavy calamities.
A vision — You shall no more pretend to have a vision, or dare to foretell any thing.
And the sun — The hand of God shall be against them, making their sorrows the more dreadful, as darkness by the sun going down at noon.
Verse 7
[7] Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
The seers — So called by the deceived people.
Cover their lips — Mourners did thus, Ezekiel 24:17,22. So these shall mourn and pine in their shame.
No answer — Because the answer they had formerly, pretended to be from God, now appears not to have been from him.
Verse 8
[8] But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
Power — Courage, and vivacity.
Of judgment — To discern times and seasons, right from wrong.
Might — Resolution.
Verse 10
[10] They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
They — The heads and great ones enlarge, beautify, and fortify, the house in Zion, particularly the temple and the royal palace.
Blood — With wealth, which they made themselves masters of by violence, taking away the life of the owners.
Verse 11
[11] The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
Lean — Pretend to trust in him.
Among us — As our God and our shield.
Verse 12
[12] Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
For your sake — Because of your sins.
The mountain — The mountain, on which the temple stood. This is that passage, which is quoted, Jeremiah 26:18, which Hezekiah and his princes took well: yea, they repented and so the execution of it did not come in their days.
Micah 3 Bible Commentary
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes
Verse 1
[1] And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
Is it not for you — Ought not you to understand, and conform to, the just laws of your God. You princes, magistrates, and ruling officers, ought of all men to know and do right.
Verse 2
[2] Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
The good — Ye who hate not only to do good, but the good which is done, and those that do it.
The evil — Chuse, and delight in, both evil works and evil workers.
Who pluck it off — Ye who use the flock as cruelly as the shepherd, who instead of shearing the fleece, would pluck off the skin and flesh.
Verse 3
[3] Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
The flesh — Ye who devour the goods, and livelihood of your brethren.
Break their bones — An allusion to wolves, bears, or lions, which devour the flesh, and break the bones of the defenceless lambs.
Verse 4
[4] Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
Then — When these miseries come upon them.
Verse 5
[5] Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
That bite — When they are furnished with gifts, and well fed.
Prepare war — They do them all the mischief they can.
Verse 6
[6] Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Night — Heavy calamities.
A vision — You shall no more pretend to have a vision, or dare to foretell any thing.
And the sun — The hand of God shall be against them, making their sorrows the more dreadful, as darkness by the sun going down at noon.
Verse 7
[7] Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
The seers — So called by the deceived people.
Cover their lips — Mourners did thus, Ezekiel 24:17,22. So these shall mourn and pine in their shame.
No answer — Because the answer they had formerly, pretended to be from God, now appears not to have been from him.
Verse 8
[8] But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
Power — Courage, and vivacity.
Of judgment — To discern times and seasons, right from wrong.
Might — Resolution.
Verse 10
[10] They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
They — The heads and great ones enlarge, beautify, and fortify, the house in Zion, particularly the temple and the royal palace.
Blood — With wealth, which they made themselves masters of by violence, taking away the life of the owners.
Verse 11
[11] The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
Lean — Pretend to trust in him.
Among us — As our God and our shield.
Verse 12
[12] Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
For your sake — Because of your sins.
The mountain — The mountain, on which the temple stood. This is that passage, which is quoted, Jeremiah 26:18, which Hezekiah and his princes took well: yea, they repented and so the execution of it did not come in their days.