1. Woe is me …] The speaker in Micah 7:1-4, or at any rate in Micah 7:1, is not the prophet, but the true Israel, i.e. Israel within Israel, personified. He is like a garden at the time of the fruit-harvest, which has many delightful fruits, but of course no early figs; or, like a vineyard, after the grape-gathering. This the prophet expresses by saying that Israel is become ‘like the gatherings of the fruit-harvest, like the gleanings of the vintage,’ which in point of fact amount to nothing at all.

my soul desired …] Rather, ‘no early fig which my soul desireth.’

Micah 7:1-6. These verses should be read in connexion with Chap. 6.

2. The good man] More fully rendered, ‘The pious man,’ he who makes love his rule of action—love to God and love to man. ‘The idea of khâsîdh is not passive [he who experiences grace or love], for God Himself is called khâsîdh, Psalm 145:17, but he who exercises khesedh (Proverbs 11:17), i.e. makes men, according to God’s will, and God Himself (comp. Jonah 2:8, Psalm 144:2) ‘the object of his loving endeavours’ (Delitzsch on Psalm 16:10). Observe, ‘The pious man,’ not ‘pious men’ is the phrase employed, ‘indicating the fewness and isolation of these Abdiels.’ There is a striking parallel to the first half of this verse in Isaiah 57:1, ‘The righteous perisheth, and no man taketh it to heart, and men of piety are gathered,’ &c. Both passages must have been written in time of persecution.

they all lie in wait for blood] Not merely persecution, but anarchy seems to have been the order of the day: at least the rich and powerful were under no legal restraint; they did that which was right in their own eyes. Similar circumstances are described in many of the Psalms (see e. g. Psalm 10:8-9).

every man his brother] Although, as children of Abraham, they ought to love each other; comp. Leviticus 19:18.

3. That they may do evil …] This verse and the first half of the following verse are extremely obscure, and it is most improbable that the text as it stands is correct. In any case, the A.V. rendering of the first clause cannot be maintained; a better one is, ‘(Their) hands are (only) for evil, to do (it) skilfully.’

the prince asketh] ‘Asketh’ the judge to shut his eyes to some act of violence, or to put some righteous man out of the way.

the judge asketh] Rather, ‘the judge doeth it,’ or ‘agreeth to his demand;’ but the ellipsis is harsh, and the probability is that there is some corruption of the text, or that the letters are wrongly grouped in the Massoretic text.

so they wrap it up] Rather, ‘and they weave it together.’ It requires ‘weaving’ to carry an evil desire into effect, for, bad as the times are, it is needful to keep up the forms of justice. Thus, when Ahab wished to get rid of Naboth, it was necessary to persuade the people that his victim had ‘renounced God and the king’ (1 Kings 21:13).

4. The best of them is as a brier] Comp. 2 Samuel 23:6 ‘and good-for-nothing men are all of them as thorns thrust away.’ ‘Thorns’ are in the Bible symbols of sin and its effects, and of the temptations which beset man’s path. But the Hebrew text has not the appearance of being sound.

the day of thy watchmen] i.e. the day foreseen by thy prophets. A prophet is stationed to look out for the approach of the ‘day of Jehovah;’ comp. Isaiah 21:6 (where the same form is used in the Hebrew as here), Jeremiah 6:17 (a different form).

thy visitation] i.e. thy punishment.

now shall be their perplexity] ‘Now,’ i.e. when this day has come. Wild confusion shall prevail, even among the faithful servants of Jehovah, when the long-predicted ‘day of Jehovah’ shall dawn. For the first result to the faithful Israel will be, not happiness, but misery—the chastisement due to past sins. The change of persons from the second to the third is harsh, but not unexampled.

5. guide] Rather, familiar friend. The same mistake occurs in A. V. of Psalm 55:13 (14 in the Hebrew).

5, 6. Here the prophet addresses the better disposed of his people. Friendship and wedded love can no longer be trusted; natural affection passes into its opposite. Comp. Matthew 10:21; Matthew 10:35-36 (a reminiscence of a clause in our passage), Luke 12:53; Luke 21:16.

6. dishonoureth] Lit. ‘treateth as a fool.’ The same verb in the same form occurs in Deuteronomy 32:6. It is unsafe however to argue that Deuteronomy must have been already written in the time of Micah, for we also find the word in Jeremiah 14:21, Nahum 3:6.

Micah 7:7-20. Here the thread of thought is broken; the following verses appear to have been attached later. The speaker is, indeed, still the true Israel; but here she appears already overpowered by her enemies, whereas in Micah 7:1-6 the day of chastisement was still far off. Here, accordingly, consolation is the chief object of the prophetic writer; in the earlier passage, he had to warn his people of the still future calamity. In its tone this section reminds us of the Book of Israel’s Consolation which follows on chap. 37 of the Book of Isaiah.

7. Therefore I] Rather, And as for me, I.

the God of my salvation] A reminiscence of the Psalter (Psalm 27:9).

will hear me] ‘Hearing’ includes answering (Isaiah 30:19).

8. O mine enemy] i.e. the instrument of God’s ‘visitation,’ the heathen oppressor of Israel.

when I fall] Rather, for (if) I have fallen. The ‘falling’ is of course not that of sin, but of calamity, which is often represented as a stumbling-block.

when I sit in darkness] Another figure for trouble; comp. Isaiah 60:1; Isaiah 9:2.

the Lord shall be a light] Again an image from the Psalter; comp. Psalm 27:1.

9. I will bear the indignation …] The speaker is sure that Jehovah is still his God; consequently in wrath He will still remember mercy, and will, in His own good time, remove the rod.

I have sinned against him] The pious portion of Israel is included in the confession, as in Isaiah 64:5.

my cause] i.e. Israel’s quarrel with the oppressor.

his righteousness] i.e. His interposition for my deliverance. When God has once entered into a covenant, it is only ‘righteous’ for Him to protect those who are in relations with Him. This conception of the Divine righteousness is important; as another equally Biblical conception (the forensic) has become almost too prominent. So St John says (1st Ephesians 1:9) that God is ‘faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins.’

11. Here the soliloquy of believing and repentant Israel ceases, and a prophetic announcement begins.

In the day that thy walls] Rather, There cometh a day to build thy walls. The image is that of a vineyard, the walls of which have been thrown down (as Isaiah 5:5). The word rendered ‘walls’ is different from that which means the wall of a city.

shall the decree be far removed] But what decree? Rather, shall the bound be afar off, i.e. the boundaries of the land of Israel shall be widely extended. Comp. Isaiah 33:17 ‘thine eyes shall behold a land of distances’ (= a widely extended territory).

12. Comp. the extent of the dispersion as described in Isaiah 11:11.

He shall come even to thee] Rather, men shall come to thee. It is a promise of the conversion of the heathen to the true religion.

and from the fortified cities] Rather, and from the cities of Egypt. ‘Egypt’ is here not Mizraim, but Mâzôr, an abnormal form, which occurs again in Isaiah 19:6; Isaiah 37:25. It is not an Egyptian word, but the Assyrians gave almost the same name to Egypt (Muçur). The phrase, ‘the cities of Egypt,’ reminds us how thickly peopled the Nile-valley was.

and from the fortress] Rather, and from Egypt.

even to the river] i.e. the Euphrates.

from sea to sea] i.e. from the Mediterranean Sea in the West to the Persian Gulf in the East (comp. Joel 2:20).

from mountain to mountain] i.e. from Sinai in the South to Lebanon in the North. The Peshito (Syriac) however reads this clause, ‘even to the sea on the west and to mount Hor.’

13. the land] i.e. the land of Canaan. Before the great promises of a golden future can be realized, judgment must have its perfect work. We might, however, render ‘the earth,’ i.e. the earth with the exception of Canaan. The desolation of the earth would help to explain the thronging of the people to Palestine foretold in the preceding verse.

14. the flock of thine heritage] Comp. Psalm 28:9 ‘bless thine inheritance; feed them also;’ Psalm 95:7, ‘we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.’

which dwell solitarily] The special mission of Israel (which was to be ‘holy,’ i.e. set apart, ‘unto Jehovah’) rendered seclusion from the world a matter of primary importance. Comp. Numbers 23:9, ‘Lo, the people dwelleth alone [or, solitarily] and is not reckoned among the nations, Deuteronomy 33:28, ‘So Israel dwelleth … alone.’

in the wood, in the midst of Carmel] These words ought rather to have been attached to the following verb, so that ‘in the wood,’ &c. should be parallel to ‘in Bashan and Gilead.’ The ‘deep jungles of copse’ in the ‘rocky dells’ of Carmel form, by their luxuriance, a contrast to the bare hills and vales of the land of Judah. Comp. Isaiah 33:9; Isaiah 35:2.

in Bashan and Gilead] The pastures of Bashan were as famous as its woods; in poetic language, the ‘fat bulls of Bashan’ became a symbol for the proud, unfeeling aristocracy of Israel (Psalm 22:12, Amos 4:1). Gilead too was famous for its cattle (Numbers 32:1, 1 Chronicles 5:9).

as in the days of old] i.e. probably in the days of David—the ideal period of Israel’s history (see on Micah 5:2).

14–17. Here an abrupt transition occurs. The prophet, in the name of the people, supplicates for the fulfilment of the promise of salvation.

15. The divine answer to the prayer of the church. It carries us back to a still earlier time than David’s—the time of the redemption of Israel from the house of bondage.

unto him] viz. unto the people; see Micah 7:14.

marvellous things] The word used in Exodus 3:20 of the ‘plagues of Egypt.’ It conveys the idea of the supernatural. The deliverance of poor oppressed Israel, from the grip of a mighty world-empire is no less exceptional than the dividing of the sea.

16. confounded at all their might] Ashamed because all their might has come to nothing.

lay their hand upon their mouth] A mark of reverence; comp. Job 21:5, Isaiah 52:15.

17. they shall move out of their holes] Rather, ‘they shall come trembling out of their fastnesses’ (same word as in Psalm 18:46, where A. V. ‘close places’).

like worms] Lit., ‘like creepers’ (or rather, trailers). The same term occurs in Deuteronomy 32:24.

they shall be afraid of] Rather, ‘they shall turn with shuddering towards.’

18–20. A lyric passage, concluding the whole book. The prophet revels in the thought of the Divine goodness. Comp. Isaiah 12:1-6, and still more Exodus 15:1-18 (especially Micah 7:11). The form of Micah 7:18 naturally reminds us of the name of Micah (‘Who is like Jehovah?’). The prophet does not mean that other gods have a real existence, but speaks from the point of view of the other nations who believe that they do really exist. The divine attributes spoken of are those which had an increasing fascination for the Jews, the deeper their sense became of their national sins. Comp. Exodus 34:6-7, Joel 2:13, Psalm 103:8-9; Psalm 130:7, Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 54:8; Isaiah 55:7, Psalm 105:8; Psalm 105:10.

subdue our iniquities] Sins are personified as enemies, as in Genesis 4:7, Psalm 65:3.

thou wilt cast all their sins] Perhaps an allusion to the fate of Pharaoh (comp. Exodus 15:5; Exodus 15:10).

20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob …] For the saints of old still ‘live unto God’ (i.e. in the sight of God they are alive), and still take an interest in the affairs of their successors; comp. Jeremiah 31:15, Luke 16:25-31, John 8:56, Revelation 6:9-11. This was not only a popular belief at the Christian era (comp. Matthew 27:47; Matthew 27:49), but is endorsed by our Lord and by the New Testament writers. ‘Truth’ here means ‘faithfulness;’ the promises alluded to are such as Genesis 22:16-18; Genesis 28:13-14.