1Weh mir! Es geht mir wie nach der Obsternte, / wie bei der Nachlese im Weinberg: Keine Traube ist mehr da zum Essen, / keine von den Frühfeigen, die mein Herz begehrt. 2Verschwunden sind die Treuen im Land, / kein Redlicher ist mehr unter den Menschen. Alle lauern auf Blut, / einer macht Jagd auf den andern. 3Sie trachten nach bösem Gewinn / und lassen sich's gut gehen: Die hohen Beamten fordern Geschenke, / die Richter sind für Geld zu haben und die Großen entscheiden nach ihrer Habgier - / so verdrehen sie das Recht. 4Noch der Beste unter ihnen ist wie eine Distel, / der Redlichste ist schlimmer als Dornengestrüpp. Doch der Tag deiner Bestrafung kommt; / dann werden alle bestürzt sein. 5Traut eurem Nachbarn nicht, / verlasst euch nicht auf den Freund! / Hüte deinen Mund vor der Frau in deinen Armen! 6Denn der Sohn verachtet den Vater, / die Tochter stellt sich gegen die Mutter, die Schwiegertochter gegen die Schwiegermutter; / jeder hat die eigenen Hausgenossen zum Feind. 7Ich aber schaue aus nach dem Herrn, / ich warte voll Vertrauen auf Gott, meinen Retter. / Mein Gott wird mich erhören. 8Freu dich nicht über mich, meine Feindin! / Zwar liege ich am Boden, / doch ich stehe wieder auf. Zwar sitze ich in der Finsternis, / aber der Herr ist mein Licht. 9Ich habe mich gegen den Herrn versündigt; / deshalb muss ich seinen Zorn ertragen, bis er meine Sache vertritt / und mir Recht verschafft. Er wird mich hinausführen ins Licht, / ich werde seine Heilstat erleben. 10Meine Feindin wird es sehen / und vor Scham vergehen; denn sie sagte zu mir: Wo ist Jahwe, dein Gott? / Und meine Augen werden sich an ihr weiden. / Dann wird sie zertreten wie Gassenkot. 11Es kommt der Tag, / an dem man deine Mauern wieder aufbaut, / der Tag, an dem deine Grenzen sich weiten. 12An jenem Tag kommen alle zu dir, / von Assur bis Ägypten / und von Ägypten bis zum Eufrat, von einem Meer zum andern / und von einem Gebirge zum andern. 13Die Erde aber wird zur Wüste / wegen (der Sünden) ihrer Bewohner; / so ernten sie die Frucht ihrer Taten. 14Führe mit deinem Stab dein Volk auf die Weide, / die Schafe, die dein Erbbesitz sind, die einsam lagern in einer Wildnis / mitten im fruchtbaren Land. Sie sollen wieder im Baschan und in Gilead weiden / wie in den Tagen der Vorzeit. 15Wie in den Tagen, als du aus Ägypten auszogst, / lass uns deine Wunder schauen! 16Die Völker mit all ihrer Macht / sollen sich schämen, wenn sie es sehen. Sie sollen die Hand auf den Mund legen, / ihre Ohren sollen taub werden. 17Staub sollen sie fressen wie die Schlange, / wie das Gewürm am Boden. Zitternd sollen sie herauskommen aus ihren Burgen, / vor den Herrn treten, unseren Gott, / voll Schrecken und Furcht vor dir. 18Wer ist ein Gott wie du, / der du Schuld verzeihst und dem Rest deines Erbvolkes / das Unrecht vergibst? Gott hält nicht für immer fest an seinem Zorn; / denn er liebt es, gnädig zu sein. 19Er wird wieder Erbarmen haben mit uns / und unsere Schuld zertreten. Ja, du wirfst all unsere Sünden / in die Tiefe des Meeres hinab. 20Du wirst Jakob deine Treue beweisen / und Abraham deine Huld, wie du unseren Vätern geschworen hast / in den Tagen der Vorzeit.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE CORRUPTION; THE CHOSEN REMNANT, DRIVEN FROM EVERY HUMAN CONFIDENCE, TURNS TO GOD; TRIUMPHS BY FAITH OVER HER ENEMIES; IS COMFORTED BY GOD'S PROMISES IN ANSWER TO PRAYER, AND BY THE CONFUSION OF HER ENEMIES, AND SO BREAKS FORTH INTO PRAISES OF GOD'S CHARACTER. (Mic. 7:1-20)
I am as when, &c.--It is the same with me as with one seeking fruits after the harvest, grapes after the vintage. "There is not a cluster" to be found: no "first-ripe fruit" (or "early fig"; see on
Isa 28:4) which "my soul desireth" [MAURER]. So I look in vain for any good men left (
Mic 7:2).
2 The Hebrew expresses "one merciful and good in relation to man," rather than to God.
is perished out of the earth-- (
Ps 12:1).
3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly--literally, "Their hands are for evil that they may do it well" (that is, cleverly and successfully).
the great man, he--emphatic repetition. As for the great man, he no sooner has expressed his bad desire (literally, the "mischief or lust of his soul), than the venal judges are ready to wrest the decision of the case according to his wish.
so they wrap it up--The Hebrew is used of intertwining cords together. The "threefold cord is not quickly broken" (
Eccl 4:12); here the "prince," the "judge," and the "great man" are the three in guilty complicity. "They wrap it up," namely, they conspire to carry out the great man's desire at the sacrifice of justice.
4 as a brier--or thorn; pricking with injury all who come in contact with them (
2Sam 23:6-7;
Isa 55:13;
Ezek 2:6).
the day of thy watchmen--the day foretold by thy (true) prophets, as the time of "thy visitation" in wrath [GROTIUS]. Or, "the day of thy false prophets being punished"; they are specially threatened as being not only blind themselves, but leading others blindfold [CALVIN].
now--at the time foretold, "at that time"; the prophet transporting himself into it.
perplexity-- (
Isa 22:5). They shall not know whither to turn.
5 Trust ye not in a friend--Faith is kept nowhere: all to a man are treacherous (
Jer 9:2-
Jer 9:6). When justice is perverted by the great, faith nowhere is safe. So, in gospel times of persecution, "a man's foes are they of his own household" (
Matt 10:35-
Matt 10:36;
Luke 12:53).
guide--a counsellor [CALVIN] able to help and advise (compare
Ps 118:8-
Ps 118:9;
Ps 146:3). The head of your family, to whom all the members of the family would naturally repair in emergencies. Similarly the Hebrew is translated in
Josh 22:14 and "chief friends" in
Pro 16:28 [GROTIUS].
her that lieth in thy bosom--thy wife (
Deut 13:6).
6 son dishonoureth the father--The state of unnatural lawlessness in all relations of life is here described which is to characterize the last times, before Messiah comes to punish the ungodly and save Israel (compare
Luke 21:16;
2Tim 3:1-3).
7 Therefore I will look unto the Lord--as if no one else were before mine eyes. We must not only "look unto the Lord," but also "wait for Him." Having no hope from man (
Mic 7:5-
Mic 7:6), Micah speaks in the name of Israel, who herein, taught by chastisement (
Mic 7:4) to feel her sin (
Mic 7:9), casts herself on the Lord as her only hope," in patient waiting (
Lam 3:26). She did so under the Babylonian captivity; she shall do so again hereafter when the spirit of grace shall be poured on her (
Zech 12:10-
Zech 12:13).
8 Rejoice not--at my fall.
when I fall, I shall arise-- (
Ps 37:24;
Pro 24:16).
when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light--Israel reasons as her divine representative, Messiah, reasoned by faith in His hour of darkness and desertion (
Isa 50:7-
Isa 50:8,
Isa 50:10). Israel addresses Babylon, her triumphant foe (or Edom), as a female; the type of her last and worst foes (
Ps 137:7-
Ps 137:8). "Mine enemy," in Hebrew, is feminine.
9 bear--patiently.
the indignation of the Lord--His punishment inflicted on me (
Lam 3:39). The true penitent "accepts the punishment of his iniquity" (
Lev 26:41,
Lev 26:43); they who murmur against God, do not yet know their guilt (
Job 40:4-
Job 40:5).
execute judgment for me--against my foe. God's people plead guilty before God; but, in respect to their human foes, they are innocent and undeserving of their foes' injuries.
bring me forth to the light--to the temporal and spiritual redemption.
I shall behold his righteousness--His gracious faithfulness to His promises (
Ps 103:17).
10 shame shall cover her--in seeing how utterly mistaken she was in supposing that I was utterly ruined.
Where is . . . thy God-- (
Ps 42:3,
Ps 42:10). If He be "thy God," as thou sayest, let Him come now and deliver thee. So as to Israel's representative, Messiah (
Matt 27:43).
mine eyes shall behold her--a just retribution in kind upon the foe who had said, "Let our eye look upon Zion." Zion shall behold her foe prostrate, not with the carnal joy of revenge, but with spiritual joy in God's vindicating His own righteousness (
Isa 66:24;
Rev 16:5-
Rev 16:7).
shall she be trodden down--herself, who had trodden down me.
11 thy walls . . . be built--under Cyrus, after the seventy years' captivity; and again, hereafter, when the Jews shall be restored (
Amos 9:11;
Zech 12:6).
shall the decree be far removed--namely, thy tyrannical decree or rule of Babylon shall be put away from thee, "the statutes that were not good" (
Ezek 20:25) [CALVIN].
Ps 102:13-
Ps 102:16;
Isa 9:4. The Hebrew is against MAURER'S translation, "the boundary of the city shall be far extended," so as to contain the people flocking into it from all nations (
Mic 7:12;
Isa 49:20;
Isa 54:2).
12 In that day also--rather, an answer to the supposed question of Zion, When shall my walls be built? "The day (of thy walls being built) is the day when he (that is, many) shall come to thee from Assyria," &c. [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU]. The Assyrians (including the Babylonians) who spoiled thee shall come.
and from the fortified cities--rather, to suit the parallelism, "from Assyria even to Egypt." (Matzor may be so translated). So Assyria and Egypt are contrasted in
Isa 19:23 [MAURER]. CALVIN agrees with English Version, "from all fortified cities."
from the fortress even to the river--"from Egypt even to the river" Euphrates (answering in parallelism to "Assyria") [MAURER]. Compare
Isa 11:15-
Isa 11:16;
Isa 19:23-
Isa 19:25;
Isa 27:13;
Hos 11:11;
Zech 10:10.
13 However glorious the prospect of restoration, the Jews are not to forget the visitation on their "land" which is to intervene for the "fruit of (evil caused by) their doings" (compare
Pro 1:31;
Isa 3:10-
Isa 3:11;
Jer 21:14).
14 Feed thy people--Prayer of the prophet, in the name of his people to God, which, as God fulfils believing prayer, is prophetical of what God would do. When God is about to deliver His people, He stirs up their friends to pray for them.
Feed--including the idea of both pastoral rule and care over His people (
Mic 5:4, Margin), regarded as a flock (
Ps 80:1;
Ps 100:3). Our calamity must be fatal to the nation, unless Thou of Thy unmerited grace, remembering Thy covenant with "Thine heritage" (
Deut 4:20;
Deut 7:6;
Deut 32:9), shalt restore us.
thy rod--the shepherd's rod, wherewith He directs the flock (
Ps 23:4). No longer the rod of punishment (
Mic 6:9).
which dwell solitarily in the wood, in . . . Carmel--Let Thy people who have been dwelling as it were in a solitude of woods (in the world, but not of it), scattered among various nations, dwell in Carmel, that is, where there are fruit-bearing lands and vineyards [CALVIN]. Rather, "which are about to dwell (that is, that they may dwell) separate in the wood, in . . . Carmel" [MAURER], which are to be no longer mingled with the heathen, but are to dwell as a distinct people in their own land. Micah has here Balaam's prophecy in view (compare
Mic 6:5, where also Balaam is referred to). "Lo, the people shall dwell alone" (
Num 23:9; compare
Deut 33:28). To "feed in the wood in Carmel," is to feed in the rich pastures among its woods. To "sleep in the woods," is the image of most perfect security (
Ezek 34:25). So that the Jews' "security," as well as their distinct nationality, is here foretold. Also
Jer 49:31.
Bashan--famed for its cattle (
Ps 22:12;
Amos 4:1). Parallel to this passage is
Jer 50:19. Bashan and Gilead, east of Jordan, were chosen by Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, as abounding in pastures suited for their many cattle (Num. 32:1-42;
Deut 3:12-
Deut 3:17).
15 thy . . . him--both referring to Israel. So in
Mic 7:19 the person is changed from the first to the third, "us . . . our . . . their." Jehovah here answers Micah's prayer in
Mic 7:14, assuring him, that as He delivered His people from Egypt by miraculous power, so He would again "show" it in their behalf (
Jer 16:14-
Jer 16:15).
16 shall see--the "marvellous things" (
Mic 7:15;
Isa 26:11).
confounded at all their might--having so suddenly proved unavailing: that might wherewith they had thought that there is nothing which they could not effect against God's people.
lay . . . hand upon . . . mouth--the gesture of silence (
Job 21:5;
Job 40:4;
Ps 107:42;
Isa 52:15). They shall be struck dumb at Israel's marvellous deliverance, and no longer boast that God's people is destroyed.
ears . . . deaf--They shall stand astounded so as not to hear what shall be said [GROTIUS]. Once they had eagerly drunk in all rumors as so many messages of victories; but then they shall be afraid of hearing them, because they continually fear new disasters, when they see the God of Israel to be so powerful [CALVIN]. They shall close their ears so as not to be compelled to hear of Israel's successes.
17 lick the dust--in abject prostration as suppliants (
Ps 72:9; compare
Isa 49:23;
Isa 65:25).
move out of their holes--As reptiles from their holes, they shall come forth from their hiding-places, or fortresses (
Ps 18:45), to give themselves up to the conquerors. More literally, "they shall tremble from," that is, tremblingly come forth from their coverts.
like worms--reptiles or crawlers (
Deut 32:24).
they shall be afraid of the Lord--or, they shall in fear turn with haste to the Lord. Thus the antithesis is brought out. They shall tremble forth from their holes: they shall in trepidation turn to the Lord for salvation (compare Note, see on
Hos 3:5, and
Jer 33:9).
fear because of thee--shall fear Thee, Jehovah (and so fear Israel as under Thy guardianship). There is a change here from speaking of God to speaking to God [MAURER]. Or rather, "shall fear thee, Israel" [HENDERSON].
18 Grateful at such unlooked-for grace being promised to Israel, Micah breaks forth into praises of Jehovah.
passeth by the transgression--not conniving at it, but forgiving it; leaving it unpunished, as a traveller passes by what he chooses not to look into (
Pro 19:11). Contrast
Amos 7:8, and "mark iniquities,"
Ps 130:3.
the remnant--who shall be permitted to survive the previous judgment: the elect remnant of grace (
Mic 4:7;
Mic 5:3,
Mic 5:7-
Mic 5:8).
retaineth not . . . anger-- (
Ps 103:9).
delighteth in mercy--God's forgiving is founded on His nature, which delights in loving-kindness, and is averse from wrath.
19 turn again--to us, from having been turned away from us.
subdue our iniquities--literally, "tread under foot," as being hostile and deadly to us. Without subjugation of our bad propensities, even pardon could not give us peace. When God takes away the guilt of sin that it may not condemn us, He takes away also the power of sin that it may not rule us.
cast . . . into . . . depths of the sea--never to rise again to view, buried out of sight in eternal oblivion: not merely at the shore side, where they may rise again.
our . . . their--change of person. Micah in the first case identifying himself and his sins with his people and their sins; in the second, speaking of them and their sins.
20 perform the truth--the faithful promise.
to Jacob . . . Abraham--Thou shalt make good to their posterity the promise made to the patriarchs. God's promises are called "mercy," because they flow slowly from grace; "truth," because they will be surely performed (
Luke 1:72-
Luke 1:73;
1Thess 5:24).
sworn unto our fathers-- (
Ps 105:9-
Ps 105:10). The promise to Abraham is in
Gen 12:2; to Isaac, in
Gen 26:24; to Jacob, in
Gen 28:13. This unchangeable promise implied an engagement that the seed of the patriarchs should never perish, and should be restored to their inheritance as often as they turned wholly to God (
Deut 30:1-
Deut 30:2).