“Who is speaking when the prophet says, "Woe is me, soul, for I have become one as gathering straw in harvest?" For did the prophet literally "gather" or even want to "gather"? Does the prophet have a farm? Anyway, the only one who rightly gathers from what has been planted for harvest is not the prophet but the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Since there are many faults among the pagan nations but also among those who are supposed to be from the church, the prophet laments and mourns for our sins when he says, "Woe is me, for I have become as one who gathers straw." Let each of us scrutinize himself. Is he an ear of corn? Will the Son of God discover something in him to pick or harvest? Do we find that some of us are those swept by the wind? Even as we have still a little in ourselves, two or three kernels, our sins are many against us. Seeing that the churches, or those so-called, are filled with sinners, he says, "Woe is me, for I have come as one who gathers straw in the harvest and as one gathering grape gleanings in the vintage." [The Lord] comes seeking fruit on the vine, for each of us is planted also as a vine "in a fertile place" or as a vine "transplanted out of Egypt," yet planted to bear fruit. He comes, he seeks in what way to pick, he discovers some "grape gleanings" and a few "clusters," neither flourishing nor plentiful. Who among us has "clusters" of virtue?”

“The unjust are scattered like chaff, while the just are like wheat. Finally, listen to the words of the Lord to Peter: Behold, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. Those who are scattered like chaff will fail; but not the one who is like that grain which fell and rose again, enriched by the abundant yield of many fruits. Therefore the Prophet says: Woe is me, for I have become like one gathering straw in the harvest! Therefore, straw that is quickly burned is compared to impiety and to dust. Therefore, after he said: They will be like chaff carried away by the wind, he added the verse immediately saying: Or like the dust that the wind snatches away. Finally, so that you may know that the wicked person quickly grows weak and vanishes like dust, you have the following statement in the first Psalm: Not so the wicked, not so, that is, not like the righteous: but like the dust that the wind scatters away from the face of the earth.”

“(Chapter 7, Verses 1 onwards) Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers the grapes of the vineyard in autumn: there is no cluster to eat; my soul longed for the early figs. The holy one has perished from the earth, and there is no upright person among mankind. They all lie in wait for blood; each hunts his brother to death. They declare their evil deeds as good; the ruler demands, and the judge accepts bribes, and the great one speaks of the cravings of his own soul, and they trouble it. The best among them is like a thornbush, and the most upright is like a thorn from a fence. Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers straw in the harvest, and like grape clusters in the vineyard, when there is no first-ripe fig for my hunger, which my soul craves. Woe is me, for the reverent one has perished from the earth, and there is no one who corrects among men. They are all judged in bloodshed; each one of them inflicts trouble on his neighbor, and they prepare their hands for evil. The ruler makes demands, and the judge speaks peaceable words; his desire is for the longing of his soul. And I will take away their goods, like a consuming moth, and walking over the ruler in the day of your watchfulness. In the aforementioned captivity and ten tribes and two (For the word of the Lord has come to Micah the Morestite concerning Samaria and Jerusalem), the prophet laments that no just person is found in the land who can resist the anger of God and stand as a wall in the middle. In vain, he says, I have spoken: in vain I sought the last clusters of the vine and the destroyed city; and since there is no bunch to eat, I will at least take immature figs, which the Hebrews call "Bechchora", that is, thick figs, as food: as if to say, not finding bread because of the magnitude of the famine, I have sought scraps and chaff. The saint has perished from the earth, and the righteous among men are no more. Everywhere there are traps, everywhere there is deceit. Innocent blood is shed. Due to greed and lust, kinship is disregarded. Not only do they commit evil deeds, but they also defend them. They change names and claim that what is evil is good. The rulers do not accept gifts from those offering them, but they force their subjects to give and demand. And in rendering judgment, the judge treats another as he himself is judged by another, so that they may mutually favor each other in their crimes and defend themselves in the crimes of others. Whoever is great and almost most learned in the Law, speaks not the will of God, but his own will. And they have disturbed it, either the city, or the truth, or the land, of which it is said above: The holy one has perished from the earth. For whoever is the best among them, like a sharp thorn, pierces and holds, injuring the one who approaches him, and grasping with a hooked tooth: and whoever is found to be upright, like a thorn from a fence, so that there may be found pain where help was supposed to be. According to the Hebrew text, however, according to the Septuagint, who differ in some respects, and at the end of the chapter they translated completely differently, this is the meaning that seems to me: The prophetic or apostolic discourse laments, in general, the human race, which has in vain cast the seeds of doctrines, and instead of crops and grain, the late reaper finds only empty straw and useless stalks, and he cannot even find small grapes in the vineyard, and so on until the end of the chapter. For if it is a blessing for the speaker to be heard by the listener's ears, and the desire of the wise is the ear of the listener, and the understanding of the listener is the joy of the speaker; on the contrary, the grief of the teacher is a bad disciple, with Jeremiah's words also fitting this complaint: I have not profited, nor has anyone else profited me (Jeremiah). There are those who believe that these words are spoken from the perspective of the Savior, who is the cause of not finding worthy works in such a great multitude of believers and in the whole world of human kind, and who also says in Psalm 29: What profit is there in my blood, while I descend into corruption? Although others assert that these words do not fit his person at all, as he says: Woe is me, because I have become as one who gathers straw in the harvest; he who spoke in the Gospel: Lift up your eyes and see the regions, for they are already white for harvest (John 4:35). And elsewhere: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few (Matthew 9:35). Therefore, those who want to understand this from the perspective of the Savior say that it is not surprising if he says: Woe is me, who wept in Jerusalem and shed tears at the death of Lazarus (Luke 19). But also this, I have become like one who gathers straw in the harvest, they apply it to the end of the age: and the harvest is interpreted to signify this, and they say that at that time this prophecy can be fulfilled, when, with the increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold, and when the Son of Man comes, he will scarcely find faith on earth (Mat. XIV, 24): for then, like straw after the harvest, and like grapes after the vintage, there will be few found among them who will maintain faith amidst the devastation of all things, and they believe that this statement, spoken from the perspective of the assumed man, approves of what follows: Woe is me, my soul: of whom he was speaking: My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Mat. XXVI, 38). He will perish (or He will be destroyed) returning from the earth, either by the Antichrist killing the saints, or by everyone collapsing due to the magnitude of scandals. And there is no one to correct among men: all are judged by blood, not by slight and small sins, but by the greatest sins and those related to bloodshed. Proximity, friendship, and kinship will not delay the crime: all will raise their hands to evil, so that even one who couldn't commit evil, yet, while preparing the hand, may sin by the will. The ruler himself seeks, and the judge speaks peaceful words; for he receives gifts, the desire of his soul. And because this is evident, and I avoid the envy of rulers and judges, leaving it to the understanding of the reader, I will only add this: Gifts blind the eyes even of the wise (Deut. XVI, 19): they also give life to the soul, which they should not have given life to, and they kill her who lives by her own merit and virtues, and they do this because of the gifts they demand shamelessly, and accept them more shamefully. To those whom the Lord threatens, saying: 'And I will take away their goods, which they think are good, but which appear good to them. Moreover, the truth of the matter will never be called good, which both deprives the giver and kills the receiver: although it is not so much a threat as a blessing, to take away evil from them, and for the Lord Himself and His divine word to enter into their consciences like a moth eating away whatever is perverse, and to make a devastation of plunder and evil thoughts, and to walk above the measure and rule of truth, and to lead back those who were led by false opinions to what is straight; and to do this in the light of truth, and on that day when those who are holy and elected from the Church ascend to the watchtower, and in the height of their learning and works, they will discuss heavenly matters.'”

“Woe is to me—The prophet laments over himself, “Woe is to me that I was appointed a prophet at this time, when there are no righteous people in the generation.” as the last of the figs Heb. כְּאָסְפֵּי. This is vowelized with a “chataf kamatz” because it is not a verb in the present tense, like:, יוֹשֵב, sits, and אוֹמֵר, says; rather, it is a gerund, as in (Isa. 33:4): “The gathering of (אֹסֶף) the locusts”; like the gathering of קַיִץ. These are the last figs, which are inferior. And so did Jonathan render: as the late figs of the summer. as the gleanings of the vintage—As the gleanings after the vintage. [from Jonathan] there is no cluster to eat—As the Targum renders: There is no man who has good deeds. a first ripe fig my soul desires—A good fig, which ripens in its time, as the Targum renders: My soul desired the good ones.”

“That the prophet is speaking in Mic 7:1 ff. not in his own name, but in the name of the church, which confesses and bemoans its rebellion against the Lord, is indisputably evident from Mic 7:7 ff., where, as all the expositors admit, the church speaks of itself in the first person, and that not "the existing corrupt Israelitish church," as Caspari supposes, but the penitential, believing church of the future, which discerns in the judgment the chastising hand of its God, and expresses the hope that the Lord will conduct its conflict with its foe, etc. The contents of Mic 7:1-6, also, do not point to the prophet in distinction from the congregation, but may be understood throughout as the confession of sin on the part of the latter. Mic 7:1. "Woe to me! for I have become like a gathering of fruit, like a gleaning of the vintage: Not a grape to eat! an early fig, which my soul desired." אללי, which only occurs again in Job 10:15, differs from הוי, and is "vox dolentis, gementis, et ululantis magis quam minantis" (March); and כּי is not "that," but "for," giving the reason for אללי. The meaning of הייתי כאס is not, "it has happened to me as it generally happens to those who still seek for early figs at the fruit gathering, or for bunches of grapes at the gleaning of the vintage" (Caspari and others); for כּאספי קיץ does not mean as at the fruit-gathering, but like the fruit-gathering. The nation or the church resembles the fruit-gathering and gleaning of the vineyard, namely, in this fact, that the fruit-gathering yields not more early figs, and the gleaning of the vintage yields no more grapes to eat; that is to say, its condition resembles that of an orchard in the time of the fruit-gathering, when you may find fruit enough indeed, but not a single early fig, since the early figs ripen as early as June, whereas the fruit-gathering does not take place till August (see at Isa 28:4). The second simile is a still simpler one, and is very easily explained. אספי is not a participle, but a noun - אסף the gathering (Isa 32:10); and the plural is probably used simply because of עוללת, the gleaning, and not with any allusion to the fact that the gleaning lasts several days, as Hitzig supposes, but because what is stated applies to all gatherings of fruit. קיץ, fruit; see at Amo 8:1. אוּתה is to be taken in a relative sense, and the force of אין still extends to בּכּוּרה (compare Gen 30:33). The figure is explained in Mic 7:2 ff.”

“Cain and Abel followed in the generation of humankind, and Cain was the first murderer. Afterwards a deluge engulfed the earth because of exceeding wickedness of humanity. Fire came down from heaven upon the people of Sodom because of their corruption. Subsequently God chose out Israel, but even Israel became perverse and the chosen race was wounded. For, while Moses stood on the mountain before God, the people worshiped a calf in place of God. In the days of their lawgiver Moses, who said, "You shall not commit adultery," a man dared to enter a brothel and be wanton. After Moses, prophets were sent to heal Israel, but in their exercise of healing they deplored the fact that they could not overcome evil, so that one of them [Micah] says, "The faithful are gone from the earth, among men the upright are no more!" The psalmist says, "All alike have gone astray; they have become perverse; there is not one who does good, not even one." And again, "Cursing, and theft, and adultery, and killing have overflowed" upon the land. "They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons." They engaged themselves in auguries and enchantments and divinations; and again, "They fastened their garments with cords and hung veils next to the altar."”

“"The godly man has disappeared from the earth, and there is no more a righteous man among men. All lie in wait for blood, they hunt every man his brother with the net. Mic 7:3. Their hands are after evil, to make it good. The prince asks, and the judge is for reward; and the great man, he speaks the evil of his soul: and they twist it together." The grape and the early fig signify the good and the righteous man. חסיד is not the God-fearing man, but, according to the context, the man who cherishes love and fidelity. אבד, not "to have perished," but to be lost, to have disappeared. מן הארץ, not "out of the land," but, as the parallel בּאדם shows, from the earth, out of the world. For the fact itself, compare Psa 12:2 and Isa 57:1. They all lie in wait for blood, i.e., not that they all go about committing murder, but simply that they set their minds upon quarrels, cheating, and treachery, that they may rob their neighbour of his means of existence, so that he must perish (cf. Mic 3:2-3; Mic 2:1-2); at the same time, even murderous thoughts are not excluded. The same thing is implied in the hunting with the net. אח, the brother, is the fellow-countryman (for this figure, compare Psa 10:9; Psa 35:7-8, etc.). In Mic 7:3 the words from על הרע to להיטיב are not to be joined to what follows so as to form one sentence. Such a combination is not only opposed to the accents, but is at variance with the structure of the whole verse, which consists of several short clauses, and it does not even yield a natural thought; consequently Ewald proposes to alter the text (שׁואל). הרע is hardly the inf. hiph. "to do evil," but most likely a noun with the article, "the evil;" and the thought is therefore either "both hands are (sc., busy) with evil," or "both hands are stretched out to evil," to make it good, i.e., to carry out the evil well (היטיב as in Jer 2:33), or to give evil such a form that it shall appear to be good, or right. This thought is then made special: the prince, the judge, and the great man, i.e., the rich man and mighty man (Lev 19:15; Sa1 25:2), weave a thing to make evil good. עבּת, to weave, to twist together, after עבות, twist or string. The subject to ויעבּתוּה is to be found in the three classes already named, and not merely in the judge and the great man. There is just as little reason for this limitation as for the assumption that the great man and the prince are one person. The way in which the three twist the thing or the evil plan together is indicated in the statements of the three previous clauses. The prince asks, sc. for the condemnation of a righteous or innocent man; and the judge grants this for recompense against compensation; and the rich man co-operates by speaking havvath napshō. Havvâh in most passages is universally allowed to signify hurt, mischief, destruction; and the only question is, whether this meaning is to be traced to הוה = אוה, to breathe (Hupfeld on Psa 5:10), or to הוה, to occur, an occurrence, then specially an evil occurrence (Hengstenberg, Diss. on the Pentateuch, vol. i. p. 252). Only in Pro 10:3 and the passage before us is havvâh said to signify desire in a bad sense, or evil lust. But, as Caspari has shown, the meaning is neither necessary nor established in either of these two passages. In Pro 10:3 the meaning aerumna activa aliisque inferenda is quite sufficient; and C. B. Michaelis has adopted it for the present passage: "The great man speaks the mischief of his soul," i.e., the injury or destruction of another, for which he cherishes a desire. Nephesh, the soul as the seat of desire. הוּא is not introduced to strengthen the suffix attached to נפשׁו, "of his, yea of his soul" (Ewald, Hitzig, Umbreit); for not only are the accents against this, but also the thought, which requires no such strengthening. It is an emphatic repetition of the subject haggâdōl. The great man weaves evil with the king and judge, by desiring it, and expressing the desire in the most open manner, and thereby giving to the thing an appearance of right.”

“[in return] for the evil of their hands, do they expect that He will benefit them?—Do you expect that He will benefit you as the reward for the evil of your hands? the prince asks—for a bribe. and the judge—who judges the case is also in the payment. When he is a robber and is liable according to law, he says to his fellow judge, “Do me a favor in this case, and I will vindicate you in another case.” and the great man speaks what is in his heart—The king or the prince states in the case what his heart desires. what is in his heart Heb. הַוַּת נַפְשׁוֹ. He speaks what is (הוֶֹה) to his will and to his desire. Cf.(Jer. 15:1) “I have no desire for this people.” And so did Jonathan render: The desires of his heart. and they weave the web—They made it into a rope of sin amongst the three of them. As the cart ropes, so is the sin, for a rope is braided of three strands. So have I found in the Jerusalem Talmud (Taanith 2:1): We made it like a web of sins.”

“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" (Ecc 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.”

“The best of them is like a brier—The best among them - it is as hard to extricate oneself from his hand as from a brier (Targum Jonathan). It is as hard to extricate oneself from their hand as [it is to extricate] the briers that are entangled in wool. the most upright, [worse] than a thorn hedge—The most upright among them is worse than a thorn hedge. than a thorn hedge Heb. מִמְּסוּכָה. Cf. (Isa. 5: 5) “Remove its hedge (מְשׂוּכָּתוֹ).” the day to which you look forward—On the day to which you look forward for good, your visitation shall come. their perplexity Heb. מְבוּכָתָם. [Jonathan renders:] עֲרָבוּלָהוֹן. Cf. (Ex. 14:3) “They are entangled (נְבֻכִים).” Their confusion.”

“as a brier--or thorn; pricking with injury all who come in contact with them (Sa2 23:6-7; Isa 55:13; Eze 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.”

“And even the best men form no exception to the rule. Mic 7:4. "Their best man is like a briar; the upright man more than a hedge: the day of thy spies, thy visitation cometh, then will their confusion follow. Mic 7:5. Trust not in the neighbour, rely not upon the intimate one; keep the doors of thy mouth before her that is thy bosom friend. Mic 7:6. For the son despiseth the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the people of his own house." טובם, the good man among them, i.e., the best man, resembles the thorn-bush, which only pricks, hurts, and injures. In ישׁר the force of the suffix still continues: the most righteous man among them; and מן before ממּסוּכה is used in a comparative sense: "is more, i.e., worse, than a thorn-hedge." The corruption of the nation has reached such a terrible height, that the judgment must burst in upon them. This thought comes before the prophet's mind, so that he interrupts the description of the corrupt condition of things by pointing to the day of judgment. The "day of thy watch-men," i.e., of thy prophets (Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17; Eze 33:7), is explained in the apposition peqŭddâthekhâ (thy visitation). The perfect בּאה is prophetic of the future, which is as certain as if it were already there. עתּה, now, i.e., when this day has come (really therefore = "then"), will their confusion be, i.e., then will the wildest confusion come upon them, as the evil, which now envelopes itself in the appearance of good, will then burst forth without shame and without restraint, and everything will be turned upside down. In the same sense as this Isaiah also calls the day of divine judgment a day of confusion (Isa 22:5). In the allusion to the day of judgment the speaker addresses the people, whereas in the description of the corruption he speaks of them. This distinction thus made between the person speaking and the people is not at variance with the assumption that the prophet speaks in the name of the congregation, any more than the words "thy watchmen, thy visitation," furnish an objection to the assumption that the prophet was one of the watchmen himself. This distinction simply proves that the penitential community is not identical with the mass of the people, but to be distinguished from them. In Mic 7:5 the description of the moral corruption is continued, and that in the form of a warning not to trust one another any more, neither companion (רע) with whom one has intercourse in life, nor the confidential friend ('allūph), nor the most intimate friend of all, viz., the wife lying on the husband's bosom. Even before her the husband was to beware of letting the secrets of his heart cross his lips, because she would betray them. The reason for this is assigned in Mic 7:6, in the fact that even the holiest relations of the moral order of the world, the deepest ties of blood-relationship, are trodden under foot, and all the bonds of reverence, love, and chastity are loosened. The son treats his father as a fool (nibbēl, as in Deu 32:15). "The men of his house" (the subject of the last clause) are servants dwelling in the house, not relations (cf. Gen 17:23, Gen 17:27; Gen 39:14; Sa2 12:17-18). This verse is applied by Christ to the period of the κρίσις which will attend His coming, in His instruction to the apostles in Mat 10:35-36 (cf. Luk 12:53). It follows from this, that we have not to regard Mic 7:5 and Mic 7:6 as a simple continuation of the description in Mic 7:2-4, but that these verses contain the explanation of עתּה תהיה מבוּכתם, in this sense, that at the outbreak of the judgment and of the visitation the faithlessness will reach the height of treachery to the nearest friends, yea, even of the dissolution of every family tie (cf. Mat 24:10, Mat 24:12).”

“(Verse 5-7) Your day of reckoning has come, your visitation is here. Now there will be destruction: do not trust your friend, and do not rely on your leader. Guard the doors of your mouth against the one who lies in your bosom; for a son insults his father, and a daughter rises up against her mother; a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and enemies are those of a man's own household. But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for God, my savior; my God will hear me. LXX: Woe, woe, your vengeance has come, now there will be weeping for them: do not trust in friends, nor hope in leaders. Beware of those who lie with you, do not trust them, for a son brings shame to his father, and a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: a man's enemies are the members of his own household. But I will look to the Lord, I will wait for God my savior: my God will hear me. Except for the beginning of the chapter, both editions agree in the rest of the parts, and in the meantime, according to the historical context, it indicates the day of the siege of Samaria or Jerusalem, which had been eagerly awaited and feared, and its visitation, meaning captivity, saying: Your devastation has come: now there will be devastation for them, that is, for the inhabitants, or siege: Mabucha () indeed signifies more πολιορκίαν and φρούρησιν, that is, siege and custody, than devastation in Hebrew. Therefore, do not believe the words of prophets, nor lend your ear to the deceitful flattery of the divine; because if trust is rare among dear names and blood relations, how much more so in those who flatter you, lying for their own gain, and who command not what is useful for the sick, but what is delightful and pleasing! Do not trust a friend; for Achitophel rose up against David (2 Samuel 15), and true Achitophel Judas rose up against Christ (Matthew 26). And, do not trust in a leader, like the men of Shechem trusted in Abimelech (Judith 9). They made him king, and they were oppressed by him. Guard the gates of your mouth from the one who sleeps in your bosom (Ibid., 16): do not allow what Samson endured from Delilah (2 Kings 16). For a son brings shame to his father; notably Absalom to David: he defiled not only the kingdom, but also his father's concubines with incestuous relations. A daughter rises against her mother: although we may not find direct evidence in the Holy Scriptures, there are so many examples in everyday life that we should mourn their magnitude rather than seek them out. Nurus contra socrum suam: ut uxor Esau consurrexit contra Rebeccam (Gen. XXVI). Inimici hominis, viri domestici ejus. Hic exempla non quaero, cum plura sint, quam ut testimoniis indigeamus. Cum ergo haec ita se habeant, nolite credere, Samaria (( Al. Samariae)) et Jerusalem, pseudoprophetis. Ego autem, inquit propheta, ad Dominum aspiciam, exsultabo in Deum Salvatorem meum, sive Jesum meum, et audiet me Deus meus. The Seventy interpreters follow, who say, Woe, woe, thy revenges are come, that is, the punishments which are to be inflicted for sins. For the Lord saith, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord (Rom. XII, 19; Deut. XXXII, 35). And in another place: The days of thy retribution are come (Hosea IX, 7). For the Lord doth avenge the clamours of them that cry unto him day and night, saying: How long, O holy and true Lord, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth (Rev. VI, 10)? So the avengers have come, and now there will be their lamentation, that is, of the avengers, so that those who laughed before may mourn, and immediately departing from the world, they may endure the torments, which that once richly robed and abundant in delights man endures in Hell, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 16; Matthew 8, 13). But what follows, 'now there will be'; understand either at the end of each person's life, or at the consummation of all things, and on the day of judgment, when the avengers will come upon all people. Therefore, do not trust friends, because every friend deceives through deception, and one who is a friend because of something is not as much a friend to the one they pretend to love (for he is called a friend by love) as to the thing that they cherish. When asked what a friend was, someone responded: Another self. But if the example of the Pythagoreans is opposed to us, who pledged themselves as sureties to a tyrant, we say that this is not a general statement against all friends and affections of love, but was uttered by God not against all time, but specifically concerning that which the Apostle says: In the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:1-2), and so on. For then a brother will betray a brother, and a father his son, and children will rise against their parents and have them put to death (Matthew X, 35, 36). But even now faith is rare: what is said on the lips is different from what is in the heart: the poison of the soul is hidden by the honey of the tongue. Many are friends of the wealthy, but they depart from the poor as well those who appear to be their friends. Hence it is said: If you have a friend, possess him in times of temptation (Ecclesiasticus VI, 7). I read in a certain Controversy: A friend is sought for a long time, found with difficulty, and difficult to keep. Theophrastus wrote three volumes about friendship, extolling it above all other virtues, yet also declaring that it is rare among human affairs. There is also Cicero's book On Friendship, which he dedicated to Laelius: in which he states what is often said among our people: Let our friend be like old wine, and let us drink it with pleasure, the word themselves almost the same. Friendship either accepts or creates equals: where there is inequality and one person is superior and the other subservient, there is not so much friendship as flattery. And elsewhere we read: Let the same soul be a friend. And the lyric poet praying for a friend says: Preserve, he says, the half of my soul. Therefore, do not believe in friends, that is, in those men who seek profit in friendships. If you want to delight in true friendship, be a friend of God, like Moses who spoke to God as a friend to a friend. Be a friend, like the Apostles, to whom the Savior said: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master desires; but I call you friends, because you have persevered with me in all my temptations. Friendship is delicate, which follows the successes and wealth of friends. Such people do not seem to me to be friends, but to love themselves. Let us consider more carefully the words of the Lord: But I call you friends, he says. And he gives the reasons why he calls them friends: Because you have persevered with me in temptation, and have not given up until now: but in all, he says, my temptations. Indeed, it sometimes happens that one who has persevered with us in one temptation is defeated by others and departs. Secondly, it is commanded: Do not hope in leaders, for cursed is the man who has hope in man (Jeremiah 17:5). In man there is vain hope, and true hope is in God. Therefore, Paul speaks: And from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things (Acts 20:30). And the Lord Himself through the prophet: The leaders of my people do not know me, the foolish sons are senseless and do not understand: they are wise to do evil, but they do not know how to do good (Jeremiah 4:22). Indeed, they were called leaders, he says, both my leaders and the leaders of my people. But because they did not know me and destroyed the meaning of the word by their actions, therefore the children are foolish and unintelligent: they have wisdom only to subjugate a simple flock to themselves and trample them under their feet; however, they do not know how to do good and govern the people. Do not believe in leaders (or judges), not in bishops, not in priests, not in deacons, not in any dignity of men. Nor do I mean that you should not be subject to such authorities in the Church: For whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death (Lev. XX, 9). And the Apostle teaches that we should obey the authorities in the Church; but it is one thing to honor leaders, another to place hope in leaders (I Pet. II). Let us honor the bishop, let us defer to the priest, let us rise for the deacon; and yet let us not place our hope in them: for the hope of man is in vain, and our certain hope is in the Lord (I Thess. IV). Third commandment: Guard against believing a woman who shares your bed. Hence the Apostle calls women vessels of weakness and orders that honor be shown to them by their husbands. For man was not created for woman, but woman for man (Ephesians 5). And he says, 'Wife, fear your husband' (1 Corinthians 11). To fear one's wife is to love one's husband with reverence. Men only to love; for love is the perfection of the saints. He says, 'Men, love your wives and do not be loved by them' (Ephesians 5:25); even though they may provoke anger and do things for which they deserve to endure bitterness. For this indeed signifies to be embittered: but you should not render them in return with bitterness. But also Solomon in Ecclesiastes: And he said, I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these. Perhaps, having learned from his own example, he does not trust women, through whom he had offended God. But also the sublime Poet (not another Homer, as Lucillus suspects about Ennius; but the first Homer among the Romans): .. . . . . . . Varium et mutabile semper Femina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Plenae sunt historiae Graecae et Latinae, quanti viri ab uxoribus suis decepti sint eorumque vita sit prodita. De Scripturis autem et Dalilae, cujus supra fecimus mentionem, et alterius ante Dalilam testantur exempla, quae arcanum Samson septem dierum expressit lacrymis, et amore simulato, quod latebat, invenit. Unde Samson postea loquitur: Nisi domuissetis vitulam meam, non invenissetis propositionem meam (Jud. XIII, 19) . So far, it is commanded that we not trust easily in friends, leaders, and wives. And the reason given is not sufficient in response to the proposition; for it is said: Because a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and the enemies of a man are those of his own household. For what does it pertain to a friend, a leader, a wife, if a son and daughter and daughter-in-law rise against their father, mother, and mother-in-law? Therefore, it seems to me that it can be connected in this way with the previous statements: Do not trust in friends, leaders, and wives, who can be changed and can be for a time: since even a son and daughter, forgetting their upbringing and infancy, rise against the authors of their lives and bodies, and it is a crime to harm them, whom it is also a crime to injure with one's face. But this explanation does not at all apply to the daughter-in-law rising up against her mother-in-law, and to a man, to whom his domestic enemies are hostile. Terence in Hecyra: What is this? All mothers-in-law hate their daughters-in-law: which, although it may be ambiguous, is nevertheless almost natural: that daughters-in-law hate their mothers-in-law, and mothers-in-law hate their daughters-in-law. This prophetic discourse describes the consummation and end of the world, and what kind of generation will precede the coming of the Antichrist. Now we must discuss according to the previous interpretation, in which we spoke about heretics: Listen, O three, and who adorned the city? Was it not the fire and the house of the wicked? And again, concerning the Church: Woe to me, for I have become like one who gathers straw in the harvest. And again: Woe to me, my soul: reverence ((Al. returning)) from the earth has perished; and among men there is no one who corrects. And furthermore: The prince demands, and the judge has spoken peaceful words, the desire of his soul. Hence, a double curse follows: Woe, woe, your vengeance has come: now there will be lamentation, and let us speak the scripture concerning heretics: Do not trust in friends, O simple people, and in wicked leaders who promise to be friends and leaders of heresy: for they seek not your salvation, but their own gain, and they trample the flock deceived by them underfoot: and be cautious not to believe anything of her who sleeps with you, whom I can only understand to be flesh, so that we may not easily believe the flattery of the flesh, lest the hardness of the soul and the manly steadfastness be softened by her allurements. For the son who is born of God, neglecting his Creator, blasphemes him by whom he was created, as the Scripture says: 'Did not one God create you? Did not one father create all of you?' (Malachi 2:10). And he despises the heavenly soul of Jerusalem, and he scorns the Church as a mother, and whoever scorns her will die by death. And the daughter-in-law rises against her mother-in-law, which seems difficult to understand figuratively; but whoever reads the Song of Songs and understands the bridegroom of the soul, the word of God, and believes in the Gospel, which we have recently translated according to the Hebrews (wherein, in the person of the Savior, it is said: 'My mother recently brought me forth, the Holy Spirit in one of my hairs') (Matthew 10). He will not hesitate to say that the word of God has its origin in the spirit and that the soul, which is the bride of the word, has the Holy Spirit as its mother-in-law, who is called Rua in the feminine gender by the Hebrews. Therefore, heretics, having previously believed in the Scriptures, which were written and published by the Holy Spirit, transfer themselves to new doctrines and the leaven of the Pharisees and the commandments of men. And while they despise the word of God, they do harm to their mother-in-law. And so that you do not doubt, consider the words of Gabriel to Mary: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God' (Luke 1:35). After this, it follows: 'The enemies of man will be those of his own household.' According to our interpretation, it seems that every man's head is Christ, and Christ is the head of the Church (1 Corinthians 11:3): these are often his enemies, those who are thought to be in his house, that is, in the Church, and do not depart from the head, but go against their own head. They arrogantly promise knowledge of the Scriptures by their own judgement, without a teacher and the grace of the Lord, and they are ignorant and quarrel about questions, contentions, and battles of words. Truly, those who are truly in the house are enemies of the truth. However, we must know that in the Gospel the same words are used as we now read in the Prophet, but according to the context of that place, they have a different meaning. Whether they are taken from the Prophet or accepted by His own authority, it is for us to know, who has spoken both in the Prophets and in the Gospels. But there the Lord says: 'I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be those of his own household." (Matthew 10:35-36) Therefore, let us expound (if indeed we have been able to grasp the meaning of the Scriptures). The holy one understands that charity has grown cold, and that people in the end times will not be lovers of God, but lovers of themselves. They will believe in friends, leaders, wives, sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law, rising up against fathers, mothers, and mothers-in-law. Even the enemies within one's own household. He himself believes in the Lord, and all his contemplation is in his God. And although he may be oppressed by the tribulations and pressures of the world, having no confidence in anyone except the one who says, 'Do not be afraid, I have conquered the world' (John 16:36), he waits for his God and Savior, believing in him and always directing his eyes towards him, hoping to be heard whenever he calls upon him.”

“[In spiritual discipline], the disposition of the doer is given more weight than the thing that is done. Even the truth at times is found to have harmed some people and a lie to have helped them. For one time King Saul was complaining in the presence of his retainers about David's flight, saying, "Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards and make all of you tribunes and centurions, since you have all conspired against me, and there is no one to inform me?" What but the truth did Doeg the Edomite tell him when he said, "I saw the son of Jesse in Nob, with Ahimilech the son of Ahitub the priest. He consulted the Lord on his behalf and gave him provisions and he gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistines as well"? For this truth he deserved to be uprooted from the land of the living, and of him it is said by the prophet, "Therefore God shall destroy you forever, pluck you up and remove you from your tent and uproot you from the land of the living." For indicating the truth, then, he was everlastingly uprooted from the land in which Rahab the harlot was planted, along with her family, because of her lie. In the same way we remember that Samson in most ruinous fashion delivered over to his wicked wife a truth that had long been concealed by a lie. Therefore the truth that he had very heedlessly disclosed to her brought about his own undoing, because he failed to keep that prophetic command: "Keep the doors of your mouth from her who sleeps at your breast."”

“Believe not a friend [This is to be understood] according to its apparent meaning. But our Sages explained it as referring to the Most High. Do not sin and say that the Holy One, blessed be He, is our Friend, and He will forgive us. [from Hagiga 16a] from her who lies in your bosom—Your soul will testify against you. the openings of your mouth Heb. פִּתְחֵי. The words of your mouth, the openings of your mouth.”

“Bosom. In times of general distress, even domestics are not trusted; because all are solicitous for themselves, even to the prejudice of others. (Worthington) — Before the ruin of Israel civil wars raged, 4 Kings xv. Our Saviour alludes to this passage, Matthew x. 35., Luke xii. 52., and xxi. 16. People will rise up to oppress true believers; and these must abandon their nearest relations, when they prove an obstacle to salvation. Thus is the moral, and the other the literal sense. (Calmet)”

“Trust ye not in a friend--Faith is kept nowhere: all to a man are treacherous (Jer 9:2-6). 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" (Mat 10:35-36; Luk 12:53). guide--a counsellor [CALVIN] able to help and advise (compare Psa 118:8-9; Psa 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 Jos 22:14 and "chief friends" in Pro 16:28 [GROTIUS]. her that lieth in thy bosom--thy wife (Deu 13:6).”

“Just what is the work of the axe? The excision of the soul that is incurably fruitless, like the tree even after the dung has been applied. And what does the sword do? The sword of the Word cuts through defenses. It does the work of separating the worse from the better. It actually creates a division between the faithful and the unbeliever. It may even stir up the son and the daughter and the bride against the father and the mother and the mother-in-law, the young and fresh against the old and shadowy. Accordingly, what is the latchet of the shoe, which you, John, who baptized Jesus, may not let loose? You who are of the desert, without food, you, the new Elijah, you who are more than a prophet, inasmuch as you saw him of whom you did prophesy, you the mediator of the Old and New Testaments. What is this latchet? It is precisely the message of the advent, the incarnation. No one can make it happen—neither those yet carnal and babes in Christ nor those who are akin to John in spirit.”

“A man, then, who remains the same and yet prattles to himself about the change for the better that he has undergone in baptism should attend to what Paul says: "If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself." For you are not what you have not yet become. The Gospel says of the regenerate, however, that "he gave all those who received him the power to become God's children." Now the child born of someone certainly shares his parent's nature. If then you have received God and have become his child, let your way of life testify to the God within you. Make it clear who your father is! The marks by which we recognize God are the very ones by which a son must show his relation to him. "He opens his hand and fills everything living with joy." "He overlooks iniquity." "He relents of his evil purpose." "The Lord is kind to all and is not angry with us every day." "God is straightforward, and there is no unrighteousness in him." This is what fathers do for children. Similar sayings are scattered through Scripture for our instruction. If you are like this, you have genuinely become a child of God. But if you persist in displaying the marks of evil, it is useless to babble to yourself about the birth from above.”

“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 7:5-6), 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 (Zac 12:10-13).”

“"This confession of sin is followed by a confession of faith on the part of the humiliated people of God" (Shlier.) Mic 7:7. "But I, for Jehovah will I look out; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Mic 7:8. Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy! for am I fallen, I rise again; for do I sit in darkness, Jehovah is light to me." By ואני what follows is attached adversatively to the preceding words. Even though all love and faithfulness should have vanished from among men, and the day of visitation should have come, the church of the faithful would not be driven from her confidence in the Lord, but would look to Him and His help, and console itself with the assurance that its God would hear it, i.e., rescue it from destruction. As the looking out (tsâphâh) for the Lord, whether He would not come, i.e., interpose to judge and aid, involves in itself a prayer for help, though it is not exhausted by it, but also embraces patient waiting, or the manifestation of faith in the life; so the hearing of God is a practical hearing, in other words, a coming to help and to save. The God of my salvation, i.e., from whom all my salvation comes (cf. Psa 27:9; Isa 17:10). Her enemy, i.e., the heathen power of the world, represented in Micah's time by Asshur, and personified in thought as daughter Asshur, is not to rejoice over Zion. כּי, for, not "if:" the verb nâphaltı̄ is rather to be taken conditionally, "for have I fallen;" nâphal being used, as in Amo 5:2, to denote the destruction of the power and of the kingdom. The church is here supposed to be praying out of the midst of the period when the judgment has fallen upon it for its sins, and the power of the world is triumphing over it. The prophet could let her speak thus, because he had already predicted the destruction of the kingdom and the carrying away of the people into exile as a judgment that was inevitable (Mic 3:12; Mic 6:16). Sitting in darkness, i.e., being in distress and poverty (cf. Isa 9:1; Isa 42:7; Psa 107:10). In this darkness the Lord is light to the faithful, i.e., He is their salvation, as He who does indeed chasten His own people, but who even in wrath does not violate His grace, or break the promises which He has given to His people.”

“(Verse 8 onwards) Do not rejoice, my enemy, over me, for I have fallen: I will rise again. When I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light: I will bear the anger of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he judges my cause and executes judgment for me, and brings me into the light, and I will see his righteousness, and my enemy will behold it, and she will be covered with shame, who says to me: Where is your God? My eyes will see her; now she will be trampled as the mud of the streets. The day will come when your walls will be rebuilt. On that day the law will go forth afar off: on that day it will come even to you from Assyria, and even to fortified cities, and from fortified cities even to the river, and from the river even to the sea, and from the sea even to the mountain. And the land will be a desolation because of its inhabitants, and because of the fruit of their thoughts. LXX: Do not insult me, my enemy: for I have fallen, and I will rise again: if I walk in darkness, the Lord will enlighten me. I will bear the anger of the Lord, for I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness. My enemy will see this and be covered with shame, the one who said to me, 'Where is your God?' My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled down like mud in the streets. The day of your punishment has come, O Assyria; the time has come for your destruction. The Lord will abolish your power and authority. Your cities will be laid waste, from Tyre to the river, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. The land and its inhabitants will be scattered because of their wickedness. It seems to me that in the literal sense, Jerusalem speaks against Babylon and the other nations that had insulted it: Do not rejoice in my downfall, for with the mercy of the Lord, I will rise again. After I have sat in captivity, He will bring me out of darkness, and He will be my light. I will endure the wrath of the Lord, for I know that I deserve what I have suffered, until I take vengeance upon the nations, and my judgment is fulfilled. I know that He will bring me into the light, and I will see His justice, and Babylon, my enemy, and the other nations around will be covered in shame, those who now mockingly say: Where is your God, O Lord? My eyes will see her, not long after time, but now and in the present trampled, as if the mud of the streets. Thus far Jerusalem, or rather the prophet speaking on behalf of the people: Now God is brought in responding to Jerusalem: O Jerusalem, the days have come for your walls to be rebuilt, which were destroyed by the Babylonian devastator. On that day a law will be established, or rather an ordinance and command, as interpreted by Symmachus and Theodotion, saying, ἐπιταγὴν καὶ πρόσταγμα; and the meaning is: You will no longer be subject to the rule of the Babylonians, on that day when your walls are rebuilt, people will come to you from Assyria and fortified cities: from the fortified cities, I say, as far as the Jordan, which the people crossed over before, and from the Red Sea, and from all the nations as far as the Dead Sea, which is near your land, and to Mount Zion, from the mountains of Persia and Media, where they were previously taken; and the land will be a remnant of the Chaldeans and those who laid you waste, because of their inhabitants and their wicked deeds. The Jews promise themselves this until today, and in that place where we exposed ourselves: On that day the law will be far-reaching, as it seems to us, and as their wiser ones argue, some frivolously lie and say: On that day, when the walls of Jerusalem were built by Christ, the holy Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets, which are now held by us, will be taken from our hands and given to the Jewish people. For what is said according to the Septuagint, 'a day of smoothing out the edge, your erasure,' is not understood to be in Jerusalem, as we have explained according to the Hebrew; but we understand it to be said even now to Babylon, for it too must be erased and trampled upon like an edge. And that legitimate day will repel, not the legitimate day of God, but the legitimate day that you, Babylon, commanded to be observed against the law of God. And your cities will come to an end, or to division, as the Assyrians fight against you (for Babylon was a city of the Chaldeans, not of the Assyrians). And your fortified cities will be divided by the hostile army, from Tyre to the Tigris River, which you encircle, and from the Great Sea to the Red Sea, which touches your regions as they travel from the side to India. And from mountain to mountain: from the mountains of Judea to the mountains of Media and Persia, all of Mesopotamia and the entire region that is now held by you in the middle, will be subjugated by the empire of the enemies. And the land will be in desolation because of the evil fruits of your studies. Where the Seventy were interpreted, let us know about Tyre, it is written in Hebrew, Masor, (): which word, if it is divided into the preposition Ma and the name Sor, is understood about Tyre; but if it is one word, it signifies a stronghold. Finally, they transferred everything, the territory, the enclosure, and the siege, not from Tyre, as the Septuagint says, but from the fortified city. This is in accordance with the Hebrew, and the prayers of the Israelites and the people of circumcision, as if a superfluous discourse had preceded. Now let us come to the spiritual understanding, and with the Holy Spirit himself as the interpreter, let us explore even the most difficult passages. It seems to me that every soul of Jerusalem, in which the temple of the Lord was built, and the vision of peace, and the knowledge of the Scriptures; and afterwards, having been overcome by sins, was led into captivity, and handed over to torments, speaks against Babylon, that is, the confusion of this world, and against the opposing strength that presides over this world: Do not insult me, my enemy, because I have fallen and will rise again: for the Lord raises the fallen (Ps. 144), and speaks through the prophet. Will he not rise again who falls? (Jer. VIII, 4). And: I do not desire the death of a sinner, but rather that he may be converted and live (Ezek. XXXIII, 11). But if you despise me because I suffer torments, learn from Ezekiel that punishments are inflicted first on the more holy, and it is said by the Lord: Begin with my saints (ibid., IX, 6). For even if I walk in darkness, the Lord is my light. For although the rulers of these dark spirits have deceived me, and I sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and my feet are stuck in dark mountains, nevertheless, while sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, a light has dawned, and the light shines in the darkness (Isaiah, IX, 2). And the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1) And I will speak to Him, and say: Your word is a lamp to my feet, O Lord, and a light to my paths. (Psalm 119:105) For He Himself commanded me, when the darkness of this world comes: Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning in your hands. (Luke 12:35) It follows: I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him: until He justifies my cause, and executes judgment for me, and brings me out into the light, and I shall behold His justice. Every correction for the present time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow, and afterwards it will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, feeling that the soul has sinned and has the wounds of sins, and lives in dead flesh, and needs cauterization, it steadfastly says to the physician: Burn my flesh, cut the wounds, constrict all the harmful humors and discharge with a harsh hellebore potion. It was my fault to be wounded; let it be my pain to endure so many torments, so that afterwards I may receive healing. And the true physician shows the cause of the medicine to the one who is already safe and secure, and teaches that he has done rightly what he did. Finally, after torture and punishments, the soul is brought out from the outer darkness, and with the last coin restored, it says: I will see his justice, and I will speak: Your judgments are justified, O God. But if Christ has become for us from God wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1): he who says he sees the justice after the wrath of God, promises to himself the sight of Christ. And this, however, is only about penitents. However, it is much better to not have wounds and not need a doctor. Healing is not the happiness of the healed, but rather the consolation after pain. Therefore, someone who has been healed should be careful not to sin again, lest something worse happen to them again. We read in Leviticus (Lev. 13), if indeed we read with open eyes, that the covering prescribed in the Law does not exclude the view of the inner eye; in fact, leprosy is accustomed to develop in a vesicle and scar from a burn, and to change the color of the hair, and to add a new deformity to the previous disfigurement of the scar. For this reason, so that no one is secure about repentance, because after sin he can say: I will endure the wrath of God because I have sinned against Him, until he justifies my cause, let him sin and need a cautery, and when he is healed, let him be wounded again. But when the Lord brings us into the light, and we see His justice, then our enemy Babylon will see and be covered in confusion, those who previously spoke against us: Where is your God? thinking that Jerusalem cannot be healed after wounds. And our eyes will look upon her, and she will become trampled like the mud of the streets. And because the end of all punishments is the beginning of good things, and pain leads to healing, bricks will be made from her mud, and her destruction will become the formation of bricks. And on that day, the old errors will be cast aside, and the cities that were poorly fortified will come to an end, whether in unity or in division, and they will be separated from the Assyrians; and from Tyre, which means 'confinement', that is, narrowness, other strengths will arise, and there will be discord even among those who delight in the corruption of this world, and they will generate desires in people. And from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain, wars will arise against one another, so that bitterness may fight against bitterness, and a lofty pride may fight against another height, and then it will truly be fulfilled: 'Come, let us go down and confuse their languages, so that each one may not understand the voice of their neighbor' (Gen. XI, 7), for it is profitable indeed for the worst strengths not to have harmony among themselves. And when Satan is divided against Satan, then at last his entire kingdom will be destroyed. And what often happens in great armies, that after the tyrant is slain, his followers divide his kingdom among themselves, rise against each other, and there is civil war among them: this will also happen at the end of the world, when the walls of Jerusalem are built and Babylon falls, and the Assyrians and Tyrians from the river, and from the sea, and from the mountains, that is, all the demon nations will fight among themselves, and with their kingdom destroyed, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus will come, and every knee will bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. But so that you may know that the outcome of this rebellion is advantageous, the land of Babylon will be brought to ruin along with all its inhabitants, and the Babylonians will not bear fruit.”

“Rejoice not--at my fall. when I fall, I shall arise-- (Psa 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 50:7-8, Isa 50:10). Israel addresses Babylon, her triumphant foe (or Edom), as a female; the type of her last and worst foes (Psa 137:7-8). "Mine enemy," in Hebrew, is feminine.”

“We sometimes bear illness as a punishment for sin intended for our conversion, "for whom the Lord loves," says the Scripture, "he chastises." Again Scripture teaches, "Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and some have died. But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged, we are chastised by the Lord that we be not condemned with the world." Consequently, when we who belong to this class have recognized our transgressions, it may be fitting that we should simply bear in silence and without recourse to medicine all the afflictions which come to us, remembering the words of the prophet: "I will bear the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against him." We should, moreover, give proof of our amendment by bringing forth fruits worthy of penance, remembering the words of the Lord: "Behold, you are made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to you." Sometimes also, when sickness afflicts us at the request of the evil one, our benevolent master may condescend to enter combat with him, treating him as if he were a mighty adversary and confounding his boasts by the heroic patience of his servants.”

“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 40:4-5). 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 (Psa 103:17).”

“"The wrath of Jehovah shall I bear, for I have sinned against Him, till He shall fight my fight, and secure my right. He will bring me forth to the light; I shall behold His righteousness. Mic 7:10. And may my enemy see it, and shame cover her, who hath said to me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes will see it; now will she be for a treading down, like mire of the streets." Confidence in the help of the Lord flows from the consciousness, that the wretchedness and sufferings are a merited punishment for the sins. This consciousness and feeling generate patience and hope: patience to bear the wrath of God manifesting itself in the sufferings; hope that the sufferings, as inflicted by the righteous God, will cease as soon as the divine justice has been satisfied. Za‛aph: lit., the foaming up of wrath (Isa 30:30); hence strong wrath. This the church will bear, till the Lord conducts its conflict and secures its rights. ריבי is the judicial conflict between Israel and the heathen power of the world. Although, for example, God had given up His nation to the power of its enemies, the nations of the world, on account of its sins, so that they accomplished the will of God, by destroying the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and carrying away the people into exile; yet they grew proud of their own might in so doing, and did not recognise themselves as instruments of punishment in the hand of the Lord, but attributed their victories to the power of their own arm, and even aimed at the destruction of Israel, with scornful defiance of the living God (cf. Isa 10:5-15; Hab 1:11). Thus they violated the rights of Israel, so that the Lord was obliged to conduct the contest of His people with the heathen, and secure the rights of Israel by the overthrow of the heathen power of the world. For ריב ריבי, see Psa 43:1; for עשׂה משׁפּט, Psa 9:4-5; and for the fact itself, Isa 49:25; Isa 51:22. Mishpât is Israel's right, in opposition to the powers of the world, who would destroy it. The following word יוציאני is not governed by עד אשׁר, as the absence of the copula Vav shows. With these words the hope takes the form of the certain assurance that the Lord will remove the distress, and let Israel see His righteousness. Tsedâqâh is the righteousness of God revealing itself in the forgiveness and restoration of Israel to favour; like tsedâqōth in Mic 6:5 : in actual fact, the salvation of Israel about to be secured, regarded as an emanation of the righteousness of the covenant God; hence parallel to אור. ראה with ב, to look at, so that one penetrates, as it were, into an object, seeing with feasting of the eyes (so also in Mic 7:10). This exaltation of Israel to new salvation it is hoped that the enemy will see (ותרא, opt.), and be covered with shame; for the power of the world is overthrown, in order that Israel may be redeemed out of its power. This desire is a just one, because the enemy has despised the Lord God. For the expression, "Where is Jehovah thy God?" compare Joe 2:17. And Israel will see its fulfilment (תּראינּה with Nun doubled after a sharpened ; see Ewald, 198, a). ‛Attâh, now (seeing the future in spirit, as having already come), the enemy will be trodden down like mire of the streets (for this figure, see Isa 10:6).”

“She; Babylon, my enemy. (Challoner) — It was taken by the Medes and Persians, who set the Jews at liberty, to the great mortification of their enemies. (Worthington) — God thus displayed his justice or mercy, rescuing his people from the night of misery. — Streets. Cyrus treated the fallen city with contempt. It stood for some time afterwards. (Calmet)”

“shame shall cover her--in seeing how utterly mistaken she was in supposing that I was utterly ruined. Where is . . . thy God-- (Psa 42:3, Psa 42:10). If He be "thy God," as thou sayest, let Him come now and deliver thee. So as to Israel's representative, Messiah (Mat 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 16:5-7). shall she be trodden down--herself, who had trodden down me.”

“thy walls . . . be built--under Cyrus, after the seventy years' captivity; and again, hereafter, when the Jews shall be restored (Amo 9:11; Zac 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" (Eze 20:25) [CALVIN]. Psa 102:13-16; 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).”

“The confident expectation rises in Mic 7:11 ff. into an assurance of the promise; the words of the prophet in the name of the church rising into an address to Zion, confirm its hope by the promise of the restoration of Zion, and the entrance of crowds of people into the city of God. Mic 7:11. "A day to build thy walls (cometh); in that day will the ordinance be far away. Mic 7:12. In that day will they come to thee from Asshur and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the river, and (to) sea from sea, and (from) mountain to mountain. Mic 7:13. And the earth will become a desert because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their doings." Mic 7:11 consists of two clauses; for we may easily supply to yōm "is" or "will be" = come. The daughter Zion is addressed (cf. Mic 4:8) not as a church, but as a city, as the centre and representative of the kingdom of God. As such, she is compared to a vineyard, as in Isa 5:1-7; Isa 27:2-4; Psa 80:9-10. The word gâdēr, which is generally used for the hedge or wall around a vineyard, points to this (see Isa 5:5; Num 22:24; Ecc 10:8). יון ההוּא is an adverbial accusative; in that day will חק be far away. The meaning of this word is very difficult to find, and can hardly be settled with any certainty. The explanation of chōq, as signifying the law imposed upon Israel by the heathen oppressors (Chald., Hengstenberg, etc.), cannot be sustained, as this meaning cannot be established from Psa 104:20, and is not suggested by the context. So, again, the explanation, "On that day will the goal set (for Israel), or the boundary fixed (for it), be a far distant one (i.e., then will the boundaries of the land of Israel lie in the far distance, or be advanced to the remotest distance:" Hitzig, Caspari, and others), introduces a meaning into the words which they do not possess. Even if chōq does denote a fixed point or a limit of either space or time, it never signifies the boundary of a nation; and râchaq, to be far off, is not equivalent to being advanced to a great distance. Chōq is apparently used here for the ordinance or limit which God has appointed to separate Israel from the nations; not a land-boundary, but the law of Israel's separation from the nations. This law will be far away, i.e., will be removed or set aside (yirach is only chosen for the sake of the assonance with chōq), inasmuch as numerous crowds, as is added in Mic 7:12 by way of explanation, will then stream to Zion, or come to the people of God, out of all lands (cf. Mic 4:1-2). For this is what Mic 7:12 refers to, and not the return to Zion of the Israelites who have been scattered in the heathen lands. יבוא (impersonal), one comes, they come: not "return," ישׁוּב, which must have been the expression used if the return of the Israelites out of their captivity had been meant. The heathen who cherish a desire for the God of Zion and His law (Mic 4:2) will come to Israel; not to Israel as still living in their midst (Caspari), but to the Israel that has already returned, and whose walls have been rebuilt (Mic 7:11). The building of the walls of Zion involves the gathering together of the dispersed nation, or rather presupposes it. Heathen will come "from Asshur and the cities of Egypt," i.e., from the two mightiest empires in the time of the prophet. Mâtsōr, the poetical name of Egypt, as in Isa 19:6; Isa 37:25; and "cities of Egypt," because that land or kingdom was especially rich in cities. The further definitions individualize the idea of the totality of the lands and provinces, the correlative members being transposed and incomplete in the last two sentences, so that the preposition עד must be supplied to וים, and the preposition מן to ההר. From Egypt to the river (Euphrates) includes the lands lying between these two terminal points; and in the expressions, "sea from sea, and mountain to mountain," seas and mountains are mentioned in the most general manner, as the boundaries of lands and nations; so that we have not to think of any particular seas and mountains, say the Western (or Mediterranean) Sea, and the Eastern (the Dead or the Galilean) Sea, as being the western and eastern boundaries of Palestine, and of Lebanon and Sinai as the northern and southern boundaries, but must adhere firmly to the general character of the expression: "from one sea and one mountain to another sea and mountain," i.e., from every land situated between seas and mountains, that is to say, from all the lands and provinces of the earth. The coming out of all lands is not to be understood as denoting simply passing visits to Canaan or Zion, but as coming to connect themselves with the people of God, to be received into fellowship with them. There is a parallel to this promise in the promise contained in Isa 19:18-25, that in the Messianic times Egypt and Asshur will turn to Jehovah. This takes place because the earth will become a desert, on account of the evil deeds of its inhabitants. Whilst Zion is rebuilt, and the people of God are multiplied, by the addition of the godly Gentiles out of all the countries of the earth, the judgment falls upon the sinful world. This statement of Mic 7:13 is simply attached to what precedes it by והיתה, in order to complete the promise of the restoration of Zion, by adding the fate which will befal the earth (i.e., the earth outside Canaan); but it actually contains the motive for the coming of the crowds to Zion. הארץ cannot be the land of Israel (Canaan) here, in support of which appeal has been made to Lev 26:33 and Isa 1:7; for the context neither leads to any such limitation as that הארץ could be taken in the sense of ארצכן (in Leviticus and Isaiah), nor allows of our thinking of the devastation of Canaan. When the day shall have come for the building of the walls of Zion, the land of Israel will not become a desert then; but, on the contrary, the devastation will cease. If the devastation of Canaan were intended here, we should have either to take והיתה as a pluperfect, in violation of the rules of the language, or arbitrarily to interpolate "previously," as Hitzig proposes. על ישׁביה is defined more precisely by מפּרי מעלליהם. The doings are of course evil ones, and the deeds themselves are the fruit (cf. Isa 3:10).”

“It is a day, and he shall come up to you—The prophet says: That day that you deride, saying that it has been nullified and gone away - that day is guarded and preserved, and has not become nullified. The enemy shall come up to you to destroy you. from Assyria—which is the first of those who harmed us. and the fortified cities—I.e., and until the fortified cities. And Jonathan renders (as follows): the great dark mountains. and the sea from the west—And those dwelling near the Mediterranean Sea, which is in the west. and the dwellers of the mountain Heb. וְהַר הָהָר, like יושְׁבֵי הָהָר. But Jonathan did not translate in that manner. [11] The day to build your walls—The prophet informs Israel that there is a day preserved and prepared [for them] to build the walls of their ruins. on that day the decree shall distance itself—And the statute of the decrees of the nations shall be nullified from upon you. [12] It is a day, and shall come up to you—At that time, the exiles of Israel shall be gathered in from Assyria.”

“Fortified. Hebrew also, “Egypt, and from Egypt to the river Euphrates,” &c. The Jews shall occupy their ancient limits, Amos viii. 12. (Calmet) — The fenced cities may be Pelusium, Gaza, Tyre, &c. From all parts the captives shall return. (Haydock) — They were very numerous under the Machabees, and in the time of Christ. (Calmet)”

“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 11:15-16; Isa 19:23-25; Isa 27:13; Hos 11:11; Zac 10:10.”

“(Verse 14 and following) Feed your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, dwelling alone in the forest of Carmel. They will graze in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient times, as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show (or have shown) them wonders. The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hands over their mouths; their ears will become deaf. They will lick the dust like serpents; they will tremble from their hiding places. They will fear our Lord God, and they will fear you. LXX: Feed your people with your staff, the sheep of your inheritance, who dwell alone in the woods. They will be fed on the mountains of Carmel, in Bashan and Gilead, as in days of old, as in the days when you led them out of the land of Egypt. I will show them wonders. The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths; their ears will be deaf. They will lick the dust like snakes, moving along the ground. They will be in distress in their own territories. They will fear and be afraid of our Lord God; they will fear you. This is what is said: Feed your people with your staff, God the Father speaks to the Son, that is, to our Lord Jesus Christ, that because he is a good shepherd, and he lays down his life for his sheep (John 10), he may feed his people with his staff, and the sheep of his inheritance. And lest we think that the same people are both the sheep, in another place we read: But we are your people, and the sheep of your pasture (Psalm 78:21). The people refers to those who are rational, but the sheep refers to those who are not yet using reason, being content only with simplicity, and they are called the heritage of God."] Both the people and the sheep need the shepherd's staff, of which the Apostle also speaks: 'What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?' (I Cor. IV, 21). I think it was for this reason, because the people of Israel were stiff-necked and always longed for Egyptian meat, that Moses used the staff not only against the Egyptians, whom he struck with ten plagues, but also against the people in the wilderness, with the legal staff, the striking staff, and by breaking all the earthen and fragile vessels. But the Apostles of the Lord Savior, who spoke wisdom among the perfect (I Cor. II), the staff was shaken out of their hands, because perfect love casts out fear (I John IV). But if anyone opposes us, how can it now be said to Christ, that is, to the good shepherd, who is certainly greater than the Apostles, and better, that he should use a staff, when it is a greater advancement not to have a staff, than to use a staff to correct peoples and sheep: we will respond to them according to what the Lord promises to his Apostles, that they will perform greater signs among the people than he himself has done (John XIV). And because the Lord was still speaking to the carnal Israel, and not yet to him who could fully understand the mysteries, therefore it was said about him that he would feed the people and his flock with a rod. However, the apostles had the rod taken from their hands, and the severity of the Law was tempered by the mercy of the Gospel. Furthermore, these people and these sheep are struck and fed with a rod because they had dwelt alone in the wilderness. Indeed, we can apply this to those who, separating themselves from the Church, engage in feasts and friendships with the heathens, as well as to those who, out of hatred for the human race, seek a solitary life, such as we read about Timon in Athens. Not because a solitary and prophetic life, like that of Elijah (1 Kings 17 and 19) and John (Matthew 3 and 11), should be condemned, but because if one despises others and exalts oneself, living in the wilderness of vices, the rod should be corrected. He who dwells alone, and does not dwell in the wilderness, is to be praised for his virtues; but he who is alone and does not do the works of justice, and enjoys only the pleasure of rest, and does not toil in the work and labor of Christ, nor seeks food with his own hands as the Apostle commands (I Cor. IV), and is lifted up in pride: he dwells in the wilderness and wanders among barren trees. However, because he is a good shepherd, his staff strikes in order to correct, and a better prophetic word promises, saying: They will graze on the Carmel and the Galaadite, according to the days of eternity, and according to the days of your departure from Egypt. Carmelus interpretatur scientia circumcisionis: Basanitis confusio, et Galaad transmigratio testimonii. Populus ergo Dei, et oves pascuae ejus, quae prius pascebantur absquegrege Domini, et extra Ecclesiam ejus, in saltu versabantur errorum, postea transferentur ad notitiam verae circumcisionis, et servient Deo in spiritu, et gloriabuntur in Domino, et non in carne confident, et erunt vera circumcisio, et non concisio. And when they have been nourished with spiritual circumcision, understanding their former sins, they will be confounded in their vices, and they will be ashamed, and they will be in the confusion that leads to life (Ecclesiastes 4), for there is another confusion that leads to death, in which Og, the king of Bashan, once dwelt, for Bashan means confusion: concerning which worst confusion, the Lord promises to deliver his people: The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring again from the depths of the sea (Psalm 68, 23). And when we know true circumcision, and are confounded concerning our sins, then we shall be in Galaad, which is interpreted as the transmigration of testimony, in the Church of Christ, to which the testimonies of the Law and the words of the Prophets have transcended, and this will happen to us according to the ancient days, according to the days when we went out of the land of Egypt, of which Moses says: Remember the days of eternity (Deut. XXXII, 7), not the days of this world, which are called evil, but eternal days. But he remembers the days of eternity, which does not look at the present, and rose with Christ, and sits with him in heavenly places, now assuming in mind that he has been liberated from the days of the present age. The divine word also promises that it will show to its people and to the sheep of its inheritance wonders: Then, it says, the nations will see and will be confounded in all their strength, because they had once devastated and prevailed against the people of God, and their confusion will have profit, when they understand their own evils. For they will place their hands upon their mouths, and evil deeds will take away from them all freedom of speech. In the same way that the hands of impious nations close their mouths, so will the hands of the righteous unlock their mouths, receiving the ability to speak with God from the good work of those who accept it. Their ears will also become deaf, for wickedness has not only blinded the sight of their eyes, but it has also made their ears deaf; for they refused to hear the voice of those who enchant, and the wise sorcerer. And according to Isaiah: They have heard heavily with their ears (Isa. XXXIII): although it is much less to hear heavily than to not hear at all, and to become deaf to the word of truth. After so many evils are spoken of them, it is said that they lick the ground like serpents, which drag the earth, walking in their belly, and eating the earth all the days of their life (Gen. III). And of the flesh, that is, doing earthly works, and dragging them with themselves until the day of vengeance and visitation of the Lord, not dust, not the small traces of the earth, but the whole ground. And when they have done this, and come before the judgement of God, and have been convicted and disturbed, they will be disturbed and convicted as long as the earth they have drawn upon remains in them, like serpents. But when that departs from them, they will be astonished and amazed, not in the Lord their God (for they have not yet deserved to be called the Lord their God), but in the Lord our God. And suddenly there is a turning towards Christ and it is said to him: And they will fear you. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 7). And these things will happen so that the nations may see and be confounded in all their strength of evil; and they will place their hand over their mouth, and their ears will be stopped, and they will lick the ground like serpents that drag the earth, so that they may be brought to a close and be troubled by the closure, and then, terrified, be astonished by the Lord God of the holy ones, and in the end, they themselves may also fear Him. This is according to the Septuagint (LXX). Furthermore, because our edition does not differ much from theirs, at least in the present context, we believe that what was said in their edition is also said in ours.”

“who dwell alone—That they should dwell alone, in security. a forest in the midst of a fruitful field—Jonathan renders: Those who were desolate in a forest shall settle in the “karmel”; those who were desolate in the forests shall dwell alone in the midst of the “karmel,” which is a settled place. It is also possible to explain: who dwell alone—In the forests will not fear the wild beasts as [they would not] in the midst of a fruitful field.”

“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 (Psa 80:1; Psa 100:3). Our calamity must be fatal to the nation, unless Thou of Thy unmerited grace, remembering Thy covenant with "Thine heritage" (Deu 4:20; Deu 7:6; Deu 32:9), shalt restore us. thy rod--the shepherd's rod, wherewith He directs the flock (Psa 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 Deu 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 (Eze 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 (Psa 22:12; Amo 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; Deu 3:12-17).”

“The promise of salvation impels the congregation to pray that it may be granted (Mic 7:14); whereupon the Lord assures it that His covenant mercies shall be renewed, and promises the thorough humiliation of the hostile nations of the world (Mic 7:15-17). Mic 7:14. "Feed thy people with thy staff, the sheep of thine inheritance, dwelling apart, in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of the olden time." The question in dispute among commentators, whether this prayer is addressed to the Lord by the prophet on behalf of the nation, or whether the prophet is still speaking in the name of the believing church, is decided in favour of the latter by the answer addressed to the church in Mic 7:15. The Lord is addressed as the shepherd of Israel, the title by which Jacob addressed Him in Gen 49:24 (cf. Psa 80:2; Psa 23:1 ff.). The prayer is related to the promise in Mic 5:3 ff., viz., that the ruler coming forth out of Bethlehem will feed in the strength of Jehovah, and involves the prayer for the sending of this ruler. "With this staff," i.e., the shepherd's staff (cf. Lev 27:32; Psa 23:4), is added pictorially; and as a support to the prayer, it designates the people as the sheep of Jehovah's inheritance. צאן נחלה, instead of עם נחלה, which occurs more frequently, is occasioned by the figure of the shepherd. As the sheep need the protection of the shepherd, lest they should perish, so Israel needs the guidance of its God, that it may not be destroyed by its foes. The following apposition שׁכני לבדד determines the manner of the feeding more precisely; so that we may resolve it into the clause, "so that thy people may dwell apart." The words contain an allusion to Num 23:9, where Balaam describes Israel as a people separated from the rest of the nations; and to Deu 33:28, where Moses congratulates it, because it dwells in safety and alone (bâdâd, separate), under the protection of its God, in a land full of corn, new wine, etc. The church asks for the fulfilment of this blessing from Jehovah its shepherd, that it may dwell separate from the nations of the world, so that they may not be able to do it any harm; and that "in the wood in the midst of Carmel," that promontory abounding in wood and pasture land (laetis pascuis abundat: Jerome on Amo 1:2). The wood is thought of here as shutting off the flock from the world without, withdrawing it from its sight, and affording it security; and the fact that dangerous wild beasts have their home in the forest (Jer 5:6; Psa 80:14) is overlooked here, because Israel is protected from them by its own shepherd. ירעוּ, which follows, is not future, but optative, corresponding to the imperative רעה. Gilead and Bashan are also named as portions of the land that were rich in pasture (cf. Num 32:1 ff.), namely, of the land to the east of the Jordan, Carmel belonging to the western portion of Canaan. These three portions individualize the whole of the territory which Israel received for its inheritance, and not merely the territory of the kingdom of the ten tribes. The simple reason why no districts in the kingdom of Judah are mentioned, is that Judah possessed no woody districts abounding in grass and pasture resembling those named. Moreover, the prayer refers to the whole of Israel, or rather to the remnant of the whole nation that has been rescued from the judgment, and which will form an undivided flock under the Messiah (cf. Mic 5:2; Isa 11:13; Eze 37:15 ff.). ימי עולם, "the days of old," are the times of Moses and Joshua, when the Lord brought Israel with His mighty arm into the possession of the promised land. The Lord answers this prayer, by promising, according to His abundant goodness, more than the church has asked. Mic 7:15. "As in the days of thy going out of the land of Egypt will I cause it to see wonders. Mic 7:16. Nations will see it, and be ashamed of all their strength: they will lay the hand upon the mouth, their ears will become deaf. Mic 7:17. They will lick dust like the snake, like the reptiles of the earth they come trembling out of their castles: they will go trembling to Jehovah our God, and before thee will they fear." The wonders (niphlâ'ōth; cf. Exo 3:20; Exo 15:11; Psa 78:11) with which the Lord formerly smote Egypt, to redeem His people out of the bondage of that kingdom of the world, will the Lord renew for His people. In צאתך the nation is addressed, whilst the suffix of the third pers. attached to אראנּוּ points back to עמּך in Mic 7:14. The miraculous deeds will make such an impression, that the heathen nations who see them will stand ashamed, dumb and deaf with alarm and horror. Ashamed of all their strength, i.e., because all their strength becomes impotence before the mighty acts of the Almighty God. Laying the hand upon the mouth is a gesture expressive of reverential silence from astonishment and admiration (cf. Jdg 18:19; Job 21:5, etc.). Their ears shall become deaf "from the thunder of His mighty acts, Job 26:14, the qōl hâmōn of Isa 33:8" (Hitzig). With this description of the impression made by the wonderful works of God, the words of God pass imperceptibly into words of the prophet, who carries out the divine answer still further in an explanatory form, as we may see from Isa 33:17. The heathen will submit themselves to Jehovah in the humblest fear. This is stated in Mic 7:17. Licking the dust like the serpent contains an allusion to Gen 3:14 (cf. Psa 72:9 and Isa 49:23). זחלי ארץ, earth-creepers, i.e., snakes, recals the זחלי עפר of Deu 32:24. Like snakes, when they are driven out of their hiding-place, or when charmers make them come out of their holes, so will the nations come trembling out of their castles (misgerōth as in Psa 18:46), and tremble to Jehovah, i.e., flee to Him with trembling, as alone able to grant help (see Hos 3:5), and fear before thee. With ממּךּ the prayer passes into an address to Jehovah, to attach to this the praise of God with which he closes his book.”

“Hear what is even more wonderful, that the hidden and veiled mysteries of the ancient books are in some degree revealed by the ancient prophets. For Micah the prophet spoke thus. "According to the days of your coming out of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things." … Our sins are overwhelmed and extinguished in baptism, just as the Egyptians were drowned in the sea. "He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love.… You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."”

“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 16:14-15).”

“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; Psa 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.”

“lick the dust--in abject prostration as suppliants (Psa 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 (Psa 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 (Deu 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].”

“Wherefore let us not listen to him when we are in any of the troubles of this world, be it bodily pain, or the loss of our children, or of other necessaries, let us not listen to his words, Where is the Lord thy God? It is under severe pain that his temptations are to be feared, it is then that he seeks to turn the sick soul astray. Wherefore the soul which has not listened to his allurements, seeing afterwards the wonderful works of God, seeing herself in heaven, and the devil creeping upon the earth, will congratulate herself saying, Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by transgression?”

“For what was it Jesus' detractors said? "No man can forgive sins, but God alone." Inasmuch then as they themselves laid down this definition, they themselves introduced the rule, they themselves declared the law. He then proceeded to entangle them by means of their own words. "You have confessed," he says in effect, "that forgiveness of sins is an attribute of God alone; my equality therefore is unquestionable." And it is not these men only who declare this but also the prophet Micah, who said, "Who is a God like you?" and then indicating his special attribute he adds, "pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression."”

“(Verse 18-20.) Who is God like you? You who take away iniquity and pass over the sin of the remnant of your inheritance. He will not continue to be angry, for he delights in showing mercy. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot and hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you swore to our fathers long ago. LXX: Who is like you, O God? You who removes iniquities and surpasses injustices for those who remain as your heritage? He did not retain his anger as testimony because he desires mercies. He will return and have mercy on us, he will submerge our sins, and all our sins will be cast into the deep sea. He will give Jacob truth and Abraham mercy, as you swore to our fathers in the days of old. The wise prophet, seeing the multitude of nations disturbed in its conclusion, is amazed and afraid of God, and therefore the Lord rages in order to take away sins and grant salvation. He praises and marvels at the Lord, saying: Who is like you, O God, taking away iniquities and surpassing injustices (Exodus 12): just as the exterminator passed over the people of Israel in Egypt and did not destroy them (hence the name Passover, which means passing over), so you spare the nations, not counting their iniquities against them. Furthermore, what follows is this: Those who remain of his inheritance have not held his wrath as a testimony. This is the meaning: If he spared the nations that did not want to believe in his Law, and those who were left from the people are abandoned, he did not want to impute their injustices to them nor did he inflict his wrath as a testimony of just punishment. What will he do with his flock, which grazes in the middle of Carmel, and in Bashan, and in Gilead? For he is willing to show mercy, and he will have compassion on us, and he will carry our sins, and the iniquities that weigh upon us like a talent of lead, he himself will bear and plunge into the sea, and he will not allow them to be. He will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, in order to restore his people, who are like supplanters and novelties, and who are always in strife. In Christ, he will fulfill his promise, and he will grant mercy to the multitude of nations (for Abraham is called the father of many nations), just as he swore to our ancestors who were witnesses to our ancient faith, that he would save some from the whole multitude of humanity in truth and others in mercy. But when we have interpreted, he will no longer unleash his fury; 'ultra' Symmachus rendered as 'forever'; Theodotio as 'to the end'; Seventy-five edition as a testimony: 'for whom it is placed in the Hebrew Led' (); and both 'ultra' and 'forever' can be understood as testimony. I, too, will speak at the end of my work, by sealing the labor of my booklet with the invocation of the Lord: O God, who is like you? Take away the iniquity of your servant; pass over the sin of the rest of my soul, lest you unleash your fury upon me, nor chastise me in your anger: for you are merciful, and abundant in your mercies. Turn back, and have mercy on me: throw down my iniquities, and cast them into the depths of the sea: so that the saltiness and bitterness of vices may perish in the false region. Give the truth which you promised to your servant Jacob, and the mercy which you promised to your friend Abraham, and deliver my soul from the persecutors of your prophets, Ahab and Jezebel, as you swore to my fathers in ancient days, saying: As I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the sinner, but only that he may turn back and live (Ezek. 33:11). And elsewhere: Immediately when you turn and groan, you will be saved. Then my enemy will see, and she will be covered with confusion, who now says to me: Where is your Lord God (Ps. XLI, 4, 11)? I will see your vengeance in her, and it will be like the mud of the streets, and she will be trampled on, so that she may no longer build Egyptian cities with mud and straw.”

“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 Amo 7:8, and "mark iniquities," Psa 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 5:7-8). retaineth not . . . anger-- (Psa 103:9). delighteth in mercy--God's forgiving is founded on His nature, which delights in loving-kindness, and is averse from wrath.”

“"Who is a God like Thee? removing guilt and passing over iniquity to the remnant of His inheritance. He retaineth not His anger for ever, for He delighteth in mercy. Mic 7:19. He will have compassion upon us again, tread down our transgressions; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Mic 7:20. Mayest Thou show truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old." מי אל כּמוך looks back to Exo 15:11; but whether Micah also plays upon his own name is doubtful. Like the first redemption of Israel out of Egypt, the second or still more glorious redemption of the people of God furnishes an occasion for praising the incomparable nature of the Lord. But whereas in the former Jehovah merely revealed Himself in His incomparable exaltation above all gods, in the restoration of the nation which had been cast out among the heathen because of its sins, and its exaltation among the nations, He now reveals His incomparable nature in grace and compassion. The words נשׂא עון וגו are formed after Exo 34:6-7, where the Lord, after the falling away of Israel from Him by the worship of the golden calf, reveals Himself to Moses as a gracious and merciful God, who forgives guilt and sin. But this grace and compassion are only fully revealed in the restoration and blessing of the remnant of His nation by Jesus Christ. (For Mic 7:18, see Psa 103:9.) As One who delighteth in mercy, He will have compassion upon Israel again (yâshūbh used adverbially, as in Hos 14:8, etc.), will tread down its sins, i.e., conquer their power and tyranny by His compassion, and cast them into the depths of the sea, as He once conquered the tyrant Pharaoh and drowned him in the depths of the sea (Exo 15:5, Exo 15:10). This believing assurance then closes with the prayer (tittēn is optative) that the Lord will give His rescued nation truth and mercy ('ĕmeth and chesed, after Eze 34:6), i.e., give them to enjoy, or bestow upon them, what He had sworn to the patriarchs (Gen 22:16). Abraham and Jacob are mentioned instead of their family (cf. Isa 41:8). With this lofty praise of the Lord, Micah closes not only the last words, but his whole book. The New Testament parallel, as Hengstenberg has correctly observed, is Rom 11:33-36; and the μυστήριον made known by the apostle in Rom 11:25. gives us a view of the object and end of the ways of the Lord with His people.”

“We should give a tunic to one who has none at all. Who is the person who does not have a tunic? It is one who utterly lacks God. Therefore we should divest ourselves and give to one who is naked. One has God; another does not have God at all. We give to the one who does not have God. The prophet in Scripture says, "We should cast our sins into the depths of the sea." John continues, "He who has food should do likewise." Whoever has food should give some to one who has none. He should generously give him not only clothing but also what he can eat.”

“"The Lord sits enthroned over the flood." A flood is an overflow of water that causes all lying below it to disappear. It cleanses all that was previously filthy. Therefore he calls the grace of baptism a flood, so that the soul, being washed well of its sins and rid of the old person, is suitable henceforth as a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Further, what is said in the twenty-first psalm agrees with this. For after he has said, "I have acknowledged my sin, and my injustice I have not concealed," and also, "For this shall every one that is holy pray to you," he then said, "And yet in a flood of many waters, they shall not come near him." Indeed, sin shall not come near to one who received baptism for the remission of his transgressions through water and the Spirit. Something akin to this is found in the prophecy of Micah: "Because he delights in mercy, he will turn again and have mercy on us. He will put away our iniquities and will cast them into the bottom of the sea."”

“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.”

“You shall give the truth of Jacob—Jonathan paraphrases: You shall give the truth of Jacob to his sons, as You swore to him in Bethel; the loving-kindness of Abraham to his seed after him, as you swore to him ‘between the parts.’ You shall remember for us the binding of Isaac, etc. Give us the truth that You promised Jacob. Cause to come true Your word that You promised Jacob (Gen. 28: 15): “For I will not forsake you.” the loving-kindness of Abraham The reward for the loving- kindness of Abraham, [out of] which he commanded his sons to keep the way of the Lord: to perform righteousness and justice. Therefore, it does not say, “And the loving-kindness,” but “the loving- kindness.” The truth - that you will make come true the promise to Jacob - that will be the payment of the reward for Abraham’s loving-kindness. which you swore—at the binding of Isaac, (Gen 22:16) “I swore by Myself, says the Lord, that because you did this thing, etc.””

“Truth, performing what he had promised out of mercy to Abraham. (Worthington) Bible Text & Cross-references: The prophet laments, that notwithstanding all his preaching, the generality are still corrupt in their manners: therefore their desolation is at hand: but they shall be restored again and prosper; and all mankind shall be redeemed by Christ. 1 Wo is me, for I am become as one that gleaneth in autumn the grapes of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat, my soul desired the first-ripe figs. 2 The holy man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood, every one hunteth his brother to death. 3 The evil of their hands they call good: the prince requireth, and the judge is for giving: and the great man hath uttered the desire of his soul, and they have troubled it. 4 He that is best among them, is as a brier: and he that is righteous, as the thorn of the hedge. The day of thy inspection, thy visitation cometh: now shall be their destruction. 5 Believe not a friend, and trust not in a prince: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that sleepeth in thy bosom. 6 *For the son dishonoureth the father, and the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: **and a man’s enemies are they of his own household. 7 But I will look towards the Lord, I will wait for God, my Saviour: my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice not, thou my enemy, over me, because I am fallen: I shall arise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light. 9 I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him: until he judge my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth into the light, I shall behold his justice. 10 And my enemy shall behold, and she shall be covered with shame, who saith to me: Where is the Lord thy God? my eyes shall look down upon her: now shall she be trodden under foot as the mire of the streets. 11 The day shall come , that thy walls may be built up: in that day shall the law be far removed. 12 In that day they shall come even from Assyria to thee, and to the fortified cities: and from the fortified cities even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. 13 And the land shall be made desolate, because of the inhabitants thereof, and for the fruit of their devices. 14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy inheritance, them that dwell alone in the forest, in the midst of Carmel: they shall feed in Basan and Galaad, according to the days of old. 15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, I will shew him wonders. 16 The nations shall see, and shall be confounded at all their strength: they shall put the hand upon the mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17 They shall lick the dust like serpents, as the creeping things of the earth, they shall be disturbed in their houses: they shall dread the Lord, our God, and shall fear thee. 18 *Who is a God like to thee, who takest away iniquity, and passest by the sin of the remnant of thy inheritance? he will send his fury in no more, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, and have mercy on us: he will put away our iniquities: and he will cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea. 20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, the mercy to Abraham: which thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.”

“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 (Luk 1:72-73; Th1 5:24). sworn unto our fathers-- (Psa 105:9-10). 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 (Deu 30:1-2). Next: Nahum Introduction”