Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Micah 6:12
For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.
For the rich men thereof – that is, of the city, Mic 6:9 are full of violence. It bad been little, had thieves and robbers lived by violence, but now, (as Isaiah at the same time upbraids them,) her princes were become companions of thieves Isa 1:23. Not the poor out of distress, but the rich, out of wantonness and exceeding covetousness and love of luxury, not only did wrong but were filled, not so much with riches, as with violence. Violence is the very meat and drink wherewith they are filled, yea, and wherewith they shall be filled, when it is returned upon their heads.
And the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies – Fraud is itself lying, and lying is its inseparable companion. Jerome: Lying followeth the gathering together of riches, and the hard custom to lay up riches hath a deceitful tongue. The sin, he saith, is spread throughout all her inhabitants; that is, all of them, as their custom, have spoken lies, and, even when they speak not, the lie is ready; their tongue is deceitful (literally, deceit) in their mouth. It is deceit, nothing but deceit, and that, deceit which should overthrow and ruin others. One intent on gain has the lie ever ready to be uttered, even when he speaks not. It lurks concealed, until it is needed.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mic 6:12
For the rich men thereof are full of violence
Trying the impossible
The folly of expecting real prosperity by committing acts of injustice, or pursuing courses of sin, is here forcibly represented by comparing it to the absurdity of attempting to run horses upon a rock, or to plough the rock with oxen.
The strength of the representation is increased by its interrogative form. Our subject is, trying the impossible. Men are constantly doing this–
I. When they attempt to destroy an enemy by physical force.
II. When they attempt to make society morally good by mere secular instruction. Dishonesty, uneducated, may commit petty thefts; but educated, it will legally swindle a nation. Knowledge, alas! is all in vain.
III. When they attempt to get happiness from without. True happiness springs from within, not from without; rises from holy loves, hopes, aspirations, and aims. In one word, love is the well of water that springs into everlasting life.
IV. When they attempt to save souls by ministering to their selfishness. The man who tries to save souls by constant appeals to the selfishness of human nature acts more absurdly than he who attempts to gallop horses upon the sharp peaks of rugged rocks.
V. When they attempt to convert heathens abroad before converting the heathen at home. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. For the rich men thereof are full of violence] This shows that they did not love mercy.
The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies] This shows that they did not humble themselves to walk with God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For: this is given as an evidence of the truth of the charge, and of the justness of the resolution God had declared to punish them.
The rich men; who of all men had least temptation to deal unjustly; they were so well provided for, that without a trade they might live, and in trading they should have been content with honest gain; they should have been examples of charity and bounty, but these are the men deepest in this guilt.
Thereof; of Jerusalem, Samaria, and of every traded city in the land.
Full of violence; full of principles, practices, and fruits of violence and rapine, their minds inclined to cheatings and dishonesty, their practices managed with fraud and falsehood, and their riches heaped up through violence.
The inhabitants: the disease is universal, not some few rich men, but they that dwell in the city, are wholly oppression; or perhaps thus, who come to dwell among them, soon catch the disease, and learn these ways.
Thereof; of all the cities of the land of Canaan.
Have spoken lies; have accustomed themselves to speak falsehood, there is no truth in their affirmations or negations.
Their tongue is deceitful in their mouth; there is not a man of plain-heartedness, integrity, and honesty among them. So David complains of his times, Psa 12:1,2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. Forrather, “Inasmuchas”; the conclusion “therefore,” &c. following inMic 6:13.
thereofof Jerusalem.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the rich men thereof are full of violence,…. That is, the rich men of the city, to whom the voice of the Lord cried, Mic 6:9. Jerusalem or Samaria, or any or all the cities of Israel and Judah; the rich men of these cities, who had enough of the world, and were under no temptation to do an ill thing, to get money; and yet their hands and their houses, and their treasuries, as the Targum, were full of goods gotten by violent measures, by the oppression of the poor and needy:
and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies; the rest of the inhabitants, who were not so rich as others, and who had it not in the power of their hands to oppress as others had; yet used deceitful and fraudulent methods to cheat their neighbours in buying and selling; and, to do this, did not stick to tell downright deliberate lies:
and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth; say one thing, and mean another; deceive their neighbours with their tongues in trade and commerce; averting things for truth they know to be false.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet means that the people were so given to avarice and plunder, that all the riches they had heaped together had been got by iniquitous robberies or by wicked gain. He now addresses the citizens of Jerusalem: for though iniquity then prevailed through the whole of Judea, there was yet a reason why he should distinctly accuse the inhabitants of Jerusalem; for they must have led the way by their example, and they were also worse in wickedness than the rest of the people: they were at least more obstinate, as they daily heard God’s Prophets.
Hence he says, her rich men gather not their wealth except by violence. It is indeed certain, that the rich were not then alone guilty before God; but this evil has too much prevailed, that the more liberty any one possesses, the more he employs it to do wrong. Those indeed who have not the power refrain, not because they are not inclined to do harm, but because they are as it were restrained; for poverty is often a bridle to men. As then the rich could spread their snares, as they had power to oppress the poor, the Prophet addresses his words to them, not that the rest were without fault or guilt, but because iniquity was more conspicuous in the rich, and that, because their wealthy as I have already said, gave them more power.
He afterwards extends his address to all the inhabitants, They all, he says, speak falsehood, that is, they have no sincerity, no uprightness; they are wholly given to frauds and deceits. And their tongue is false in their mouth This mode of speaking seems apparently absurd; for where can the tongue be except in the mouth? It appears then a sort of redundancy, when he says that their tongue was deceitful in their mouth. But it is an emphatical mode of speaking, by which the Hebrews mean, that men have falsehoods in readiness as soon as they open their mouth. It is then the same as though the Prophet had said, that no pure word and free from guile could come from them, for as soon as they opened their mouth, falsehoods instantly came forth; their tongue was fraudulent, so that none could expect from these men any truth or faithfulness. — How so? Because as soon as they began to speak, they instantly discovered some guile, there was ever in readiness some falsehood to circumvent the simple.
We now then see that not a few men were summoned before God’s tribunal, but that all without exception were condemned; as though the Prophet had said, that there was no more any integrity in the city, and that corruptions prevailed everywhere, for all were intent on deceiving one another. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) The rich men thereofi.e., of the city. The sins of spoliation and fraud were practised by men who had not even the pitiable excuse of poverty and distress.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Mic 6:12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.
Ver. 12. For the rich men thereof are full of violence ] After that they have once enriched themselves by fraud and false dealing, they take the boldness openly to oppress, and to exercise regiment without righteousness, which is no better than robbery with authority; of which before, Mic 2:1-13 ; Mic 3:1-12 Thus wicked men wax worse and worse, 2Ti 3:13 , “till wrath come upon them to the utmost,” 1Th 2:16 .
And the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the rich: Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2, Mic 3:1-3, Mic 3:9-11, Mic 7:2-6, Isa 1:23, Isa 5:7, Jer 5:5, Jer 5:6, Jer 5:26-29, Jer 6:6, Jer 6:7, Eze 22:6-13, Eze 22:25-29, Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2, Amo 5:11, Amo 5:12, Amo 6:1-3, Zep 3:3
spoken: Isa 59:3-15, Jer 9:2-6, Jer 9:8, Hos 7:1, Hos 7:13, Rom 3:13
Reciprocal: Deu 25:13 – in thy bag Psa 5:9 – For Pro 4:17 – General Isa 59:6 – their works Jer 9:5 – they will Eze 7:11 – Violence Eze 8:17 – for Eze 28:16 – filled Hos 11:12 – compasseth Zec 8:16 – Speak Act 24:9 – General Jam 2:6 – Do Jam 5:1 – ye
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mic 6:12. This verse is a direct charge against the rich men in the nation. That was not because they were rich but because they had ob-tained their wealth by violence against the poor and helpless. The people were not entirely free from guilt, for they did not make the protest they should but seemed to defend the unrighteous deeds of the very ones who were robbing them, even doing it with speeches of falsehood. The explanation of the strange attitude is indicated by Jer 5:31 and chapter 3: 5 of this book. In order to avoid any unpleasant predictions and other teaching from the prophets, the people were willing to be defrauded and would even He about it. This was their bribe to induce the wicked leaders to keep their unpleasant and un-wanted predictions to themselves.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
6:12 For the rich men thereof {i} are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.
(i) That is, of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The rich people of Jerusalem practiced violence (lawlessness) in obtaining what they wanted from the weak. They lied to one another and practiced trickery and deception to obtain their desires. All of this was evidence of injustice that arose from a heart of unkindness toward others and lack of submission to God (Mic 6:8).