6, 7<\/strong>. Hostility of the two classes of Prophets<\/p>\n 6<\/strong>. Prophesy ye not<\/em> ] Micah and the prophets like-minded with him (e. g. Isaiah) are angrily bidden by the flattering, popular prophets to hold their peace. Comp. Isa 30:9-10<\/span>, ‘For it is a rebellious people Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things; speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits (or, illusions); also Amo 2:12<\/span>; Amo 5:10<\/span>. Thus, in the times of Isaiah, Amos, and Micah, we can already detect the germs of the persecution which broke out with such severity under Manasseh. The faithful prophets of Jehovah were sometimes obliged to hide themselves (Isa 30:20<\/span>), and it seemed as if ‘the godly man had perished out of the land’ (Mic 7:2<\/span>). From the context in which these words ‘Prophesy ye not,’ occur, we should suppose that the speakers were the ‘rebellious people’ (see Isa 30:9<\/span>; Isa 30:20<\/span>), represented by the grandees, though most commentators think that they are rather the unfaithful, smooth-speaking prophets, sometimes called ‘false prophets.’ Obs., the word used, here and in Mic 2:11<\/em><\/span> (also in Amo 7:16<\/span>, Eze 21:2<\/span>) for ‘prophesy’ is literally ‘drop;’ it was perhaps originally a figurative expression for the constant flow and persuasive eloquence of prophecy. It is however probably used by Micah’s hostile critics in an unfavourable sense (‘dropping’ = constantly finding fault, comp. ‘here a little, there a little,’ Isa 28:10<\/span>), so that we may venture to render here, Prattle ye not<\/strong>. Speech in general is said to ‘drop as the dew,’ Deu 32:2<\/span>; comp. Job 29:22<\/span>.<\/p>\n say they to them that prophesy<\/em> ] Rather, (thus) they prattle<\/strong>. The prophet takes up their word, and flings it back to them sarcastically. This view makes the grandees the speakers, in accordance with the context. Most recent commentators, however, suppose a sudden introduction of the false prophets (see last note).<\/p>\n they shall not prophesy to them<\/em> ] Rather, they should not prattle of these things<\/strong>. Micah and his companions are exceeding the limits of their commission. It is for the grandees to decide political matters; and to chatter about the ruin of the state is simply high treason.<\/p>\n that they shall not take shame<\/em> ] Rather, reproaches are unceasing<\/strong>. By ‘reproaches’ the hostile speakers mean denunciations such as that in Mic 2:1-2<\/em><\/span>, Isaiah 5<\/span>. Comp. again Isa 28:10<\/span> (where however A. V. needs to be corrected).<\/p>\n Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy; they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame – <\/B>The words are very emphatic in Hebrew, from their briefness, Prophesy not; they shall indeed prophesy; they shall not prophesy to these; shame shall not depart. The people, the false prophets, the politicians, forbade God and Micah to prophesy; Prophesy not. God, by Micah recites their prohibition to themselves, and forewarns them of the consequences.<\/P> Prophesy ye not – <\/B>, literally drop not. Amaziah and the God-opposing party had already given an ungodly meaning to the word . Drop not, distill not, thus unceasingly, these same words, ever warning, ever telling of lamentation and mourning and woe Eze 2:10<\/span>; prophesying not good concerning us, but evil 1Ki 22:18<\/span>. So their descendants commanded the Apostles Act 4:18<\/span>; Act 5:40<\/span> not to speak at all or to teach in the Name of Jesus Act 5:28<\/span>. Did we not straitly command you, that ye should not teach in this Name? Act 6:13<\/span>. This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. God answers; They shall certainly prophesy. The Hebrew word is emphatic. The prophets had their commission from God, and Him they must obey, whether Israel Eze 2:5<\/span>, Eze 2:7<\/span> would hear or whether they would forbear. So must Micah and Isaiah Isa 28:9-14<\/span>, Isa 28:22<\/span> now, or Jeremiah Jer 1:7<\/span>, Jer 1:17<\/span>; Jer 26:10-15<\/span>, Ezekiel, and the rest afterward. They shall not prophesy to these.<\/P> He does not say only, They shall not prophesy to them, but, to these; that is, they shall prophesy to others who would receive their words: Gods word would not be stayed; they who would hearken shall never be deprived of their portion; but to these who despise, they shall not prophesy. It shall be all one, as though they did not prophesy; the soft rain shall not bedew them. The barn-floor shall be dry, while the fleece is moist Jdg 6:37<\/span>. So God says by Isaiah; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it Isa 5:6<\/span>. The dew of Gods word shall be transferred to others. But so shame (literally shames manifold shame,) shall not depart, but shall rest upon them forever. God would have turned away the shame from them; but they, despising His warnings, drew it to themselves. It was the natural fruit of their doings; it was in its natural home with them. God spoke to them, that they might be freed from it. They silenced His prophets; deafened themselves to His words; so it departed not. So our Lord says Joh 9:41<\/span>, Now ye say, we see; therefore your sin remaineth; and John the Immerser Joh 3:36<\/span>, The wrath of God abideth on him. It hath not now first to come. It is not some new thing to be avoided, turned aside. The sinner has but to remain as he is; the shame encompasseth him already; and only departeth not. The wrath of God is already upon him, and abideth on him.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 6<\/span>. Prophesy ye not<\/B><\/I>] Do not predict any more evils-we have as many as we can bear. We are utterly ruined-shame and confusion cover our faces. The original is singular, and expressive of sorrow and sobbing. Literally, “Do not cause it to rain; they will cause it to rain; they cannot make it rain sooner than this; confusion shall not depart from us.” To rain, often means to preach<\/I>, to prophesy<\/I>; Eze 20:46<\/span>; Eze 21:2<\/span>; Am 7:16<\/span>; De 32:2<\/span>; Job 29:22<\/span>; Pr 5:3<\/span>, c.<\/P> <\/P> The last line Bp. Newcome<\/I> translates, “For he shall not remove from himself<\/I> reproaches” and paraphrases, “The true prophet will subject himself to public disgrace by exercising his office.”<\/P> <\/p>\n Prophesy ye not; it is manifest that our version here intends this as an interdict, or prohibition, laid upon the true prophets, whose hearers were so far from amending and turning unto God in compliance with his counsel, and obedience to his commands given out by his prophets, that rulers and people agree to silence the prophets, and expressly forbid them to distil or drop their severe predictions against the kingdom. <\/P> That prophesy faithfully, as Isaiah, Hoses, Joel, and Micah now did. <\/P> They, or my true prophets, saith God, <\/P> shall not prophesy to them; shall cease from further troubling and terrifying these people, who fear not my judgments, and will not by repentance prevent their miserable captivity and shame. So God doth in his displeasure grant their desire, and gratify the interdict in judgment against them. <\/P> That they shall not take shame; that they may, as they seem resolved to put off all blushing and shame, go on without checks or rebuke, till they be utterly ruined: they are impatient of that shame they should take to themselves for their sins, and therefore would not hear the truth; so it shall be, and they shall not be shamed to repentance, but they shall be ashamed in their ruin. This seems the meaning of the words in our version, and I will not add any other, though there are several versions which somewhat vary from ours. <\/P> <\/p>\n 6. Prophesy ye not, say they<\/B>namely,the Israelites say to the true prophets, when announcing unwelcometruths. Therefore God judicially abandons them to their own ways:”The prophets, by whose ministry they might have been saved fromshame<\/I> (ignominious captivity), shall not (that is, no longer)prophesy to them” (Isa 30:10<\/span>;Amo 2:12<\/span>; Amo 7:16<\/span>).MAURER translates thelatter clause, “they shall not prophesy of such things<\/I>“(as in Mic 2:3-5<\/span>, thesebeing rebellious Israel’s words); “let them not prophesy”;”they never cease from insult” (from prophesying insults tous). English Version<\/I> is supported by the parallelism: whereinthe similarity of sound and word implies how exactly God makes theirpunishment answer to their sin, and takes them at their own word.”Prophesy,” literally, “drop” (Deu 32:2<\/span>;Eze 21:2<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Prophesy ye not, [say they to them that] prophesy<\/strong>,…. Or “drop not” h; such terrible words, such menacing things; let them not flow from your lips with such profusion and abundance; cease from speaking in the name of the Lord, if we can hear nothing else but sharp reproofs, and severe judgments: or the first word respects the true prophets of the Lord, and forbids their prophesying; and, according to others, the next should be rendered, “let them prophesy”, or “drop” i; that is, the false prophets, that prophesy smooth things; and so the sense is, let the one prophesy, but not the other:<\/p>\n they shall not prophesy to them<\/strong>; these are the words of the Lord, in answer to the other, that since they did not like his prophets, their should no more be sent to, them, nor should drop or distil the rain of doctrine upon them; but, as a judgment upon them, should be deprived of them: or, “they shall not prophesy according to these” k; as the false prophets do, not such things as they; or the whole may be rendered thus, “prophesy not”, or, “if they prophesy, let them not prophesy as these” l; such things as these; namely,<\/p>\n [that] shame shall not overtake them<\/strong>; that is, as the false prophets, who said that shame and confusion should not come upon the people of Israel, or the wrath denounced against them, but they should enjoy great peace and prosperity: but the first sense seems best, and the meaning of this clause to be, that the true prophets of the Lord should not prophesy any more to this people, since they did not choose they should: “that shame might not come upon them”; that the prophets might not be treated by them in a shameful and ignominious manner: or, as others, “shame shall not depart from them” m; though they think to escape it by forbidding the prophets prophesying terrible things to come, yet confusion will be their portion at last.<\/p>\n h “ne stilletis”, Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Burkius, Junius Tremellius “ne stillatote”, Piscator. i “stallent isti”, Junius Tremellius, Cocceius “stillanto”, Piscator. k “secundum istos”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator. l “Ne vaticinemini, aut si vaticinentur ne talia vaticinentur”, Castalio. m “non recedent ignominiae”, De Dieu “non retroageretur summa ignominia”, Cocceius; “non recederet ignominia magna”, Burkius.<\/p>\n As such a prophecy as this met with violent contradiction, not only from the corrupt great men, but also from the false prophets who flattered the people, Micah indicates it by showing that the people are abusing the long-suffering and mercy of the Lord; and that, by robbing the peaceable poor, the widows, and the orphans, they are bringing about the punishment of banishment out of the land. Mic 2:6<\/span>. “Drip not (prophesy not), they drip: if they drip not this, the shame will not depart.<\/em> Mic 2:7<\/span>. Thou, called house of Jacob, is the patience of Jehovah short, then? or is this His doing? Are not my words good to him that walketh uprightly?” <\/em> , to drip, to cause words to flow, used of prophesying, as in Amo 7:16<\/span>. The speakers in Mic 2:6<\/span><\/em> are not the Jews generally, or the rich oppressors who have just been punished and threatened. The word yattphu <\/em> does not agree with this, since it does not mean to chatter, but to prophesy, as Mic 2:11<\/span> and also the primary passage Deu 32:2<\/span> show. But Micah could not call the rich men’s speaking prophesying. It is rather false prophets who are speaking, – namely, those who in the word ‘al<\/em> – tattphu <\/em> (prophesy not) would prohibit the true prophets from predicting the judgments of the Lord. The second hemistich is rendered by most of the modern commentators, “they are not to chatter (preach) of such things; the reproaches cease not,” or “there is no end to reproaching” (Ewald, Hitzig, Maurer, and Caspari). But this is open to the following objections: (1) That in Mic 2:11<\/span> means to prophesy to a person (not concerning or of anything); (2) that sug <\/em> or nasag <\/em> means to depart, not to cease; (3) that even the thought, “the reproaches to not cease,” is apparently unsuitable, since Micah could not well call a prohibition against prophesying an incessant reproach; and to this we may add, (4) the grammatical harshness of taking as an imperative, and the following as an indicative (a simple declaration). Still less can the rendering, “they (the true prophets) will not chatter about this, yet the reproach will not depart” (Ros., Rckert), be vindicated, as such an antithesis as this would necessarily be indicated by a particle. The only course that remains, therefore, is that adopted by C. B. Michaelis and Hengstenberg, viz., to take the words as conditional: if they (the true prophets) do not prophesy to these (the unrighteous rich in Mic 2:1<\/span>, Mic 2:2<\/span>: Hengstenberg), or on account of these things (Michaelis), the shame will not depart, i.e., shameful destruction will burst incessantly upon them. On the absence of the conditional , see Ewald, p. 357, b<\/em>. Such addresses as these do not please the corrupt great men; but they imagine that such threats are irreconcilable with the goodness of Jehovah. This is the connection of Mic 2:7<\/span>, in which the prophet meets the reproach cast upon his threatening words with the remark, that God is not wrathful, and has no love for punishing, but that He is stirred up to wrath by the sins of the nation, and obliged to punish. is not an exclamation, “O, what is said! = O for such talk as this!” (Ewald, Umbreit, Caspari); for it cannot be shown that the participle is ever used in this way, and it cannot be supported from in Isa 29:16<\/span>, especially as here a second vocative would follow. Nor is it a question: Num dicendum? <\/em> Dare one say this?” (Hitzig). For although he might be an interrogative particle (cf. Eze 28:9<\/span>), the passive participle cannot express the idea of daring, in support of which Hitzig is quite wrong in appealing to Lev 11:47<\/span> and Psalm 22:32. is not doubt a vocative, but it is to be taken in connection with beth<\/em> – Yaaqob <\/em>: thou who art called house of Jacob. There is very little force in the objection, that this would have required , since , when used in the sense of being called or being named, is always construed with of the person bearing the name. The part. pal<\/em> of ‘amar <\/em> only occurs here; and although the niphal <\/em>, when used in this sense, is generally construed with , the same rule may apply to as to in the sense of naming, – namely, that in the passive construction the may either be inserted or omitted (cf. Isa 56:7<\/span>; Isa 54:5<\/span>; Deu 3:13<\/span>), and may just as well be used in the sense of dicta <\/em> ( domus <\/em>) as in Isa 48:1<\/span> in the sense of vocati = qui appellantur <\/em>. The whole nation is addressed, although the address points especially to the unrighteous great men. Is Jehovah indeed wrathful? i.e., has He not patience, does He not exercise long-suffering? Qatsar ruach <\/em> must not be explained according to Exo 6:9<\/span>, but according to Pro 14:27<\/span>. Or are these ( ‘elleh <\/em>, the punishments threatened) His deeds? i.e., is He accustomed, or does He only like to punish? The answer to these questions, or speaking more correctly, their refutation, follows in the next question, which is introduced with the assuring , and in which Jehovah speaks: My words deal kindly with him that walks uprightly. The Lord not only makes promises to the upright, but He also grants His blessing. The words of the Lord contain their fulfilment within themselves. In , it is for the sake of emphasis that yashar <\/em> stands first, and the article properly belongs to holekh <\/em>; but it is placed before yshr to bind together the two words into one idea. The reason why the Lord threatens by His prophets is therefore to be found in the unrighteousness of the people.<\/p>\n Expostulation with the House of Jacob; The Sin and Punishment of Oppression.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 740.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that<\/I> prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that<\/I> they shall not take shame. 7 O thou that art<\/I> named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD<\/B> straitened? are<\/I> these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? 8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. 9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. 10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is<\/I> not your<\/I> rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you,<\/I> even with a sore destruction. 11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying,<\/I> I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.<\/P> Here are two sins charged upon the people of Israel, and judgments denounced against them for each, such judgments as exactly answer the sin–persecuting God’s prophets and oppressing God’s poor.<\/P> I. Persecuting God’s prophets, suppressing and silencing them, is a sin that provokes God as much as anything, for it not only spits in the face of his authority over us, but spurns at the bowels of his mercy to us; for his sending prophets to us is a sure and valuable token of his goodwill. Now observe here,<\/P> 1. What the obstruction and opposition were which this people gave to God’s prophets: They said to those that prophesy, Prophesy ye not,<\/I> as Isa. xxx. 10<\/span>. They said to the seers, “See not;<\/I> do not trouble us with accounts of what you have seen, nor bring us any such frightful messages.” They must either not prophesy at all or prophesy only what is pleasing. The word for prophesying<\/I> here signifies dropping,<\/I> for the words of the prophets dropped from heaven as the dew. Note, Those that hate to be reformed hate to be reproved, and do all they can to silence faithful ministers. Amos was forbidden to prophesy, Amos vii. 10<\/span>, c. Therefore<\/I> persecutors stop their breath, because they have no other way to stop their mouths for, if they live, they will preach and torment those that dwell on the earth, as the two witnesses<\/I> did, Rev. xi. 10<\/span>. Some read it, Prophesy not; let these prophesy.<\/I> Let not those prophesy that tell us of our faults, and threaten us, but let those prophesy<\/I> that will flatter us in our sins, and cry peace to us. They will not say that they will have no ministers at all, but they will have such as will say just what they would have them and go their way. This they are charged with (v.<\/I><\/span> 11<\/span>), that when they silenced and frowned upon the true prophets they countenanced and encouraged pretenders, and set them up, and made an interest for them, to confront God’s faithful prophets: If a man walk in the spirit of falsehood,<\/I> pretend to have the Spirit of God, while really it is a spirit of error, a spirit of delusion, and he himself knows that he has no commission, no instruction, from God, yet, if he says, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and strong drink,<\/I> if he will but assure them that they shall have wine and strong drink enough, that they need not fear the judgments of war and famine which the other prophets threatened them with, that they shall always have plenty of the delights of sense and never know the want of them, and if he will but tell them that it is lawful for them to drink as much as they please of their wine and strong drink, and they need not scruple being drunk, that they shall have peace though they go on and add drunkenness to thirst,<\/I> such a prophet as this is a man after their own heart, who will tell them that there is neither sin nor danger in the wicked course of life they lead: He shall even be the prophet of this people;<\/I> such a man they would have to be their prophet, that will not only associate with them in their rioting and revellings, but will pretend to consecrate their sensualities by his prophecies and so harden them in their security and sensuality. Note, It is not strange if people that are vicious and debauched covet to have ministers that are altogether such as themselves, for they are willing to believe God is so too, Ps. l. 21<\/span>. But how are sacred things profaned when they are prostituted to such base purposes, when prophecy itself shall be pressed into the services of a lewd and profane crew! But thus that servant who said, My Lord delays his coming,<\/I> by the spirit of falsehood, smote his fellow servants<\/I> and ate and drank with the drunken.<\/I><\/P> 2. How they are here expostulated with upon this matter (v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>): “O thou that art named the house of Jacob,<\/I> does it become thee to say and do thus? Wilt thou silence those that prophesy, and forbid them to speak in God’s name?” Note, It is an honour and privilege to be named of the house of Jacob.<\/I> Thou art called a Jew,<\/I> Rom. ii. 17<\/I><\/span>. But, when those who are called by that worthy name degenerate, they commonly prove the worst of men themselves and the worst enemies to God’s prophets. The Jews who were named of the house of Jacob<\/I> were the most violent persecutors of the first preachers of the gospel. Upon this the prophet here argues with these oppressors of the word of God, and shows them, (1.) What an affront they hereby put upon God, the God of the holy prophets: “Is the Lord’s Spirit straitened?<\/I> In silencing the Lord’s prophets you do what you can to silence his Spirit too; but do you think you can do it? Can you make the Spirit of God your prisoner and your servant? Will you prescribe to him what he shall say, and forbid him to say what is displeasing to you? If you silence the prophets, yet cannot the Spirit of the Lord find out other ways to reach your consciences? Can your unbelief frustrate the divine counsels?” (2.) What a scandal it was to their profession as Jews: “You are named the house of Jacob,<\/I> and this is your honour; but are these his doings?<\/I> Are these the doings of your father Jacob? Do you herein tread in his steps? No; if you were indeed his children you would do his works; but now you seek to kill and silence a man that tells you the truth,<\/I> in God’s name; this did not Abraham<\/I> (Joh 8:39<\/span>; Joh 8:40<\/span>); this did not Jacob.” Or, “Are these God’s doings?<\/I> Are these the doings that will please him? Are these the doings of his people? No, you know they are not, however some may be so strangely blinded and bigoted as to kill God’s ministers and think that therein they do him service,<\/I>” John xvi. 2<\/span>. (3.) Let them consider how unreasonable and absurd the thing was in itself: Do not my words do good to those that walk uprightly?<\/I> Yes; certainly they do; it is an appeal to the experiences of the generation of the upright: “Call now if there be any of them that will answer you, and to which of the saints will you turn?<\/I> Turn to which you will, and you will find they all agree in this, that the word of God does good to those that walk uprightly;<\/I> and will you then oppose that which does good, so much good as good preaching does? Herein you wrong God, who owns the words of the prophets to be his words (they are my words<\/I>) and who by them aims and designs to do good to mankind (Ps. cxix. 68<\/span>); and will you hinder the great benefactor from doing good? Will you put the light of the world under a bushel: You might as well say to the sun, Shine not, as say to the seers, See not.<\/I> Herein you wrong the souls of men, and deprive them of the benefit designed them by the word of God.” Note, Those are enemies not only to God, but to the world, they are enemies to their country, that silence good ministers, and obstruct the means of knowledge and grace; for it is certainly for the public common good of states and kingdoms that religion should be encouraged. God’s words do good to those that walk uprightly.<\/I> It is the character of good people that they walk uprightly<\/I> (Ps. xv. 2<\/span>); and it is their comfort that the words of God are good and do good to them; they find comfort in them. God’s words are good words to good people, and speak comfortably to them. But those that opposed the words of God, and silenced the prophets, pleaded, in justification of themselves, that God’s words were unprofitable and unpleasant to them, and did them no good, nor prophesied any good concerning them, but evil, as Ahab complained of Micaiah, in answer to which the prophet here tells them that it was their own fault; they might thank themselves. They might find it of good use to them if they were but disposed to make a good use of it; if they would but walk uprightly, as they should, and so qualify themselves for comfort, the word of God would speak comfortably to them. Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise for the same.<\/I><\/P> 3. What they are threatened with for this sin; God also will choose their delusions, and, (1.) They shall be deprived of the benefit of a faithful ministry. Since they say, Prophesy not,<\/I> God will take them at their word, and they shall not prophesy to them;<\/I> their sin shall be their punishment. If men will silence God’s ministers, it is just with God to silence them, as he did Ezekiel, and to say, They shall no more be reprovers<\/I> and monitors to them. Let the physician no longer attend the patient that will not be healed, for he will not be ruled. They shall not prophesy to them,<\/I> and then they will not take shame. As it is the work of magistrates, so it is also of ministers, to put men to shame when they do amiss (Judg. xviii. 7<\/span>), that, being made ashamed of their folly, they may not return again to it; but, when God gives men up to be impudent and shameless in sin, he says to his prophets, They are joined to idols; let them alone.<\/I> (2.) They shall be given up to the blind guidance of an unfaithful ministry. We may understand v.<\/I><\/span> 11<\/span> as a threatening: If a man be found walking in the spirit of falsehood,<\/I> having such a lying spirit as was in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets, that will strengthen their hands in their wicked ways, he shall be the prophet of this people,<\/I> that is, God will leave them to themselves to hearken to such; since they will be deceived, let them be deceived; since they will not admit the truth in the love of it,<\/I> God will send them strong delusions to believe a lie,<\/I>2Th 2:10<\/span>; 2Th 2:11<\/span>. They shall have prophets that will prophesy to them for wine and strong drink<\/I> (so some read it), that will give you a cast of their office to your mind for a bottle of wine of a flagon of ale, will soothe sinners in their sins if they will but feed them with the gratifications of their lusts; to have such prophets, and to be ridden by them, is as sad a judgment as any people can be under and as bad a preface of ruin approaching as it is to a particular person to be under the influence of a debauched conscience.<\/P> II. Oppressing God’s poor is another sin they are charged with, as before (Mic 2:1<\/span>; Mic 2:2<\/span>), for it is a sin doubly hateful and provoking to God. Observe,<\/P> 1. How the sin is described, Mic 2:8<\/span>; Mic 2:9<\/span>. When they contemned God’s prophets and opposed them they broke out into all other wickedness; what bonds will hold those that have no reverence for God’s word? Those who formerly rose up against the enemies of the nation, in defence of their country and therein behaved themselves bravely, now of late rose up as enemies of the nation,<\/I> and, instead of defending it, destroyed it, and did it more mischief (as usually such vipers in the bowels of a state do) than a foreign enemy could do. They made a prey of men, women, and children, (1.) Of men, that were travelling on the way, that pass by securely as men averse from war,<\/I> that were far from any bad designs, but went peaceably about their lawful occasions; those they set upon, as if they had been dangerous obnoxious people, and pulled off the robe with the garment from them,<\/I> that is, they stripped them both of the upper and the inner garment, took away their cloak,<\/I> and would have their coat also;<\/I> thus barbarously did they use those that were quiet in the land, who, being harmless, were fearless, and so the more easily make a prey of. (2.) Of women, whose sex should have been their protection (v.<\/I><\/span> 9<\/span>): The women of my people have you cast out from their pleasant houses. They devoured widows’ houses<\/I> (Matt. xxiii. 14<\/span>), and so turned them out of the possession of them, because they were pleasant houses, and such as they had a mind for. It was inhuman to deal thus barbarously with women; but that which especially aggravated it was that they were the women of God’s people,<\/I> whom they knew to be under his protection. (3.) Of children, whose age entitles them to a tender usage: From their children have you taken away my glory for ever.<\/I> It was the glory of the Israelites’ children that they were free, but they enslaved them–that they were born in God’s house, and had a right to the privileges of it, but they sold them to strangers, sent them into idolatrous countries, where they were deprived for ever of that glory; at least the oppressors designed their captivity should be perpetual. Note, The righteous God will certainly reckon for injuries done to the widows and fatherless, who, being helpless and friendless, cannot otherwise expect to be righted.<\/P> 2. What the sentence is that is passed upon them for it (v.<\/I><\/span> 10<\/span>): “Arise ye, and depart;<\/I> prepare to quit this land, for you shall be forced out of it, as you have forced the women and children of my people out of their possessions; it is not, it shall not, be your rest, as it was intended that Canaan should be, Ps. xcv. 11<\/span>. You shall have neither contentment nor continuance in it, because it is polluted<\/I> by your wickedness.” Sin is defiling to a land, and sinners cannot expect to rest in a land which they have polluted, but is will spew them out, as this land spewed out the Canaanites of old when they had polluted it with their abominations, Lev 18:27<\/span>; Lev 18:28<\/span>. “Nay, you shall not only be obliged to depart out of this land, but it shall destroy you even with a sore destruction;<\/I> you shall either be turned out of it or (which is all one) you shall be ruined in it.” We may apply this to our state in this present world; it is polluted; there is a great deal of corruption in the world, through lust,<\/I> and therefore we should arise, and depart out of it,<\/I> keep at a distance from the corruption that is in it, and keep ourselves unspotted<\/I> from it. It is not our rest;<\/I> it was never intended to be so; it was designed for our passage, but not for our portion–our inn, but not our home. Here we have no continuing city;<\/I> let us therefore arise and depart;<\/I> let us sit loose to it and live above it, and think of leaving it and seek a continuing city above.<\/P> <\/p>\n Here the conciseness of the expressions has made interpreters to differ in their views. Some read thus, Distill ye not, — they will distill; that is, the Jews speak against the prophets, and with threats forbid them, as with authority, to address them. The Hebrew word, distill, means the same as to speak; though at the same time it is applied more commonly to weighty addresses than to such as are common and ordinary. If any understands, they will distill, or speak, of the Jews, then the Prophet points out their arrogance in daring to contend with God’s prophets, and in trying to silence and force them to submission. We indeed find that ungodly men act thus, when they wish to take away the liberty of teaching from God’s prophets; for they resist as though they themselves were doubly and treble prophets. So also in this place, Distill ye not, that is, the Jews say, Let not the servants of God prophesy. But some think that a relative is understood, Distill ye not for them who distill; as though he had said, that ungodly men would not bear God’s prophets and thus would prevent and restrain them, as much as they could, from speaking. Others make this distinction, Distill ye not, — they shall distill; as though the Jews said the first, and God the second. Distill ye not, — this was the voice of the ungodly and rebellious people, who would cast away from them and reject every instruction: but God on the other side opposed them and said, Nay, they shall distill; ye forbid, but it is not in your power; I have sent them: though ye may rage and glamour a hundred times, it is my will that they should proceed in their course. <\/p>\n We hence see how various are the explanations: and even in the other part of the verse there is no more agreement between interpreters: They shall not distill; respecting this clause, it is sufficiently evident, that God here intimates that there would be now an end to all prophecies. How so? Because he would not render his servants a sport, and subject them to reproach. This is the true meaning: and yet some take another view, as though the Prophet continued his sentence, They shall not distill, lest the people should receive reproaches; for the ungodly think, that if they close the mouths of the prophets, all things would be lawful to them, and that their crimes would be hid, in short, that their vices would not be called to an account; as though their wickedness was not in itself sufficiently reproachful, were God to send no prophets, and no reproof given. No doubt, profane men are so stupid as to think themselves free from every reproach, when God is silent, and when they put away from themselves every instruction. Hence some think, that this passage is to be understood in this sense. But I consider the meaning to be that which I have stated; for he had before said, Distill ye not who distill; that is, Ye prophets, be no longer troublesome to us; why do you stem our ears? We can no longer bear your boldness; be then silent. Thus he expressly introduced the Jews as speaking with authority, as though it was in their power to restrain the prophets from doing their duty. Now follows, as I think, the answer of God, They shall not distill, that he may not get reproaches: Since I see that my doctrine is intolerable to you, since I find a loathing so great and so shameful, I will take away my prophets from you: I will therefore rest, and be hereafter silent. — Why? “Because I effect nothing; nay, I subject my prophets to reproaches; for they lose their labor in speaking, they pour forth words which produce no fruit; for ye are altogether irreclaimable. Nay, as they are reproachfully treated by you, their condition is worse than if they were covered with all the disgrace of having been criminal. Since then I subject my prophets to reproach I will not allow them to be thus mocked by you. They shall therefore give over, they shall prophesy no longer. (84) ” <\/p>\n But the Lord could not have threatened the Jews with any thing worse or more dreadful than with this immunity, — that they should no more hear anything which might disturb them: for it is an extreme curse, when God gives us loose reins, and suffers us, with unbridled liberty, to rush as it were headlong into evils, as though he had delivered us up to Satan to be his slaves. Since it is so, let us be assured that it is an awful threatening, when he says, They shall not distill, lest they should hereafter become objects of reproach. <\/p>\n (84) Newcome, apparently on the authority of the Septuagint, joins a part of the last verse to this, and gives this rendering,— <\/p>\n In the congregation of Jehovah prophesy not, O ye that prophesy: They shall not prophesy to these: For he shall remove from himself reproaches. <\/p>\n The last line he applies to the true prophet, that he would not subject himself to disgrace by exercising his office. Henderson’s version is the following: — <\/p>\n Prophesy not; those shall prophesy Who will not prophesy of these things: Reproaches are incessant. <\/p>\n This is viewed as being altogether the language of the people, interdicting the true prophets, specifying those whom they approved, and deprecating the reproaches cast upon them by the true prophets. Another version, which is materially adopted by Calvin, is admitted by our Author as not unsuitable, but he prefers the one given above. The main objection is to the last line, which in the original is this, — <\/p>\n לא יׂג כלמות <\/p>\n The last word is plural, and means reproaches; and the verb יסג is in the third person of the future tense, and may be derived either from סוג, to recede, to depart, or from גסג, to remove, both in a transitive and intransitive sense. Having an objective case, it cannot be the first verb, and must be the second in its transitive meaning. Then the rendering is, He will not, or let him not, or let none remove reproaches. This being the literal rendering of this sentence, we must now consider what version of the former part will correspond best with it. It is that no doubt adopted by Calvin, though the last clause cannot admit of the meaning he attaches to it. The people say, “Prophesy ye not who prophesy;” God answers, “They shall not prophesy to these;” and then the Prophet adds, speaking of God, “He will not remove reproaches;” that is, he will not remove them by his prophets with the view of amending their reproachful conduct. <\/p>\n The last clause is evidently viewed as an anomalous construction by Henderson; for he renders it as though the plural noun were the nominative case to the verb in the singular number, and this because the latter precedes the former. There may be instances of this in Hebrew, but it is by no means a common usage; though it be so in the Welsh language, which in so many of its peculiarities is very much like Hebrew. This sort of construction is the ordinary one in that language: a plural noun has commonly a verb in the singular number, when placed before it. This sentence in Welsh would be exactly the same as in Hebrew— (lang. cy) Nid ymadawa gwaradwyddiadau The noun in the plural number is the nominative case to the preceding verb, which is in the singular number, and the verb too is in the future tense, and is yet understood as having the meaning of the present tense. — Ed. <\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES.]<\/strong> <\/p>\n Mic. 2:6<\/span><\/strong>. Prophesy<\/strong>] Lit. to drip, to cause words to flow, prophesying (Amo. 7:16<\/span>). The people, the false prophets, the politicians, forbade God and Micah to prophesy. Prophesy not<\/strong>] God, by Micah, recites their prohibition to themselves, and forewarns them of the consequences [Pusey<\/em>]. Shame<\/strong>] Lit. shames, manifold shame (cf. Amo. 7:16<\/span>). <\/p>\n Mic. 2:7<\/span><\/strong>. Straitened<\/strong>] i.e.<\/em> shortened, impatient. These<\/strong>] i.e.<\/em> the punishments threatened; a speech which claims for itself the promises regardless of moral condition. God not less merciful than formerly (Exo. 34:6<\/span>); but their sins have changed his proceedings towards them. <\/p>\n HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n OPPOSITION TO GODS WORD AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.Mic. 2:6-7<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n A second accusation is brought against them, for contempt of Gods Word and opposition to his servants. The wicked could not endure the threatening of judgment, sought to silence the Prophet (Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n