Listen now to what Yahweh says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say.
Parallel Translations
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Listen now to what Yahweh says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say.
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Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
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Hear ye now what the LORD saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Micah 6:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear Yahweh’s word!
- Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
- Micah 1:2 Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
- Ezekiel 36:1 You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, “You mountains of Israel, hear Yahweh’s word.
- Psalms 50:4 He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people:
- Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.
- Isaiah 1:2 Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.
- Ezekiel 36:8 “ ‘ “But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.
- Psalms 50:1 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
- Luke 19:40 He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
- Micah 1:4 The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.
- Ezekiel 37:4 Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, ‘You dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word.
- Jeremiah 13:15 Hear, and give ear. Don’t be proud, for Yahweh has spoken.
- Isaiah 2:12-14 For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and arrogant, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low: for all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, for all the oaks of Bashan, for all the high mountains, for all the hills that are lifted up,
- Amos 3:1 Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:
- 1 Samuel 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” He said to him, “Say on.”
- Hebrews 3:7-8 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (25 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here the Prophet avowedly assumes that the people were…
Here the Prophet avowedly assumes that the people were sufficiently proved guilty; and yet they resisted through a hardiness the most obdurate, and rejected all admonitions without shame, and without any discretion. He is therefore commanded to direct his discourse to the mountains and to the hills; for his labor had now for a long time been useless as to men. The meaning then is that when the Prophet had spent much labor on the people and derived no fruit, he is at length bidden to call the mountains and the hills to bear their testimony to God; and thus before the elements is made known and proved the ungodliness and the obstinacy of the people. But before he relates what had been committed to him, he makes a preface, in order to gain attention.
Hear ye what Jehovah says. The Prophets are wont, on very serious subjects, to make such a preface as is here made by Micah: and it is indeed sufficiently evident from the passage, that he has here no ordinary subject for his teaching, but that, on the contrary, he rebukes their monstrous stupidity; for he had been addressing the deaf without any advantage. As then the Prophet was about to declare no common thing, but to be a witness of a new judgment, — this is the reason why he bids them to be unusually attentive. Hear, he says, what Jehovah saith. What is it? He might have added, “Jehovah has very often spoken to you, he has tried all means to bring you to the right way; but as ye are past recovery, vengeance alone now remains for you: he will no more spend labor in vain on you; for he finds in you neither shame, nor meekness, nor docility.” The Prophet might have thus spoken to them; but he says that another thing was committed to his charge by the Lord, and that is, to contend or to plead before the mountains. And this reproach ought to have most acutely touched the hearts of the people: for there is here an implied comparison between the mountains and the Jews; as though the Prophet said, — “The mountains are void of understanding and reason, and yet the Lord prefers to have them as witness of his cause rather than you, who exceed in stupidity all the mountains and rocks.” We now then perceive the design of God.
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Some take mountains and hills in a metaphorical sense for the chief men who then ruled: and this manner of speaking very frequently occurs in Scripture: but as to the present passage, I have no doubt but that the Prophet mentions mountains and hills without a figure; for, as I have already said, he sets the hardness of the people in opposition to rocks, and intimates, that there would be more attention and docility in the very mountains than what he had hitherto found in the chosen people. And the particle את, at, is often taken in the sense of before: it means also with; but in this place I take it for ל, lamed, before or near, as many instances might be cited. But that this is the meaning of the Prophet it is easy to gather from the next verse, when he says —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He took the high mountains and hard rocks to…
He took the high mountains and hard rocks to witness against the obstinacy of his people.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Mic 6:1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith;…
Mic 6:1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
Ver. 1. Hear ye now what the Lord saith] Exordium breve est, sed plane patheticum, saith Gualther. This is a short, but pithy and pathetic preface, wherein he woos their attention: Audite quaeso, Hear, I pray you. Ministers are spokesmen for Christ, and must therefore give good words: and yet remembering on whose errand they come, it is required that they be found faithful, 1Co 4:2.
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Arise, contend thou] Surge, age, O Micah! Debate thou God’s cause against this rebellious and ungrateful people, as it were in judgment; calling all, even the insensible creatures, to be judges. See the like Deu 32:1 Isa 1:2 Mic 1:2 (for these two prophets have many things common), and be sensible, that some sit as senseless before a preacher still as the seats they sit on, pillars they lean to, dead bodies they tread upon; so that we have need (as one did once in my hearing) to call to the walls and windows to hear the word of the Lord. This heavy ear is meted for a singular judgment, Mat 13:13-14 Isa 30:8-9. The philosopher was angry with his Boeotians: telling them that they had not their name for nought, since their ears were ox ears, and that they were dull creatures, and incapable of counsel. Demosthenes also, for like cause, called upon his countrymen of Athens to get their ears healed; and Diogenes used to tell his tale to the statues and images, that he might inure himself to lose his labour, as he had so often done, in speaking to the people. Let us, to the wearing of our tongues to the stumps, preach and pray never so much, men will on in sin, said blessed Bradford, in that excellent sermon of his of repentance. We cry till we are hoarse (saith another rare preacher), we speak till we spit forth our lungs; but all to as little purpose as Bede did, when he preached to a heap of stones. Asino quispiam narrabat fabulam: at ille movebat aures. But shall people thus carry it away, and God lose the sweet words? Never think of it. Those that will not hear the word shall bear the rod, Mic 6:9 : and if they could but see their misery they would do as the prophet requires, cut their hair and cast it away, under the sense of the horror of God’s indignation, Jer 7:27; Jer 7:29, they would beg of God a hearing ear (which is as an earring of gold, Pro 25:12), and beseech him to make the bore bigger, that his word might enter; yea, to draw up the ears of their souls to the ears of their bodies, that one saving sound might pierce both at once. Let him that hath an ear to hear, hear; or if yet any think good to forbear, let him forbear, Eze 3:27, but he will certainly repent it. He that now gives God occasion to call to the hills, &c., shall one day tire the deaf mountains, saying, Fall on me, hide me, dash and quash me in a thousand pieces. Oh that I might trot directly to hell, and not stay to hear that dreadful discedite, Go, ye cursed!
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Hear ye: see Mic 1:2.
Hear ye: see Mic 1:2.
Now; whilst the Lord is willing to debate with you, before it be too late for you.
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What the Lord saith: though it is a man like yourselves who speaketh, yet he comes from the Lord, and with the Lord’s message, and it is the Lord who speaketh by Micah.
Arise: this is God’s command to Micah, who is bidden to arise; so Jonah, Mic 1:2, See Poole "Jon 1:2". Prophets, as other men, could be content to sit at ease, and neither be troubled by others or troublesome to others; and perhaps the little success of Micah’s preaching had occasioned him to retire and sit down; now God rouseth him, Get up, prepare thyself, contend thou; plead, Micah, the present cause, argue the case that is between thy God plaintiff, and thy people delinquents.
Before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice; plead openly, vehemently, let there be witnesses to hear the case, which is so clear on God’s side, and so full against thy people, that the very mountains and hills, on which they have sinned against me notoriously, on which I have blessed them abundantly, had they eyes, and ears, and voice, would testify that I have planted them with vines, olives, fig trees, and clothed them with grass and flocks, and stored them with springs, and beautified them with cedars, oaks, and all pleasant trees of the forest; this I have done upon the mountains and hills for my people, and there they have made their groves, set up their idols, sacrificed to devils, and committed other lewdnesses not to be named. O Micah, speak as if thou wouldst make mountains hear thee to testify for me, Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here, I. The prefaces to the message are very…
Here, I. The prefaces to the message are very solemn and such as may engage our most serious attention. 1. The people are commanded to give audience: Hear you now what the Lord says. What the prophet speaks he speaks from God, and in his name; they are therefore bound to hear it, not as the word of a sinful dying man, but of the holy living God. Hear now what he saith, for, first or last, he will be heard. 2. The prophet is commanded to speak in earnest, and to put an emphasis upon what he said: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, or with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice, if it were possible; contend with the mountains and hills of Judea, that is, with the inhabitants of those mountains and hills; and, some think, reference is had to those mountains and hills on which they worshipped idols and which were thus polluted. But it is rather to be taken more generally, as appears by his call, not only to the mountains, but to the strong foundations of the earth, pursuant to the instructions given him. This is designed, (1.) To excite the earnestness of the prophet; he must speak as vehemently as if he designed to make even the hills and mountains hear him, must cry aloud, and not spare; what he had to say in God's name he must proclaim publicly before the mountains, as one that was neither ashamed nor afraid to own his message; he must speak as one concerned, as one that desired to speak to the heart, and therefore appeared to speak from the heart. (2.) To expose the stupidity of the people; "Let the hills hear thy voice, for this senseless careless people will not hear it, will not heed it. Let the rocks, the foundations of the earth, that have no ears, hear, since Israel, that has ears, will not hear." It is an appeal to the mountains and hills; let them bear witness that Israel has fair warning given them, and good counsel, if they would but take it. Thus Isaiah begins with, Hear, O heavens! and give ear, O earth! Let them judge between God and his vineyard.
II. The message itself is very affecting. He is to let all the world know that God has a quarrel with his people, good ground for an action against them. Their offences are public, and therefore so are the articles of impeachment exhibited against them. Take notice the Lord has a controversy with his people and he will plead with Israel, will plead by his prophets, plead by his providences, to make good his charge. Note, 1. Sin begets a controversy between God and man. The righteous God has an action against every sinner, an action of debt, an action of trespass, an action of slander. 2. If Israel, God's own professing people, provoke him by sin, he will let them know that he has a controversy with them; he sees sin in them, and is displeased with it, nay, their sins are more displeasing to him than the sins of others, as they are a greater grief to his Spirit and dishonour to his name. 3. God will plead with those whom he has a controversy with, will plead with his people Israel, that they may be convinced and that he may be justified. In the close of the foregoing chapter he pleaded with the heathen in anger and fury, to bring them to ruin; but here he pleads with Israel in compassion and tenderness, to bring them to repentance, Come now, and let us reason together. God reasons with us, to teach us to reason with ourselves. See the equity of God's cause, it will bear to be pleaded, and sinners themselves will be forced to confess judgment, and to own that God's ways are equal, but their ways are unequal, Eze 18:25. Now, (1.) God here challenges them to show what he had done against them which might give them occasion to desert him. They had revolted from God and rebelled against him; but had they any cause to do so? (Mic 6:3): "O my people! what have I done unto thee? Wherein have I wearied thee?" If subjects quit their allegiance to their prince, they will pretend (as the ten tribes did when they revolted from Rehoboam), that his yoke is too heavy for them; but can you pretend any such thing? What have I done to you that is unjust or unkind? Wherein have I wearied you with the impositions of service or the exactions of tribute? Have I made you to serve with an offering? Isa 43:23. What iniquity have your fathers found in me? Jer 2:5. He never deceived us, nor disappointed our expectations from him, never did us wrong, nor put disgrace upon us; why then do we wrong and dishonour him, and frustrate his expectations from us? Here is a challenge to all that ever were in God's service to testify against him if they have found him, in any thing, a hard Master, or if they have found his demands unreasonable. (2.) Since they could not show any thing that he had done against them, he will show them a great deal that he has done for them, which should have engaged them for ever to his service, Mic 6:4, Mic 6:5. They are here directed, and we in them, to look a great way back in their reviews of the divine favour; let them remember their former days, their first days, when they were formed into a people, and the great things God did for them, [1.] When he brought them out of Egypt, the land of their bondage, Mic 6:4. They were content with their slavery, and almost in love with their chains, for the sake of the garlic and onions they had plenty of; but God brought them up, inspired them with an ambition of liberty and animated them with a resolution by a bold effort to shake off their fetters. The Egyptians held them fast, and would not let the people go; but God redeemed them, not by price, but by force, out of the house of servants, or, rather, the house of bondage, for it is the same word that is used in the preface to the ten commandments, which insinuates that the considerations which are arguments for duty, if they be not improved by us, will be improved against us as aggravations of sin. When he brought them out of Egypt into a vast howling wilderness, as he left not himself without witness, so he left not them without guides, for he sent before them Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, three prophets (says the Chaldee paraphrase), Moses the great prophet of the Old Testament, Aaron his prophet (Exo 7:1), and Miriam a prophetess, Exo 15:20. Note, When we are calling to mind God's former mercies to us we must not forget the mercy of good teachers and governors when we were young; let those be made mention of, to the glory of God, who went before us, saying, This is the way, walk in it; it was God that sent them before us, to prepare the way of the Lord and to prepare a people for him. [2.] When he brought them into Canaan. God no less glorified himself, and honoured them, in what he did for them when he brought them into the land of their rest than in what he did for them when he brought them out of the land of their servitude. When Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, were dead, yet they found God the same. Let them remember now what God did for them, First, In baffling and defeating the designs of Balak and Balaam against them, which he did by the power he has over the hearts and tongues of men, Mic 6:5. Let them remember what Balak the king of Moab consulted, what mischief he devised and designed to do to Israel, when they encamped in the plains of Moab; that which he consulted was to curse Israel, to divide between them and their God, and to disengage him from the protection of them. Among the heathen, when they made war upon any people, they endeavoured by magic charms or otherwise to get from them their tutelar gods, as to rob Troy of its Palladium. Macrobius has a chapter de ritu evocandi Deos - concerning the solemnity of calling out the gods. Balak would try this against Israel; but remember what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, how contrary to his own intention and inclination; instead of cursing Israel, he blessed them, to the extreme confusion and vexation of Balak. Let them remember the malice of the heathen against them, and for that reason never learn the way of the heathen, nor associate with them. Let them remember the kindness of their God to them, how he turned the curse into a blessing (because the Lord thy God loved thee, as it is, Deu 23:5), and for that reason never forsake him. Note, The disappointing of the devices of the church's enemies ought always to be remembered to the glory of the church's protector, who can make the answer of the tongue directly to contradict the preparation and consultation of the heart, Pro 16:1. Secondly, In bringing them from Shittim, their last lodgment out of Canaan, unto Gilgal, their first lodgment in Canaan. There it was, between Shittim and Gilgal, that, upon the death of Moses, Joshua, a type of Christ, was raised up to put Israel in possession of the land of promise and to fight their battles; there it was that they passed over Jordan through the divided waters, and renewed the covenant of circumcision; these mercies of God to their fathers they must now remember, that they may know the righteousness of the Lord, his righteousness (so the word is), his justice in destroying the Canaanites, his goodness in giving rest to his people Israel, and his faithfulness to his promise made unto the fathers. The remembrance of what God had done to them might convince them of all this, and engage them for ever to his service. Or they may refer to the controversy now pleaded between God and Israel; let them remember God's many favours to them and their fathers, and compare with them their unworthy ungrateful conduct towards him, that they may know the righteousness of the Lord in contending with them, and it may appear that in this controversy he has right on his side; his ways are equal, for he will be justified when he speaks, and clear when he judges.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Hear ye now what the Lord saith,.... Here begins…
Hear ye now what the Lord saith,.... Here begins a new discourse, and with an address of the prophet to the people of Israel, to hear what the Lord had to say to them by way of reproof for their sins now, as they had heard before many great and precious promises concerning the Messiah, and the happiness of the church in future time; to hear what the Lord now said to them by the prophet, and what he said to the prophet himself, as follows:
arise; O Prophet Micah, and do thine office; sit not still, nor indulge to sloth and ease; show readiness, diligence, activity, zeal, and courage in my service, and in carrying a message from me to my people:
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contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice; open the cause depending between me and my people; state the case between us before the mountains and hills; and exert thyself, and lift up thy voice loudly, and with so much vehemence, that, if it was possible, the very mountains and hills might hear thee; the Lord hereby suggests that they would as soon hear as his people; thus upbraiding their stupidity, as he elsewhere does; see Isa 1:2. Kimchi and Ben Melech render it, to the mountains, which is much to the same sense with our version; call and summon them as witnesses in this cause; let the pleadings be made before them, and let them be judges in this matter; as they might be both for God, and against his people: the mountains and hills clothed with grass, and covered with flocks and herds; or set with all manner of fruit trees, vines, olives, and figs; or adorned with goodly cedars, oaks, and elms; were witnesses of the goodness of God unto them, and the same could testify against them; and, had they mouths to speak, could declare the abominations committed on them; how upon every high mountain and hill, and under every green tree, they had been guilty of idolatry. The Targum, and many versions (q), render it, "with the mountains"; and the Vulgate Latin version, and others, "against the mountains" (r); the inhabitants of Judea, that being a mountainous country, especially some parts of it. Some by "mountains" understand the great men of the land, king, princes, nobles; and, by "hills", lesser magistrates, with whom the Lord's controversy chiefly was; they not discharging their offices aright, nor setting good examples to the people. Some copies of the Targum, as the king of Spain's Bible, paraphrase it,
"judge or contend with the fathers, and let the mothers hear thy voice;''
which Kimchi thus explains, as if it was said, let the fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the mothers Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, hear what their children hath rendered to the Lord; let them be, as it were, called out of their graves to hear the ill requital made to the Lord for all his goodness.
(q) "cum istis montiibus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius; "cum montibus", Montanus, Munster, Cocceius, Burkius. (r) "Adversum montes", V. L. Grotius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain God charges his people with ingratitude, ver. 1-5. The…
God charges his people with ingratitude, ver. 1-5. The way to please God, ver. 6-8. He sets their sins in order before them, ver. 9-15.
Arise - This is God's command to Micah. Contend thou - Argue the case between God and thy people; and speak as if thou wouldst make the mountains hear thee, to testify for me.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain This chapter reproves and threatens. The manner of raising…
CHAPTER VI
This chapter reproves and threatens. The manner of raising the
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attention by calling on man to urge his plea in the face of all
nature, and on the inanimate creation to hear the expostulation
of Jehovah with his people, is awakening and sublime. The words
of Jehovah follow, 3-5.
And God's mercies having been set forth to his people, one of
them is introduced, in a beautiful dramatic form, asking what
his duty is towards a God so gracious, 6, 7.
The answer follows in the words of the prophet, 8;
who goes on to upbraid the people of his charge with their
injustice and idolatry, to which he ascribes want of success in
their lawful undertakings, and those heave calamities which are
now impending, 9-15.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI
Verse 1. Arise, contend thou] This chapter is a sort of dialogue between God and the people. GOD speaks the five first verses, and convicts the people of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The PEOPLE, convinced of their iniquity, deprecate God's judgments, in the sixth and seventh verses. In the eighth verse God prescribes the way in which they are to be saved; and then the prophet, by the command of God, goes on to remonstrate from the ninth verse to the end of the chapter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mic 6:1-2. Hear now what the Lord saith —…
Mic 6:1-2. Hear now what the Lord saith — Here begins a new discourse, respecting the causes of the evils which hung over the Jewish nation. Arise — This is God’s command to Micah; contend thou before the mountains — Argue the case between God and thy people; and speak as if thou wouldest make the mountains hear thee, to testify for me. Hear, O ye mountains — God often appeals to inanimate creatures for the justice of his proceedings, thereby to upbraid the stupidity of men; the Lord’s controversy — Or the Lord’s cause or matter of complaint. Here the prophet begins to execute what he had been commanded in the preceding verse. And ye strong foundations of the earth — He alludes to a fabric raised on immoveable foundations, but, strictly speaking,
“The earth self-balanced on her centre hangs.”
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For the Lord hath a controversy with his people — He will enter into judgment with them, for their impieties, as being injurious to his honour, and for which his justice demands satisfaction.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Hear ye now what the Lord saith - If…
Hear ye now what the Lord saith - If ye will not hear the rebuke of man, hear now at last the word of God. “Arise thou, Micah.” The prophet was not willing to be the herald of woe to his people; but had to arise at the bidding of God, that he might not “be rebellious like that rebellious house” Eze 2:8. Stand up; as one having all authority to rebuke, and daunted by none. He muses the hearer, as shewing it to be a very grave urgent matter, to be done promptly, urgently, without delay. “Contend thou before (better, as in the English margin with) the mountains.” Since man, who had reason, would not use his reason, God calls the mountains and hills, who Rom 8:20 unwillingly, as it were, had been the scenes of their idolatry, as if he would say (Lap.), “Insensate though ye be, ye are more sensible than Israel, whom I endowed with sense; for ye feel the voice and command of God your Creator and obey Him; they do not. I cite you, to represent your guilty inhabitants, that, through you, they may hear My complaint to be just, and own themselves guilty, repent, and ask forgiveness.” “The altars and idols, the blood of the sacrifices, the bones and ashes upon them, with unuttered yet clear voice, spoke of the idolatry and guilt of the Jews, and so pronounced God’s charge and expostulation to be just. Ezekiel is bidden, in like way, to prophesy against “the mountains of Israel Eze 6:2-5, “I will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places, and your altars shall be desolate.” : “Lifeless nature without voice tells the glory of God; without ears it hears what the Lord speaks.” Psa 19:3; Luk 19:40.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The mountains, &c. That is, the princes, the great…
The mountains, &c. That is, the princes, the great ones of the people. (Challoner) --- But Hebrew intimates real mountains, which had witnessed the impiety of the people, (Calmet) and had been defiled with their altars, &c. Protestants, "Contend thou before the," &c., (Haydock) as God’s advocate. He condescends to justify his conduct towards Israel, Isaias iii. 13. (Calmet) --- He had shewn them great favours, but they were ungrateful. (Office for Good Friday) (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Micah 6-7
SECOND DIVISION
FOURTH DISCOURSE
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Micah 6-7
Mic_6:1 Hear ye, I pray, what Jehovah saith :
Rise thou, wage a controversy before the mountains,
And let the hills hear thy voice !
2 Hear, ye mountains, Jehovah’s controversy,
And ye immovable foundations of the earth !
For Jehovah hath a controversy with his people,
And with Israel will he dispute.
3 My people, what have I done unto thee ?
And wherein have I wearied thee ?
Testify against me.
4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,
And out of the house of bondage I redeemed thee;
And sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 My people, remember now
What Balak consulted,
The king of Moab,
And what answer was given him,
By Balaam, son of Beor;
From Shittim to Gilgal;
That thou mayest know the righteousness of Jehovah.
6 With what shall I come into the presence of Jehovah,
Bow down unto God on high ?
Shall I come into his presence with burnt offerings,
With calves of a year old ?
7 Doth Jehovah delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand streams of oil ?
Shall I give my first born for my transgression,1
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ?
8 He hath told thee, O man, what is good;
And what2 doth Jehovah require of thee,
But to do justly,
And love mercy,
And walk humbly with thy God ?
9 Jehovah’s voice calls to the city,
And wisdom will see thy name.3
Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it!
10 Are there yet in the house of the wicked
Treasures of wickedness,
And the lean Ephah, accursed ?
11 Can I be pure with the wicked balances,
And with the bag of deceitful weights ?
12 Her rich men are full of violence,
And her inhabitants speak lies,
And their tongue is deception in their mouth.
13 And I also will smite thee with deadly wounds,
Laying thee waste on account of thy sins.
14 Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied,
And thy emptiness [shall remain] in thee;
And thou shalt remove, and shalt not rescue,
And what thou dost rescue I will give to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sow, and not reap;
Thou shalt tread olives, and not anoint thee with oil,
And must, and not drink wine.
16 And they diligently keep the statutes of Omri,
And all the works of the house of Ahab;
And ye walk in their counsels,
That I may make thee an astonishment,
And her inhabitants a hissing :
And the reproach of my people ye shall bear.
Mic_7:1 Woe is me ! for I am become
As the gatherings of the harvest,
As the gleanings of the vintage:
There is no cluster to eat;
For a first-ripe fig my soul longs.
2 Perished is the godly man out of the earth;
And upright among men there is none:
They all lie in wait for blood,
Each his brother they hunt with a net.
3 For evil both hands are active;
The prince asketh, and the judge [judgeth] for reward,
And the great man—he speaketh the desire of his soul,
And they wrest it.
4 The best of them is as a prickly bush,
And the most upright worse than a thorn hedge :
The day4 of thy watchmen and of thy visitation cometh;
Then shall be their perplexity.
5 Trust ye not in a friend,
Confide not in an associate;
From her that lieth in thy bosom
Keep the doors of thy mouth.
6 For son despiseth father,
Daughter riseth up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the people of his house.
7 And I, to Jehovah will I look,
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not, O mine enemy, over5 me;
When I have fallen, I arise;
When I sit in darkness,
Jehovah is a light to me.
9 The indignation of Jehovah I will bear,
For I have sinned against him,
Until he plead my cause, and maintain my right:
He will bring me forth to the light;
I shall see his righteousness.
10 And my enemy shall see,
And shame shall cover her,
Her who saith to me :
Where is Jehovah thy God ?
My eyes will look upon her,
Now she shall be trodden down
As the mire in the streets.
11 A day for building thy fence walls :
That day shall the statute be far removed.
12 That day, unto thee shall they come
Even from Assyria, and the cities of Egypt;6
And from Egypt even unto the river;
And [to] sea from sea,
And [from] mountain to mountain.
13 And the land will be desolate
On account of its inhabitants,
Because of the fruit of their doings.
14 Feed thy people with thy rod,
The flock of thy possession,
Dwelling alone,7
In the forest, in the midst of Carmel;
They shall feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 As in the days of thy coming from the land of Egypt,
Will I show to them marvellous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed,
Of all their might;
They shall place their hand on their mouth, Their ears will be deaf.
17 They shall lick dust like the serpent,
As creeping on the earth;
They shall tremble forth out of their hiding-places,
Unto Jehovah our God they shall come with dread,
And shall fear because of thee.
18 Who is a God like thee,
That forgiveth iniquity,
And passeth over transgression
For the remnant of his possession ?
He holdeth not his anger forever,
For he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will again have compassion on us,
He will trample on our iniquities,
And cast into the depths of the sea all their sins.
20 Thou wilt give truth to Jacob,
Mercy to Abraham,
Which thou hast sworn to our fathers,
From the days of ancient time.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Leaving the concrete sketches of history, the public reproofs, and the historical prediction, the prophet rises to the height of the idea woven through the whole course of history, and represents the relation between the God of Israel and his people, the past condition the present complications and the future solution, under the figure of a suit-at-law.
In accordance with this fundamental character, the discourse has no special historical reference, but takes, as we may say, a universal position, We must, to be sure, perceive, with Caspari, that Israel, charged by the prophet with backsliding, freely grants its guilt and is ready to atone for it (Mic_6:6 a); that it is disposed to clear itself by numerous sacrifices (Mic_6:6 b), not however through hearty relinquishment of its pride, unrighteousness and oppression (Mic_6:8-10 ff.). But that we should by these traits (in contrast with the preceding discourses, as having fallen within the time of Hezekiah’s predecessors), be here necessarily brought down to the first years of Hezekiah, when a general sense of sin and the favorable disposition for the orderly restoration of Jehovah’s worship may have existed in the higher strata of the people, while the mags still strove against the ethical portion of the law, is disproved by the contents of the section, Mic_7:1 ff. (cf. Mic_6:16). There we find no word of any difference between the good disposition of the great and the stupidity of the iBBltitr.de, but, rather, the description runs completely parallel to that in Micah 3. Nor is there otherwise any soiid support for maintaining the date of the whole to be either earlier or later than for chaps, 1–5., and we mast he content with saying, that in a completely similar situation, this concluding discourse distinguishes itself only by its peculiar rhetorical character from the former portion of the book. This is true in respect to matter, inasmuch as the subject is not particular manifestations of present sin, but the sins of the whole people, and not particular moments of the future, but judgment and salvation in their spiritual nature; and in respect to form, inasmuch as it is not directly parænetic or eschatological, hut, lyrical and of the nature of a psalm. It closes the book of Micah very much as Habakkuk 3. and Isaiah 60-66. close those books, and as Rom_11:33-36 the Jewish historical exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.
In its plan also this peculiarity of the closing address appears. It falls into three parts, and the fundamental number which prevails is (apart from the introitus and the transitus) 13. The scheme is as follows:—
a. The introitus, Mic_6:1-2 (seven lines). Then
I. The first stage of the suit (Mic_6:3-8); and
1. Mic_6:3-5. God’s complaint (thirteen lines).
2. Mic_6:6-8. Israel’s anxious reply (thirteen lines).
II. Second stage of the suit (Mic_6:9 to Mic_7:8); and
1. Mic_6:9-16. God’s reproof (twenty-six lines).
2. Mic_7:1-6. Israel’s complaint (twenty-six lines).
b. The transitus, Mic_7:7-8 (seven lines); and following upon this,—
III. The closing psalm : humiliation, confidence, and praise, Mic_7:9-12 (13+26+13 lines).
Introitus, chap, 6, Mic_6:1-2. Hear ye now; thus begins, like the opening discourse, 1., 2., the closing address also; hear ye what Jehovah saith, dicturus est, namely, to me, the prophet. Arise, bring a suit toward the mountains! In the name of Jehovah, and as his advocate, should the prophet enter into the controversy with the people, and utter the complaint so loud that the mountains, which, as appears from the following clause, and the hills shall hear thy voice, and from Mic_6:2, are present as witnesses of the trial (cf. Deu_32:1; Isa_1:2), may murmur with the echo. The explanation, bring a suit against the mountains, accuse the mountains, is senseless in itself, and therefore את must be taken as a sign of direction, as Jdg_19:18; Isa_66:14.
Mic_6:2. The prophet, following the command, calls out to the mountains : hear, ye mountains, Jehovah’s cause, and ye unchangeable—from their unchangeableness Israel might have taken an example; Balaam had long before called the rocks of Canaan changeless (Num_24:21)—ye foundations of the earth, that cannot be shaken, but that should now tremble before the solemn message, and weighty judgment of Jehovah (Isa_24:18). For Jehovah hath a suit against his people (cf. Hos_4:1), and with Israel will he have a settlement.
First Stage, Mic_6:3-8.
Mic_6:3-5. The Comalaint. Jehovah speaks not with the thunder of the law, but with the much sharper cordiality of wounded love. My people, thou that belongest to me alone, brought up by me, what have I done to thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? The Hithpael, “to have a settlement,” was not without significance. He is in earnest, if Israel has aught against Him, to hear it. Jehovah might have wearied Israel by over rigorous requirements (Isa_43:23), or by unfulfilled promises (Jer_2:31). But much more should the expression recall how Israel has wearied the Lord (Isa_43:24). Answer me! properly, as the בּ instead of the customary ace. shows : defend thyself against Me, make reply to my charge (Job_31:35).
Mic_6:4. God’s language continues in a tone of the deepest irony : Is it in that I led thee up out of the land of Egypt (Amo_2:10), and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage? (cf. Exo_20:2)—plur. cone, for abstr., Ewald, § 179; and that I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam? With special fondness the sacred writers bring forward, when they would impress upon the people the goodness of the Lord, his earliest deeds, and, above all, those connected with their deliverance from Egypt, because through that Israel became his peculiar possession (Psalms 114.), and also in it, as the actus primus of his gracious choice of the people, there lay enfolded, so far as regards its direction and shape, all the subsequent development; all the following acts of grace are only confirmations of the first purpose of grace.
Mic_6:5 glances at these tokens of love in the history of the planting of Israel until their arrival in the Holy Land : My people, remember now, what counsel Balak took, the king of Moab, and what answer was given him by Balaam, Beor’s son; cf. Num_22:24. “It was no light thing that Israel, ready to enter into the Holy Land, is sent forward, not cursed by him, but rather blest by God through him, to his great and arduous task. The curse would, through the superstition of many of the Israelites, have discouraged them, and inspired their superstitious foes with confidence. So much the more must the blessing have raised the spirits of the people, as it indicated that the Lord had so completely blessed them in the eyes of all nations, that even enemies who would curse were obliged to bless them.” Caspari. The little clause : from Shittim to Gilgal, is a new object to זכר: Remember what occurred from Shittim to Gilgal, i. e., between the first station after Balaam’s (Num_25:1) blessing and the first station on the soil of the Holy Land (Jos_4:19). Remember this, that thou mayest know the covenant grace (properly: the righteousnesses) of Jehovah. Jehovah’s deeds of mercy are called exhibitions of righteousness, inasmuch as after the original establishment of the covenant with Abraham, or (as the case may be) of the covenant of the law on Sinai, all following grace was only fulfillment of what had been before promised, i. e., צְדָקָה.—למעזcum inf. as Amo_2:7.
Mic_6:6-8. Reply and Decision. As Jehovah addressed primarily the prophet, so the discourse of the people is directed immediately to him, standing as he does between God and the people. He is the mouth of God toward the people (Hos_1:1; Deu_5:5 ff., cf. Exo_4:16). Israel, in so far as it is really such, cannot close its ears to the voice of truth (cf. Joh_18:37), hence owns itself guilty without parley, and asks only after the way of expiation. Wherewith shall I meet Jehovah?קדם, to meet with gifts, in order to gratify any one, and to render to him honor and duty (Psa_105:2; Deu_23:5). Wherewith bow myself?בַּמָּה belongs to both clauses, and “to bow one’s self,” אכף, imperf. Niph., from כּפף, Olsh., § 265, e., is, like the meeting Him, an expression of respect, which is appropriate before the God on high, who looks down on men, and in whose sight they are as grasshoppers (Isa_40:22). Shall I meet Him with burnt offerings? That is the first thought with men who look at what is external; thither they naturally turn to fill the “aching void” in the soul with outward things, and as naturally also to try to expiate the sins which spring from the heart against God, according to the outwardly written letter: work-righteousness, and the idolatry of the letter. With calves of a year old? Not as if these alone were proper to be offered (Caspari, Hitzig, against Lev_22:27.), but because they were accounted as the most important (Lev_9:3).
Mic_6:7. Hath Jehovah pleasure in thousands (hecatombs) of rams ? in myriads of oil-brooks? (cf. Job_20:17). The questions, as the connection shows, are not rhetorical (Luther), but express the good resolution, the spirit of anxious and earnest inquiry : if so, then we would fain offer them to Him. Libations of oil were an essential element of the meat-offering;, and the thank-offering (Lev_2:1; Lev_2:15; Lev_7:12). The climax culminates with the latter half of Mic_6:7 : Shall I give up my first-born, the best and last that I have, as a sin-offering for myself? As elsewhere חטאה and אשׁם, so here פשׁע stands, the sin for the offering which is brought as its equivalent. The fruit, offspring, of my body, as an atonement for my soul ? Cf. Deu_7:13. The external disposition, as it is of heathen origin and nature, so it proceeds, even to the final consequence, to atone for sin by sin, even by murder. Thus the kings of Moab sacrificed their first-born (2Ki_3:27). According to Israel-itish principles the firstlings belonged naturally to God, so that the offering might not once have been a strange gift for God, but the law directed that the first born of men should be ransomed (Exo_13:13); it demands a disposition most completely ready to offer all, but not the external act (Genesis 22.). And to this direction of the entire life, which alone gives all its moral value and accepta-bleness with God to each particular deed, the prophet also points in what immediately follows.
Mic_6:8. He, namely, God (Hitzig and Hessel-berg, indefinitely: they), hath made known to thee, O man, what is good. Ye know, why do ye ask? Is it not an idle question, contrived that, instead of the answer, an escape for thy conscience should be offered thee ? And what Jehovah seeketh of thee (cf. Luk_13:7). Since מה, repeated in the two preceding clauses, is used in the sense of “nothing” as in the rhetorical question, Ecc_1:3, it may be followed by כי אם, nisi: nothing else does Jehovah seek of thee, but to do right, suum cuique, and love mercy, the disposition from which flows the beneficent discharge of the duties of the law (Pro_21:21), a contrast toch. Mic_3:2; and walk humbly (on the const, cf. Ewald. § 280, c. [Text, and Gram, on Oba_1:4]) before thy God (cf. 1Sa_15:22; Hos_6:6). Micah’s accurate acquaintance with the whole Pentateuch, which stands out through these chapters especially, appears here also, and here in a way doubly important for historical criticism, since it involves Deuteronomy : the passage referred to as God’s word connects itself exactly, in matter and form, with Deu_10:12; cf. also Deu_16:12; Deu_8:14).
Mic_6:9 to Mic_7:6. Second Stage. Mic_6:9-16. The Judgment in the Case. The voice of Jehovah, that judges mightily (Amo_1:2), calls concerning the city, i. e., Jerusalem, the representative of the sins of the people, Mic_1:5 (לְ as Oba_1:1); and after the true, wisdom, which has in itself the pledge of its prosperous issue and result (Job_5:12; Job_6:13), thy name looks out, the holy manifestation of thyself in the judgment (Isa_30:27 : cf. for the sense of the phrase, Psa_14:2.—Benary (De Leviratu Hebr., p. 70), Keil: Wisdom has regard to thy name. Caspari: O, what wisdom, if one sees thy name. In the last-named writer see also many other explanations of the passage. [Cf. Text, and Gram, note.]—The sudden variation of the person is common in all the prophets; and thus the discourse turns back again here in what immediately follows to the people: Perceive the scourge, the judgment appointed by Jehovah, here by metonomy for the discourse which treats of it, as in Isa_10:5; Isa_10:24, for the Assyrian power which executes it, and who hath appointed it!שׁמע has a double construction, first with the ace. obj., then with an object-clause. מטה is gen. comm., not merely masc, cf. Num. 17:22. He has appointed the rod whose law is continually broken. The rod itself is not described until Mic_6:13 ff.; the reason for it is first given, Mic_6:10 ff.
Mic_6:10. Are there yet, he asks (אשׁ, more Aram, for יֵשׁ, 2Sa_14:19) in the house of the wicked the treasures of wickedness, gained by wickedness, as e.g., by what is immediately indicated; yea, the lean Epha, accursed? The epha of leanness is the false measure of grain, forbidden in the law (Deu_25:14 ff.), too small, contrasted with שׁלמה, the right measure, which, as opposed to the crime before us, is called (Lev_19:36) an epha of righteousness (Caspari). This connection shows that in the interrogation in the first member, the point is, not that former sins have not been expiated by the restoration of ill-gotten treasures, but that still new sins are ever heaping up, and thus God’s requirement in Mic_6:8 is ever broken anew.
Mic_6:11. In the same sense he proceeds, looking back to Deu_25:19 ff.: Can I—as much as to say : can one now; an exemplification in the first person, common also in English (cf. Glassii, Phil. Sac., p. 898 f.)—remain pure with the balance of wickedness, and with the bag with weights of deceit? The sinners dream that by their offerings before God they shall stand pure, in spite of their daily repeated sins; that is the faulty moral apprehension which the prophet would destroy. The sins of trade and exchange here named may have been particularly rife with the Jewish national character, but they stand palpably representative of all injustice (cf. 1Th_4:6).
Mic_6:12. Over these instances this verse, by the relative applying to the city, reaches back to Mic_6:9 : Her rich men are full of violence. Such relative connections (אֶשֶׁר עֲשִׁירֶיהָ) have the character of an exclamation, or direct call, cf. Amo_6:3 ff.; Mic_6:3 (quos ego!). And her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deception in their mouth. As this array of their sins rests on the Psalms, so that of threatened penalties (Mic_6:13 ff.), rests on the Pentateuch (Lev_16:25 f.; Deu_28:39 f.). And so also I, as intimated in Mic_6:9, have made sick the blows upon thee, i. e., I smite thee mortally; cf. for the expression, Nah_3:19; for the matter, Isaiah 1.; Mic_1:9; with devastation (inf. abs., probably gerund, Gesenius, § 131, 2; the form, Gesen-ius, § 67, Rem. 10) on account of thy sins.
Mic_6:14. Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied; cf. for the fulfillment, Jer_52:6; Hag_1:6; and thy emptiness shall remain in thy bowels! Thou shalt carry away, flee with thy goods and family, and not save; and what thou shalt save, will I give to the sword. Cf. Jer_50:37; Jer_42:16.
Mic_6:15. Thou shalt sow … not drink wine. The enemy shall reap thy harvests and plunder thy stores (Amo_5:11, cf. the reference in Isa_62:8 ff.).
In Mic_6:16, finally, sin and punishment are oncemore briefly grouped together : Yea, they observe—instead of the customary Kal, he designedly chooses the strongest form, Hithpael, the reflexive of Piel (Jon_2:9), to express the carefulness of the observance (Hitzig)—the statutes of Omri and all the doings of the house of Ahab, the Baal worship (1Ki_16:31 f.) and all the other abominations (e. g., 1Ki_22:27), by which this abandoned dynasty had from the beginning disgraced the ungodly throne (Psa_94:20) of the kingdom of Israel; human statutes instead of God’s Word (Lev_20:23), such as indeed had under Ahaz broken into Judah also (2Ki_16:3; 2Ch_28:2). And so ye walk in their counsels, that (ironically; the actual results of the corruption represented instead of the desired fruits of their luxurious prosperity, as Hos_8:4) I may make theeלמען, c. inf. as Mic_6:5) a ruin (Mic_3:12), and her (Jerusalem’s) inhabitants a hissing; and the disgrace of my people—ye shall bear it; the present generation is ripe for the curse, which the Lord had cast forth in the law for the future of his people (Isa_65:7).
See Mic_7:1 for DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL and HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Footnotes:
[1][Mic_6:7.— פֶּשַׁע and הַטָּאת are regarded by many as used by metonomy for “sin-offering,” “expiation.” Perhaps however they are quite as well taken to be adverb, ace. (Gesen. § 118, 3); and at all events, the rendering of the Eug. Vers, gives the sense : and so Zunz. — Tr.]
[2][Mic_6:8. — Our author with Hitzig, disregarding the accentuation, makes וּמָּה also dependent on הִגִּיד: “and what Jehovah seeks of thee ;” and then translates כִּי אִם : “nothing but.” Maurer’s refutation of Hitzig at this point is harsh and petulant, but effectual. — Tr.]
[3][Mic_6:9. — Kleinert, with Maurer and many others, inverts the order of these words, with the advantage of thus securing an obvious agreement in gender between יִרְאֶה and its subj., and a thought at least equally appropriate. But as there is some doubt about the meaning, — “look out for,” circumsprctare, chcumspicere — thus ascribed to רָאָה, And as “wisdom” may very well stand for “the wise man.,” it seems preferable to adopt the simplest translation, following the very order of the Hebrew words. The Exegetical note will give several of the many renderings which have been proposed. — Tr.]
[4] [Mic_7:4. — Kleinert treats יוֹם as an ace. of time, translating :
In the day of thy seers,
When thy visitation cometh,
and in the next member would have תִּהְיֶה in the second pers. maso.: Thou shalt be ensnared by them. — Tr.]
[5][Mic_7:8. — I do not think the לִי “pleonastic” here, but rather as giving the ground of the hostile “joy.” — Tr.]
[6][Mic_7:12. — מָצוֹר, properly signifying, “bulwark,” or “fortification,” “strength,” is here almost certainly used of Egypt, probably with a play on the name of the latter. Pusey : “The name Matsor, which he gives to Egypt, modifying its ordinary dual name Mitzraim, is meant at once to signify “Egypt” [Isa_19:6; Isa_37:25], and to mark the strength of the country.” — Tr.]
[7] [Mic_7:14. — Kleinert changes the punctuation, putting a period after c, and then reads : —
In the forest in the midst of Oarniel may they feed,
In Bashan, etc.
“Dwelling alone” is in either case parenthetic, but it seems just as well to connect what immediately follows with the “feed,” etc., in the first member, as is done above — Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Jehovah’s complaint, Mic_6:1-8.
Jehovah’s complaint, Mic_6:1-8.
In these verses the prophet pictures, in dramatic form, a judicial contest between Jehovah and his people. Jehovah himself presents the accusation. He calls attention to the countless blessings bestowed upon the nation during its past history, and complains that his loving care has been met with basest ingratitude (1-5). Against this accusation the people seek to defend themselves by expressing their willingness to do anything to win the divine favor. If they have fallen short it is due to their ignorance of the real requirements of Jehovah (6, 7). To this plea the reply is made that ignorance is inexcusable, since the demands of Jehovah have been made known again and again (8).
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1. Hear ye — The accused people.
Arise, contend — The prophet acts as go-between. He summons the criminals to appear in court, hear the indictment, and plead their case.
Before the mountains,… hills — This is undoubtedly the meaning, but the original reads “with,” and a slight alteration may be necessary. The controversy is to take place in the presence of the mountains and hills as the “abiding witnesses of all passing events from age to age.”
JEHOVAH AND ISRAEL IN CONTROVERSY — THE ULTIMATE SETTLEMENT, Mic_6:1 to Mic_7:20.
With Mic_6:1, begins a new series of utterances. The contents and arrangement are essentially the same as in the preceding sections, denunciation of sin, announcement of judgment, promise of the redemption and glorification of a remnant.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1–5. The first part of a controversy between Jehovah…
1–5. The first part of a controversy between Jehovah and His people
1. before the mountains] The mountains have witnessed all Israel’s past history, the favours conferred upon him, and his base return. Comp. Deu_32:1, Isa_1:2.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) Hear ye now what the Lord saith.—The third…
VI.
(1) Hear ye now what the Lord saith.—The third portion of Micah’s prophecy opens with a solemn appeal to Nature to hear the Lord pleading with His people. A similar summons is found in Deu_32:1 : “Give ear, O ye heavens, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ver. 1-ch. Mic_1:2)
Ver. 1-ch. Mic_1:2)
Vers. 1-5. The memories of the way.
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Truly affecting are those portions of Scripture in which God is represented as expostulating and pleading with erring men. (Hos_6:4 Hos_11:8 Isa_1:16-20 Jer_2:1-14) The opening verses of this chapter are of the same character. God testifies, and in so doing calls upon the mountains and hills and strong foundations of the earth which have stood from age to age to bear him witness and confirm his testimony (ver. 2). "O my people," he cries, "what have I done unto thee," etc.? What sadness, what piercing grief, what ineffable sorrow, is implied in these words! Truly God grieves over sinning men. He is not impassive, but is infinitely sensible to the sins and sorrows of men, and every transgression strikes a pang into the heart of the Divine Father. Surely this sorrow of Divine love over the evils inflicted by man upon himself through sin should lead us back to God in humility, in penitence, and in submission to his authority and will. How remarkable is the faculty of memory, strengthening the affections, aiding progress, increasing enjoyment, and alleviating sorrow! Well may the poet sing of "the morning star of memory." The prophet desired his people to review the past of their national history, that by these "memories of the way" they might be impelled to "return unto the Lord." Concerning these memories, note
I THEIR REMARKABLE VARIETY. There were memories of:
1. Wondrous deliverances. From Egyptian bondage (ver. 3); from the curse pronounced by Balaam (ver. 4).
2. Heavenly guidance. "I sent before thee Moses" (ver. 4) the distinguished leader and lawgiver.
3. Sacred fellowship. "Aaron" (ver. 4) their high priest and intercessor, who led them in thought into "the holiest of all.
4. Grateful adoration. "Miriam" (ver. 4), with timbrel and dance inspiring them to celebrate in rapturous praise God"s redeeming mercy.
5. Continuous interposition. "From Shittim unto Gllgal" (ver. 5), i.e. from the desert unto the promised laud; by miracle, type, prophecy, and promise, they were continually experiencing Divine help and encouragement. So with us; mercies temporal and spiritual have been bestowed upon us in infinite variety; whilst in number they have been more than could be counted.
II THEIR INTENDED INFLUENCE. These remembrances and memories of God"s great goodness are designed to lead men to know the righteousness of the Lord" (ver. 5), and to give him the unswerving confidence of their hearts. Through all his dealings with the children of men he has been calling them to repentance, faith, newness of life, the putting away of cherished sin, the detaching themselves from ungodly associations, the breaking away from habits of evil, the experience of the most satisfying good, and to the purest and noblest service.
III THEIR EMPHATIC TESTIMONY. The Most High, in deigning to expostulate with erring men, makes his appeal to these (ver. 3). He asks, "O my people, what have I done unto thee?" And must not this be our answer, "Nothing but good; good, only good"? "Wherein have I wearied thee?" he asks. And must we not reply, "Thy commandments are not grievous; yet surely we have wearied thee by the way in which we have slighted and neglected them, and have failed to yield to them the true obedience of our hearts and lives?" "Testify against me," says God. "Nay, we can only testify against ourselves." To thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, but unto us shame and confusion of face (Dan_9:7) "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God," etc. (Rom_12:1) Then all must be well with us here, and at last we shall enter the land of light and rest and fulness of joy, where, with memory never failing, and with gratitude rising ever higher, we shall reflect upon the entire course along which we have been guided and upheld by him whose mercy and love endure forevermore.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT Vers. 1-5. A protest and a retrospect.
The serious state of the cue between Jehovah and his people is shown by this appeal to the hills and mountains. As though among all the nations none could be found impartial enough to be umpires, or even witnesses, inanimate nature must supply its testimony. (Illustrate from Job_12:7, 8 Isa_1:2, 3 Luk_19:40 2Pe_2:16) The mountains hays stability; not so the favoured nation. They have survived many generations of God"s ungrateful beneficiaries, and have been witnesses of the blessings those thankless ones have received. The cliffs of Horeb have echoed back the precepts and promises of Jehovah, and the gentler tones of his "still small voice," but his people have remained deaf to his appeals. Hence
I A PROTEST. Before Jehovah passes judgment he permits himself to be regarded as the defendant if his people can venture to bring any charge against him. He knows that nothing but unrighteous treatment on his part could justify them in departing from him. Hence the appeal in Jer_2:5, and the similar remonstrances of Christ in Joh_8:46 and Joh_10:32.Nothing but intolerable grievances can justify a national revolt or a desertion of the paternal home. Had God "wearied" Israel by unreasonable treatment? The whole history of the nation refutes the suggested libel. Or can we make any such charges against God? What can they be?
1. Undue severity? Can my people" (what a sermon in that mere term!) say so? (Job_11:6 Psa_103:10 Dan_9:7)
2. A harsh and trying temper? The very opposite is the spirit of "the Father of mercies". (Psa_145:8, Psa_145:9)
3. Unreasonable exactions of service? No; he can make the appeal, "I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense". (Isa_43:23) His "yoke is easy;" "His commandments are not grievous.
4. Negligence in his training of us? Far from it; he can declare, "What could have been done more?" etc. (Isa_5:1-4) Forbearance, loving kindness, and thoughtful consideration have marked God"s conduct throughout. The case against God utterly breaks down. Instead of desiring to remonstrate, or even "reason with God," u at one time Job did, every reasonable soul, hearing God"s words and catching some vision of his glory, must acknowledge, as that patriarch did, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes". (cf. Job_13:3 Job_42:5, Job_42:6) The way is cleared. O God, thou art justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou art judged. And now God"s messenger may take up his parable, like Samuel, (1Sa_12:7) and God himself may make the appeal in vers. 4, 5.
II A RETROSPECT. Jehovah selects specimens of his gracious dealings with them from their early history. He reminds them of:
1. A grand redemption. (Ver. 4) We, too, as a nation can speak of great deliverances from political and ecclesiastical bondage. See T.H. Gill"s hymn"Lift thy song among the nations, England of the Lord beloved." etc.
And for each of us has been provided a redemption from a worse than Egyptian bondage, through "Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us.
2. Illustrious leaders. Moses, their inspired lawgiver and the friend of God; (Num_12:8) Aaron, their high priest and intercessor; Miriam, a singer, poet, prophetess. What memories of "the loving kindnesses of the Lord" these names would recall the Paschal night, the morning of final deliverance and song of triumph by the Red Sea, the manna, the plague stayed, etc.! We, too, can look back on our illustrious leaders in English history. And in common with the whole of Christendom, "all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas the apostles, the martyrs, the preachers, the poets of the past are yours" by right, if not by actual enjoyment.
3. Foes frustrated. (Ver. 5) "Remember now a word of tender appeal, as though God would say, "Oh, do remember." Balak was a representative foe, striving against Israel, first by policy (Numbers 22), then by villainy (Numbers 25), and finally by violence (Numbers 31). Again the parallel may be traced in national and individual history.
4. Curses turned into blessings. (Deu_23:5) So has it been with many of the trials of the past. Remember from Shittim unto Gilgal" (Num_25:1 and Jos_4:19). What a contrast! Sins forgiven; reproach "rolled away"; (Jos_5:9) chastisements blessed; the long looked for land of promise entered. All these blessings show us "the righteous acts of the Lord." They remind us of the successive acts of God"s righteous grace. They make sin against him shamefully ungrateful as well as grossly unjust. Oh, that the goodness of God may lead to repentance! that he may overcome our evil by his good! that "the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" may constrain us to live henceforth, not to ourselves, but to him! E.S.P.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1-5. Man in the moral court of history.
"Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord"s controversy and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel," etc. There are three things here very striking and deserving our solemn attention.
I HERE IS A CALL ON MAN TO GIVE AUDIENCE TO ALMIGHTY GOD. "Hear ye now what the Lord saith." These are the words of the prophet who speaks in the name of Jehovah, and on his behalf. Such an audience as this is:
1. Natural. What is more natural than for the child to hang on the lips and attend to the words of his parent? How much more natural for the finite intelligence to open its ears to the words of the Infinite! It is more natural for the human soul to look up, listening, to the great Father-Spirit, and to receive communication from him, than for the earth to thirst for the sunbeam and the shower. The human soul is made for it.
2. Binding. Of all duties it is the meet primary and imperative. The great command of God to all is, "Hearken diligently to me; hear, and your soul shall live". (Isa_55:2, Isa_55:3) The conscience of every man tells him that his great duty is to heat God in all the operations of nature, in all the events of life, in all the teachings of the Bible, in all the monitions of the soul. God is always speaking to man. Would that the human ear was ever open to his voice!
3. Indispensible. It is only as men hear, interpret, digest, appropriate, and incarnate God"s Word that they can rise to a true, a noble, and a happy life. Hear ye now, then, what the Lord saith." Now. In the scenes of retribution whither you are hastening, you will be bound to hear his voice, whether you wish or not.
II HERE IS A SUMMONS TO INANTIMATE NATURE TO HEAR THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. "Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord"s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel." "It is not unusual," says an eminent biblical scholar, "with the prophets to make appeals respecting the enormity of human guilt to the inanimate part of creation, as if it were impossible for it not to inspire them with life, mad call them as intelligent witnesses of what had taken place in their presence. (see Deu_32:1 Isa_1:2 Jer_2:12, Jer_2:18) By a similar personification, the mountains and durable foundations of the earth are here summoned to appear in the court of heaven. Jehovah, however, instead of bringing forward the charge, abdicates, as it were, his right, and leaves it to the guilty party to state the case. In the appeal to lofty and ever during mountains, in which the puny affairs of man could excite no prejudice, and which might therefore be regarded as quite impartial judges, there is something inexpressibly sublime." The appeal to inanimate nature:
1. Indicates the earnestness of the prophet. He would seem to speak with such vehement earnestness as if he would wake the dead mountains and hills to hear his voice, and shake the very "foundations of the earth" with his thunders. He would cry aloud and spare not. Every minister should be earnest. "Passion is reason" here.
2. Suggests the stupidity of the people. Perhaps the prophet meant to compare them to the dead hills and mountains. As firmly settled in sin were they as the mountains, as hard in heart as the rocks.
3. Hints the universality of his theme. His mission had no limitation; his doctrine was no secret, it was as open and free as nature.
III HERE IS A CHALLENGE TO MAN TO FIND FAULT WITH DIVINE DEALINGS. "O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me." His challenge:
1. Implies that they could bring nothing against him. "What have I done unto thee?" which means, "I have done nothing. I have not treated you with injustice, I have laid on you no intolerable burdens, I dare you to charge me with any act unrighteous or unkind? What fault has the sinner to find with God?
2. Declares that he had done everything for them. He here reminds them of:
(1) His delivering them from Egyptian bondage. "I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants.
(2) What he did for them on the way to Canaan. "I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." Moses the lawgiver, Aaron the priest, and Miriam the prophetess.
(3) What he did for them in Canaan. "O my people, remember now what Balak King of Moab consulted," etc. He not only furnished them with inspired teachers, but counteracted the designs of false ones, as in the ease of Balaam, who was engaged by Balak to curse them, but was inspired by Heaven to bless them. If the Israelites could find no fault with God, and if he did so much for them, how stand we here in this country and in this age under the full light of the gospel dispensation? What more could he have done for us than he has? etc.
CONCLUSION. Sinner, you are in the great moral court of the universe, you are arraigned before your Judge, you are commanded to listen to his voice. Inanimate nature around is a witness against you in this court; the very timbers of the wall will cry out against you. You are commanded to give a full explanation of your conduct. If you have any fault to find with the Almighty, bring it forth. If you have not, ponder until your heart breaks into penitence and gratitude at the memory of his wonderful mercies to you. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the…
Mic_6:1-3
Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice
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Gods controversy with Israel
In this text we have God offering to plead before the sinner.
The parties, who are they? On the one part, the Lord of universal nature. On the other part, man, Israel, the Church. The manner of pleading this cause. Who can coolly hear this language? At the sound of these words conscience takes fright. The matter of controversy is, the whole conduct of man to God, and the whole conduct of God to man.
I. Hear what complaints man has to bring against God, and what, God has to answer. That a creature should complain of his Creator should seem a paradox. We are apt to complain of God on three accounts: His law seems too severe, His temporal favours too small, and His judgments too rigorous.
1. Are not the laws of God just in themselves. What is the design of those laws? Is it not to make you as happy as possible? Are not those laws infinitely proper to make you happy in this world? And doth not God exemplify these laws Himself? What does God require of you, but to endeavour to please Him?
2. Complaints against God as the governor of the world. Man complains of providence; the economy of it is too narrow and confined, the temporal benefits bestowed are too few and partial. This complaint, we allow, has some colour. But from the mouth of a Christian it cannot come without extreme ignorance and ingratitude. If the morality of Jesus Christ he examined it will be found almost incompatible with worldly prosperity. Temporal prosperity is often hostile to our happiness. Had God given us a life full of charms we should have taken little thought about another.
3. Complaints against the rigour of His judgments. If we consider God as a Judge, what a number of reasons may be assigned to prove the equity of all the evils that He hath brought upon us. But if God be considered as a Father, all these chastisements, even the most rigorous of them, are perfectly consistent with His character. It was His love that engaged Him to employ such severe means for your benefit.
II. Hear what complaints God has to bring against man. Every one is acquainted with the irregularities of the Jews. They corrupted both natural and revealed religion. And their crimes were aggravated by the innumerable blessings which God bestowed on them. Apply to ourselves--
1. When God distinguishes a people by signal favours, the people ought to distinguish themselves by gratitude to Him. When were ever any people so favoured as we are?
2. When men are under the hand of an angry God they are called to mourning and contrition. We are under the correcting hand of God. What are the signs of our right feeling and mood?
3. To attend public worship is not to obtain the end of the ministry. Not to become wise by attending it is to increase our miseries by aggravating our sins.
4. Slander is a dangerous vice. It is tolerated in society only because every one has an invincible inclination to commit it.
5. If the dangers that threaten us, and the blows that providence strikes, ought to affect us all, they ought those most of all who are most exposed to them.
6. If gaming be innocent in any circumstances, they are uncommon and rare. Such is the controversy of God with you. It is your part to reply. What have you to say in your own behalf? (J. Saurin.)
Gods appeal to His people
The prophet is directed to plead with Judah, and to expostulate with them for their rebellious backslidings. The prophet is directed to address himself to inanimate nature; to summons the very senseless earth itself, as it were, to be an auditor of his words, and an umpire between God and His people. There is something, indeed, very solemn and awful in this appeal. The prophet was directed to proclaim, in the face of all nature, the equity and justice of Gods dealings; and to challenge, as it were, a scrutiny from His people. He condescends to put Himself (so to speak) on trial, to demand an investigation into His dealings, and to plead His cause as man with his fellow man. Having exhibited the claims which God had upon the grateful obedience of His people, and, by consequence, the inexcusableness of their revolt, the prophet next introduces, in His figurative description, the Israelites as being struck with alarm and consternation at the condition whereunto their transgression had brought them, and, in the excitement of their minds, as seeking to appease the anger of a justly offended God by the most costly and abundant sacrifices. May we not take up the words of the prophet, and, adapting them to our own times and circumstances, say, The Lord hath a controversy with His people? May we not, as Micah did, stand forth to challenge a hearing for the cause of the Lord, to show of His righteous dealings towards us, to plead for the equity and mercy of His government, and to leave the folly and ingratitude and rebellion of those whom He hath so signally favoured utterly and absolutely without excuse? We cannot plead ignorance, or that He is a rigid taskmaster whose service is hard and oppressive. Nor can a conscious sense of unfitness and depravity be pleaded as an excuse for not complying with the invitations of a gracious God to engage in His service. Why, then, is it that men refuse to listen to the gracious calls of God? There is but one plea that can be urged with any apparent reason; namely, the utter inability of fallen man, of himself, to turn unto God, or to make one movement toward that which is good. While it is acknowledged that the grace of God alone can change the carnal mind, and renew the corrupt heart, and incline the apostate will, yet we must ever bear in mind that God worketh not without means; He accomplisheth not without methods and instruments. In the work of grace it is precisely as in the works of nature, that God hath appointed certain steps to be followed, in the economy of His providence, on the part of man, which He doth cause to be successful to the production of their object. Then we must use the means of His special appointment; humbly come to Him in faith and prayer, to pray that we may have grace to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. (J. B. Smith, D. D.)
Man in the moral court of history
I. Here is a call on man to give audience to Almighty God. Hear ye now what the Lord saith.
1. Natural. What is more natural than for a child to hang on the lips and attend to the words of his parent? How much more natural for the finite intelligence to open its ears to the words of the Infinite!
2. Binding. The great command of God to all is, Hearken diligently to Me; hear, and your souls shall live.
3. Indispensable. It is only as men hear, interpret, digest, appropriate, incarnate Gods Word that they can rise to a true, noble, and happy life.
II. Here is a summons to inanimate nature to hear the controversy between God and Man. Arise, contend thou before the mountains. The appeal to inanimate nature--
1. Indicates the earnestness of the prophet. Every minister should be earnest. Passion is reason here.
2. Suggests the stupidity of the people. Perhaps the prophet meant to compare them to the dead hills and mountains. As hard in heart as the rocks.
3. Hints the universality of his theme. His doctrine was no secret; it was as open and free as nature.
III. A challenge to Man to find fault with Divine dealings. This implies--
1. That they could bring nothing against Him.
2. It declares that He had done everything for them. (Homilist.)
Hear ye, O mountains, the Lords controversy--
The influences of external nature
The striking feature of Micahs prophecy is the mode in which he appeals to the objects of nature. While Isaiah borrows his imagery from the sublime realms of the imagination; Jeremiah, from the scenes of human life; Ezekiel, from the realms of the dead; and Daniel, from allegories connected with history; Micah paints from the mountain, the tree, and the flood. In the text, and many other passages, we see the tendency of this prophet to associate with the external forms of nature the presence and the judgments of God. It is very natural that the objects of Gods creation should speak to the human mind of Himself. The sublime silence of nature raises our mind far above the thoughts of this world, and fixes its gaze on the Eternal.
1. The objects of nature in their different ways speak of Him, and show in singular fashion how He is ever present at the events of mankind.
2. The objects of nature indirectly speak of religion and of heaven to the thoughtful mind. They embody and call out from us each elementary principle of religion. Majesty and sublimity are suggested by the mountain; repose by the evening sky; joy and gladness by that of the morning, etc.
3. The objects of nature become the home of association. This power of association that connects us to the scenes of daily life is essentially religious; it appeals to all the higher and holier parts of our nature when severed from their earthly dross.
4. There is another way in which this appeal to nature becomes a very practical matter. Nature is monotonous; so is God. We find it where we left it. The scene of nature which witnessed our early devotion becomes in after years our accuser and condemnation.
5. And nature suggests the Divine cause, the intelligent mind, the adaptation of the physical world to the wants of His creatures. But while this observation of nature so elevates the mind to God, it has its faults and infirmities, which are its own. Without the Word of God the works of God may mislead us. There is a further infirmity; the tendency there is in the objects of nature to cast melancholy and despondency over the mind. There are two elements of our nature which produce conscious happiness--hope and practical energy. To make hope effective, there must be a certain amount of connection between our practical energy and itself. The essence and health of our being rests in overcoming difficulties. Where we find no opportunity of doing this we become conscious of feelings without their natural vent, and the result is melancholy and ennui. But when we come to gaze upon the sublime forms of nature, none of our practical energies being of necessity called out towards them, we turn away with impressions of disappointment and sadness: the objects are too much for us, because we are not necessarily practically concerned upon them. It is singular that few people are more negligent of the call to Divine worship, are more blunted in their appreciation of Christianity, than the farming and agricultural classes. Manufacturing populations are much more actively intelligent. (E. Munro.)
O My people, what have I done irate thee?--
The Lords controversy with us
God offers Himself to be judged as to His dealings.
1. Is there nowhere a cry to provoke the Lord to ask, What have I done unto you? What should the heart reply? It concerns us to consider. When we fall short in putting to account the whole store of Gods mercies we are sure to charge the deficiency upon Gods niggardliness, and not upon our own unfaithfulness; for self-justification is always the immediate consequence of self-inflicted loss. It is the very extent of Gods mercies which makes men murmurers and complainers; for by so much the more they have failed to take due advantage of them. What would one reasonably expect from those highly favoured of God? But what is the real state of things? Discontent, disobedience, unthankfulness, unwatchfulness, murmurings, rebellion, open violation of Gods statutes, public profanation of His ordinances, common and declared neglect and contempt of His sacraments and means of grace, are the prevailing features of the picture. What a question to be put by a merciful God and a redeeming Saviour, to any one of us--What have I done unto Thee? Do we incur the rebuke?
2. The question goes further yet,--Wherein have I wearied thee? How cutting a question to the people that profess His name! (R. W. Evans, B. D.)
The Lords controversy
The history of Israel is a most humbling and affecting picture of the depravity of the human heart. The Sinai covenant, though it had much of Gospel in it, yet was essentially a covenant of works. The turning point of its blessings was the nations obedience. In the New Testament the legal dispensation is ever opposed to the Gospel covenant, in which the turning point is not our obedience, but the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ; yet are its blessings dispensed in such a way as infallibly secures the highest obedience of the renewed soul. The first covenant excited to holiness, and in those that were real saints, and lived above their covenant, it promoted it, but did not secure it; but the Gospel not only excites on higher grounds, not only promotes to the highest point, but infallibly secures sanctification in all that really receive it.
II. Gods affecting complaint of His ancient people. They were wearied of the Lord and His pleasant service. And as they sowed, they reaped. They reaped misery and destruction. But is this confined to them? How often even the true saints of God seem weary of their God! How soon we are weary of His services; of His rod; aye, even of God Himself,
II. Gods most tender expostulation. Such an expostulation from a grieved fellow creature would be wonderful, but consider the dignity of Him who speaketh. Let unwearied kindness, unbroken faithfulness, tender love, most unmerited and most sovereign grace all speak. Oh, that this view of the Divine character were laid on all our hearts and consciences! Oh, that our souls might be stirred up deeply to repent of past unwearinesses, to take them to the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and there receiving fresh springs of life and love, consecrate ourselves unweariedly to His glory. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
What can man accuse, God of?
It is impossible to predict what impression the same truth will make upon the different minds of men. But surely, all the terrors of God could not more effectually overawe the heart of a sinner than the passage of Scripture which I have now read. It strikes my ear like the last sound of Gods mercy. Instead of vindicating His authority, does He condescend to plead the reasonableness of His law? Then His forbearance is almost exhausted, and the day of grace is nearing its end. The supreme Lord of heaven and earth appeals to sinners themselves, for the mildness and equity of His government; and challenges them to produce one instance of undue severity towards them, or the least shadow of excuse for their undutiful behaviour towards Him.
I. A direct proof of the goodness of God, and of his tender concern for the welfare of His creatures. This appears from--
1. The unwearied patience which He exercises towards transgressors.
2. The sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The various means which God employs for reclaiming men from their ways of folly and vice. He is not only the gracious Author of the plan of redemption, but He has likewise set before us the most powerful motives to persuade us to embrace His proffered favour, and to comply with His designs of mercy.
4. The fact that He has selected some of the most notorious offenders in the different ages of the world to be monuments of the riches of His grace.
II. Objections urged against the mildness and equity of the Divine administration.
1. Is it the holiness and perfection of His law that is complained of? This complaint is both foolish and ungrateful. The law of God requires nothing but what tends to make us happy, nor doth it forbid anything which would not be productive of our misery.
2. Is it the threatening with which the law is enforced that is complained of? But shall God be reckoned an enemy to your happiness because He useth the most effectual means to promote it? There is a friendly design in all Gods threatenings.
3. Perhaps the objection is to the final execution of the threatenings. But would the threatenings be of any use at all if the sinner knew that they would never be executed?
4. Do you blame God for the temptations you meet with in the world, and those circumstances of danger with which you are surrounded? But temptations have no compulsive efficacy; all they can do is solicit and entice.
5. Do you object that you cannot reclaim or convert yourselves? But you can use the means appointed. He who does not employ these faithfully, complains very unreasonably if the grace is withheld which is only promised with the use of the means. The truth of the matter is, that the sinner has no right to complain of God; he destroys himself by his own wilful and obstinate folly, and then he accuses God, as if He were the cause of his misery. Consider that to be your own destroyers is to counteract the very strongest principle of your natures, the principle of self-preservation. (H. Blair, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain WE have now reached a passage from which all…
THE REASONABLENESS OF TRUE RELIGION
Mic_6:1-8
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WE have now reached a passage from which all obscurities of date and authorship disappear before the transparence and splendor of its contents. "These few verses," says a great critic, "in which Micah sets forth the true essence of religion, may raise a well-founded title to be counted as the most important in the prophetic literature. Like almost no others, they afford us an insight into the innermost nature of the religion of Israel, as delivered by the prophets."
Usually it is only the last of the verses upon which the admiration of the reader is bestowed: "What doth the Lord require of thee, O man, but to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God?" But in truth the rest of the passage differeth not in glory; the wonder of it lies no more in its peroration than in its argument as a whole.
The passage is cast in the same form as the opening chapter of the book-that of the Argument or Debate between the God of Israel and His people, upon the great theatre of Nature. The heart must be dull that does not leap to the Presences before which the trial is enacted.
The prophet speaks:-
"Hear ye now that which Jehovah is saying; Arise, contend before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice! Hear, O mountains, the Lords Argument, And ye, the everlasting foundations of earth!"
This is not mere scenery. In all the moral questions between God and man, the prophets feel that Nature is involved. Either she is called as a witness to the long history of their relations to each other, or as sharing Gods feeling off the intolerableness of the evil which men have heaped upon her, or by her droughts and floods and earthquakes as the executioner of their doom. It is in the first of these capacities that the prophet in this passage appeals to the mountains and eternal foundations of earth. They are called, not because they are the biggest of existences, but because they are the most full of memories and associations with both parties to the Trial.
The main idea of the passage, however, is the trial itself. We have seen more than once that the forms of religion which the prophets had to combat were those which expressed it mechanically in the form of ritual and sacrifice, and those which expressed it in mere enthusiasm and ecstasy. Between such extremes the prophets insisted that religion was knowledge and that it was conduct rational intercourse and loving duty between God and man. This is what they figure in their favorite scene of a Debate which is now before us.
"Jehovah hath a Quarrel with His People, And with Israel He cometh to argue."
To us, accustomed to communion with the Godhead, as with a Father, this may seem formal and legal. But if we so regard it we do it an injustice. The form sprang by revolt against mechanical and sensational ideas of religion. It emphasized religion as rational and moral, and at once preserved the reasonableness of God and the freedom of man. God spoke with the people whom He had educated: He plead with them, listened to their statements and questions, and produced His own evidences and reasons. Religion-such a passage as this asserts-religion is not a thing of authority nor of ceremonial nor of mere feeling, but of argument, reasonable presentation and debate. Reason is not put out of court: mans freedom is respected; and he is not taken by surprise through his fears or his feelings. This sublime and generous conception of religion, which we owe first of all to the prophets in their contest with superstitious and slothful theories off religion that unhappily survive among us, was carried to its climax in the Old Testament by another class of writers. We find it elaborated with great power and beauty in the Books of Wisdom. In these the Divine Reason has emerged from the legal forms now before us, and has become the Associate and Friend off Man. The Prologue to the Book of Proverbs tells how Wisdom, fellow of God from the foundation of the world, descends to dwell among men. She comes forth into their streets and markets, she argues and pleads there with an urgency which is equal to the urgency of temptation itself. But it is not all the earthly ministry of the Son of God, His arguments with the doctors, His parables to the common people, His gentle and prolonged education of His disciples, that we see the reasonableness of religion in all its strength and beauty.
In that free court of reason in which the prophets saw God and man plead together, the subjects were such as became them both. For God unfolds no mysteries, and pleads no power, but the debate proceeds upon the facts and evidences of life: the appearance of character in history; whether the past be not full of the efforts of love; whether God had not, as human willfulness permitted Him, achieved the liberation and progress of His people.
God speaks:-
"My people, what have I done unto thee? And how have I wearied thee-answer Me! For I brought thee up from the land of Misraim, And from the house of slavery I redeemed thee. I sent before thee Moses, Aharon and Miriam. My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, And how he was answered by Balaam, Beors son-So that thou mayest know the righteous deeds of Jehovah."
Always do the prophets go back to Egypt or the wilderness. There God made the people, there He redeemed them. In law book as in prophecy, it is the fact of redemption which forms the main ground of His appeal. Redeemed by Him, the people are not their own, but His. Treated with that wonderful love and patience, like patience and love they are called to bestow upon the weak and miserable beneath them. One of the greatest interpreters of the prophets to our own age, Frederick Denison Maurice, has said upon this passage:
"We do not know God till we recognize Him as a Deliverer; we do not understand our own work in the world till we believe we are sent into it to carry out His designs for the deliverance of ourselves and the race. The bondage I groan under is a bondage of the will. God is emphatically the Redeemer of the Will. It is in Chat character He reveals Himself to us. We could not think of God at all as the God, the living God, if we did not regard Him as such a Redeemer. But if of my will, then of all wills: sooner or later I am convinced He Will be manifested as the Restorer, Regenerator-not of something else, but of this roof the fallen spirit that is within us."
In most of the controversies which the prophets open between God and man, the subject on the side of the latter is his sin. But that is not so here. In the controversy which opens the Book of Micah the argument falls upon the transgressions of the people, but here upon their sincere though mistaken methods of approaching God. There God deals with dull consciences, but here with darkened and imploring hearts. In that case we had rebels forsaking the true God for idols, but here are earnest seekers after God, who have lost their way and are weary. Accordingly, as indignation prevailed there, here prevails pity; and though formally this be a controversy under the same legal form as before, the passage breathes tenderness and gentleness from first to last. By this as well as by the recollections of the ancient history of Israel we are reminded of the style of Hosea. But there is no expostulation, as in his book, with the peoples continued devotion to ritual. All that is past, and a new temper prevails. Israel have at last come to feel the vanity of the exaggerated zeal with which Amos pictures them exceeding the legal requirements of sacrifice; and with a despair, sufficiently evident in the superlatives which they use, they confess the futility and weariness of the whole system, even in the most lavish and impossible forms of sacrifice. What then remains for them to do? The prophet answers with the beautiful words that express an ideal of religion to which no subsequent century has ever been able to add either grandeur or tenderness.
The people speak:-
"Wherewithal shall I come before Jehovah, Shall I bow myself to God the Most High? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings, With calves of one year? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, With myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for a guilt-offering The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
The prophet answers:-
"He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; And what is the Lord seeking from thee, But to do justice and love mercy, And humbly to walk with thy God?"
This is the greatest saying of the Old Testament; and there is only one other in the New which excels it:-
"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
"For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain CRITICAL NOTES.] The third division now begins, after declaration…
CRITICAL NOTES.] The third division now begins, after declaration of judgment and salvation which awaits the future remnant. Hear] Plead with God in controversy. Mts.] Witness and murmur with the echo (Deu_32:1; Isa_1:2). Contend] in strife or quarrel (Jdg_8:1; Isa_1:8.
Mic_6:2. His] Emphatic intentionally to indicate Jehovah’s right to contend, and to sharpen their conscience by pointing to their calling [Keil].
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HOMILETICS
A LISTLESS PEOPLE REBUKED.—Mic_6:1-2
These words are an introduction to what follows, an expostulation to an ungrateful people. God wishes them to see their guilt, and hear his voice in the controversy. A sinful people are obstinate and listless. But they must be roused and reproved:
I. By the voice of God. “Hear ye now what the Lord saith.” God speaks to us and reasons with us in his word. He pleads with his people in condescension and grace, requires them to justify, if possible, their cause, and seeks to prove the equity of his dealings. “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.”
II. By the earnestness of the Prophet. The Prophet was reluctant to herald woe to his people, but the command was urgent. Arise.
1. He was earnest in his tone. “O my people,” Mic_6:3. Bedewed with the spirit of his message.
2. He was earnest in his attitude. Arise, stand up as one having authority to rebuke, ready and undaunted before men. He must rouse himself that he may rouse his hearers. A cold frosty heart can never touch and kindle others into a flame.
3. He was earnest in his method. “Let the hills hear thy voice”—any way to stir up a careless people.
III. By the stability of creation. “Hear, O ye mountains.” Mountains remain steadfast and hills are not carried from their place. The earth changes in its surface and its inhabitants pass away, but rocks endure for ever. Yet Nature is subject to its Creator and trembles at his voice, but men are stupefied and hardened by sin. “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”
THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN GOD AND MAN.—Mic_6:2
I. Man’s complaints against God. He complains,
1. Of a corrupt nature;
2. Of the power of temptation;
3. Of the dealings of Providence.
II. God’s complaints against man.
1. Mercies despised.
2. Grace refused.
3. Calls neglected.
4. Judgments sent in vain [F. Wagstaff].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6
Mic_6:1-2. Hear. If Adam needed to hear his Father’s voice, sounding amid the fair bowers and the unshaded glory of Paradise, surely much more does this prodigal world, that has gone astray from him, need to hear a Father’s voice asking after us, and the first intimations of a Father’s desire that the lost may be found, and the dead at length become alive [Dr Cumming].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain Mic 6:6-8
Mic 6:6-8
Many and various, in all ages, have been the answers to this question, but in spirit and principle they reduce themselves to the three which in these verses are tacitly rejected, that the fourth may be established for all time.
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I. The first answer is, Will Levitical sacrifices suffice? "Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?"—i.e. "Shall I do some outward act or acts to please God?" Men are ever tempted to believe in this virtue of doing something—to ask, as they often asked our Lord, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" There have been attempts in all ages to revive such ceremonials as the Levitical institutes, because they are easier than true holiness, and tend to pacify and appease the perverted conscience. But God’s own Word about them is plain: they perish in the using, they cannot sanctify to the purifying of the flesh.
II. If, then, we cannot please God by merely doing, can we by giving? "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil?" Surely not one of us is so exquisitely foolish as to imagine that he can by gifts win his way one step nearer to the great white throne.
III. What third experiment shall we try? Shall it be by suffering? Shall I, lacerating my heart in its tenderest affection, "give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Has any man ever found these sufferings sufficient? Has any man ever testified that he found forgiveness through voluntary torture? Or is not that true which is said of the prophets of Baal: "They leaped upon the altar, and cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner, and it came to pass that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded."
IV. What, then, is the true way of pleasing God? What is the prophet’s answer? By being. By being just and merciful, and humble before our God. It is the answer of all the prophets, it is the answer of all the Apostles, it is the answer of Christ Himself. God needs not our services, He needs not our gifts, least of all does He need our suffering; but He needs us,—our hearts, our lives, our love.
F. W. Farrar, Silence and Voices of God, p. 71.
References: Mic 6:6-8.—J. Vaughan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 237; Old Testament Outlines, p. 274; A. Watson, Good Words, 1872, p. 131; C. Kingsley, Sermons for the Times, p. 93.
Mic 6:8
Morality and Religion.
I. Morality is good in itself, but when inspired with religious faith and love it becomes better still; then it unites what is fairest on earth with what is most glorious in heaven. Not only does religion add a new and higher beauty to virtue, it is sometimes the only secure defence against temptation to vice and crime. Human weakness, when unsustained by the fear of God, the love of Christ, and the power of the Holy Ghost, is very likely to be mastered by the world, the flesh, and the devil; and there is not a man amongst us who should dare to say: "Let temptation do its worst, and whether God helps me or not I am strong enough to stand against it." There are hundreds who need the resoluteness of heroic strength, and almost a martyr’s constancy, to preserve the commonest human virtues.
II. But while I maintain that religion is the best friend to morality instead of its rival or its foe, I am far from thinking that the Christian Church in our own times is doing all it might for the morals of its own members and for the morals of society at large. I believe that a defective and erroneous theology has enfeebled the religious motives which should sustain and perfect common human virtues; that the discipline and cultivation of the moral character of Christian people is too much neglected, that ah undue emphasis is laid upon the worth of religious emotion, and that the sacredness of the practical duties of life is depreciated. You fall into a ruinous mistake if you suppose that a solitary precept of the moral law was repealed, or its authority weakened, or its sanctions and penalties withdrawn, when you repented of sin and trusted in the mercy of God. Every common duty is a common duty still, whether you are a Christian or not; the neglect of it provokes the displeasure of God, and whether you are a Christian or not that displeasure will be manifested.
III. There is one pernicious principle which is acted upon by some sincere and earnest religious people in the cultivation of moral character which deserves a most serious refutation. They are anxious that all goodness should spring from one solitary motive. They desire that the thought of God should not only be the supreme but the only active power in the soul. He is, indeed, a happy man to whom the remembrance of God is ever present as a living and practical energy in the soul; but wherever that energy works freely, naturally, and vigorously, it will not work alone. It will inspire us with a more fervent loyalty to truth and honesty, and with a deeper disgust for falsehood and injustice; it will reveal itself not only in the intensity of the spiritual affections, but in the strength and resoluteness of the moral principles.
R. W. Dale, Discourses on Special Occasions, p. 27.
I. The Lord requires thee to "do justly." The whole question of the ground of moral obligation is raised by this sentence. It seems to tell me that some one is commanding a certain course of action, which I am bound to follow because He commands it. And this course of action is described by the phrase "doing justly." Is justice, then, nothing in itself? Are actions made right because a certain power insists that they shall be performed? Did Micah believe that the Lord was a mere power, who commanded certain things to be left undone? If He did, He set at nought the law and history, which He confessed to be divine. That law and history declared that the I AM, the Righteous Being, had revealed Himself to the creatures whom He had formed in His image; and had said to them "Be ye holy, for I am holy." If you would have the command "do justly" in place of a weight of rules and observances and ceremonies, you must have justice set before you—not in words, formulas, decrees; but lovingly, personally, historically.
II. But the prophet says that the Lord requires of men to "love mercy." This is a higher obligation, still harder to fulfil. Mercy is no doubt a beautiful quality; all religions confess it to be so. When it comes forth in life, men generally are disposed to pay it a frank, unquestioning homage. But there is a limit to this admiration. If mercy meets an unmerciful habit of mind in us, its works will be explained away. Neither priest nor philosopher can teach us how we may both do justly and love mercy. Believe that the Spirit of mercy and forgiveness does, indeed, proceed from the Father and the Son, and you see how that very forgiveness which is shown to man becomes a principle in him able to overcome his unforgiving nature, able to go out in acts of forbearance and gentleness.
III. The Lord requires man to "walk humbly with Him." We are humble in ourselves only when we are walking with God, when we are remembering that we are in His presence, that He is going with us where we go, and staying with us where we stay. It is this thought which lays a man in the dust, for then His eyes are upon him in whose sight the angels are not clean. It is this which raises him to a height he had never dreamt of, for the Lord God has been mindful of him, and come near to him, and fitted him for converse with Himself.
F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v., p. 279.
I. A great deal is required of man, when it is required, amongst other things, that he "walk humbly with his God." We conclude from the singular favour shown to Enoch, that though every converted man is "at peace with God," it may be only of those who love Him with a more than common affection, and serve Him with a special consecration of every power that we can really declare that they "walk with God." (1) Walking humbly with God indicates an habitual sense of His presence a nearness to God, a communion with God; not merely a consequence on the fact that "God is about our path and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways;" but consequent on the practical belief of this fact, on its being realised as a great truth—a truth gifted with an influence over the whole range of our conduct. (2) Walking with God denotes a complete fixing of the affections on things above. It is the description of a man, who, while yet in the flesh, might be said to have both his head and his heart in heaven. He lives in the very atmosphere of the invisible world, holding communion with its mysterious and glorious inhabitants, and finding his great delight in anticipating its enjoyments.
II. Consider the strangeness of the expression of the text: What doth the Lord require of thee but—this or that? This must excite some surprise if it be not shown that more could have been asked; but it quite removes the appearance of strangeness from the expression to consider that man gives little in giving all; and that what is now demanded of him is as nothing when compared with what God might have asked from His creatures. (1) We may safely affirm of the Divine commandments that man is sure to procure himself happiness or unhappiness, according as he does or does not readily conform to them. And if man’s own interests are deeply involved in his yielding himself up to the service of God we may readily understand why, when giving all, we should only be reckoned as giving little. (2) God requires of us literally nothing in comparison with what He might have required. He might have left us to struggle in the dark; He might have hidden from us all the shining of His favour; He might have left us wounded, and given no balsam for the wound; He might have inclosed us in a prison, and left no lattice for the sunbeams. It is only needful that we remember that the fear and love which God demands from us make our pilgrimage pleasant, whereas He might have excited horror and dread which would have made that pilgrimage appalling. It is only needful to compare what God actually requires with what He might have required, and the heart must be cold which does not thankfully confess that He requires but little.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2,125.
References: Mic 6:8.—Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. x., p. 1; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1557; R. Balgarnie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 322; A. Rowland, Ibid., vol. xxxi., p. 266; S. Cox, Expositions, 3rd series, p. 70. Mic 6:9.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 155; G. D. Macgregor, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 392. Mic 7:1.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., No. 945; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 189.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain God's Great Controversy with Israel
God's Great Controversy with Israel
Note the change in the prophet's attitude. He speaks no longer to a united nation, but to parties. Now he speaks to a party, pious but discouraged (Mic_6:1-8); again, he testifies against men who have turned their backs on the Law (Mic_6:9-16). Persecution for religion's sake has appeared, and taught men to distrust each other (Mic_7:2-6) Probably the chapters date from the time of Manasseh. Sennacherib recoiled baffled from Jerusalem, but Assyria was not exhausted. Esarhaddon succeeded in making Manasseh tributary in 676 b.c. Their religion had not brought Judah all the relief men expected. The heathen elements in the nation, repressed by Isaiah's and Hezekiah's influence, reasserted themselves. A reaction set in and found a leader in Manasseh: cp. 2K21. Especially men remembered that in his reign persecution for religion's sake was practised: cp. 2Ki_21:16.
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God's Arraignment of His people
1-8. Micah's message to the discouraged believers. They have lost heart because of the apparent contradiction between the promises of their prophets and the hard facts of their history. They have lost faith in God's grace, and are trying to propitiate His favour by such sacrifices as the heathen offered to their gods. Micah appeals to nature, to history, and to the reasonable service God requires. He calls on the hills to witness what God has done (Mic_6:1-2). He appeals to the great deeds of God's redemption for His people (Mic_6:3-5). He insists on the simplicities of God's requirements (Mic_6:6-8).
2. Strong] RV 'enduring.' The mountains have outlived so many generations of disobedience and unwearied mercy: cp. Isa_1:2.
3. Wearied] God's demands are so simple (Mic_6:8).
5. From Shittim unto Gilgal, etc.] RV 'Remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of the Lord.' Shittim was the last station of the desert-wanderings, Gilgal the first in Palestine itself. The prophet reminds them how in their national history God has proved His compassion.
6. 7. The people are represented as asking what more God requires from them.
6. Calves of a year old] a choice gift: cp. Lev_9:3.
7. Human sacrifice was practised (2Ki_21:6; Jer_7:31; Jer_9:5), especially in times of great national danger (2Ki_3:27).
8. Micah brings forward to a generation which is seeking fantastic ways of propitiating its God, the grave and tender simplicities of His requirements. He does not want their wine and oil and children: He wants their obedience. The other things are only valuable to Him as the evidence of their willing obedience. Compare how, when Abraham has shown himself willing to surrender his son, Isaac is not required from him.
9. The text is uncertain but the sense is clear. 'When God speaks in warning, it is the part of a wise man to fear (RM) and to seek to discover the reason why God uplifts His rod.' The reasons in this case follow in the succeeding questions.
10. The scant measure] cp. Deu_24:14 f. Amo_8:5.
11. Shall I count them pure] RV 'shall I be pure,' i.e. can any man be pure?
13. RV 'Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound.'
14. Thy casting down, etc.] RM 'thy emptiness shall be in the midst of thee,' i.e. thy famine shall continue, because thou shalt have food but not sufficient. Thou shalt take hold, etc.] RV 'thou shalt remove but shalt not carry away safe,' i.e. thou shalt fail in the effort to remove thy people from the enemy's power.
15. Sweet wine] RV 'vintage.' 'Thou shaft tread the grapes, but shalt not drink the wine made from them.'
16. The statutes of Omri and the works of Ahab's house are the worship of Baal: cp. 1Ki_16:31-33. Manasseh has gone back to the sins of the northern kingdom, though its fate might have warned him: cp. 2Ki_21:13. The reproach of my people] better, with LXX, 'the reproach of the Gentiles,' which Ahab's house, through the captivity which was the punishment for its idolatry, is bearing.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 1. The words of Jehovah to His people (Mic…
THE THIRD PROPHETIC DISCOURSE (6-7)
CHAPTER 6
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1. The words of Jehovah to His people (Mic 6:1-5)
2. Israel’s answer (Mic 6:6-7)
3. The moral demands of Jehovah (Mic 6:8)
4. The Lord must judge them (Mic 6:9-16)
Mic 6:1-5. This chapter is cast in the form of a controversy. The utterance has been called by some the most important in the prophetic literature. It is hardly this, nor is, as critics claim, the eighth verse a definition of religion, “the greatest saying in the Old Testament.”
The beginning is sublime, “Hear ye now what Jehovah saith!” The prophet is to arise and contend before the mountains so that the hills may hear his voice. The mountains and the enduring foundations of the earth are to hear the controversy the Lord has with His people and how He pleads with Israel.
Then follows the tender loving pleading of Jehovah, who still loves His people, in spite of their wickedness, “O My people, what have I done to thee?” What matchless condescension! The Lord whom they had rejected, from whom they had turned away, does not denounce them for their sins, nor does He enumerate them, but He asks whether He had been at fault. Had He done anything amiss towards them? Had He wearied His people? He is willing that they should testify against Him. Had He done anything that they should get tired of Him? We may imagine a pause here, as if He were waiting for an answer. But there is no answer.
He continues to speak. He had brought them out of Egypt, redeemed them out of the house of bondage; He had given them Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, by whom He led them. He reminded them of Balak, King of Moab, and Balaam, the son of Beor, who wanted to have Israel cursed. But what had Balaam been forced to say? “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed!” What a faithful, loving God He had been to them.
Mic 6:6-7. Here the people speak, but it is significant that they do not address the Lord, who had spoken to them by the prophet. They knew themselves guilty and condemned. So they address the prophet and ask what to do. “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” For generations they had brought burnt offerings, thousands of rams and rivers of oil. But it was nothing but an outward worship; inwardly they remained the same. But they were willing to do more in this outward service, even to the sacrifice of the firstborn .Isa 1:10-31 is an interesting commentary to these questions, showing how the Lord despised these ceremonies of a people who were evil doers and corrupters. (See also Psa 50:7-23.)
Mic 6:8. The prophet gives the answer of Jehovah. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Where has God made the demand? In the law. There is no more deadly error than to hold up this verse as the essence of the gospel and the one true, saving religion. Yet this we hear today on all sides. But the most loud-mouthed advocates of this “saving religion” practise what the Lord demands the least. And there is a good reason for it. Israel did not act in righteousness, nor did they love mercy, nor did they walk humbly in fellowship with the Lord. Why not? Because they were uncircumcised in their hearts. To do right, to love mercy, to walk in humility with God is impossible for the natural man; in order to do this there must be the new birth, and the new birth takes place when the sinner believes and expresses his faith in true repentance. Only a blind leader of the blind can say this verse is the gospel, and that faith in the deity of Christ and in His atoning, ever blessed work on the cross is not needed. Israel never has been anything like this which Jehovah demands. The day is coming when the Lord in His grace will give them a new heart and take away the stony heart, and fill them with His spirit. (See.Eze 36:1-38.)
Mic 6:9-16. The Lord speaks again and puts before them once more their moral degeneration. Wicked balances, deceitful weights, the deeds of unrighteousness. They were destitute of mercy, for they were full of violence, lies and deceit. Therefore judgment must now fall upon them.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain A Call to Repentance
A Call to Repentance
v. 1. Hear ye now what the Lord saith, in this closing address to the Israelites, Arise, contend thou before the mountains, the prophet being called upon to be a witness of the judicial controversy which was to be decided in the presence of the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice, for the mountains and hills, having stood during the time of Israel’s entire history, could witness to the facts which were here brought out.
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v. 2. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, Jehovah’s cause, which He wanted to have decided in the present suit, and ye strong foundations of the earth, literally, "ye immovable bases of the earth," that cannot be shaken by any ordinary means; for the Lord hath a controversy with His people, and He will plead with Israel, trying to effect a definite settlement in court.
v. 3. O My people, what have I done unto thee? namely, in inflicting any kind of wrong. And wherein have I wearied thee? by requirements which were too rigorous. Testify against me! He was ready to entertain any reply which they might want to make concerning His charges.
v. 4. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, the act by which Israel had really been made the Lord’s people, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants, Cf Exo 20:2; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, who were their leaders through the wildernesses of Sinai and Arabia.
v. 5. O My people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab, consulted, the counsel he took in trying to bring about their downfall, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, between the first station after Balaam’s blessing and the first station on the soil of the Holy Land, Cf Num 25:1; Jos 4:19, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord, how truly and righteously He performed the deeds of His almighty power in carrying out His counsel of love toward His people. Israel being unable to answer this challenge of the Lord and admitting the guilt charged in His statement, is ready to make amends.
v. 6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? the prophet asks in the name of the people, in order to restore the relationship which had been so rudely disturbed by their transgressions. Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? these being considered the choicest sacrifices.
v. 7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? which, as it were, would flow in torrents in order to appease His wrath. Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? the most precious possession being offered in expiation, by way of atonement. But the Lord shows that such outward offerings were not sufficient to restore the relationship of love which obtained, but that He requires the consecration of the heart.
v. 8. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, Jehovah Himself had made known to them how they might remain in fellowship with Him; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to perform that which was right, and to love mercy, to practice the discharge of all the beneficent duties enjoined in the Law, and to walk humbly with thy God? Without these actual, outward expressions of the faith of the heart in the virtues as here named there can, be no true worship of Jehovah. Even so today the good works of the Christians are the exponents and proofs of the faith living in their heart.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Now listen ... Listen to Yahweh's lawsuit
Now listen ... Listen to Yahweh's lawsuit
Micah speaks to the people of Israel as if he were speaking to mountains that can hear him, so both instances of "listen" are plural. (See: Apostrophe)
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Arise ... state ... let ... your voice
Micah speaks to the people of Israel as if they were one man, so the commands and the word "your" are singular. (See: Forms of You)
Arise and state your case before the mountains; let the hills hear your voice
Yahweh speaks as if he is in court and the mountains and hills are the judges. He commands the people of Israel to tell the judges why they have done what they did. (See: Personification)
the mountains ... the hills ... enduring foundations of the earth
Micah is speaking to these things as if they are humans. Micah is using the mountains, hills, and foundations of the earth as an eternal witness against his people's idolatry. (See: Personification)
translationWords
Yahweh
Micah
voice
found
earth
Yahweh
people of God
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:1-16 The Lord presented, argued, and decided the case…
6:1-16 The Lord presented, argued, and decided the case against his rebellious people, Israel. This section is formally presented as a legal court case (cp. Isa 1:2-4; Jer 2:4-9; Hos 4). Using the scenario of the courtroom, the Lord challenged his people to state their case against him, for he had a case against them (Mic 6:1-5)—they had not fulfilled his requirements (6:6-8), so they were guilty (6:9-12). The guilty verdict is followed by Israel’s sentencing (6:13-16).
6:1-2 mountains and hills: All creation is called as a witness (cp. Josh 24:27); in other ancient Near Eastern treaties, the gods of the respective countries were called as witnesses.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.