Micah 2

1 devise . . . work evil . . . practise. Sin is here traced through three stages—the purpose, the elaboration of a plan, and the execution.

3. For this time [is] evil. Or, “for it is an evil time,” R.V.

4. Turning away He hath divided our fields. Or, “to a rebel (i.e., an enemy) He hath divided our fields”: see R.V.

5 thou shalt have none, etc. The land which was once apportioned among you (see Josh. xiv. 1, 5; Judges i. 3) shall now be possessed by strangers.

6. Prophesy ye not, etc. Perhaps the best rendering of this verse is, “Prophesy not, [they say]. They shall prophesy. If they prophesy not thus, shame will not depart.”

7. Is the spirit of the Lord straitened? etc. Can the spirit of prophecy speak only of evil? Are these punishments things in which God delights? Are they not rather the necessary consequences of your sins? Are not my words benignant to the upright? But my people have long resisted me (8).

8. Even of late. Heb., “yesterday.”

Ye pull off the robe with the garment. The “garment” is the cloak mentioned in Exod. xxii. 26, 27 (see note); the “robe” is probably an ornamental addition; cp. Josh. vii. 21.

9 my glory. i.e., the inheritance, God’s glorious gift to Israel (cp. ver. 2). Hence, by a righteous retribution, the oppressors are driven into exile; for the land which their crimes have “polluted” cannot be their “rest” (10).

11 a man walking in the spirit and falsehood. i.e., a false prophet; R.V., “walking in wind and falsehood.”

He shall even be the prophet of this people. So corrupt had the people become, that no prophet was acceptable to them who did not sanction their voluptuous habits.

12. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. A reference to the restoration from Babylon, and of the greater salvation to be wrought by Christ.

Bozrah. There were two Bozrahs, one in Edom and the other in Moab, both celebrated for their large flocks. It is probably Bozrah in Edom that is here meant.

13. The breaker is come up (gone up) before them. This “breaker” is a deliverer. “They were confined before, as in a prison, and the gate of the prison was burst open to set them free” (Pusey): cp. Isa. xliii. 6; lxii. 10.