Chapter Six

1–2. Judgment with Israel. 3–5. God’s benefits to Israel. 6–9. Means of reconciliation of the people with God. 10–16. Moral condition of the people and the impending punishments.

Chapter VI presents the prophet’s accusatory speech to Israel, which takes the form of a legal dispute. For the general meaning of chapters VI–VII, see the introduction.

Micah 6:1. Hear what the Lord says: stand up, plead before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice! “Stand and plead” and similar words are directed by God to the prophet. “Plead before the mountains (eth-beharim), and let the hills hear your voice”: the mountains and hills are called as witnesses to the Lord’s judgment with Israel. “Since rational beings suffer from irrationality,” as the blessed Theodoret explains, “I will make inanimate things judges over rational beings.” The mountains and hills are called as witnesses also because they were witnesses to the benefits God gave the people, which are discussed below. In the Slavic text this expression is rendered somewhat differently—“plead with the mountains” (πρὸς τὰ ὄρη), as the Hebrew eth-haharim should properly be rendered: that is, the mountains appear not as witnesses of the judgment but as the object of judgment. Many ancient and modern interpreters found this meaning in verse 1 (Hoonacker). In that case, instead of the people, the prophet addresses the mountains and hills on which the people are settled. The ancients also interpreted the words of verse 1 in an allegorical sense: mountains and hills are Angels entrusted with care over human affairs (the blessed Jerome) or before whom judgment is conducted (St. Cyril of Alexandria), demons, princes and magnates of Judea (Sankey, Menohius), Abraham and the patriarchs, and others. But there is no need for such allegorical interpretations.

Micah 6:2. Hear, mountains, the Lord’s judgment, and you, strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord has a case with His people, and He contends with Israel. “Strong (haethanim) foundations of the earth”: the meaning of the word haethanim is unclear, and it is translated variously (Symm. ancients, the blessed Jerome audifte, listen; LXX—φάραγγες, gorges, valleys). Some commentators suggest reading instead gl. haazinu (Wellhausen, Nowack, Marti)—listen, pay attention, as in the blessed Jerome. “Foundation of the earth” (Isa 24:18; Ps 81:5; Prov 8:29)—mountains, which by their roots as if hold the earth. In the LXX, in the Slavic text instead of “strong foundations of the earth” it reads “gorges (φάραγγες) foundations of the earth,” that is, deep valleys serving as the foundation of the earth. Mic 6:3-5. Beginning the very judgment with Israel, the prophet points to the ingratitude of the people for forgetting God’s benefits—specifically the deliverance from Egypt, salvation from the curse plotted by Balak and Balaam (Num 22:24), and in general, the miraculous help during the conquest of the land of Canaan.

Micah 6:3. My people! What have I done to you and in what way have I burdened you? Answer Me. “My people”: in the Slavic text, plural “My peoples,” correspondingly even the pronouns are in the plural. To the words “in what way have I burdened you” (Slavic “afflicted you”) the LXX and Slavic have added ῆ τὶ ἐλύπησὰ σε, “in what way have I grieved you.”

Micah 6:5. My people! Remember what Balak, king of Moab, plotted, and what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what took place from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous deeds of the Lord. “From Shittim to Gilgal” (Slavic from Shittim to Gilgal): by naming two places in Palestine, the prophet wishes briefly to recall the time of the conquest of Canaan. The valley of Shittim served as the last camp of the Hebrews on the east side of the Jordan (Num 22:1); near Gilgal was the first camp of the Hebrews after crossing the Jordan; here stood the tabernacle throughout the time of the conquest of Canaan (Num 33:49; Josh 2:5). The Hebrew word schittim is the name of a tree—acacia—from whose abundance the valley received its name. The LXX instead of the proper name schittim translated the common noun απὸ των σχοίνων (σχοινος—reed, cane), but in the Slavic it is translated from the Hebrew—“from Shittim.”

Micah 6:6. “With what shall I come before the Lord, bow before the God of heaven? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Micah 6:7. Or can I please the Lord with thousands of rams or with innumerable streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression and the fruit of my womb for the sin of my soul? The series of questions in verses 6–7 is posed on behalf of the people, personified in one person. According to the opinion of some commentators (Keil, Schgg), with these questions the people respond to accusations of ingratitude by pointing out that they fulfill all the prescriptions about sacrifices. But the mention in verse 7 of pleasing God, of sacrifice for sins, gives grounds to the majority of commentators to believe that the questions express the people’s repentance and desire to know the path of true knowledge of God. The prophet speaks on behalf of the repentant and explains that sacrifices by themselves cannot be sufficient for the Lord. To express this thought more forcefully, the prophet mentions the most generous and costly sacrifices one could imagine. The prophet’s words about “sacrifice of the firstborn” do not necessarily indicate that such sacrifices were offered in his time in the Judean kingdom, and that verses 6–8 relate to the reign of Manasseh (Nowack): the prophet speaks of what is possible and what happened at other times (2 Sam 3:27; Jer 7:31). “With innumerable streams of oil,” in Slavic “with ten thousands of fat goats,” corresponding to the LXX reading χ´ιμἀρρων πιόνων, Vulgate hirorum pingvium. It is possible that χ´ιμἀρρων (goats) arose from the preserved in some manuscripts original χειμὰρρων (“streams”).

Micah 6:8. O man! It is told you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God. The prophet points to the true path of pleasing God: justice, mercy, and humility. The prophet, like his predecessors Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, does not deny sacrifices in general in verse 8, but explains under what conditions sacrifices obtain value in the eyes of God (cf. Amos 4:4; Hos 5:6; Isa 1:1). Mic 6:9-16. The prophet describes behavior contradicting true worship of God and proclaims impending calamities.

Micah 6:9. The voice of the Lord cries to the city, and wisdom reveres Your name: hear the rod and Him who appointed it. Verse 9 is difficult to translate and is rendered differently in various texts. “The voice of the Lord cries (Slavic “will be called”) to the city,” that is, to the city of Jerusalem, as the majority of commentators think, or to Samaria, as some think (the blessed Jerome, Yungerov, Hoonacker). “Wisdom (thuschijjuh) reveres (ireh) Your name” (schemecha): the translation is conjectural, the meaning of which is that the wise should listen to God’s voice with reverence. In the LXX in Slavic the present statement reads: “will save those who fear His name.” The verb σωζει saves appeared in the LXX because the Hebrew tewchijjah they, like the blessed Jerome, erroneously took as a form of the verb jascha (to save). The reading φοβουμένους (fearing) shows that the LXX, like the Syriac, Chaldaic, and the blessed Jerome, instead of the Hebrew raah (to see with reverence) had in the text jareh (to fear). Modern commentators also prefer the latter reading and, correspondingly, render the entire expression: “wisdom is—to fear His name” (Nowack, Hoonacker—“Your name”). “Hear the rod (matteh) and Him who appointed it” (umi jeadah): according to the meaning of the Russian text, the prophet calls the coming punishment a rod (cf. Isa 10:5-15; Ezek 7:10-11) and calls on the people to listen to the Lord who sent the punishment. But the words of the original can be translated otherwise. In the LXX and Slavic text they are rendered: “listen, tribe, and who will beautify the city.” The LXX reading arose because the Hebrew matteh, which means “rod” and “tribe,” they took in the sense of tribe; jeadah (appointed) they read as jaadeh (from jadah—to beautify), and, moving the particle od (yet) from the following verse, they read it as ir (city). The understanding of matteh in the sense of “tribe” is accepted by the blessed Jerome (audite tribus), and the LXX reading ir (city) also by modern commentators; hence the entire not fully clear expression is rendered: “listen, tribe and assembly of the city” (Nowack, Hoonacker).

Micah 6:10. Are there not treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and an abominable reduced measure? Micah 6:11. Can I be clean with false weights and with deceptive weights in the bag? In verses 10–11 the causes of the approaching calamities are wickedness, in particular the accumulation of treasures through deceit, deception by means of incorrect measure (ephah) and weights. Mic 6:11 presents certain difficulties for translation and is rendered by the LXX, Vulgate, and by modern commentators differently from the Russian text. The Hebrew haisch, taken in our text for haesch (ha particle of interrogation and each—“there is”), (cf. 2 Sam 4:19) and rendered by the words “are there not,” is understood by the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate in the sense of esch—fire; beth (in the house) the LXX took as nominative (“given”); the noun ozroth (from azar—to gather), possessions, treasures, they translated twice θηραυρίζων θησαυροὺς; the words veephah (measure, ephah) rason (thin, reduced) seumah (abominable), reading perhaps instead of veephalveeth (with μετα), they rendered explanatorily μετὰ ὑβρεος ἀδικῖας, with reproach of injustice. Hence in Slavic reads: “is it not fire and the house of the lawless gathering unlawful possessions and with reproach of injustice,” that is, “is not fire, which will consume all, contained in the house of the lawless, gathering unrighteous wealth.” Modern commentators correct the unclear haisch to haeshshah (from naschah—to shift, remove, in hiphil—to leave unpunished) and render: “will I leave unpunished the house of the wicked” and so on (Marti, Hoonacker). Verse 11 supplements the thought of verse 10. “Can I be clean” (haeskeh from sachah): the speech is in Mic 6:9-16 from the person of God; therefore verse 11 should be rendered—“can I purify him” (haasakkehu), as also in the Vulgate num guid justificabo, shall I justify. In the LXX it is rendered in the third person; hence in Slavic: “shall the lawless be justified in the measure (ἐν ζυγφ—in the weights) and in the sackcloth (sack) of the measure (Russian “weights and”) of injustice.”

Micah 6:12. Because His rich are full of violence, and His inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceit in their mouth, Micah 6:13. Therefore I will also strike you incurably, devastating you for your sins. The prophet in direct form expresses what in Mic 6:10-11 is expressed in interrogative form. The speech concerns the inhabitants of the city, with which the Lord has a case—Jerusalem or Samaria. Instead of the words “because his rich are full of violence,” in Slavic according to the LXX reads: “from them (ἐξ ῶν) their wealth they fill with wickedness”; the LXX connected verse 12 with the preceding: “from them”—from incorrect measures and weights. “And their tongue is deceit (remijjah) in their mouth”: in Slavic “and their tongue was lifted up in their mouth,” since the LXX noun remijjah they took as a form of the verb rum (to lift up). “I will also strike you incurably (hakkothecha) (hechelethi)”: in Slavic “and I will begin to strike you”; the LXX instead of the second verb (chalal—to strike), synonymous with the first (nachah—to strike), read hachilothi from chalol—to begin, which reading modern commentators also accept. The form haschmem (indefinite from schamem—to be silent, devastated) the LXX rendered in the indicative mood ἀφανιῶ, Slavic “I will destroy.”

Micah 6:14. You will eat and not be satisfied; emptiness will be within you; you will save, but will not keep, and what you keep, I will give to the sword. Micah 6:15. You will sow but will not reap; you will crush olives but will not anoint yourself with oil; you will press grapes but will not drink wine. The prophet explains what the punishment of the people will consist of. The cause of the calamities, according to the meaning of verses 14–15, will be the invasion of enemies. The prophet thus repeats the threats already expressed by Moses (Lev 26:26). The Greek and Slavic text have departures from the original in verses 14–15. Instead of the words “emptiness (jeschacha) will be within you” in Slavic “and it will grow dark in you, and you will turn aside”; the LXX, apparently, instead of jeschacha read similar jecheshach (from chaschach—to grow dark), and the verb vethaseg (Russian “you will save,” from nasag—to conceal, remove) they rendered with the word ἐκνεύσει or, as in many manuscripts, ἐκνεύσεις—to turn aside. At the end of verse 15 in Slavic reads the proposition: “and the ordinances of my people will perish”; this proposition has no correspondence in the original text, it is thought that it arose from an erroneous reading of the beginning of verse 16 veischthammer chukkoth amri, kept the customs of Omri.

Micah 6:16. The customs of Omri have been kept by you and all the deeds of the house of Ahab, and you walk according to their counsel; therefore I will give you to devastation and your inhabitants to ridicule, and you will bear the contempt of My people. Omri is the founder of the dynasty that stained itself with idolatry and lawlessness (1 Sam 16:31). Ahab was the most striking representative of this dynasty. Through Athaliah, daughter of Ahab (2 Sam 8:18), who married the Judean king Jehoram, the wickedness of the house of Omri passed also to Judea. “You will bear the contempt of My people” (ammi), that is, you will bear punishment appointed for My people. Not without foundation, however, do some commentators (Nowack) read, according to the LXX, instead of ammi (“of My people”)—amim—of peoples, men. The thought will be that Israel, for its wickedness, will become an object of contempt to all peoples. In the Slavic text of verse 16, instead of Omri is named Zimri, as also in the LXX, which is of course erroneous; the words “your inhabitants” in the LXX and Slavic are referred to the inhabitants of Samaria, therefore reads: “those living in it.”