Chapter Seven

1–6. The prophet’s sorrow over the corruption of the chosen people. 7–10. God’s judgment and mercy toward the people. 11–17. The glory of Israel before the pagan peoples. 18–20. A hymn of praise of the prophet to the Lord.

Micah 7:1. Woe is me! For with me it is now as with the gathering of summer fruit, as with the gleanings of the vintage: there is not a single berry to eat, not a ripe fruit that my soul desires. “Woe is me”—the description of wickedness in verses 1–6 is understood either as a speech from the person of the prophet, grieving over the corruption of the people entrusted to his care (Hieromonk Anthony, Yungerov), or as a speech of personified Zion (Nowack) or Samaria (Hoonacker), grieving over their children. The expressions Mic 7 “do not rejoice over me” in Mic 7 “my enemy woman will see this” and so on rather give grounds to think that in Mic 7:1-6 appears a collective person—Zion or Samaria. In verse 1 the prophet expresses figuratively the thought developed below—the thought of the absence in the people of righteousness, good, virtuous people: as after the gathering of grapes and the collection of fruits one cannot find a single berry, a single ripe fruit, so in the people not a single virtuous person. In the LXX and Slavic text the same thought is expressed, but the images are somewhat different. Instead of the words “with me it is now—as with the gathering of summer fruit” (or more accurately from the Hebrew “I have become as the gathering (keaspej) of summer fruit” (kaiz) in Slavic “I became as gathering (ώς συνάγων) straw (καλάμην) in harvest,” where καλάμην (straw) was added by the LXX. Instead of the words “as with the gleanings of the vintage, not a single berry to eat, not a ripe fruit” in Slavic “as a small grape cluster (ώς ἐπιφυλλίδα, small grape cluster, accusative from the preceding verb συνάγων, gathered) in gathering grapes (ἐν τρυγητφ῀, with grape gathering) there not being a grape cluster to eat first fruits.” The words “which my soul desires” in most manuscripts of the LXX are absent.

Micah 7:2. The merciful have ceased from the earth, there are no righteous among people; all lay snares to shed blood; each one sets a trap for his brother. Micah 7:3. Their hands are turned to doing evil; the official demands gifts, and the judge judges for bribes; and the magnates speak the evil desires of their soul and pervert justice. The prophet unfolds the meaning of the image from verse 1 and repeats the accusations already made earlier, extending them now to the whole people, not only to the nobility (cf. Mic 2:1-2). “The official demands gifts,” the last word is added by translators according to the sense. The Slavic text of verses 2–3 gives a thought similar to the Hebrew-Russian, but in some expressions departs from the first. The words of the Slavic text “And, woe is me, soul,” Greek ὄι μοι ψυχή, have no correspondence in the original of verse 2 and apparently arose because the LXX referred to verse 2 the end of verse 1—ivvethah naphschi (“desires my soul”), which they read ojah naphschi, woe to my soul. “All lay snares (jerovu) to shed blood” (ledamim, for bloods): “all in bloods are hidden” (δικάζονται), that is, all contend to blood, since the LXX instead of jeerovu (from arav—to weave a net, to lie in wait) read similar jarivu (from rix—to contend). “Each one sets (jazudu) a trap (cherem) for his brother”: the image is borrowed from hunting pursuits; in Slavic “each one of his neighbor vexes with vexation,” since instead of jazudu (weave, set) the LXX read jazuru (from zur—to oppress), and the word cherem (net) they took in the sense of ἐκθλιβή, vexation. “And the judge judges for bribes” (baschillum): in Slavic from the Greek “the judge speaks peaceful words,” that is, he allows lawlessness instead of punishing it; the LXX reading apparently arose because the Hebrew baschillum (for bribes) was read keschalom (as peace, of peace), and the word haggadol (“magnate”) that follows was applied to the preceding clause, read as haddabar (word). “The magnates (haggadol) speak the evil desires of their soul and pervert justice” (hajeavthuha): the LXX word haggadol (magnate), as already noted above, they referred to the preceding clause; the rare vajeavthuha (from adath—to hang, pervert) they derived either from abar (ἐξαιρέω, I take away, 2 Chr 35:23) or from abad (ἐξαίρω, Num 33 52); besides, they moved from the following verse the words thovam, their good; hence an unclear reading of the Slavic text resulted: “the desire of his soul is: and I will take away their good.”

Micah 7:4. The best of them is like a thorn, and the righteous like a prickly hedge; the day of your sentinels, your visitation comes; now confusion will overtake them. At the beginning of verse 4 is a general characterization of the people. By comparison with a thorn, which makes the land unfit, brings harm, the prophet wishes to indicate the moral unfitness of the people. For this the people is visited with judgment—“the day of your sentinels,” that is, the day foretold by the prophets, the day of visitation or punishment. The LXX and Slavic in verse 4 deviate from the original. Apparently, cherek (thorn) the LXX understood as a participle from shart (to cut) or from charaz (to cut), and they supplemented the participle with the noun σὴς, moth; the word jaschar (righteous) standing further the LXX understood as a participle from jaschar (to walk straight); the Hebrew jom mezappecha (day of your sentinels) they read as jom mizpeh (day of watch) and referred it as a temporal adverbial to the preceding clause, not the following; hence instead of the Russian reading “the best of them is like a thorn, and the righteous like a prickly hedge; the day of your sentinels” in Slavic reads: “as a moth eating and walking according to rule (ἐπὶ κανὁνος, on a weaving loom) on the day of watch.” According to the Slavic, verse 4 supplements the thought expressed at the end of verse 3 and depicts God’s relation to the people on the day of judgment (“watch”—surveillance, oversight): the Lord will be to the people as a moth eating threads (cf. Hos 5:12; Isa 50:9). Instead of the Russian reading now confusion will overtake them (mevuchatham) in Slavic “now there will be wailing for them”: the LXX apparently derived mevuehatham from bachah—to weep.

Micah 7:5. Do not trust a friend, do not rely on a companion; from the woman lying in your bosom guard the doors of your mouth. Micah 7:6. For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; the enemies of a man are the members of his household. The prophet speaks not only of the future, as some commentators believe (Keil, Knabenbauer), but also of the present. In these same words the Lord Jesus Christ depicts the condition of mankind before the second coming (Matt 24:10-12; Mark 13:12). Instead of the words “do not rely on a companion” (bealuph) in Slavic “do not hope in the elders,” since aluph sometimes has the meaning of a leader (Gen 36). “Guard the doors of your mouth”: in the LXX and Slavic it is clearer: “guard yourself from speaking to her anything.” “The enemies of a man are the members of his household”: in the LXX “all enemies—all men of his household.”

Micah 7:7. And I will look to the Lord, I will wait for God my Savior: my God will hear me. In verses 7 onward the speech is from the person of personified Zion or Samaria. The prophet expresses hope in the mercy of God, which will be shown, despite the corruption of the people.

Micah 7:8. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy woman! Though I have fallen, I will rise; though I am in darkness, the Lord is light for me. Micah 7:9. I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He settles my case and executes judgment on my behalf; then He will bring me to the light, and I will see His righteousness. “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy woman”; the prophet calls enemy woman either a particular hostile nation—the Assyrians or Babylonians, or the entire pagan world in general, which looked with malicious joy on the calamity of God’s people. “Until He settles my case” (in Slavic “until He vindicates my plea”), that is, the case with enemies, who, having suffered nothing from me, have dealt so cruelly with me (Knabenbauer).

Micah 7:10. And my enemy woman will see this and shame will cover her, she who said to me: “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will gaze upon her as she is trampled like mud in the streets. In the humiliation of Israel the pagan nations saw proof of the impotence of Jehovah (Isa 10:9-11). But Israel’s enemies will be covered with shame when they see that Israel is restored, while they have been subjected to humiliation. According to the opinion of the majority of commentators, the prophet speaks of Babylon (Ephrem the Syrian, Cyril of Alexandria, the blessed Jerome), according to others, of Nineveh (Hoonacker). “My eyes will gaze upon her”: the prophet expresses not malicious glee at the ruin of enemies, but joy at the triumph of God’s righteousness.

Micah 7:11. On the day your walls are built, on that day the decree will be far away. Verse 11 is rendered differently in the Hebrew and Greek texts and is difficult both for translation and for interpretation. The Russian translation does not give a clear thought. According to the usual opinion, the prophet speaks of the future restoration of the walls of Jerusalem, or if gader (Russian wall) is understood in the sense of the boundary of a vineyard, of the future restoration of the theocracy, compared with a vineyard. The prophet expresses his thought in the form of an exclamation: “the day of building walls” (boundary)! The word jom in our translation is understood as the accusative of time to the question when (“on the day of building”), but usually it is taken as the nominative. “On that day (from hahu) the decree (chok) will be far away”: the thought of the Russian translation is unclear. The word chok, meaning something established, determined (Exod 5:14; Lev 10:13; Prov 30:8) has, in particular, the meaning of “boundary” (Prov 8:29) and namely “a determined boundary” (Job 14:5; Isa 5:14). In this sense, apparently, one can understand the word chok also in the verse in question: the boundary will be far away, that is, the boundary of the theocracy, the restriction of it to one Hebrew people will be removed. Thus the prophet not only foresees the restoration of the theocracy but also the expansion of its boundaries, the inclusion of other peoples besides Israel in it. The LXX understood the prophet’s words in the opposite sense—as an explanation Mic 7:10, as a prophecy of the destruction of a hostile city and the extermination of the people hostile to Israel. Hence in the Slavic reads: “the day of destruction of brick (that is, the destruction of bricks): your destruction that day, and He will wipe away your laws that day.” The blessed Theodoret clarifies these words thus: “you for all will be accessible and easily caught by all; all those living around will begin to ravage and devour you. Then your lawless laws will also come to an end.” Other commentators, however, understand the LXX text about Jerusalem (Jerome Antony, Yungerov).

Micah 7:12. On that day people will come to you from Assyria and from the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River Euphrates, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. “On that day they will come to you,” that is, to Zion or Jerusalem, or according to Hoonacker, to Samaria. The commentators who refer verse 12 to Zion see in it a prophecy of the gathering of peoples to Zion after the restoration of the theocracy in its pure form. Hoonacker, who refers verse 12 to Samaria, understands it as a retrospective indication of the siege of Samaria. The LXX give in verse 12 a thought different from the Hebrew text. The words jom hu (“on that day”) are referred by the LXX to the end Mic 7:11; adecha (“to you”) is read as arecha (“your cities”), with the word εἰς ὀμαλισμόν (“to leveling”) added; the Hebrew leminni (from) is derived from manah (to divide); hence the beginning of the verse in Slavic reads: “and your cities will come to leveling (that is, will be destroyed, leveled to the ground) and to division Assyrian.” In the same way the LXX understood the further words of verse 12: “and the cities Egyptian (mazor), and from (uleminni) Egypt (mazor) to the River Euphrates” (ad – nahar): the word mazor, the name of Egypt, is taken in the first instance in the common noun sense fortress (Hab 2:1; Ps 31:21), and in the second as the name of the city of Tyre; uleminni (and from), as above, is derived from manah, to divide, and the indefinite ad – nahar (to the river) clarified in the Russian text by the name of the Euphrates, is clarified by the LXX with the word Συρίας, Syria; hence the reading of the Slavic text resulted: “and your strong cities to division from Tyre to the River of Syria.” At the end of the verse in some LXX manuscripts and in the Slavic text reads the words: days of water and noise, which have no correspondence in the original; by these words the translators could indicate the speed of the enemy invasion. Thus according to the LXX text in verse 12 it is about the destruction of cities “from sea to sea,” not about the gathering of peoples to Zion. The blessed Theodoret, thus, understands this speech about cities hostile to the Judeans; other commentators about Judean cities (Yungerov).

Micah 7:13. And that land will be a desolation because of its inhabitants, because of the fruits of their deeds. “That land,” that is, the land of peoples hostile to Israel, not the land of the Judean kingdom or Palestine, as Hitzig, Kleinert, and others believe.

Micah 7:14. Shepherd Your people with Your rod, the sheep of Your inheritance dwelling alone in the forest in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in ancient days! In verse 14 is the prophet’s prayer for the people. Jehovah is compared with a shepherd, and the people with sheep. “Carmel” is a mountain range on the border of the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Issachar (Josh 19:11), rich in vegetation and pastures. (Isa 35:2; Jer 50:19; Amos 1:2). The common noun form of the name Carmel is garden, orchard. “Bashan” is a region east of the Jordan, famous for its oaks (Isa 2:12; Ezek 27:6) and excellent pastures for livestock (Amos 4:1; Ezek 39:18). “Gilead” is the region east of the Jordan from the stream Arnon to Mount Hermon (Deut 34:1; Josh 22:9), rich in vegetation and pastures (Num 32:1; 1 Chr 5:9). The meaning of the prophet’s prayer, due to the incomplete clarity of the text, is rendered differently by commentators. The words “dwelling alone in the forest in the midst of Carmel” are referred both to the future (Keil, Knabenbauer, Yungerov) and to the present (Nowack, Hoonacker) condition of the people. According to the first understanding, the prophet prays that in the future the people be alone, separated from others, and that they be provided with the best pastures, that is, abundance of blessings. According to the second understanding, there is no thought of future isolation of the people from others, but the prophet speaks of the contemporary condition of the people, who is cut off from fertile places and cries as if in the wilderness—and speaks precisely of the remnants of the ten-tribe kingdom (Hoonacker). “As in ancient days,” that is, either in the days of David and Solomon, or better, corresponding to verse 15, in the days of the conquest of the land of Canaan under Moses and Joshua. Instead of “let them feed” in Slavic “They will feed,” but in Greek νεμήσονται, will pasture.

Micah 7:15. As in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders. According to the meaning of the Russian translation, verses 15 onward contain the answer of the Lord to the prophet’s prayer. But both the LXX reading and the context of the speech argue for the fact that verse 15 continues the prophet’s prayer. Therefore it is better instead of areenu (he raah sees, hiphil with 3rd person suffix) “I will show him” to read haneenu (imperative with 1st person suffix) show us. In view of the difficult situation of the people the prophet prays to the Lord for such miraculous assistance as was shown at the exodus from Egypt.

Micah 7:16. The nations will see this and be ashamed of all their might; they will lay hand over mouth, their ears will become deaf; Micah 7:17. they will lick dust like a snake, like the worms of the earth they will crawl out from their fortresses; they will fear the Lord our God and will fear You. The prophet depicts the impression of the great deeds of God, which are to be accomplished over Israel, on the pagan nations. “They will be ashamed of all their might,” that is, they will lose faith in their power and in their gods. “They will lay hand over mouth”—an image of astonishment and reverent silence. “Their ears will become deaf,” that is, as it were from the thunder of the great deeds of God, from the thunder of God’s judgment (cf. Job 26:14; Isa 33:3). “They will lick dust like a snake,” that is, they will be cast down to the earth from terror. The LXX and Slavic give in verses 16–17 thoughts similar to the original text.

Micah 7:18. Who is a God like You, forgiving iniquity and not accounting transgression to the remnant of Your inheritance? He does not remain angry forever, because He delights in showing mercy. Micah 7:19. He will have compassion on us again, He will erase our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:20. You will show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which You swore to our fathers from ancient days. A hymn of praise to the Lord, presenting the foundation of the prophet’s hope expressed in his prayer, as well as the conclusion to the entire book. The general thought of verses 18–20 is that in His infinite goodness the Lord will have compassion on the people and erase their iniquities. In verse 18 instead of the Russian reading “does not remain angry” (laad) in Slavic “did not hold his anger as a witness” (εἰς μαρτύριον, as a testimony): the LXX read not bad (forever), but leed (“as a witness”); the thought they conveyed is this: the Lord does not hold anger within Himself so that it (anger) would be as it were a witness against the people, preventing the manifestation of mercy toward the latter.