7 8 For he shall not remove from himself reproaches. Is the spirit of Jehovah straitened? Are not my words good With him who walketh uprightly? But of old my people hath risen up as an enemy. off the garment, From those who pass by securely, the captives of war. Hebr. from off. -he shall not remove] The true prophet will subject himself to public disgrace by exercising his office. "Very obscure. None of the ancients make the addition which our translators do; but understand the second word as a noun or participle." Secker. 7.-say] Four MSS. read . See V. Chald. And ó. Ar. read, which is equivalent. -straitened] Confined to a few, such as Micah. -his doings] So dishonourable to his attributes, and to his people. Are not] Jehovah answers, Do not my words administer good to the righteous, who pay attention to the chosen prophets sent by me? --my words] 6. Ar. read his words. -walketh uprightly] Pocock says that the literal rendering is, "with him that is upright walking." See Ps. xv. 2. Prov. xi. 13. Eighteen MSS. and one edition read, which may be gerundive, eundo. Perhaps, "with him that walketh in uprightness." See Isai. lvii. 2. and v. 11. 8. of old] See Isai. xxx. 33. ó render by good. For the truth of the assertion, see Hos. x. 9. xi. 2. -an enemy] Against me their God. -off the garment] This enmity ye shew by acts of cruelty and robbery. Noldius renders a, desuper; but without any other example. Perhaps we should read by. Houbigant justly observes that 77 is the word which elsewhere occurs for the upper garment. .שבוי conjectures -the captives] One MS. reads 'w the captivity. Houbigant 6. give a good general sense, συντριμμον πολέμα Breaking your truce with them, by thus spoiling them. 9. goles. 6. N." Secker. 9 10 11 12 13 The women of my people ye cast out from † their From their children ye take away my glory for ever. If a man, walking in the spirit of falsehood and of lies, I will surely gather, O Jacob, all of thee: They shall make a tumult from the multitude of men. And their king passeth before them, even Jeho- Hebr, the habitation of her delights. her. § him. -ye cast out] By your sins ye cause them to go into captivity. -my glory] The glory which I had bestowed on them by becoming their God, by placing them in a pleasant land, and by protecting and blessing them when they adhered to me. Ps. xc. 16. Ez. xvi. 14. The pronouns seem to agree with "w distributively: " from the delightful habitation of each: from the children of each." .טמאה and before 10. this] We may understand before this pronoun, A more exact representation of the Hebrew is: "For this land is not the place of your rest." 11. ---and lies] I read with Syr. pw: and with Houbigant on; or, as many MSS. insert the Jod. This reading is favoured by ó. Ar. Syr. 13. He that forceth a passage] "He that breaketh way," according to our idiom. The preparer and leader of the journey. ---the gate] Of the conquering city, where the Israelites were to be in captivity. ---Jehovah] He conducted them in effect. The connection may be this: "Ye shall depart from your land; and it shall be defiled and desolate. v. io. This is not the language of your false prophets; or the way to be received B b 1 I ALSO said: 2 3 CHAP. III. Hear, I pray you, O ye heads of Jacob, Who pluck their skin from off them, Who also have eaten the flesh of my people, And have broken their bones: And have divided them asunder, as flesh in the pot; as a prophet among you. v. 11. However, a true prophet may foretel your prosperous state after your punishment. v. 12, 13. See c. iii. 12. iv. 1. "I much suspect that we should understand the twelfth and thirteenth verses as spoken by the false prophet. In the following verse Micah gives notice that he speaks in his own person; and then, in contradiction to the vain promises of the false prophet, denounces vengeance on the Jews in general for their cruel oppression of the poor, and on the false prophets for their lies." Dr. Forsayeth. "There are strange mixtures, in Micah as well as in Hosca and others, of promises with complaints and threatenings. Some will say they were added afterwards. Some interpret v. 12 as the words of the false prophet v. 11: and some think 12, 13, a threatening that God will shut them up to be besieged and led captive. But Jer. xxxi. 10, which is very like v. 12, is a promise. See also here iv. 6. And so is Isai. li. 12, which is like the end of v. 13.--Indeed the latter part of v. 12 is obscure, and for the breaker would be the deliverer. Christ broke down the partition wall. Poc. Or is the increaser. Is. ix. 7. xi. 1. Comp. c. iv. 10. Secker. CHAP. III. 2. them] Jacob, or Israel: As Hos. x. 1, 2. Or, my people: from the following verse. 3. divided] I read D. Have eaten--have flayed--have broken---have divided] These verbs may be rendered in the present tense. See Amos v. 10. c. iv. 12. -as flesh] Instead of w, read with 6. Ar. Chald. Houbigant, and Bishop Lowth on Isai. iii. 15, N. And as meat within the caldron. But he will not hear them: He will even hide his face from them at that time; Unto the prophets who cause my people to err; But as for him that putteth not into their mouths, Wherefore there shall be night unto you, so ye shall have no vision: * that And there shall be darkness unto you, so that † ye shall have no divination. And the sun shall go down upon the prophets, Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners Yea, they shall cover the § mouth, even all of them : But I truly am filled with power; With the Spirit of Jehovah, and with judgment, and To declare unto Jacob his transgression, and unto Hebr. in the midst of, Or, black, or, gloomy. from a vision. + from divining. § the upper lip. 5. bite with their teeth] Put into their mouth as the opposition shews. Famine is expressed by cleanness of teeth. Am. iv. 6. --and cry, Peace] And proclaim peace. The versions and Chald. -prepare] Properly sanctify, or, prepare for a holy purpose. Ex. xix. 10, 11. Hence, to prepare in general, to appoint, to set apart. 7. cover the mouth] With part of the long eastern vesture. This action was a sign of being put to silence; of disgrace and dejection. Lev. xiii. 45. Ex. xxiv. 17, 22. 8. With the spirit] For the form of expression, see Ex. i. 7. 9 10 11 12 1 Hear this, I pray you, ye Heads of the house of Jacob, And ye leaders of the house of Israel: Ye who abhor judgment, And pervert all that is right: Who build up Sion by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity. The Heads thereof judge for reward; And the priests thereof teach for hire; And the prophets thereof divine for silver: Saying: Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? Evil shall not come upon us. Therefore because of you Sion shall be ploughed as a field; And Jerusalem shall become heaps; And the mountain of the temple * as high places of a forest. CHAP. IV. BUT it shall come to pass, in the latter days, 10. Who build up] Raise magnificent palaces. See the opposition, v. 12. The verb may be in the infinitive mood absolute. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. xxi. 5. The versions seem to read in the plural: building up: and twelve MSS. have .בונה 11. for hire] Beyond what the law of Moses prescribes. 12. heaps] In the parallel place, Jer. xxvi. 18, we find y: which is the reading of three MSS. now, and was originally that of three more. It is also found in the Bab. Talmud. One MS. has "y. For "y see Præl. Hebr. iii. p. 37. .לעיים high places] As hills in a forest. One MS. reads 'a: for cattle of the forest. See c. v. 8. CHAP. IV. 1. But it shall come to pass-] These four verses contain a prophecy which was to be fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah; when the Gentiles were to be admitted into covenant with God, and the Apostles were to preach the gospel, beginning at |