{"commentary":{"id":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson-Fausset-Brown_Bible_Commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"db3d4c8b3c1f32ef9d1430a57392e02bda3a17aac1f9bbe398461de021a3cb13","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1187,"totalNumberOfVerses":17056,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"MIC","commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Micah","commonName":"Micah","introduction":"MICAH was a native of Moresheth, not the same as Mareshah in Mic 1:15, but the town called Moresheth-gath (Mic 1:14), which lay near Eleutheropolis, west of Jerusalem, on the border of the Philistine country; so called to distinguish it from Moresheth of Judah. His full name is Micaiah (not the Micaiah mentioned Kg1 22:8, the son of Imlah), signifying, Who is like Jehovah? The time of his prophesying is stated in the introduction to be in the reigns of Jotham. Ahaz, and Hezekiah, that is, between 757 and 699 B.C. Jeremiah (Jer 26:18) quotes Mic 3:12, as delivered in the reign of Hezekiah. He was thus a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. The idolatries practised in the reign of Ahaz accord with Micah's denunciations of such gross evils, and confirm the truth of the time assigned Mic 1:1. His prophecies are partly against Israel (Samaria), partly against Judah. As Samaria, Israel's metropolis, was taken first, and Jerusalem, the capital of Judah subsequently, in the introductory heading, Mic 1:1, Samaria is put first, then Jerusalem. He prophesies the capture of both; the Jews captivity and restoration; and the coming and reign of Messiah. His style is full, round, and perspicuous; his diction pure, and his parallelisms regular. His description of Jehovah (Mic 7:18-19) is not surpassed by any elsewhere in Scripture. The similarity between Isaiah and Micah in some passages (compare Mic 4:1-3, with Isa 2:2-4) is to be accounted for by their being contemporaries, acquainted with each other's inspired writings, and having the same subjects for their theme. HENGSTENBERG maintains that the passage in Micah is the original. Isaiah was somewhat the older, being a prophet in the reign of Uzziah, Jotham's predecessor, whereas Micah began his prophecies under Jotham.\n\nThe book consists of two parts: (1) the first through fifth chapters; (2) the sixth and seventh chapters, a dialogue or contestation between Jehovah and His people, in which He reproaches them with their unnatural and ungrateful conduct, and threatens judgment for their corruptions, but consoles them with the promise of restoration from captivity.\n\nMicah stands sixth of the minor prophets in the Hebrew canon, but third in the Septuagint. \n\n\n\nNext: Micah Chapter 1\n\n","order":33,"numberOfChapters":7,"sha256":"5f1d30de089ca2d20fa6a36e71504d663dc1cd69625578b2f7adb7add087af6c","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/MIC/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"MIC","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":7,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/MIC/7.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"MIC","chapter":7},"totalNumberOfVerses":96},"chapter":{"number":6,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["Lord's controversy--How great is Jehovah's condescension, who, though the supreme Lord of all, yet wishes to prove to worms of the earth the equity of His dealings (Isa 5:3; Isa 43:26).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["my people--the greatest aggravation of their sin, that God always treated them, and still treats them, as His people. \n\nwhat have I done unto thee?--save kindness, that thou revoltest from Me (Jer 2:5, Jer 2:31). \n\nwherein have I wearied thee?--What commandments have I enjoined that should have wearied thee as irksome (Jo1 5:3)?\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["For--On the contrary, so far from doing anything harsh, I did thee every kindness from the earliest years of thy nationality. \n\nMiriam--mentioned, as being the prophetess who led the female chorus who sang the song of Moses (Exo 15:20). God sent Moses to give the best laws; Aaron to pray for the people; Miriam as an example to the women of Israel.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["what Balak . . . consulted--how Balak plotted to destroy thee by getting Balaam to curse thee (Num 22:5). \n\nwhat Balaam . . . answered--how the avaricious prophet was constrained against his own will, to bless Israel whom he had desired to curse for the sake of Balak's reward (Num 24:9-11) [MAURER]. GROTIUS explains it, \"how Balaam answered, that the only way to injure thee was by tempting thee to idolatry and whoredom\" (Num 31:16). The mention of \"Shittim\" agrees with this: as it was the scene of Israel's sin (Num 25:1-5; Pe2 2:15; Rev 2:14). \n\nfrom Shittim unto Gilgal--not that Balaam accompanied Israel from Shittim to Gilgal: for he was slain in Midian (Num 31:8). But the clause, \"from Shittim,\" alone applies to Balaam. \"Remember\" God's kindnesses \"from Shittim,\" the scene of Balaam's wicked counsel taking effect in Israel's sin, whereby Israel merited utter destruction but for God's sparing mercy, \"to Gilgal,\" the place of Israel's first encampment in the promised land between Jericho and Jordan, where God renewed the covenant with Israel by circumcision (Jos 5:2-11). \n\nknow the righteousness--Recognize that, so far from God having treated thee harshly (Mic 6:3), His dealings have been kindness itself (so \"righteous acts\" for gracious, Jdg 5:11; Psa 24:5, Psa 112:9).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?--The people, convicted by the previous appeal of Jehovah to them, ask as if they knew not (compare Mic 6:8) what Jehovah requires of them to appease Him, adding that they are ready to offer an immense heap of sacrifices, and those the most costly, even to the fruit of their own body. \n\nburnt offerings-- (Lev. 1:1-17). \n\ncalves of a year old--which used to be offered for a priest (Lev 9:2-3).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["rivers of oil--used in sacrifices (Lev 2:1, Lev 2:15). Will God be appeased by my offering so much oil that it shall flow in myriads of torrents? \n\nmy first-born-- (Kg2 3:27). As the king of Moab did. \n\nfruit of my body--my children, as an atonement (Psa 132:11). The Jews offered human sacrifices in the valley of Hinnom (Jer 19:5; Jer 32:35; Eze 23:27).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["He--Jehovah. \n\nhath showed thee--long ago, so that thou needest not ask the question as if thou hadst never heard (Mic 6:6; compare Deu 10:12; Deu 30:11-14). \n\nwhat is good--\"the good things to come\" under Messiah, of which \"the law had the shadow.\" The Mosaic sacrifices were but suggestive foreshadowings of His better sacrifice (Heb 9:23; Heb 10:1). To have this \"good\" first \"showed,\" or revealed by the Spirit, is the only basis for the superstructure of the moral requirements which follow. Thus the way was prepared for the Gospel. The banishment of the Jews from Palestine is designed to preclude the possibility of their looking to the Mosaic rites for redemption, and shuts them up to Messiah. \n\njustly . . . mercy--preferred by God to sacrifices. For the latter being positive ordinances, are only means designed with a view to the former, which being moral duties are the ends, and of everlasting obligation (Sa1 15:22; Hos 6:6; Hos 12:6; Amo 5:22, Amo 5:24). Two duties towards man are specified--justice, or strict equity; and mercy, or a kindly abatement of what we might justly demand, and a hearty desire to do good to others. \n\nto walk humbly with thy God--passive and active obedience towards God. The three moral duties here are summed up by our Lord (Mat 23:23), \"judgment, mercy, and faith\" (in Luk 11:42, \"the love of God). Compare Jam 1:27. To walk with God implies constant prayer and watchfulness, familiar yet \"humble\" converse with God (Gen 5:24; Gen 17:1).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["unto the city--Jerusalem. \n\nthe man of wisdom--As in Pro 13:6, Hebrew, \"sin\" is used for \"a man of sin,\" and in Psa 109:4, \"prayer\" for \"a man of prayer\"; so here \"wisdom\" for \"the man of wisdom.\" \n\nshall see thy name--shall regard Thee, in Thy revelations of Thyself. Compare the end of Mic 2:7. God's \"name\" expresses the sum-total of His revealed attributes. Contrast with this Isa 26:10, \"will not behold the majesty of the Lord.\" Another reading is adopted by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, \"there is deliverance for those who fear Thy name.\" English Version is better suited to the connection; and the rarity of the Hebrew expression, as compared with the frequency of that in the other reading, makes it less likely to be an interpolation. \n\nhear . . . the rod, &c.--Hear what punishment (compare Mic 6:13, &c.; Isa 9:3; Isa 10:5, Isa 10:24) awaits you, and from whom. I am but a man, and so ye may disregard me; but remember my message is not mine, but God's. Hear the rod when it is come, and you feel its smart. Hear what counsels, what cautions it speaks. \n\nappointed it-- (Jer 47:7).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["Are there yet--notwithstanding all My warnings. Is there to be no end of acquiring treasures by wickedness? Jehovah is speaking (Mic 6:9). \n\nscant measure . . . abominable-- (Pro 11:1; Amo 8:5).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["Shall I count them pure--literally, \"Shall I be pure with?\" &c. With the pure God shows Himself pure; but with the froward God shows Himself froward (Psa 18:26). Men often are changeable in their judgments. But God, in the case of the impure who use \"wicked balances,\" cannot be pure, that is, cannot deal with them as He would with the pure. VATABLUS and HENDERSON make the \"I\" to be \"any one\"; \"Can I (that is, one) be innocent with wicked balances?\" But as \"I,\" in Mic 6:13, refers to Jehovah, it must refer to Him also here. \n\nthe bag--in which weights used to be carried, as well as money (Deu 25:13; Pro 16:11).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["For--rather, \"Inasmuch as\"; the conclusion \"therefore,\" &c. following in Mic 6:13. \n\nthereof--of Jerusalem.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["make thee sick in smiting-- (Lev 26:16, to which perhaps the allusion here is, as in Mic 6:14; Psa 107:17-18; Jer 13:13).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["eat . . . not be satisfied--fulfiling the threat, Lev 26:26. \n\nthy casting down shall be in the midst of thee--Thou shalt be cast down, not merely on My borders, but in the midst of thee, thy metropolis and temple being overthrown [TIRINUS]. Even though there should be no enemy, yet thou shalt be consumed with intestine evils [CALVIN]. MAURER translates as from an Arabic root, \"there shall be emptiness in thy belly.\" Similarly GROTIUS, \"there shall be a sinking of thy belly (once filled with food), through hunger.\" This suits the parallelism to the first clause. But English Version maintains the parallelism sufficiently. The casting down in the midst of the land, including the failure of food, through the invasion thus answering to, \"Thou shalt eat, and not be satisfied.\" \n\nthou shalt take hold, but . . . not deliver--Thou shalt take hold (with thine arms), in order to save [CALVIN] thy wives, children and goods. MAURER, from a different root, translates, \"thou shalt remove them,\" in order to save them from the foe. But thou shalt fail in the attempt to deliver them (Jer 50:37). \n\nthat which thou deliverest--If haply thou dost rescue aught, it will be for a time: I will give it up to the foe's sword.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["sow . . . not reap--fulfilling the threat (Lev 26:16; Deu 28:38-40; Amo 5:11).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["statutes of Omri--the founder of Samaria and of Ahab's wicked house; and a supporter of Jeroboam's superstitions (Kg1 16:16-28). This verse is a recapitulation of what was more fully stated before, Judah's sin and consequent punishment. Judah, though at variance with Israel on all things else, imitated her impiety. \n\nworks of . . . Ahab-- (Kg1 21:25-26). \n\nye walk in their counsels--Though these superstitions were the fruit of their king's \"counsels\" as a master stroke of state policy, yet these pretexts were no excuse for setting at naught the counsels and will of God. \n\nthat I should make thee a desolation--Thy conduct is framed so, as if it was thy set purpose \"that I should make thee a desolation.\" \n\ninhabitants thereof--namely, of Jerusalem. \n\nhissing-- (Lam 2:15). \n\nthe reproach of my people--The very thing ye boast of, namely, that ye are \"My people,\" will only increase the severity of your punishment. The greater My grace to you, the greater shall be your punishment for having despised it, Your being God's people in name, while walking in His love, was an honor; but now the name, without the reality, is only a \"reproach\" to you.\n\n\n\n\nNext: Micah Chapter 7\n\n"]}],"introduction":"APPEAL BEFORE ALL CREATION TO THE ISRAELITES TO TESTIFY, IF THEY CAN, IF JEHOVAH EVER DID AUGHT BUT ACTS OF KINDNESS TO THEM FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD: GOD REQUIRES OF THEM NOT SO MUCH SACRIFICES, AS REAL PIETY AND JUSTICE: THEIR IMPIETIES AND COMING PUNISHMENT. (Mic. 6:1-16)\n\ncontend thou--Israel is called by Jehovah to pie ad with Him in controversy. Mic 5:11-13 suggested the transition from those happy times described in the fourth and fifth chapters, to the prophet's own degenerate times and people. \n\nbefore the mountains--in their presence; personified as if witnesses (compare Mic 1:2; Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2). Not as the Margin, \"with\"; as God's controversy is with Israel, not with them.\n\n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/MIC/6.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"MIC","chapter":6},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/MIC/7.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"MIC","chapter":7},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/MIC/5.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"MIC","chapter":5},"numberOfVerses":15}