---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Micah 7"
description: "CHAPTER 7   :-. THE
UNIVERSALITY OF THE
CORRUPTION; THE CHOSEN
REMNANT, DRIVEN
FROM EVERY HUMAN
CONFIDENCE, TURNS
TO GOD; TRIUMPHS
BY FAITH OVER HER
ENEMI"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/micah/7"
---

CHAPTER 7

. THE
UNIVERSALITY OF THE
CORRUPTION; THE CHOSEN
REMNANT, DRIVEN
FROM EVERY HUMAN
CONFIDENCE, TURNS
TO GOD; TRIUMPHS
BY FAITH OVER HER
ENEMIES; IS
COMFORTED BY GOD'S
PROMISES IN ANSWER
TO PRAYER, AND BY THE
CONFUSION OF HER
ENEMIES, AND SO
BREAKS FORTH
INTO PRAISES OF
GOD'S CHARACTER.

**1. I am as when,** c.—It is the
same with me as with one seeking fruits after the harvest, grapes
after the vintage. "There is not a cluster" to be found: no
"first-ripe fruit" (or "early fig" see on ) which "my soul desireth" [MAURER].
So I look in vain for any good men left ().

**2.** The *Hebrew* expresses
"one *merciful and good* in relation to man," rather
than to God.
**is perished out of the earth**—
([Psalms 12:1](../../../kjv/psalms/12/1)).

**3. That they may do evil with both
hands earnestly**—literally, "Their hands are for evil that
they may do it well" (that is, cleverly and successfully).
**the great man, he**—emphatic
repetition. *As for the great man, he* no sooner has expressed
his bad desire (literally, the "mischief" or "lust of
his soul"), than the venal judges are ready to wrest the
decision of the case according to his wish.
**so they wrap it up**—The
*Hebrew* is used of *intertwining cords together.* The
"threefold cord is not quickly broken" (); here the "prince," the "judge," and
the "great man" are the three in guilty complicity. "They
wrap it up," namely, they conspire to carry out the great man's
desire at the sacrifice of justice.

**4. as a brier**—or *thorn;*
pricking with injury all who come in contact with them ([2 Samuel 23:6](../../../kjv/2-samuel/23/6);
[2 Samuel 23:7](../../../kjv/2-samuel/23/7); [Isaiah 55:13](../../../kjv/isaiah/55/13);
[Ezekiel 2:6](../../../kjv/ezekiel/2/6)).
**the day of thy watchmen**—the
day foretold by thy (true) prophets, as the time of "thy
visitation" in wrath [GROTIUS].
Or, "the day of thy *false* prophets being punished";
they are specially threatened as being not only blind themselves, but
leading others blindfold [CALVIN].
**now**—at the time
foretold, "at that time"; the prophet transporting himself
into it.
**perplexity**— ([Ezekiel 2:6](../../../kjv/ezekiel/2/6)). They shall not know whither to turn.

**5. Trust ye not in a friend**—Faith
is kept nowhere: all to a man are treacherous (). When justice is perverted by the great, faith nowhere is
safe. So, in gospel times of persecution, "a man's foes are they
of his own household" ([Matthew 10:35](../../../kjv/matthew/10/35);
[Matthew 10:36](../../../kjv/matthew/10/36); [Luke 12:53](../../../kjv/luke/12/53)).
**guide**—a counsellor
[CALVIN] able to help and
advise (compare [Psalms 118:8](../../../kjv/psalms/118/8);
[Psalms 118:9](../../../kjv/psalms/118/9); [Psalms 146:3](../../../kjv/psalms/146/3)).
*The head of your family,* to whom all the members of the family
would naturally repair in emergencies. Similarly the *Hebrew* is
translated in [Joshua 22:14](../../../kjv/joshua/22/14) and
"chief friends" in [Joshua 22:14](../../../kjv/joshua/22/14) [GROTIUS].
**her that lieth in thy
bosom**—thy wife ([Deuteronomy 13:6](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/13/6)).

**6. son dishonoureth the father**—The
state of unnatural lawlessness in all relations of life is here
described which is to characterize the last times, before Messiah
comes to punish the ungodly and save Israel (compare [Luke 21:16](../../../kjv/luke/21/16);
[2 Timothy 3:1-3](../../../kjv/2-timothy/3/1-3)).

**7. Therefore I will look unto the
Lord**—as if no one else were before mine eyes. We must not only
"look *unto* the Lord," but also "wait *for*
Him." Having no hope from man ([Micah 7:5](../../../kjv/micah/7/5);
[Micah 7:6](../../../kjv/micah/7/6)), Micah speaks in the
name of Israel, who herein, taught by chastisement ([Micah 7:6](../../../kjv/micah/7/6)) to feel her sin ([Micah 7:9](../../../kjv/micah/7/9)),
casts herself on the Lord as her only hope," in patient waiting
([Lamentations 3:26](../../../kjv/lamentations/3/26)). She did so under the
Babylonian captivity; she shall do so again hereafter when the spirit
of grace shall be poured on her ([Lamentations 3:26](../../../kjv/lamentations/3/26)).

**8. Rejoice not**—at my fall.
**when I fall, I shall arise**—
([Psalms 37:24](../../../kjv/psalms/37/24); [Proverbs 24:16](../../../kjv/proverbs/24/16)).
**when I sit in darkness, the
Lord shall be a light**—Israel reasons as her divine
representative, Messiah, reasoned by faith in His hour of darkness
and desertion ([Isaiah 50:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/50/7); [Isaiah 50:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/50/8);
[Isaiah 50:10](../../../kjv/isaiah/50/10)). Israel addresses
Babylon, her triumphant foe (or Edom), as *a female;* the type
of her last and worst foes ([Psalms 137:7](../../../kjv/psalms/137/7);
[Psalms 137:8](../../../kjv/psalms/137/8)). "Mine enemy,"
in *Hebrew,* is feminine.

**9. bear**—patiently.
**the indignation of the
Lord**—His punishment inflicted on me (). The true penitent "accepts the punishment of his
iniquity" ([Leviticus 26:41](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/41);
[Leviticus 26:43](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/43)); they who murmur
against God, do not yet know their guilt ([Job 40:4](../../../kjv/job/40/4);
[Job 40:5](../../../kjv/job/40/5)).
**execute judgment for
me**—against my foe. God's people plead guilty before God; but,
in respect to their human foes, they are innocent and undeserving of
their foes' injuries.
**bring me forth to the
light**—to the temporal and spiritual redemption.
**I shall behold his
righteousness**—His gracious faithfulness to His promises ([Job 40:5](../../../kjv/job/40/5)).

**10. shame shall cover her**—in
seeing how utterly mistaken she was in supposing that I was utterly
ruined.
**Where is . . . thy God**—
([Psalms 42:3](../../../kjv/psalms/42/3); [Psalms 42:10](../../../kjv/psalms/42/10)).
If He be "*thy* God," as thou sayest, let Him come now
and deliver thee. So as to Israel's representative, Messiah ([Psalms 42:10](../../../kjv/psalms/42/10)).
**mine eyes shall behold her**—a
just retribution in kind upon the foe who had said, "Let our *eye
look upon* Zion." Zion shall behold her foe prostrate, not
with the carnal joy of revenge, but with spiritual joy in God's
vindicating His own righteousness ([Isaiah 66:24](../../../kjv/isaiah/66/24);
[Revelation 16:5-7](../../../kjv/revelation/16/5-7)).
**shall she be trodden
down**—herself, who had trodden down me.

**11. thy walls . . . be built**—under
Cyrus, after the seventy years' captivity; and again, hereafter, when
the Jews shall be restored ([Amos 9:11](../../../kjv/amos/9/11);
[Zechariah 12:6](../../../kjv/zechariah/12/6)).
**shall the decree be far
removed**—namely, thy tyrannical decree or rule of Babylon shall
be put away from thee, "the statutes that were not good"
([Ezekiel 20:25](../../../kjv/ezekiel/20/25)) [CALVIN].
[Psalms 102:13-16](../../../kjv/psalms/102/13-16); [Isaiah 9:4](../../../kjv/isaiah/9/4).
The *Hebrew* is against MAURER'S
translation, "the boundary of the city shall be *far
extended,*" so as to contain the people flocking into it from
all nations ([Micah 7:12](../../../kjv/micah/7/12); [Isaiah 49:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/49/20);
[Isaiah 54:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/2)).

**12. In that day also**—rather,
an answer to the supposed question of Zion, When shall my walls be
built? "The day (of thy walls being built) is the day when he
(that is, many) shall come to thee from Assyria," c. [LUDOVICUS
DE DIEU].
The Assyrians (including the Babylonians) who spoiled thee shall
come.
**and*****from*****the fortified cities**—rather, to suit the parallelism, "from
Assyria *even to Egypt.*" (*Matzor* may be so
translated). So Assyria and Egypt are contrasted in [MAURER]. CALVIN
agrees with *English Version,* "from all fortified cities."
**from the fortress even to the
river**—"from *Egypt* even to the river" Euphrates
(answering in parallelism to "Assyria") [MAURER].
Compare [Isaiah 11:15](../../../kjv/isaiah/11/15) [Isaiah 11:16](../../../kjv/isaiah/11/16);
[Isaiah 19:23-25](../../../kjv/isaiah/19/23-25); [Isaiah 27:13](../../../kjv/isaiah/27/13);
[Hosea 11:11](../../../kjv/hosea/11/11); [Zechariah 10:10](../../../kjv/zechariah/10/10).

**13.** However glorious the
prospect of restoration, the Jews are not to forget the visitation on
their "land" which is to intervene for the "fruit of
(evil caused by) their doings" (compare [Proverbs 1:31](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/31);
[Isaiah 3:10](../../../kjv/isaiah/3/10); [Isaiah 3:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/3/11);
[Jeremiah 21:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/21/14)).

**14. Feed thy people**—Prayer of
the prophet, in the name of his people to God, which, as God fulfils
believing prayer, is prophetical of what God *would* do. When
God is about to deliver His people, He stirs up their friends to pray
for them.
**Feed**—including the idea
of both pastoral *rule* and care over His people (, *Margin*), regarded as a flock ([Psalms 80:1](../../../kjv/psalms/80/1);
[Psalms 100:3](../../../kjv/psalms/100/3)). Our calamity must be
fatal to the nation, unless Thou of Thy unmerited grace, remembering
Thy covenant with "Thine heritage" ([Deuteronomy 4:20](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/4/20);
[Deuteronomy 7:6](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/7/6); [Deuteronomy 32:9](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/9)),
shalt restore us.
**thy rod**—the shepherd's
rod, wherewith He directs the flock ([Deuteronomy 32:9](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/9)). No longer the rod of punishment ([Deuteronomy 32:9](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/9)).
**which dwell solitarily in the
wood, in . . . Carmel**—Let Thy people who have been dwelling as
it were in a solitude of woods (*in* the world, but not *of*
it), scattered among various nations, dwell in Carmel, that is, where
there are fruit-bearing lands and vineyards [CALVIN].
Rather, "which are about to dwell (that is, that they may dwell)
separate in the wood, in . . . Carmel" [MAURER],
which are to be no longer mingled with the heathen, but are to dwell
as a distinct people in their own land. Micah has here Balaam's
prophecy in view (compare [Micah 6:5](../../../kjv/micah/6/5),
where also Balaam is referred to). "Lo, the people shall dwell
*alone*" ([Numbers 23:9](../../../kjv/numbers/23/9);
compare [Deuteronomy 33:28](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/33/28)). To "feed
in the wood in Carmel," is to feed in the rich pastures among
its woods. To "sleep in the woods," is the image of *most
perfect security* ([Ezekiel 34:25](../../../kjv/ezekiel/34/25)).
So that the Jews' "security," as well as their *distinct
nationality,* is here foretold. Also [Ezekiel 34:25](../../../kjv/ezekiel/34/25).
**Bashan**—famed for its
cattle ([Psalms 22:12](../../../kjv/psalms/22/12); [Amos 4:1](../../../kjv/amos/4/1)).
Parallel to this passage is [Amos 4:1](../../../kjv/amos/4/1). Bashan and Gilead, east of Jordan, were chosen by Reuben,
Gad, and half Manasseh, as abounding in pastures suited for their
many cattle ([Numbers 32:1-42](../../../kjv/numbers/32/1-42);
[Deuteronomy 3:12-17](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/3/12-17)).

**15. thy . . . him**—both
referring to Israel. So in [Micah 7:19](../../../kjv/micah/7/19)
the person is changed from the first to the third, "us . . . our
. . . their." Jehovah here answers Micah's prayer in [Micah 7:19](../../../kjv/micah/7/19), assuring him, that as He delivered His people from Egypt by
miraculous power, so He would again "show" it in their
behalf ([Jeremiah 16:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/16/14); [Jeremiah 16:15](../../../kjv/jeremiah/16/15)).

**16. shall see**—the "marvellous
things" ([Micah 7:15](../../../kjv/micah/7/15); [Isaiah 26:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/26/11)).
**confounded at all their
might**—having so suddenly proved unavailing: that might
wherewith they had thought that there is nothing which they could not
effect against God's people.
**lay . . . hand upon . . .
mouth**—the gesture of silence ([Job 21:5](../../../kjv/job/21/5);
[Job 40:4](../../../kjv/job/40/4); [Psalms 107:42](../../../kjv/psalms/107/42);
[Isaiah 52:15](../../../kjv/isaiah/52/15)). They shall be struck
dumb at Israel's marvellous deliverance, and no longer boast that
God's people is destroyed.
**ears . . . deaf**—They
shall stand astounded so as not to hear what shall be said [GROTIUS].
Once they had eagerly drunk in all rumors as so many messages of
victories; but then they shall be afraid of hearing them, because
they continually fear new disasters, when they see the God of Israel
to be so powerful [CALVIN].
They shall close their ears so as not to be compelled to hear of
Israel's successes.

**17. lick the dust**—in abject
prostration as suppliants ([Psalms 72:9](../../../kjv/psalms/72/9);
compare [Isaiah 49:23](../../../kjv/isaiah/49/23); [Isaiah 65:25](../../../kjv/isaiah/65/25)).
**move out of their holes**—As
reptiles from their holes, they shall come forth from their
hiding-places, or fortresses ([Isaiah 65:25](../../../kjv/isaiah/65/25)), to give themselves up to the conquerors. More literally,
"they shall tremble from," that is, tremblingly come forth
from their coverts.
**like worms**—reptiles or
crawlers ([Deuteronomy 32:24](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/24)).
**they shall be afraid of the
Lord**—or, they shall *in fear turn with haste* to the Lord.
Thus the antithesis is brought out. They shall tremble forth *from*
their holes: they shall in trepidation turn *to* the Lord for
salvation (compare *Note,* see on [Deuteronomy 32:24](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/24), and [Jeremiah 33:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/33/9)).
**fear because of thee**—shall
fear Thee, Jehovah (and so fear Israel as under Thy guardianship).
There is a change here from speaking *of* God to speaking *to*
God [MAURER]. Or rather,
"shall fear thee, Israel" [HENDERSON].

**18.** Grateful at such
unlooked-for grace being promised to Israel, Micah breaks forth into
praises of Jehovah.
**passeth by the
transgression**—not conniving at it, but forgiving it; leaving it
unpunished, as a traveller *passes by* what he chooses not to
look into ([Proverbs 19:11](../../../kjv/proverbs/19/11)). Contrast
[Amos 7:8](../../../kjv/amos/7/8), and "*mark*
iniquities," [Psalms 130:3](../../../kjv/psalms/130/3).
**the remnant**—who shall
be permitted to survive the previous judgment: the elect remnant of
grace ([Micah 4:7](../../../kjv/micah/4/7); [Micah 5:3](../../../kjv/micah/5/3);
[Micah 5:7](../../../kjv/micah/5/7); [Micah 5:8](../../../kjv/micah/5/8)).
**retaineth not . . . anger**—
([Psalms 103:9](../../../kjv/psalms/103/9)).
**delighteth in mercy**—God's
forgiving is founded on His nature, which delights in
loving-kindness, and is averse from wrath.

**19. turn again**—to us, from
having been turned away from us.
**subdue our
iniquities**—literally, "tread under foot," as being
hostile and deadly to us. Without subjugation of our bad
propensities, even pardon could not give us peace. When God takes
away the guilt of sin that it may not condemn us, He takes away also
the power of sin that it may not rule us.
**cast . . . into . . . depths
of the sea**—never to rise again to view, buried out of sight in
eternal oblivion: not merely at the shore side, where they may rise
again.
**our . . . their**—change
of person. Micah in the first case identifying himself and his sins
with his people and their sins; in the second, speaking *of*
them and their sins.

**20. perform the truth**—the
faithful promise.
**to Jacob . . . Abraham**—Thou
shalt make good to their posterity the promise made to the
patriarchs. God's promises are called "mercy," because they
flow slowly from grace; "truth," because they will be
surely performed ([Luke 1:72](../../../kjv/luke/1/72);
[Luke 1:73](../../../kjv/luke/1/73); [1 Thessalonians 5:24](../../../kjv/1-thessalonians/5/24)).
**sworn unto our fathers**—
([Psalms 105:9](../../../kjv/psalms/105/9); [Psalms 105:10](../../../kjv/psalms/105/10)).
The promise to Abraham is in [Psalms 105:10](../../../kjv/psalms/105/10); to Isaac, in [Genesis 26:24](../../../kjv/genesis/26/24);
to Jacob, in [Genesis 28:13](../../../kjv/genesis/28/13). This
unchangeable promise implied an engagement that the seed of the
patriarchs should never perish, and should be restored to their
inheritance as often as they turned wholly to God ([Deuteronomy 30:1](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/30/1);
[Deuteronomy 30:2](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/30/2)).

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