7. rivers of oil--used in sacrifices ([Le 2:1], ). Will God be appeased by my offering so much oil that it shall flow in myriads of torrents?
my first-born--([2Ki 3:27]). As the king of Moab did.
fruit of my body--my children, as an atonement ([Psa 132:11]). The Jews offered human sacrifices in the valley of Hinnom ([Jr 19:5]; ; [Eze 23:27]).
8. He--Jehovah.
hath showed thee--long ago, so that thou needest not ask the question as if thou hadst never heard ([Mi 6:6]; compare [De 10:12]; [30:11-14]).
what 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 ([He 9:23]; ). 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.
justly ... 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 ([1Sa 15:22]; [Ho 6:6]; ; [Am 5:22], ). 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.
to walk humbly with thy God--passive and active obedience towards God. The three moral duties here are summed up by our Lord ([Mt 23:23]), "judgment, mercy, and faith" (in [Lu 11:42], "the love of God"). Compare [Jas 1:27]. To walk with God implies constant prayer and watchfulness, familiar yet "humble" converse with God ([Ge 5:24]; ).
9. unto the city--Jerusalem.
the man of wisdom--As in [Pr 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."
shall see thy name--shall regard Thee, in Thy revelations of Thyself. Compare the end of [Mi 2:7]. God's "name" expresses the sum-total of His revealed attributes. Contrast with this [Is 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.
hear ... the rod, &c.--Hear what punishment (compare [Mi 6:13], &c.; [Is 9:3]; , ) 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.
appointed it--([Jr 47:7]).
10. Are there yet--notwithstanding all My warnings. Is there to be no end of acquiring treasures by wickedness? Jehovah is speaking ([Mi 6:9]).
scant measure ... abominable--([Pr 11:1]; [Am 8:5]).
11. 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 [Mi 6:13], refers to Jehovah, it must refer to Him also here.
the bag--in which weights used to be carried, as well as money ([De 25:13]; [Pr 16:11]).
12. For--rather, "Inasmuch as"; the conclusion "therefore," &c. following in [Mi 6:13].
thereof--of Jerusalem.
13. make thee sick in smiting--([Le 26:16], to which perhaps the allusion here is, as in [Mi 6:14]; [Psa 107:17], ; [Jr 13:13]).
14. eat ... not be satisfied--fulfiling the threat, [Le 26:26].
thy 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."
thou 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 ([Jr 50:37]).
that 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.
15. sow ... not reap--fulfilling the threat ([Le 26:16]; [De 28:38-40]; [Am 5:11]).
16. statutes of Omri--the founder of Samaria and of Ahab's wicked house; and a supporter of Jeroboam's superstitions ([1Ki 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.
works of ... Ahab--([1Ki 21:25], ).
ye 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.
that 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."
inhabitants thereof--namely, of Jerusalem.
hissing--([La 2:15]).
the 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.
Chapter 7
Mi 7:1-20. 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 [Is 28:4]) which "my soul desireth" [Maurer]. So I look in vain for any good men left ([Mi 7:2]).
2. The Hebrew expresses "one merciful and good in relation to man," rather than to God.
is perished out of the earth--([Psa 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" ([Ec 4:12]); 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 ([2Sa 23:6], ; [Is 55:13]; [Eze 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--([Is 22:5]). They shall not know whither to turn.
5. Trust ye not in a friend--Faith is kept nowhere: all to a man are treacherous ([Jr 9:2-6]). 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" ([Mt 10:35], ; [Lu 12:53]).