Глава 3

1–4. Condemning princes and judges for violating justice. 5–7. Condemning false prophets for their flattering, soothing speeches. 8. The nature of Micah's sermon. 9–12. Proclamation of the destruction of Jerusalem for the wickedness of the Jews. Ch. The third, like the previous one, has an accusatory character. The prophet addresses princes and false prophets. He first proclaims the wrath of God for violating the truth and oppression. Micah denounces the false prophets for their flattering attitude towards the people, for the fact that, for selfish reasons, they proclaimed peace to the people when disaster was imminent. As a true servant of Jehovah, Micah openly denounces the crimes of the people and announces the destruction of Jerusalem and the church. Micah 3:1. And I said, Hear, ye heads of Jacob and princes of the house of Israel: ought not ye to know the truth? Instead of “and I said” (vaomar). LXX read καὶ ἐρεῖ, slav. “and speaks.” Thus, Art. 1–4 in the meaning of glory. t. represent speech on behalf of the Lord, whose name was mentioned by the prophet at the end of Chapter II. In Russian t. st. 1–4 contain the words of the prophet himself and begin a new speech, which, as can be seen from Jeremiah 26.18, was pronounced under Hezekiah and made a strong impression on the people. “The heads of Jacob and the princes of the house of Israel,” as can be seen from what follows (Mic. 3:10–12). The terms Jacob and the house of Israel in the prophet are equivalent and specifically designate Judah: heads and princes - heads of clans, judges, captains of thousands, etc. - “Shouldn’t you know the truth” (glorified “judgment”): the prophet is not talking about theoretical knowledge of the truth, but about the practical implementation of it; Isn’t it for you to know the truth? Isn’t it for you to care about the truth? LXX instead of the name of Jacob they read beth Jaakov, why in glory. "authority to the house of Jacob." Heb. kezinej (princes) LXX, apparently, derived from kazah (to end) and translated the word οἱ κατριλαποι, into slav. “left for the house of Israel.” Micah 3:2. But you hate good and love evil; You strip off their skin from them and the flesh from their bones, “You flay off their skin”: the prophet wants to point out the oppression of the people by their leaders and princes. Micah 3:3. You eat the flesh of My people and rip off their skin, and you break their bones and crush them as into a pot, and the flesh as into a cauldron. The prophet expresses figuratively in v. 3 thought about the oppression of the people. Images Art. The 3rd represents the development of the image of the herd used in Mic 2.12 in relation to the people. Micah 3:4. And they will cry out to the Lord, but He will not hear them and will hide His face from them while they commit evil. The punishment for the oppressors of the people will be that the Lord will not hear them in time of need, that is, on the day of judgment. Micah 3:5. Thus says the Lord against the prophets who mislead My people, who gnaw with their teeth and preach peace, and whoever puts nothing in their mouths is declared war against. In Art. 5–7 the prophet denounces false prophets, and his denunciations are similar to those of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 6.14, 19) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 13.10–19). Micah addresses those false prophets who were guided in their activities not by any beliefs different from the views of the true prophets (Jer 7.4), but solely by self-interest. Using the trust of the people, they consoled some, preaching about wine and strong drink, that is, complete well-being, and were at enmity against others. “They gnaw with their teeth,” that is, they receive bread (cf. Am 6.14) for their predictions (Junger: “bold tongue”). They declare war against him, with the Jews. “illuminate (kidschu) the war,” that is, give it a godly character. The prophet wants to say that the false prophets covered their personal enmity towards those who “didn’t put it in their mouth” with the mask of serving God. Micah 3:6. Therefore you will have night instead of vision, and darkness instead of foreshadowing; the sun will set on the prophets and the day will darken over them. The images of “night” and “darkness” in the Bible are used to express thoughts about disasters (Isaiah 5.20). Micah announces that disasters will befall the false prophets for their selfish predictions. Micah 3:7. And the seers will be ashamed, and the fortunetellers will be put to shame, and they will all shut their mouths, because there will be no answer from God. The onset of disasters will serve as proof of the falsity of the predictions of the false prophets, who lulled the people with their predictions of prosperity. False prophets will also cease to be believed because in general “there will be no answer from the Lord,” that is, revelation through the prophets will cease (cf. Am 8.12; Lamentations 2.4; Ps 73.9). “They will shut their mouths” (ol – sapham): from Hebrew. They will cover their beards (cf. Lev. 13:45; Ezekiel 24.17–22), that is, they will cover them as a sign of mourning for the disaster that has befallen. LXX expressed the last thought differently: in Greek. -glory. text, in view of the discovery of the falsity of the predictions of the false prophets, “everyone will speak against them,” that is, everyone will reproach them. Instead of words because there will be no answer from God in glory. “before you will not listen to them”: maaneh elogim (God’s answer) LXX read maaneh elejhem. Micah 3:8. But I am filled with the power of the Spirit of the Lord, with righteousness and firmness, to tell Jacob his transgression and Israel his sin. The prophet demonstrates the authority of his speeches, emanating from the power of the Holy Spirit, and indicates the nature of his sermon. In glory i.e. instead of an affirmative form of speech, a conditional one: “unless I am filled with strength by the Spirit of the Lord.” Micah 3:9. Hear this, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is straight, Micah 3:10. those who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wickedness! From 9th century the prophet returns to the beginning of his speech and again denounces the heads and princes of the house of Jacob (cf. Micah 3:1). “They who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with unrighteousness”: the prophet denounces the princes for the fact that they created their houses, which constitute the adornment of Zion, with funds obtained through oppression and untruth; One can give the prophet’s words a more general meaning: the princes commit so much violence and untruth that Zion and all of Jerusalem are built from them. Micah 3:11. Its leaders judge for gifts and its priests teach for money, and its prophets foretell for money, and yet they rely on the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord among us? no harm will befall us!”: The prophet continues to count the sins that would provoke the wrath of Jehovah. “The priests teach him for a fee”: according to the Law of Moses, in difficult legal cases, judges had to turn to the priests and act “according to the law that they teach and according to the definition that they say” (Deut. 17.8–11). Obviously, the priests, in exchange for bribes, perverted the law and delivered unjust decisions, for which the prophet denounces them. The severity of the crimes denounced by the prophet was especially increased by the fact that their perpetrators considered themselves true honorers of the Lord, they were confident in the Lord’s dwelling among them and in His protection from harm. Jeremiah had to later fight against such false views (Jeremiah 7.4). Micah 3:12. Therefore for your sake Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of this house will be a wooded hill. For the sins of the rulers, the prophet announces the complete destruction of Jerusalem. “Zion” is the name of the Jebusite fortress, located on the southern part of the eastern hill of Jerusalem, and then the name of the entire eastern hill and even all of Jerusalem. “The mountain of this House” is the mountain of the church, that is, the same Zion or that part of Zion where the church was located. LXX convey art. The 12th agrees with the Masorets, except that the word and (“heaps of ruins”) is translated by them, as in Micah 1.6, words. ὀπωροφυλάκιον, slav. “vegetable storage”, and sv. bamoth ("by the hill") n. ἄλσος, meadow (slav. “and a mountain to the house, like an oak meadow”). Micah's prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem is given in the book. Jeremiah (Jer 26.18). From the book In Jeremiah we learn that the prophecy in question was spoken under Hezekiah and made an impression on the king and the people and caused them to turn to the Lord. As a result of this appeal, the Lord “reversed the disaster.” Thus, the prophet's threats, although expressed in a positive form, were conditional. In addition to what has been said, in the book. Jeremiah is told that the fact of Micah's prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem served to save the prophet. Jeremiah from death, to which they wanted to sentence him because he prophesied against the city (Jeremiah 26.11–19). You might be interested in: