Micah 7:4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Micah 7:1-6

This is such a description of bad times as, some think, could scarcely agree to the times of Hezekiah, when this prophet prophesied; and therefore they rather take it as a prediction of what should be in the reign of Manasseh. But we may rather suppose it to be in the reign of Ahaz (and in that reign he prophesied, Mic. 1:1) or in the beginning of Hezekiah's time, before the reformation he was instrumental in; nay, in the best of his days, and when he had done his best to purge out... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Micah 7:4

The best of them is as a brier ,.... Good for nothing but for burning, very hurtful and mischievous, pricking and scratching those that have to do with them: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge ; which, if a man lays hold on to get over, or attempts to pass through, his hands will be pricked, his face scratched, and his clothes tore off his back; so the best of these princes, judges, and great inch, who put on a show of goodness, and pretended to do justice, yet fetched... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Micah 7:4

The best of them is as a brier - They are useless in themselves, and cannot be touched without wounding him that comes in contact with them. He alludes to the thick thorn hedges, still frequent in Palestine. The day of thy watchmen - The day of vengeance, which the prophets have foreseen and proclaimed, is at hand. Now shall be their perplexity; no more wrapping up, all shall be unfolded. In that day every man will wish that he were different from what he is found to be; but he shall be... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Micah 7:4

Verse 4 The Prophet confirms what he had previously said, — that the land was so full of every kind of wickedness, that they who were deemed the best were yet thorns and briers, full of bitterness, or very sharp to prick; as though he said, “The best among them is a thief; the most upright among them is a robber.” We hence see, that in these words he alludes to their accumulated sins, as though he said, “The condition of the people cannot be worse; for iniquity has advanced to its extreme... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 7:1-6

§ 5. Israel's penitential acknowledgment of the general corruption. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 7:1-6

The wail of a true patriot on the moral corruptions of his country. "Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit," etc. In these verses the prophet bewails the moral condition of his country. The picture he draws of its wickedness is a very hideous one. It answers not only to the character of the people in the reign of Ahaz, but to their character under the reign of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 7:1-13

The good in degenerate times. We are not to understand these verses as referring specially to the prophet himself. In Micah 1:8 , Micah 1:9 we have his own lamentation in view of the prevailing ungodliness; here "the speaker is not the prophet, but the true Israel, i.e. Israel within Israel, personified" (Cheyne). God has never left himself without witnesses. Even in the most corrupt and degenerate times he has had a people to show forth his praise. It was so in the age to which this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 7:4

The best of them is as a briar; hard and piercing, catching and holding all that passes by. The plant intended by the word chedek is a thorny one used for hedges ( Proverbs 15:19 ). Under another aspect thorns are a symbol of what is noxious and worthless ( 2 Samuel 23:6 ), or of sin and temptation. The most upright is sharper ( worse ) than a thorn hedge. Those who seem comparatively upright are more injurious, tangled, and inaccessible than a hedge of thorns. In... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Micah 7:4

The best of them is as a brier - The gentlest of them is a thorn , strong, hard, piercing, which letteth nothing unresisting pass by but it taketh from it, “robbing the fleece, and wounding the sheep.” “The most upright”, those who, in comparison of others still worse, seem so, “is sharper than a thorn hedge”, (literally, the upright, them a thorn hedge.) They are not like it only, but worse, and that in all ways; none is specified, and so none excepted; they were more crooked, more tangled,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Micah 7:3-4

Micah 7:3-4. That they may do evil with both hands, &c. With all diligence; earnestly Hebrew, להישׂיב , to good it; that is, to do it thoroughly and effectually. “Their hands are bent on iniquity, to execute it fully.” So Dr. Wheeler. The prince asketh Namely, a gift; to do any one a favour, or good. And the judge asketh for a reward And the judge will not pass a decision till he has had a bribe to engage him to do it. And the great man uttereth his mischievous desire The... read more

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