Micah 6:16

Micah 6:16 sums up the sin and punishment of the people.

The statutes of Omri are kept This is perhaps the best that can be done with the present Hebrew text, but the context and among the ancient versions LXX. and Peshitto suggest a slight change, so that it will read “thou didst keep,” and this is probably the original. The reign of Omri, one of the greatest kings of the northern kingdom, is passed over very briefly in 1 Kings 16:21-28, but the statement is made that he dealt more wickedly than any king that went before him. The words of Micah are not to be understood as meaning that Omri actually made statutes enjoining wrongdoing, or that the people followed such statutes, but that they followed his example which exerted as much influence upon their conduct as written law could have done. “All the works of the house of Ahab” is similar in meaning to “statutes of Omri.” Ahab was condemned by his great contemporary Elijah for two reasons: (1) He tolerated and even encouraged the worship of Baal (1 Kings 16:31-32); (2) he oppressed the poor and robbed them of their ancestral holdings (1 Kings 21:0). Micah has little to say about idolatry; it is rather oppression, violence, injustice, that he condemns. Hence “statutes of Omri” and “ways of the house of Ahab” are to be understood as referring not so much to religious apostasy as to the conduct of these kings illustrated in Ahab’s dealings with Naboth.

Ye walk The change to the plural, here and in the last clause of the verse, is peculiar. If the plural is original it may be used to indicate that the individuals in the community are singled out and addressed personally; it is not impossible, however, that the change is due to the mistake of a copyist.

In their counsels As expressed in their conduct.

From the sin the prophet turns to the judgment.

That I should make They might have known better, and did know better; nevertheless they persisted in their iniquity, challenging, by their very conduct, Jehovah to do his worst (see on Amos 2:7). Of the three pronouns, “thee,” “thereof” (of it), “ye,” two are masculine in the original, one is feminine; two are singular, one is plural. It will be necessary, therefore, to distinguish between the persons addressed: “thee” refers to the nation (see on Micah 6:13); “thereof” to Jerusalem or, some think with less probability, to “desolation” desolated land; “ye” to the individuals constituting the nation (see above). This seems a satisfactory explanation; others, however, alter the text so as to bring the pronouns in agreement with one another.

Desolation While this is one meaning of the word, in parallelism with “hissing” the meaning suggested in the margin, “astonishment,” is to be preferred, or still better, “object of astonishment” or “of horror” (compare Deuteronomy 28:37; Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 51:37).

Hissing An object of hissing or derision.

The reproach of my people The reproach which Israel, the chosen people of Jehovah, must bear when the heathen nations will triumph over it; for such a triumph will be to the conquerors a clear proof of Jehovah’s inability or unwillingness to help. LXX. reads, “the reproach of the nations,” that is, the reproach brought upon Israel by the surrounding nations. The latter may be the original reading (see on Joel 2:17).