to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
Hear
שִׁמְעוּshim.'u-
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
heads
רָאשֵׁ֣יra.Shei
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Jacob
יַעֲקֹ֔בya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
princes
וּקְצִינֵ֖יu.ke.tzi.Nei
H7101
a magistrate (as deciding) or other leader · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
house
בֵּ֣יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
know
לָדַ֖עַתla.Da.'at
H3045
to know (properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
judgment
הַמִּשְׁפָּֽטha.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 82:1-5 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Jeremiah 5:4-5 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
Hosea 5:1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have…
Deuteronomy 1:13-17 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.
Deuteronomy 16:18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge t…
2 Chronicles 19:5-10 And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city,
Psalms 14:4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Micah 3:1-7
Princes and prophets, when they faithfully discharge the duty of their office, are to be highly honoured above other men; but when they betray their trust, and act contrary to it, they should hear of their faults as well as others, and shall be made to know that there is a God above them, to whom they are accountable; at his bar the prophet here, in his name, arraigns them.
I. Let the princes hear their charge and their doom. The heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel, are called upon to hear what the prophet has to say to them, Mic 3:1. The word of God has reproofs for the greatest of men, which the ministers of that word ought to apply as there is occasion. The prophet here…
Hear - O heads of Jacob - The metaphor of the flock is still carried on. The chiefs of Jacob, and the princes of Israel, instead of taking care of the flocks, defending them, and finding them pasture, oppressed them in various ways. They are like wolves, who tear the skin of the sheep, and the flesh off their bones. This applies to all unjust and oppressive rulers.
Suetonius tells us, in his Life of Tiberius, that when the governors of provinces wrote to the emperor, entreating him to increase the tributes, he wrote back: "It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them." Praesidibus onerandas tributo provincias suadentibus rescripsit: Boni Pastoris esse Tondere pe…
And I said, hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel,.... This seems to be a new sermon or discourse, delivered at another time and to another people than the preceding for, as that chiefly concerns the ten tribes, this the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and was spoken to them in the times of Hezekiah, as appears from Jeremiah 26:18; for though Jacob and Israel generally design the ten tribes, yet here the other two, as is manifest from the above cited place, and also from Micah 3:9; and not only heads of families, but such as were the highest posts under the government, the sanhedrim of the nation, judges, rulers, and nobles, are here addressed; and who h…
The Church Fathers
For the Prophets ever rebuked them, saying, "Hear, ye rulers of Sodom"; and, "Thy rulers are disobedient"; and again, "Is it not for you to know judgment?" And everywhere they attack them vehemently. What then? Shall one blame God for this? Away with the thought. This blame is theirs. And what other proof can a man bring of your not knowing the Law than your not obeying it?
He delivers this address to the leaders: those entrusted with judgment trampled on justice; hence he puts it in the form of a question, Was it not you who had responsibility for judging, for punishing the guilty and letting the innocent go free without blame? How did you, then, who were entrusted with administering the laws, turn from the practice of good works and ardently support evil? You exercised such greed in regard to the needy as to strip them of all their possessions (suggesting this by saying "robbing people of their skins and the flesh from their bones").
(Chapter III, verses 1 and following) And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know judgment, you who hate good and love evil, who violently take off their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones, who have eaten the flesh of my people, and have stripped off their skin from them, and have broken their bones and cut them up like meat in a pot. Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have acted wickedly in their deeds. Clearly, this speech is directed against the princes of Israel, and under the metaphor of lions or robbers, their cruelty is described: that they have plundered the poor, killed them, broken their flesh and bones, and afflicted the miserable people of Jerusalem as if in the midst of a pot. And because of these things, punishment will be brought upon them later on the day of captivity, either by Nebuchadnezzar or by Vespasian and Titus. And they cry out to the Lord, but He does not hear them, and He hides His face from them, because they have acted wickedly in their crimes. LXX: And he will say: Listen to these things, leaders of the house of Jacob, and the rest of the house of Israel. The idea clings to what precedes. For he had said before: But the Lord will be a leader, and he will say: Listen, leaders of the house of Jacob, and the rest of the house of Israel. Regarding the rest of the house of Israel, except for the Seventy, all the leaders of the house of Israel have passed away. Therefore, the Lord who made a way for his people, and went before them, is the leader of the simpler journey of the people, whom he calls a flock: to those who do not want to follow the easier path, but act arrogantly, and do not follow the footsteps of that judge of the people, he threatens and says: Listen, leaders of the house of Jacob, and leaders of the house of Israel. But why is it that they are determined to hear? It is not your place, he says, to know judgment, you who hate good and seek evil: that is, you do not deserve to understand the judgment that is a bottomless pit; and the twisted mind of justice does not find the depths of his righteousness. Or how can you know the judgment of God, you who hate good, how can you know the judgment of God, you who hate good and seek evil, you who detest the holy poor, and…
Dictionary and topics
Captain — (1.) Heb. sar (1 Sam. 22:2; 2 Sam. 23:19). Rendered “chief,” Gen. 40:2; 41:9; rendered also “prince,” Dan. 1:7; “ruler,” Judg. 9:30; “governor,’ 1 Kings 22:26. This same Hebrew word denotes a…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Micah 3:1-3
1. And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
1. Et dixi, Audite quaeso principes Jacob et gubernatores domus Israel; annon vestrum est (vel, ad vos spectat) scire judicium?
2. Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
2. Atqui oderunt bonum et dilligunt malum, rapiunt pellem ab ipsis, et carnem ab ossibus eorum;
3. Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
3. Et tunc vorant carnem populi mei…
First strophe. - Mic 3:1. "And I said, Hear ye, O heads of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know the right? Mic 3:2. Ye who hate good, and love evil; who draw off their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones. Mic 3:3. And who have eaten the flesh of my people, and stripped off their skin from them; and broken their bones, and cut them in pieces, as if in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of the caldron. Mic 3:4. Then will they cry to Jehovah, and He will not hearken; and let Him hide His face from them at the same time, as they have made their actions evil." By the expression "And I said" (vâ'ōmar), the following address is indicated as a continu…
This message indicts the evil leaders who were destroying God’s people and contrasts them with a glorious vision of God’s kingdom and the reign of a righteous king. After suffering judgment and exile, a purified people of Israel would return and experience God’s blessings.
3:1-4 Micah relentlessly indicted the leaders of Israel because they were responsible for the peoples’ well-being. The horrors here depict the terrors of a people under siege (cp. Deut 28:53; 2 Kgs 6:29).
3:1 The leaders, who were supposed to know true judgment and justice (6:8; Deut 10:12-13), were morally responsible for Israel’s guilt.
