to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
saith
אֹמֵ֑ר'o.Mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Arise
ק֚וּםkum
H6965
to rise (in various applications · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
contend
רִ֣יבriv
H7378
properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
mountains
הֶהָרִ֔יםhe.ha.Rim
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
hills
הַגְּבָע֖וֹתha.ge.va.'ot
H1389
a hillock · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
hear
וְתִשְׁמַ֥עְנָהve.tish.Ma'.nah
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person feminine plural
voice
קוֹלֶֽךָko.Le.cha
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
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
Jeremiah 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Micah 1:2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
Ezekiel 36:1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
Psalms 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to…
Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against m…
Ezekiel 36:8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Micah 6:1-5
Here, I. The prefaces to the message are very solemn and such as may engage our most serious attention. 1. The people are commanded to give audience: Hear you now what the Lord says. What the prophet speaks he speaks from God, and in his name; they are therefore bound to hear it, not as the word of a sinful dying man, but of the holy living God. Hear now what he saith, for, first or last, he will be heard. 2. The prophet is commanded to speak in earnest, and to put an emphasis upon what he said: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, or with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice, if it were possible; contend with the mountains and hills of Judea, that is, with the inhabitants of…
Arise, contend thou - This chapter is a sort of dialogue between God and the people. God speaks the five first verses, and convicts the people of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The People, convinced of their iniquity, deprecate God's judgments, in the sixth and seventh verses. In the eighth verse God prescribes the way in which they are to be saved; and then the prophet, by the command of God, goes on to remonstrate from the ninth verse to the end of the chapter.
John Gill on Micah 6:1
Hear ye now what the Lord saith,.... Here begins a new discourse, and with an address of the prophet to the people of Israel, to hear what the Lord had to say to them by way of reproof for their sins now, as they had heard before many great and precious promises concerning the Messiah, and the happiness of the church in future time; to hear what the Lord now said to them by the prophet, and what he said to the prophet himself, as follows:
arise; O Prophet Micah, and do thine office; sit not still, nor indulge to sloth and ease; show readiness, diligence, activity, zeal, and courage in my service, and in carrying a message from me to my people:
contend thou before the mountains, and let the…
(Chapter VI—Verses 1, 2.) Listen to what the Lord is saying: Rise up, contend with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Listen, O mountains, to the Lord's judgment, and you mighty foundations of the earth, for the Lord will judge with his people and with Israel. Septuagint: Listen to what the Lord has spoken: Rise up, judge among the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Listen, O mountains, to the Lord's judgment, and you valleys, foundations of the earth, for the Lord will judge his people and with Israel. For the firm foundations of the earth, which are interpreted as the seventy valleys and foundations of the earth, Symmachus and Theodotion translated it, and the ancient foundations of the earth: but the fifth edition presented the Hebrew itself, Ethanim, the foundations of the earth. Therefore, the first voice of the prophet is: Hear what the Lord is saying. Then God speaks to the prophet: Rise up, contend with judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Again, the prophet, as he had been commanded, speaks to the mountains, and not only to the mountains, but also to the strong foundations of the earth, and says, Hear, O mountains, the judgment of the Lord, and you strong foundations of the earth. He gives the reason why he compels them to hear. Because the judgment of the Lord will be pronounced upon his people, and with Israel it will be judged. They have transferred hills and valleys to the mountains to which the prophet speaks and to the strong foundations of the earth, understanding this, as it seems to me, that the people have done nothing worthy to be heard from the mountains, either from the hills that are inferior to the height of the mountains, or from the valleys submerged in the deepest part. Arise, he says, contend in judgment before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. He commands those who are sitting, lying, sleeping, or dead to arise, according to what the Apostle says: Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light (Ephesians 5:14). Arise from the dead, so that you may walk in newness of life, that you may leave the earth and strive for higher things. And contend in judgment against the mountains, which I believe to signify no one other than the Angels, to whom the care of human matters is entrusted, as the Song of Deuteronomy concords with the…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Micah 6:1-2
1. Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
1. Audite nunc (vel, quaeso) quod dicit Jehova, -- Surge, litiga coram montibus, et colles audiant vocem tuam:
2. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
2. Audite montes disceptationem Jehovae, et fortia undamenta terrae: quia disceptatio Jehovae cum populo suo, et cum Israele contendet.
Here the Prophet avowedly assumes that the people were sufficiently proved guilty; and yet they resisted through a hardiness the most obdurate, and reject…
Introduction. - Announcement of the lawsuit which the Lord will have with His people. - Mic 6:1. "Hear ye, then, what Jehovah saith; Rise up, contend with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice! Mic 6:2. Hear ye, O mountains, Jehovah's contest; and ye immutable ones, ye foundations of the earth! For Jehovah has a contest with His people; and with Israel will He contend." In Mic 6:1 the nation of Israel is addressed in its several members. They are to hear what the Lord says to the prophet, - namely, the summons addressed to the mountains and hills to hear Jehovah's contest with His people. The words "strive with the mountains" cannot be understood here as signifying that the mountai…
The Lord presented, argued, and decided the case against his rebellious people, Israel. This section is formally presented as a legal court case (cp. Isa 1:2-4; Jer 2:4-9; Hos 4). Using the scenario of the courtroom, the Lord challenged his people to state their case against him, for he had a case against them (Mic 6:1-5)—they had not fulfilled his requirements (6:6-8), so they were guilty (6:9-12). The guilty verdict is followed by Israel’s sentencing (6:13-16).
6:1-2 mountains and hills: All creation is called as a witness (cp. Josh 24:27); in other ancient Near Eastern treaties, the gods of the respective countries were called as witnesses.
Rashi on Micah 6:1
with the mountains—with the Patriarchs.
the hills—the Matriarchs.
