Micah 7:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Micah 7:1
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
a collection (of fruits) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
fruits
קַ֔יִץKa.yitz
H7019
harvest (as the crop) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
grapegleanings
כְּעֹלְלֹ֖תke.'o.le.Lot
H5955
only in plural gleanings · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
vintage
בָּצִ֑ירba.Tzir
H1210
clipped · noun, common masculine singular absolute
cluster
אֶשְׁכּ֣וֹל'esh.Kol
H811
a bunch of grapes or other fruit · noun, common masculine singular absolute
eat
לֶאֱכ֔וֹלle.'e.Khol
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
soul
נַפְשִֽׁיnaf.Shi
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
desired
אִוְּתָ֥ה'i.ve.Tah
H183
to wish for · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
fruit
בִּכּוּרָ֖הbi.ku.Rah
H1063
the early fig · noun, common feminine 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
Isaiah 28:4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which w…
Isaiah 24:13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes…
Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baal-p…
Isaiah 17:6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or fi…
Psalms 120:5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine…
Isaiah 24:16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! th…
Jeremiah 4:31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 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, ch. 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 corruptions, still there was much amiss. The prophet cries out, Woe is me! He bemoans himself that his lot was cast in such a degenerate age, and thinks it his great unhappiness that he lived among a people that we…
Wo is me! - This is a continuation of the preceding discourse. And here the prophet points out the small number of the upright to be found in the land. He himself seemed to be the only person who was on God's side; and he considers himself as a solitary grape, which had escaped the general gathering. The word קץ kayits, which is sometimes used for summer, and summer fruits in general, is here translated late figs; and may here, says Bishop Newcome, be opposed to the early ripe fig of superior quality. See on Hos 9:10 (note), and Amo 8:1 (note), Amo 8:2 (note). He desired to see the first-ripe fruit - distinguished and eminent piety; but he found nothing but a very imperfect or spurious kind…
Woe is me!.... Alas for me unhappy man that I am, to live in such an age, and among such a people, as I do! this the prophet says in his own name, or in the name of the church and people of God in his time; so Isaiah, who was contemporary with him, Isaiah 6:5; see also Psalm 120:5;
for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage; when there are only an apple or a pear or two, or such sort of fruit, and such a quantity of it left on the top of the tree, or on the outermost branches of it, after the rest are gathered in; or a few single grapes here and there, after the vintage is over; signifying either that he was like Elijah left alone, or howeve…
The Church Fathers
The unjust are scattered like chaff, while the just are like wheat. Finally, listen to the words of the Lord to Peter: Behold, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. Those who are scattered like chaff will fail; but not the one who is like that grain which fell and rose again, enriched by the abundant yield of many fruits. Therefore the Prophet says: Woe is me, for I have become like one gathering straw in the harvest! Therefore, straw that is quickly burned is compared to impiety and to dust. Therefore, after he said: They will be like chaff carried away by the wind, he added the verse immediately saying: Or like the dust that the wind snatches away. Finally, so that you may know that the wicked person quickly grows weak and vanishes like dust, you have the following statement in the first Psalm: Not so the wicked, not so, that is, not like the righteous: but like the dust that the wind scatters away from the face of the earth.
Who is speaking when the prophet says, "Woe is me, soul, for I have become one as gathering straw in harvest?" For did the prophet literally "gather" or even want to "gather"? Does the prophet have a farm? Anyway, the only one who rightly gathers from what has been planted for harvest is not the prophet but the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Since there are many faults among the pagan nations but also among those who are supposed to be from the church, the prophet laments and mourns for our sins when he says, "Woe is me, for I have become as one who gathers straw." Let each of us scrutinize himself. Is he an ear of corn? Will the Son of God discover something in him to pick or harvest? Do we find that some of us are those swept by the wind? Even as we have still a little in ourselves, two or three kernels, our sins are many against us. Seeing that the churches, or those so-called, are filled with sinners, he says, "Woe is me, for I have come as one who gathers straw in the harvest and as one gathering grape gleanings in the vintage." [The Lord] comes seeking fruit on the vine, for each of us is planted also as a vine "in a fertile place" or as a vine "transplanted out of Egypt," yet planted to bear fruit. He comes, he seeks in what way to pick, he discovers some "grape gleanings" and a few "clusters," neither flourishing nor plentiful. Who among us has "clusters" of virtue?
(Chapter 7, Verses 1 onwards) Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers the grapes of the vineyard in autumn: there is no cluster to eat; my soul longed for the early figs. The holy one has perished from the earth, and there is no upright person among mankind. They all lie in wait for blood; each hunts his brother to death. They declare their evil deeds as good; the ruler demands, and the judge accepts bribes, and the great one speaks of the cravings of his own soul, and they trouble it. The best among them is like a thornbush, and the most upright is like a thorn from a fence. Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers straw in the harvest, and like grape clusters in the vineyard, when there is no first-ripe fig for my hunger, which my soul craves. Woe is me, for the reverent one has perished from the earth, and there is no one who corrects among men. They are all judged in bloodshed; each one of them inflicts trouble on his neighbor, and they prepare their hands for evil. The ruler makes demands, and the judge speaks peaceable words; his desire is for the longing of his soul. And I will take away their goods, like a consuming moth, and walking over the ruler in the day of your watchfulness. In the aforementioned captivity and ten tribes and two (For the word of the Lord has come to Micah the Morestite concerning Samaria and Jerusalem), the prophet laments that no just person is found in the land who can resist the anger of God and stand as a wall in the middle. In vain, he says, I have spoken: in vain I sought the last clusters of the vine and the destroyed city; and since there is no bunch to eat, I will at least take immature figs, which the Hebrews call "Bechchora", that is, thick figs, as food: as if to say, not finding bread because of the magnitude of the famine, I have sought scraps and chaff. The saint has perished from the earth, and the righteous among men are no more. Everywhere there are traps, everywhere there is deceit. Innocent blood is shed. Due to greed and lust, kinship is disregarded. Not only do they commit evil deeds, but they also defend them. They change names and claim that what is evil is good. The rulers do not accept gifts from those offering them, but they force their subjects to give and demand. And in rendering judgment, the judge treats another as he himself is judged by another, so that they may mutually…
Dictionary and topics
Fig — First mentioned in Gen. 3:7. The fig-tree is mentioned (Deut. 8:8) as one of the valuable products of Palestine. It was a sign of peace and prosperity (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4; Zech. 3:10). Figs were…
Grape — The fruit of the vine, which was extensively cultivated in Palestine. Grapes are spoken of as “tender” (Cant. 2:13, 15), “unripe” (Job 15:33), “sour” (Isa. 18:5), “wild” (Isa. 5:2, 4). (See Rev.…
Despondency · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Gleaning · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
God · Is declared to be: Long-suffering — Is declared to be: Long-suffering
Summer · Fruits of — Fruits of
Zeal, Religious · EXEMPLIFIE — EXEMPLIFIE
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 7:1-2
1. Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
1. Vae mihi (alii deducunt a yll, ululare meum; sed est particula dolentis apud Hebraeos; Vae mihi ergo,) quia fui sicut collectiones aestatis (sic est ad verbum,) et sicuti racemi vindemiae; nullus botrus ad comedendum; maturos fructus (vel, primitias frugum) desideravit anima mea.
2. The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
2. Periit humanus (vel, mansuetus) e terra, et rectus in hominibus n…
That the prophet is speaking in Mic 7:1 ff. not in his own name, but in the name of the church, which confesses and bemoans its rebellion against the Lord, is indisputably evident from Mic 7:7 ff., where, as all the expositors admit, the church speaks of itself in the first person, and that not "the existing corrupt Israelitish church," as Caspari supposes, but the penitential, believing church of the future, which discerns in the judgment the chastising hand of its God, and expresses the hope that the Lord will conduct its conflict with its foe, etc. The contents of Mic 7:1-6, also, do not point to the prophet in distinction from the congregation, but may be understood throughout as the con…
Hopeless deception and corruption permeated God’s people (7:1-6); God’s mercy, however, would triumph and Israel would be restored (7:11-13). God’s mercy, compassion, and unfailing love would prevail (7:14-20). Micah mourned his people’s condition and looked to the Lord for help (7:7-10).
7:1 the fruit picker after the harvest: After the second crop of figs and fruit in August–September, no further yield was produced for several months (cp. Isa 16:9; Jer 48:32). No one could be found to satisfy Micah’s hunger for righteousness (Mic 7:2-6).
Rashi on Micah 7:1
Woe is to me—The prophet laments over himself, “Woe is to me that I was appointed a prophet at this time, when there are no righteous people in the generation.”
as the last of the figs Heb. כְּאָסְפֵּי. This is vowelized with a “chataf kamatz” because it is not a verb in the present tense, like:, יוֹשֵב, sits, and אוֹמֵר, says; rather, it is a gerund, as in (Isa. 33:4): “The gathering of (אֹסֶף) the locusts”; like the gathering of קַיִץ. These are the last figs, which are inferior. And so did Jonathan render: as the late figs of the summer.
as the gleanings of the vintage—As the gleanings after the vintage. [from Jonathan]
there is no cluster to eat—As the Targum renders: There is no man…
