to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
compassion
יְרַֽחֲמֵ֔נוּye.ra.cha.Me.nu
H7355
to fondle · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
subdue
יִכְבֹּ֖שׁyikh.Bosh
H3533
to tread down · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
iniquities
עֲוֹֽנֹתֵ֑ינוּ'a.vo.no.Tei.nu
H5771
perversity · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix
cast
וְתַשְׁלִ֛יךְve.tash.Likh
H7993
to throw out · conjunction + verb, hiphil, 2nd person masculine singular
sins
חַטֹּאותָֽםcha.to.Tam
H2403
an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
depths
בִּמְצֻל֥וֹתbim.tzu.Lot
H4688
a deep place (of water or mud) · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
sea
יָ֖םyam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · 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
Isaiah 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all m…
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the…
Psalms 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Jeremiah 50:20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah,…
Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Romans 8:2-3 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Micah 7:14–end
Here is, I. The prophet's prayer to God to take care of his own people, and of their cause and interest, Mic 7:14. When God is about to deliver his people he stirs up their friends to pray for them, and pours out a spirit of grace and supplication, Zac 12:10. And when we see God coming towards us in ways of mercy, we must go forth to meet him by prayer. It is a prophetic prayer, which amounts to a promise of the good prayed for; what God directed his prophet to ask no doubt he designed to give. Now, 1. The people of Israel are here called the flock of God's heritage, for they are the sheep of his hand, the sheep of his pasture, his little flock in the world; and they are his heritage, his po…
turn again--to us, from having been turned away from us.
subdue our iniquities--literally, "tread under foot," as being hostile and deadly to us. Without subjugation of our bad propensities, even pardon could not give us peace. When God takes away the guilt of sin that it may not condemn us, He takes away also the power of sin that it may not rule us.
cast . . . into . . . depths of the sea--never to rise again to view, buried out of sight in eternal oblivion: not merely at the shore side, where they may rise again.
our . . . their--change of person. Micah in the first case identifying himself and his sins with his people and their sins; in the second, speaking of them and their sins.
Adam Clarke on Micah 7:18
Who is a God like unto thee, etc - Here is a challenge to all idol worshippers, and to all those who take false views of the true God, to show his like. See his characters; they are immediately subjoined.
1. He pardoneth iniquity. This is the prerogative of God alone; of that Being who alone has power to save or to destroy.
2. He passeth by transgression. He can heal backsliding, and restore them that are fallen.
3. He retaineth not his anger forever. Though, justly displeased because of sin, he pours out his judgments upon the wicked; yet when they return to him, he shows "that he retaineth not his anger forever," but is indescribably ready to save them.
4. He delighteth in mercy. Judgment…
He will turn again and have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot, and all our sins shall be cast into the depths of the sea. He will perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, as he hath sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
We ought therefore to strip ourselves and give to him who is naked. One has God, another has him not at all—that contrary power, namely. And just as it is written that "we should cast our sins into the depth of the sea", so we ought to throw off from ourselves our vices and sins and cast them upon him who was for us the cause of them. "And he who has food", he says, "let him do likewise". He who has food, let him give to him who has none, so that he may bestow upon him not only clothing, but also that which he may eat.
"The Lord sits enthroned over the flood." A flood is an overflow of water that causes all lying below it to disappear. It cleanses all that was previously filthy. Therefore he calls the grace of baptism a flood, so that the soul, being washed well of its sins and rid of the old person, is suitable henceforth as a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Further, what is said in the twenty-first psalm agrees with this. For after he has said, "I have acknowledged my sin, and my injustice I have not concealed," and also, "For this shall every one that is holy pray to you," he then said, "And yet in a flood of many waters, they shall not come near him." Indeed, sin shall not come near to one who received baptism for the remission of his transgressions through water and the Spirit. Something akin to this is found in the prophecy of Micah: "Because he delights in mercy, he will turn again and have mercy on us. He will put away our iniquities and will cast them into the bottom of the sea."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Affliction, Consolation Under · To those who mourn for sin — To those who mourn for sin
Pardon · Exhibits the: Compassion of God — Exhibits the: Compassion of God
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).
John Gill on Micah 7:19
He will turn again,.... From his anger, and show his face and favour; which is not inconsistent with his everlasting and unchangeable love; for anger is not opposite to love, and is only a displicency at sin, and not at the persons of his people; and, properly speaking, is not in God; is rather in appearance than in reality; when his people sin against him, he shows himself as if he was angry; he turns away from them, and withdraws his gracious presence and sensible communion from them; but when they are brought to a sense of sin, and acknowledgment of it, he returns to them, manifests his love to them again, and applies his pardoning grace, which is the thing believed would be done; it is o…
Micah 7:19
19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
19. Reveretur, miserebitur nostri; calcabit iniquitates nostras, et projiciet in profunditates maris cuncta scelera eorum.
The Prophet now prescribes to the faithful a form of glorying, that they may boldly declare that God will be pacified towards them. Since then God loves mercy, he will return, he will have mercy on us The context here ought to be observed by us; for it would avail us but little to understand, I know not what, concerning God's mercy, and to preach in general the free remission of sins, except we come to the app…
"Who is a God like Thee? removing guilt and passing over iniquity to the remnant of His inheritance. He retaineth not His anger for ever, for He delighteth in mercy. Mic 7:19. He will have compassion upon us again, tread down our transgressions; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Mic 7:20. Mayest Thou show truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old." מי אל כּמוך looks back to Exo 15:11; but whether Micah also plays upon his own name is doubtful. Like the first redemption of Israel out of Egypt, the second or still more glorious redemption of the people of God furnishes an occasion for praising the incomparable nature…
These verses provide a fine brief summary of Old Testament theology. God is unique; there is no one and nothing else like him. Because of his unfailing love (Hebrew khesed), he does not destroy his people whom he judges but instead restores them (see Exod 36:6-7). His faithfulness means that he can be trusted to do good regardless of the cost to himself (see Ps 89:1-2). • Where is another God like you: This question probably plays off of Micah’s name (“Who is like the Lord?”). God’s character is unequaled among the gods of the nations. His actions and words spring from his character (Exod 34:6-7). God pardons, shows compassion, triumphs over his peoples’ sins, and seals those sins away. The…
as those who crawl on the earth—They are snakes, which crawl on their bellies on the dust of the earth.
They shall quake from their imprisonment—They shall quake because of the extreme narrowness of their imprisonment and the confinement of their captivity.
