Micah 2:8
in Micah 2But of late My people have risen up like an enemy: You strip off the splendid robe from unsuspecting passersby like men returning from battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye strip the robe from off the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
KJV
Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
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This verse in Micah 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
GROTIUS translates, "as men returning from war," that is, as captives over whom the right of war gives the victors an absolute power. English Version is supported by the antithesis.
This site's exposition
my people is risen up as an enemy
on Micah 2:8-9
The accusation sharpens into detail: a people who should know covenant loyalty instead behave as an enemy, stripping the robe from peaceable travelers as if plunder were owed them. Verse 9 turns to the most vulnerable, women driven from their pleasant houses and children stripped of my glory for ever, the commentators reading this glory as the inheritance and honor a family passed down, taken permanently rather than for a season. The reversal from chapter 1's national mourning to chapter 2's household cruelty shows the same sin working at every scale.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 6-8) Do not speak, speaking ones, for the droppings will not fall upon them, confusion will not overtake them, says the house of Jacob. Has the spirit of the Lord been shortened, or are such his thoughts? Are not my words good when dealing with the one who walks rightly? And yet my people have risen up against me as an adversary, you have lifted up the tunic, the cloak, over those who pass by innocently, and you have turned them into battle.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Is risen up - They have risen up, Israel against Judah, and Judah against Israel, and of late the tribes have conspired against one another; subjects against their kings, and great ones against the meaner sort.
Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
My people is risen up as an enemy - Ye are not only opposed to me, but ye are enemies to each other. Ye rob and spoil each other. Ye plunder the peaceable passenger; depriving him both of his upper and under garment; ye pull off the robe from those who, far from being spoilers themselves, are averse from war.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Even of late - (Literally, yesterday.) Jerome: “He imputeth not past sins, but those recent and, as it were, of yesterday.” “My people is risen up vehemently”. God upbraideth them tenderly by the title, “Mine own people,” as John complaineth, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” Joh 1:11. God became not their enemy, but they arose as one man, - “is risen up,” the whole of it, as His. In Him they might have had peace and joy and assured gladness, but they arose in rebellion against Him, requiting Him evil for good, (as bad Christians do to Christ,) and brought war upon their own heads. This they did by their sins against their brethren. Casting off the love of man, they alienated themselves from the love of God. Ye pull off (strip off violently) the robe with the garment - Literally, “over against the cloak.” The שׂלמה s'almâh is the large enveloping cloak, which was worn loosely over the other dress, and served by night for a covering Deu 22:17. Eder, translated “robe,” is probably not any one garment, but the remaining dress, the comely, becoming , array of the person. These they stripped violently off from persons, peaceable, unoffending, off their guard, “passing by securely, men averse from war” and strife. These they stripped of their raiment by day, leaving them half-naked, and of their covering for the night. So making war against God’s peaceful people, they, as it were, made war against God.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶתְמ֗וּל | veetmul | and yesterday | H865 → | |
| עַמִּי֙ | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לְאוֹיֵ֣ב | leoyev | to an enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
| יְקוֹמֵ֔ם | yekomem | he raises up | H6965 → | 628 times |
| מִמּ֣וּל | mimul | from in front of | H4136 → | |
| שַׂלְמָ֔ה | salmah | a garment | H8008 → | |
| אֶ֖דֶר | ʾeder | a mantle | H145 → | |
| תַּפְשִׁט֑וּן | tafshitun | you strip off ! | H6584 → | |
| מֵעֹבְרִ֣ים | meoerim | from [those who] pass by | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בֶּ֔טַח | betach | security | H983 → | |
| שׁוּבֵ֖י | shuvei | [those who] return of | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מִלְחָמָֽה׃ | milchamah | war | H4421 → | 320 times |
וְאֶתְמ֗וּלand yesterday
veetmulH865 →
עַמִּי֙people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
לְאוֹיֵ֣בto an enemy
leoyevH341 →282 times
יְקוֹמֵ֔םhe raises up
yekomemH6965 →628 times
מִמּ֣וּלfrom in front of
mimulH4136 →
שַׂלְמָ֔הa garment
salmahH8008 →
אֶ֖דֶרa mantle
ʾederH145 →
תַּפְשִׁט֑וּןyou strip off !
tafshitunH6584 →
מֵעֹבְרִ֣יםfrom [those who] pass by
meoerimH5674 →556 times
בֶּ֔טַחsecurity
betachH983 →
שׁוּבֵ֖י[those who] return of
shuveiH7725 →1056 times
מִלְחָמָֽה׃war
milchamahH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 55:20My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
it leads to
- Acts 12:1
About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church.
- Psalms 89:34
I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips.
- Psalms 7:4
if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,
- Psalms 120:6–7
Too long have I dwelt among those who hate peace.
- Psalms 109:5
They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
- Acts 12:1
Through
2 Samuel 20:19I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 26:19
Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it,…
- 2 Samuel 21:3
So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?”
- 1 Samuel 26:19
Through
Isaiah 9:21Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they turn against Judah. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:25
Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all…
- Isaiah 5:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Micah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.