Micah 3:6
in Micah 3Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
KJV
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
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This verse in Micah 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseNight shall be unto you - Ye shall have no spiritual light, nor will God give you any revelation of his will. The sun shall go down over the prophets - They prospered for a while, causing the people to err; but they shall also be carried into captivity, and then the sun of their prosperity shall go down for ever, and the very day that gives light and comfort to others, shall be darkness and calamity to them.
This site's exposition
prophets that make my people err
on Micah 3:5-7
The target shifts to prophets who sell their message, crying peace to whoever feeds them and preparing war, a hostile oracle, against whoever will not, a corruption of the prophetic office paralleling the corrupt judges just named. Verses 6 and 7 answer with darkness as the fitting judgment, night instead of vision, no divination, the sun going down at noon over the prophets, seers and diviners ashamed and covering their lips because there is no answer of God. The commentators read the silencing as literal, these men's gift for hire taken from them, not merely their reputation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(V. 5 seq.) This is what the Lord says about the prophets who deceive my people: they bite with their teeth and proclaim peace. But if someone does not give them something to eat, they declare war against him. Therefore, night will be for you instead of a vision and darkness instead of divination. The sun will go down on the prophets and the day will be darkened for them. Those who see visions will be put to shame, and the diviners will be confounded. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.
"The sun will go down" upon those prophets who lead my people astray, dwelling in darkness. "It will be night for you, without vision, and it will be dark for you, without dawn." "For, when [the spirit] goes out of a man, it goes about …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the L ORD , and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
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Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
night . . . dark--Calamities shall press on you so overwhelming as to compel you to cease pretending to divine (Zec 13:4). Darkness is often the image of calamity (Isa 8:22;
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision - In the presence of God’s extreme judgments, even deceivers are at length still; silenced at last by the common misery, if not by awe. The false prophets had promised peace, light, brightness, prosperity; the night of trouble, anguish, darkness, fear, shall Come upon them. So shall they no more dare to speak in the Name of God, while He was by His judgments speaking the contrary in a way which all must hear. They abused God’s gifts and long-suffering against Himself: they could misinterpret His long-suffering into favor, and they did it: their visions of the future were but the reflections of the present and its continuance; they thought that because God was enduring, He was indifferent, and they took His government out of His Hands, and said, that what He appeared to be now, He would ever be. They had no other light, no other foresight. When then the darkness of temporal calamity enveloped them, it shrouded in one common darkness of night all present brightness and all sight of the future. Rup.: “After Caiaphas had in heart spoken falsehood and a prophecy of blood, although God overruled it to truth which he meant not, all grace of prophecy departed Mat 11:13. The law and the prophets prophesied until John. “The Sun of Righteousness went down over them,” inwardly and outwardly, withdrawing the brightness of His Providence and the inward light of grace.” So Christ Himself forewarned; “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you” Joh 12:35. And so it has remained ever since 2Co 3:15. The veil has been on their hearts. The light is in all the world, but they see it not; it arose to lighten the Gentiles, but they walk on still in darkness. […]
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֞ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לַ֤יְלָה | laylah | night | H3915 → | |
| לָכֶם֙ | lakhem | [will belong] to you | ||
| מֵֽחָז֔וֹן | mechazon | from vision | H2377 → | |
| וְחָשְׁכָ֥ה | vechashekhah | and it will grow dark | H2821 → | |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | to you | ||
| מִקְּסֹ֑ם | mikesom | from divining | H7080 → | 20 times |
| וּבָ֤אָה | uvaah | and it will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ | hashemesh | the sun | H8121 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַנְּבִיאִ֔ים | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
| וְקָדַ֥ר | vekadar | and it will be dark | H6937 → | |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַיּֽוֹם׃ | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
לָכֵ֞ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
לַ֤יְלָהnight
laylahH3915 →
לָכֶם֙[will belong] to you
lakhem
מֵֽחָז֔וֹןfrom vision
mechazonH2377 →
וְחָשְׁכָ֥הand it will grow dark
vechashekhahH2821 →
לָכֶ֖םto you
lakhem
מִקְּסֹ֑םfrom divining
mikesomH7080 →20 times
וּבָ֤אָהand it will go
uvaahH935 →2568 times
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙the sun
hashemeshH8121 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַנְּבִיאִ֔יםthe prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 times
וְקָדַ֥רand it will be dark
vekadarH6937 →
עֲלֵיהֶ֖םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
הַיּֽוֹם׃the day
haiyomH3117 →2304 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
Isaiah 29:10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
it leads to
- Romans 11:8
as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
- Isaiah 44:18
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9–12
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Isaiah 30:10
They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- Acts 28:26–27
‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Romans 11:8
Through
Isaiah 59:10Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:29
and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to…
- Job 5:14
They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
- Lamentations 3:6
He has made me dwell in darkness like those dead for ages.
- Deuteronomy 28:29
About Micah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY OF TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 11:8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.