Micah 7:2
in Micah 7The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The godly 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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Micah 7
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe good man is perished out of the earth - A similar sentiment may be found, Psa 12:1; Isa 57:1. As the early fig of excellent flavor cannot be found in the advanced season of summer, or a choice cluster of grapes after vintage, so neither can the good and upright man be discovered by searching in Israel. This comparison, says Bp. Newcome, is beautifully implied. They hunt every man his brother with a net - This appears to be an allusion to the ancient mode of duel between the retiarius and secutor.
This site's exposition
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits
on Micah 7:1-2
The prophet pictures himself standing in a vineyard already stripped by the pickers, hunting for one cluster and finding none, the ripe fig he craved already gone. Henry reads the figure as national in scope, the godly man now as rare in the land as fruit left ungathered after the harvest is in. Verse 2 states the fact behind the figure without any figure at all: the good man has perished, and those left hunt one another with a net, brother stalking brother for blood. Keil sets this collapse of ordinary trust as the specific wound the rest of the chapter answers, first in complaint and only then in hope.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(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.
Cain and Abel followed in the generation of humankind, and Cain was the first murderer. Afterwards a deluge engulfed the earth because of exceeding wickedness of humanity. Fire came down from heaven upon the people of Sodom because of their corruption. Subsequently God chose out Israel, but even Israel became perverse and the chosen race was wounded. For, while Moses stood on the mountain before God, the people worshiped a calf in place of God. In the days of their lawgiver Moses, who said, "You shall not commit adultery," a man dared to enter a brothel and be wanton.
The Reformation2 voices
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.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
I am become then as the gatherings of summer, that is, as in the summer, when the fruit has been already gathered; and as the clusters of the vintage, that is when the vintage is over. There is no cluster, he says to eat. The Prophet refers here to the scarcity of good men; yea, he says that there were no longer any righteous men living.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The good man is perished out of the earth,.... Here the prophet expresses in plain words what he had before delivered in figurative terms.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The good man is a godly man and a merciful man; the word signifies both. Those are completely good men that are devout towards God and compassionate and beneficent towards men, that love mercy and walk with God.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew expresses "one merciful and good in relation to man," rather than to God. is perished out of the earth-- (Ps 12:1).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The, good - or godly, or merciful, the English margin Man - The Hebrew word contains all. It is “he who loveth tenderly and piously” God, for His own sake, and man, for the sake of God. Mercy was probably chiefly intended, since it wits to this that the prophet had exhorted, and the sins which he proceeds to speak of, are against this. But imaginary love of God without love of man, or love of man without the love of God, is mere self-deceit. “Is perished out of the earth,” that is, by an untimely death. The good had either been withdrawn by God from the evil to come Isa 57:1, or had Leon cut off by those who laid wait for blood; in which case their death brought a double evil, through the guilt which such sin contracted, and then, through the loss of those who might be an example to others, and whose prayers God would hear. The loving and upright, all, who were men of mercy and truth, had ceased. They who were left, “all lie in wait for blood,” literally, bloods , that is, bloodshedding; all, as far as man can see; as Elijah complains that he was left alone. Amid the vast number of the wicked, the righteous were as though they were not. Isaiah, at the same time, complains of the like sins, and that it was as though there were none righteous; “Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips hate spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth” Isa 59:2-3. Indirectly, or directly, they destroyed life . To violence they add treachery. The good and loving had perished, and all is now violence; the upright had ceased, and all now is deceit. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָבַ֤ד | ʾavad | he has perished | H6 → | 184 times |
| חָסִיד֙ | chasid | [the] faithful | H2623 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְיָשָׁ֥ר | veyashar | and [is] an upright [person] | H3477 → | 119 times |
| בָּאָדָ֖ם | baadam | among <the> humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| אָ֑יִן | ʾayin | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| כֻּלָּם֙ | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לְדָמִ֣ים | ledamim | for blood<s> | H1818 → | |
| יֶאֱרֹ֔בוּ | yeerou | they lie in wait | H693 → | |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אָחִ֖יהוּ | ʾachihu | brother his | H251 → | |
| יָצ֥וּדוּ | yatzudu | they hunt | H6679 → | |
| חֵֽרֶם׃ | cherem | a net | H2764 → |
אָבַ֤דhe has perished
ʾavadH6 →184 times
חָסִיד֙[the] faithful
chasidH2623 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְיָשָׁ֥רand [is] an upright [person]
veyasharH3477 →119 times
בָּאָדָ֖םamong <the> humankind
baadamH120 →551 times
אָ֑יִןthere not
ʾayinH369 →789 times
כֻּלָּם֙all of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
לְדָמִ֣יםfor blood<s>
ledamimH1818 →
יֶאֱרֹ֔בוּthey lie in wait
yeerouH693 →
אִ֥ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אָחִ֖יהוּbrother his
ʾachihuH251 →
יָצ֥וּדוּthey hunt
yatzuduH6679 →
חֵֽרֶם׃a net
cheremH2764 →
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 57:1The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 22:20
‘Therefore I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place.’”…
- 2 Chronicles 34:28
‘Now I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place…
- Psalms 12:1
Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
- 2 Kings 22:20
Through
Psalms 12:1Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
it leads to
- Isaiah 57:1
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
- Matthew 24:12
Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
- Jeremiah 5:1
“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I…
- Isaiah 59:13–15
rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
- Isaiah 1:21–22
See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
- Isaiah 57:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 12:6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.