Micah 6:12
in Micah 6For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
KJV
For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
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This verse in Micah 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verse(Verse 10 and following). Listen, you who are wise, and who will approve of it? The fire is still burning in the house of the wicked, the treasure of impiety, and the measure of anger is not yet full. Shall I justify the wicked scales and the deceitful weights of the bag? In them, her rich ones are filled with iniquity, and those who dwell in her speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. And so I have begun to strike you with destruction because of your sins.
This site's exposition
The voice of the LORD calls out to the city
on Micah 6:9-12
The Lord calls to the city to "Heed the rod and the One who ordained it". The charge is fraud in trade, "dishonest scales", and "bags of false weights", against the law's standard in Leviticus 19:35-36 and Deuteronomy 25:13-15. The wealthy are "full of violence", and the residents "speak lies".
This site's exposition
full of violence
The rich of the city gained their wealth by violence, and its people speak lies. These are the people verse 8 told to act justly and love mercy. Their tongues deceive in their own mouths.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For the rich men thereof are full of violence,.... That is, the rich men of the city, to whom the voice of the Lord cried, Mic 6:
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For the rich men thereof are full of violence - This shows that they did not love mercy. The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies - This shows that they did not humble themselves to walk with God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the rich men thereof - that is, “of the city, Mic 6:9 are full of violence.” It bad been little, had thieves and robbers lived by violence, but now, (as Isaiah at the same time upbraids them,) “her princes were become companions of thieves” Isa 1:23. Not the poor out of distress, but the rich, out of wantonness and exceeding covetousness and love of luxury, not only did wrong but were filled, not so much with riches, as with violence. Violence is the very meat and drink wherewith they are filled, yea, and wherewith they shall be filled, when it is returned upon their heads. And the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies - Fraud is itself lying, and lying is its inseparable companion. Jerome: “Lying followeth the gathering together of riches, and the hard custom to lay up riches hath a deceitful tongue.” The sin, he saith, is spread throughout all her inhabitants; that is, all of them, as their custom, have spoken lies, and, even when they speak not, the lie is ready; “their tongue is deceitful (literally, deceit) in their mouth.” It is deceit, nothing but deceit, and that, deceit which should “overthrow” and ruin others. One intent on gain has the lie ever ready to be uttered, even when he speaks not. It lurks concealed, until it is needed.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I will smite you with sore wounds —I have made your wounds sore - strong and ill and incurable.
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. 7 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עֲשִׁירֶ֙יהָ֙ | ʾashireiha | rich [people] its | H6223 → | |
| מָלְא֣וּ | malu | they are full | H4390 → | |
| חָמָ֔ס | chamas | violence | H2555 → | |
| וְיֹשְׁבֶ֖יהָ | veyosheveiha | and inhabitants its | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| דִּבְּרוּ־ | diberu- | they speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| שָׁ֑קֶר | shaker | falsehood | H8267 → | |
| וּלְשׁוֹנָ֖ם | uleshonam | and tongue their | H3956 → | |
| רְמִיָּ֥ה | remiyah | [is] deceit | H7423 → | |
| בְּפִיהֶֽם׃ | befihem | in mouth their | H6310 → | 498 times |
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עֲשִׁירֶ֙יהָ֙rich [people] its
ʾashireihaH6223 →
מָלְא֣וּthey are full
maluH4390 →
חָמָ֔סviolence
chamasH2555 →
וְיֹשְׁבֶ֖יהָand inhabitants its
veyosheveihaH3427 →1079 times
דִּבְּרוּ־they speak
diberu-H1696 →1141 times
שָׁ֑קֶרfalsehood
shakerH8267 →
וּלְשׁוֹנָ֖םand tongue their
uleshonamH3956 →
רְמִיָּ֥ה[is] deceit
remiyahH7423 →
בְּפִיהֶֽם׃in mouth their
befihemH6310 →498 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
Jeremiah 9:8Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
it leads to
- Psalms 28:3
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
- Proverbs 26:24–26
A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.
- Psalms 120:3
What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?
- Psalms 28:3
Through
Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but…
it leads to
- Psalms 80:8–11
You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
- Psalms 80:8–11
Through
Isaiah 1:23Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
it leads to
- Micah 7:3
Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Exodus 23:8
Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Zechariah 7:10
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
- Micah 7:3
Through
Hosea 7:13Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.
it leads to
- Hosea 9:12
Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
- Hosea 9:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
About Micah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.