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Selected Verse: Micah 6:9 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Mic 6:9 |
King James |
The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
unto the city--Jerusalem.
the man of wisdom--As in Pro 13:6, Hebrew, "sin" is used for "a man of sin," and in Psa 109:4, "prayer" for "a man of prayer"; so here "wisdom" for "the man of wisdom."
shall see thy name--shall regard Thee, in Thy revelations of Thyself. Compare the end of Mic 2:7. God's "name" expresses the sum-total of His revealed attributes. Contrast with this Isa 26:10, "will not behold the majesty of the Lord." Another reading is adopted by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, "there is deliverance for those who fear Thy name." English Version is better suited to the connection; and the rarity of the Hebrew expression, as compared with the frequency of that in the other reading, makes it less likely to be an interpolation.
hear . . . the rod, &c.--Hear what punishment (compare Mic 6:13, &c.; Isa 9:3; Isa 10:5, Isa 10:24) awaits you, and from whom. I am but a man, and so ye may disregard me; but remember my message is not mine, but God's. Hear the rod when it is come, and you feel its smart. Hear what counsels, what cautions it speaks.
appointed it-- (Jer 47:7). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
The voice of the Lord crieth unto the city - that is, Jerusalem, as the metropolis of their wealth and their sin, the head and heart of their offending. "Crieth," aloud, earnestly, intently, so that all might hear. So God says, "Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding pat forth her voice? She crieth at the gates, - unto you, O men, I cry, and my voice is to the sons of men" Pro 8:1, Pro 8:3-4; and Isaiah prophesied of John the Immerser, "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" Isa 40:3; Mat 3:3; and our Lord saith, "He that heareth you, heareth Me. And the man of wisdom shall see Thy Name" Luk 10:16. The voice of God is in the hearing of all, but the wise only seeth the Name of God. The word rendered "wisdom" means, "that which is," "See ye the word of the Lord.") They shall see His power and majesty and all which His Name expresses, as they are displayed severally in each work of His: He shall speak to them by all things wherein He is; and so seeing Him now in a glass darkly, they shall hereafter see all, His Glory, His Goodness, His Love, Himself, "face to face."
Hear ye the rod - that is, the scourge of the wrath of God. The name and the image recall the like propecies of Isaiah, so that Micah in one word epitomises the prophecies of Isaiah, or Isaiah expands the word of Micah. "The rod in thine hand is My indignation" Isa 10:5; "As if the rod lifted up Him, who is not wood" Isa 10:15; "He lifteth up his rod against thee" Isa 10:24; "Thou hast broken the rod (which is) on his shoulder" (Isa 9:3, Hebrew); "The Lord hath broken the rod of the wicked" Isa 14:5; "wheron the grounded (that is, fixed by the decree of God) staff shall pass" Isa 30:32.
And who hath appointed it - that is, beforehand, fixing the time and place, when and where it should come. So Jeremiah says, "How canst thou (sword of the Lord) be quiet, and the Lord hath given it a charge to Ashkelon and to the seashore? there hath He appointed it" Jer 47:7. He who has "appointed it," changeth not His decree, unless man changeth; nor is He lacking in power to fulfill it. He will surely bring it to pass. All which can be thought of, of fear, terror, motives to repentance, awe, hope, trust, is in that word "who." It is God; hopes and fears may be infinite. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| But because Israel is altogether wanting in these virtues, the Lord must threaten and punish. Mic 6:9. "The voice of Jehovah, to the city it cries, and wisdom has thy name in its eye; hear ye the rod, and who appoints it!" With these words Micah introduces the threatening and reproachful words of the Lord. קוך יהוה is not to be taken by itself, as an exclamation, "Hark! voice of the Lord!" as in Isa 13:4; Isa 40:6, etc. (Umbreit), but must be connected with what follows, in accordance with the accents. Whilst the prophet tells the people in Isa 40:8 what Jehovah requires, he introduces the following threat with "voice of Jehovah," etc., to give the greater emphasis to the reproof, by intimating that it is not his own voice, but Jehovah's, which is speaking now. "To the city," i.e., to the chief city of the kingdom, viz., Jerusalem. The sentence which follows, and which has been explained in very different ways, has the same object. תּוּשׁיּה, a word borrowed from the Chokmah-literature (Proverbs and Job), both here and Isa 28:29, formed from ישׁ or the root ושׁי (ושׁה), in the sense of subsistentia, substantia, then mostly vera et realis sapientia (see Delitzsch on Job 26:3). יראה שׁמך is taken by many as a relative clause, "Blessed is he who sees Thy name," i.e., gives heed to Thy revelation, Thy government of the universe; but if this were the sense, the relative could not have been omitted, or the infinitive ראת must have been used. תּוּשׁיּה is rather to be taken as the object, and שׁמך as the subject: Thy name sees wisdom, i.e., has the true wisdom of life in sight (ראה as in Gen 20:10 and Psa 66:18). There is no necessity for the conjecture יראה for יראה (Ewald and Hitzig); and notwithstanding the fact that ירא is adopted in all the ancient versions, it is unsuitable, since the thought "wisdom is to fear Thy name" would be a very strange one in this connection, unless we could paraphrase the name into "word of the person speaking." For other explanations, see Caspari. Hear ye, i.e., observe, the rod, viz., the judgment threatened by the Lord, and appointed for His rebellious nation. The reference is to the imperial power of Assyria, which Isaiah also describes in Isa 10:5, Isa 10:24, as the matteh and shēbhet by which Israel is smitten. The suffix to יעדהּ refers to שׁבט, which is construed here as a feminine; יעד denotes the appointment of an instrument of punishment, as in Jer 47:7. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Crieth - Either by his judgments, each of which is the Lord's voice, or by his prophets. The city - To every city in Israel and Judah, but principally to Jerusalem and Samaria. The man of wisdom - Every wise man. See thy name - Will perceive God in that cry. The rod - Hear ye the voice of God in the punishments God is now sending. Appointed it - Who hath chosen it out, and strikes with it. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
The Lord's voice crieth unto the city - No man is found to hear; but the man of wisdom will hear, תושיה tushiyah; a word frequent in the writings of Solomon and Job, signifying wisdom, wealth, substance, reason, essence, happiness; any thing that is complete; or that which is substantial, in opposition to vanity, emptiness, mere show, unsubstantiality. When God speaks, the man of common sense, who has any knowledge of God or his own soul, will see thy name; but instead of יראה yireh, will see, the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic, with twelve of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., have read יראי yirey, they that Fear. The Vulgate reads: -
Et salus erit timentibus nomen tuum.
"And thou shalt be salvation to them that fear thy name."
The Septuagint -
Και σωσει φαβουμενους το ονομα αυτου.
And he shall save those who fear his name. -
This the Arabic copies.
The Targum has, "And the teachers shall fear the name." That is, יהוה Yehovah.
The French Bible is very strange: -
Car ton nom volt comme il va de tout.
"For thy name sees how every thing goes."
The word תושיה tushiyah, mentioned above, which occasions all the difficulty, has been read with an ע ain by the Vulgate and Septuagint, as coming from the root ישע yasha, to be saved; and it is very likely that this was the original reading. The two last letters in the word, יה, might have been easily mistaken in the MS. for the letter ע where I may suppose the word stood thus, תושע, shall be saved; and as several MSS. read יראי yirey, they who fear, instead of יראה yireh, he shall see, the whole clause might have been just what it appears in the Vulgate and Septuagint. It is also necessary to remark that the word in dispute has various forms in some MSS., which is a strong presumption against its authenticity. See Kennicott and De Rossi. |
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.
10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.
32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.
1 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
9 The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.