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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
2:1-11 Abuses and Abusers of Yahweh's Land. Attention shifts from cities and populations to accusations leveled against powerful leaders who exploit the vulnerable (vv. 1-5) and reject God's message (vv. 6-11).
2:1-5 Indictment and Future Punishment. The powerful are accused (vv. 1-2), and their sentence is issued (vv. 3-4). Ultimately, they lose all hope for inheritance among the Lord's people (v. 5).
2:1 in the power of their hand. Those who devise wickedness do evil because they have the authority and ability to carry out their schemes (cf. Gen. 31:29 for the expression).
2:2 covet . . . seize . . . take . . . oppress. The tearing away of land and property (his inheritance) from the weak was a flagrant violation of the covenant (Ex. 20:17) and a primary reason for judgment against Ahab's house (1 Kings 21; 2 Kings 9:24-26; cf. Mic. 6:16).
2:3 against this family. The entire community is accountable for the sins of its leaders. I am devising disaster reveals the principle of correspondence (Obad. 15b): the "evil" they devised for others (Mic. 2:1) will now be visited on them (see note on 1:12; ESV footnote). a time of disaster. See Amos 5:13.
2:4 taunt song. The losses sustained by the land barons will be mocked. These oppressors had seized property from the defenseless (vv. 1-2), so now the apostate (the Assyrians?) will seize the land of the oppressors. In the phrase he changes the portion of my people, "he" possibly refers to God, but some interpreters understand it to refer to the invading conqueror.
2:5 you will have none. The unscrupulous land-grabbers are excluded from the inheritance they denied to others (v. 2). assembly. There yet remains a people to whom land would be distributed after exile.
2:6-11 Rejection of the Prophetic Word. This disputation addresses unprincipled prophets (cf. 3:5-7). Those who reject Micah are exposed (2:6), and the Lord brings to light further abuses of the powerful (vv. 8-9). Exile is the sentence for the "uncleanness" of their injustice and their willingness to welcome deceptive preaching (vv. 10-11).
2:6 preach. This verb frames the unit (vv. 6, 11) and conveys the idea "to drip," a term used metaphorically for divulging a prophetic message (Ezek. 20:46). The attempt to silence the prophetic voice also appears elsewhere (Amos 2:12; 7:10-16).
2:7 The rhetorical questions expose the misunderstanding of the people, who thought that a God of grace could never devise the disaster of vv. 3-5.
2:8-9 The acts cataloged are similar to the abuses detailed in vv. 1-5. my people . . . an enemy. The accusation of hostility is supported by three examples of enemy-like conduct in war.
2:10 Arise and go . . . no place to rest. Widespread injustice has denied rest to others, and so the Lord demands that the people leave their place of rest.
2:11 preach . . . of wine. The people welcomed "preaching" that emphasized overindulgence rather than God's condemnation of unethical behavior.
