Micah 6:11

Mic 6:11 Shall I count [them] pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

Ver. 11. Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances?] Shall I clear and acquit such? I that am the righteous judge of heaven and earth, I abhor all injustice; I that have named myself a God that will by no means clear the guilty, nor take the wicked by the hand? Exo 34:7 Job 8:20. Do they think to draw me in as a party; or, that I will bear with their false and fraudulent dealings, which I have so often declared against, and doomed both in the law, and by my servants Solomon, Amos, and others. No: assure yourselves, your sins shall find you out, and I will curse you, smite you, plague you, and so set it on, as no creature shall be able to take it off. Let earthly judges warp as they will, and wink at sin, I neither can nor will; but as men have sowed, so they shall reap; as they have sowed in hardness of heart, so they shah reap in horror of conscience, et quorum oculos culpa clausit, poena aperiet, as they have lived unconscionably, so they shall die uncomfortably; at which times, their treasures of wickedness shall leave them in the lurch; as the devil leaves witches, when they come to prison.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shall I count them pure--literally, "Shall I be pure with?" &c. With the pure God shows Himself pure; but with the froward God shows Himself froward (Psa 18:26). Men often are changeable in their judgments. But God, in the case of the impure who use "wicked balances," cannot be pure, that is, cannot deal with them as He would with the pure. VATABLUS and HENDERSON make the "I" to be "any one"; "Can I (that is, one) be innocent with wicked balances?" But as "I," in Mic 6:13, refers to Jehovah, it must refer to Him also here.

the bag--in which weights used to be carried, as well as money (Deu 25:13; Pro 16:11).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Shall I justify? etc. This verse is connected with the last, and is added as an explanation. For God having come forth as a Judge, now shows what sort of Judge he is, even one who is not biased by favor, who does not change his judgment, who shows no respect of persons. But men, for the most part, greatly deceive themselves, when they transform God according to their own will, and promise to themselves that he will be propitious to them, provided they only make false pretensions to him. God then here declares, that he differs widely from earthly judges, who now incline to one side and then to another, who are changeable, and often deviate from the right course: but, on the contrary, he says here, Shall I justify wicked balances? shall I justify weights of fraud, or deceitful? that is, “Shake off all those delusions by which ye are wont to deceive yourselves; for I do not change either my nature or my purpose; but according to the true teaching of my Law, I will punish all the wicked without any respect of persons: wherever wickedness and iniquity are found, there punishment will be inflicted.”

We now then understand how these two verses harmonize together. God shows that he will be a judge, and then, that he differs from men, who often change, as it has been said, in their decisions.

I will mention another meaning, which will perhaps be preferred by some. The question, after the manner of the Hebrews, may be taken as an affirmation, as though he had said, that within a short time, (for עוד, oud, means sometimes a short time,) the treasures of iniquity would not be found, for they would be taken away: then follows a confirmation, for frauds and robberies by false measures and deceitful weights could not escape God’s judgment. The meaning then would be, that as God must necessarily, according to his own office, punish thefts, it cannot be that he will suffer men, who cheat by false weights to continue always unpunished. It now follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) Shall I count them pure?—Rather, Can I be innocent with the deceitful balances? The enactments about weights were very stringently expressed in the Law, both affirmatively and negatively: e.g., in Lev_19:35-36, “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have.” And, “thou shalt not have in thy house divers weights,” . . . and “divers measures, a great and small” (Deu_25:13-14).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Shall I count them pure …] This rendering is barely defensible, even if we alter the vowel-points. It was dictated by the very natural feeling that the speaker ought to be the same person as in Mic_6:10. Keil thinks that the reading of the Hebrew text may be justified, if we suppose the speaker to be the prophet speaking as the representative of the human conscience. The text-reading is, Can I be pure, &c., which, according to this commentator, means ‘Can a man be pure?’ It is simpler, however, and in accordance with what we know of the confusions of Hebrew pronunciation, to follow the Septuagint, the Peshito, and the Targum, and restore the third person instead of the first; unless, looking at Mic_6:12, we prefer to read the verb in the second person, ‘Canst thou (O Jerusalem) be pure.’ For the prophet continues, ‘The rich men thereof’ (i.e. of Jerusalem).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances,.... These are the words either of the prophet, or rather of God, signifying that he could not, and would not, allow, countenance, and approve of persons that used false scales or balances; or justify and reckon them just, as they would be thought to be, but condemn them, and pronounce them very wicked men, and deserving of punishment here and hereafter:

and with the bag of deceitful weights? or "stones" (o); which were used in weighing goods, and which were deceitful, when a heavier was used in buying, and a lighter in selling. So the Targum,

"and with the bag, in which are weights greater and lesser;''

condemned in Deu 25:13.

(o) "lapidum doli", Piscator; "lapidum fraudis", Montanus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Shall I count them pure? - Rather, (as the English margin) “Shall I be pure?” The prophet takes for the time their person and bids them judge themselves in him. If it would defile me, how are ye, with all your other sins, not defiled? All these things were expressly forbidden in the law. “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just him, shall ye have” Lev 19:35-36; and, “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteousness are an abomination unto the Lord thy God” (Deu 25:13, Deu 25:15-16, add Pro 11:1; Pro 16:11; Pro 20:10). Yet are not these things common even now?

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Shall I? it may have some reference to the prophet, as speaking of himself, appointed of God to be a reprover and impartial censurer of the sins of this people; When I am so to judge of them by their doings, shall I flatter them, and say they are better than they are? but it better refers to God himself.

Count them pure; approve, justify, or acquit them, as if they were righteous, and not worthy to be punished? Shall I let them escape who are such unjust persons? This question implieth a strong negation.

The wicked balances: this kind is put for all the rest, wherewith things bought and sold were apportioned, and by which buyers and sellers were ascertained how much they bought.

The bag; in which they both kept their weights at home, and carried them about with them.

Deceitful weights, Heb. stones of deceit; they did (as in many places with us men do) use stones for weights, and this unjust people did cheat both at home and abroad, both the balance and its weights were deceitful, and condemned, Lev 19:35,36; Deu 25:13-16.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Shall I count them pure — This is an impossible rendering of the Hebrew, but it is supported by Vulgate; the Hebrew reads, “Shall I be pure?” If this is original, the people must be the speaker; but a change in speakers is out of place here. LXX. retains Jehovah as the speaker, and reads, “Can it (Jerusalem) be pure?” The LXX. and Vulgate readings require only slight alterations in the Hebrew, and either is preferable to the present text.

Wicked balances,… deceitful weights — See on Amo_8:5. No one who practices fraud or deceit can expect to be acquitted in the court of Jehovah.

Mic_6:12 continues the description of wrongdoing (compare Hos_4:1 ff.).

Thereof — Of Jerusalem.

Full of violence — See on Mic_2:1-2; Mic_2:8; Mic_3:2-3; Mic_3:9.

Lies — Toward God and man.

Deceitful — Literally, deceit. The noun is used in the place of the adjective for the sake of emphasis (G.-K., 141c); the tongue does nothing but deceive.

Mic_6:13-15 announce the judgment.

Thee — The masculine pronoun which is used in these verses cannot refer to the city. If the alteration suggested in connection with 9b is accepted the masculine pronoun may be explained as referring to “tribe,” a masculine noun; otherwise we must suppose that the prophet uses the masculine form because he has in mind the people of the city rather than the city itself. Smiting [“have smitten”] — If the text is correct this is the so-called prophetic perfect. The punishment is still in the future, but it is so certain that the prophet describes it as already present.

I also — Better, I on my part.

With a grievous wound — An incurable wound (Nah_3:19). The construction of the Hebrew is somewhat unusual. A slight alteration, supported by LXX., would give, “therefore I on my part have begun to smite thee, to make thee desolate because of thy sins.”

Mic_6:14-15 describe the judgment in greater detail; the prophet evidently thinks of a foreign nation as the divinely appointed executioner (Amo_5:11; Deu_28:39-40).

Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied — The enemy will overrun the land and devastate it; as a result starvation will threaten the people. The meaning of the next clause is uncertain.

Thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee — In the midst of the people. The word translated “casting down” (R.V., “humiliation”) occurs only here; hence its exact meaning is more or less uncertain. Some give to it the meaning “emptiness,” that is, of the stomach (so R.V. margin). With this translation the thought becomes clearer, for it would simply be a repetition of that expressed in the preceding clause; or else the second might be understood as a circumstantial clause, “Thou shalt eat but not be satisfied, while starvation shall be in the midst of thee.” LXX., taking the word from a different root, renders “it will be dark.”

Shalt take hold — Better, R.V., “shalt put away.” On the approach of the enemy they will hasten to hide their families and possessions, but the enemy will be too quick for them; they will not bring them to a place of safety; if, by chance, they should succeed in saving anything, it will fall into the hands of the enemy to be devoured by the sword (compare Isa_5:29; Jer_50:37).

Sow,… reap — The enemy will consume or destroy also the growing crops in fields and vineyards.

Tread the olives — See on Joe_1:10; Joe_2:24. Thomson says that, so far as he knows, olives are not trodden with the feet in modern times, “and it could only be done when the olives have been kept until they are very soft” (The Land and the Book, 1:524). Marti omits “thy casting down” and connects “in the midst of thee” differently; then he rearranges the clauses, and thus he secures what is undoubtedly a smoother reading. Following Mic_6:13 he reads, “Whatever is in the midst of thee thou mayest put away, thou shalt not save it; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt eat but not be satisfied; thou shalt sow.… “

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shall I count them pure? literally, Shall I be pure? The clause is obscure. The Authorized Version regards the speaker as the same as in ver. 10, and translates with some violence to the text. It may be that the prophet speaks as the representative of the awakened transgressor, "Can I be guiltless with such deceit about me?" But the sudden change of personification and of state of feeling is very harsh. Hence some follow Jerome in regarding God as the speaker, and rendering, "Shall I justify the wicked balance?" others, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee, Ei dikaiwyhsetai en zugw anomov ; "Shall the wicked be justified by the balance?" Cheyne is inclined to read the verb in the second person, "Canst thou (O Jerusalem) be pure?" since in the next verse the prophet proceeds, "the rich men thereof" (i.e. of Jerusalem). If we retain the present reading, "Can I be innocent?" we must consider the question as put, for effect"s sake, in the mouth of one of the rich oppressors. Jerome"s translation is contrary to the use of the verb, which is always intransitive in kal.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Count them pure - Approve, or acquit then as if they were righteous.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Should I consider a person to be innocent ... weights?

This can be translated as a statement. AT: "I certainly will not consider a person innocent ... weights." (See: Rhetorical Question)

deceptive weights

weights with which sellers deceive buyers

The rich men are full of violence

Rich men are spoken of as if they were containers, and people treating each other violently is spoken of as if it were a liquid that could be put into a container. AT: "The rich men act violently toward everyone" or "The rich men act violently all the time" (See: Metaphor)

their tongue in their mouth is deceitful

The tongue is a synecdoche for the person. AT: "Everything they say is a lie" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

innocent

deceive

tongue

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.