Condemnation of Oppressors Who Covet Land
Micah 2:1-5
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Mic.2.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הוי: INTJ
- חשבי: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- און: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ופעלי: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- רע: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- משכבותם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
- באור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הבקר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- יעשוה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl,3,fs_obj
- כי: CONJ
- יש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לאל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ידם: NOUN,m,sg,suff,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Amos 6:4-7 (thematic): Condemns leaders reclining on beds and living in ease while committing injustice—echoes Micah’s rebuke of those who ‘work evil on their beds.’
- Proverbs 6:12-15 (verbal): Describes a person who devises wickedness and brings ruin; shares the language and motif of inward plotting that leads to harmful deeds.
- Psalm 36:1-2 (thematic): Speaks of transgression meditated in the wicked’s heart and the absence of fear of God—similar emphasis on inner counsel that produces evil action.
- Isaiah 29:15 (allusion): Denounces those who hide counsel and do their deeds in darkness; parallels Micah’s critique of secretive plotting (on beds) and presumptuous action.
- Jeremiah 18:18 (verbal): The leaders ‘devise devices’ against the prophet—uses the same verb of plotting and illustrates communal scheming like that condemned in Micah 2:1.
Alternative generated candidates
- Woe to those who devise wrongdoing and plan evil on their beds; in the morning they carry it out, for it is in the power of their hand.
- Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds; at dawn they carry it out, for it is in the power of their hand.
Mic.2.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וחמדו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- שדות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וגזלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ובתים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ונשאו: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ועשקו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- גבר: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- וביתו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs,prsfx:3,m
- ואיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ונחלתו: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 5:8 (verbal): Condemns those who join house to house and field to field—language and complaint about acquiring land and houses echo Micah’s charge against coveting and seizing property.
- Jeremiah 22:13 (thematic): Woes against building a house by unrighteousness and forcing neighbors to work without pay—parallels Micah’s critique of unjust acquisition and oppression of people and their inheritances.
- Amos 5:11 (verbal): Accuses the powerful of trampling the poor and building fine houses they will not inhabit—connects the exploitation and seizure of wealth/homes found in Micah 2:2.
- Ezekiel 22:29 (thematic): Speaks of robbery, oppression, and mistreatment of the needy by the people of the land—echoes Micah’s indictment of systematic theft and abuse of vulnerable owners.
Alternative generated candidates
- They covet fields and seize them, and houses—they take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.
- They covet fields and seize them, houses and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.
Mic.2.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לכן: ADV
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- הנני: PRT+PRON,1,sg
- חשב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- המשפחה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- רעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- תמישו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- משם: PREP
- צוארתיכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+2mp
- ולא: CONJ
- תלכו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- רומה: VERB,qal,imp,2,ms
- כי: CONJ
- עת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- רעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- היא: PRON,dem,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Micah 2:1-2 (structural): Immediate context — earlier verses accuse people of devising injustice and seizing fields; Micah 2:3 continues the theme of divine retribution for those schemes.
- Isaiah 3:16-17 (thematic): God announces humiliation for the proud (the daughters of Zion); like Mic.2:3, the passage pictures proud conduct followed by removal of status and public shame.
- Obadiah 1:3-4 (thematic): Condemns pride and promises downfall — 'though you soar... you will be brought down' — parallel to Micah's warning that the arrogant will not continue to walk haughtily.
- Zephaniah 1:12-13 (thematic): Speaks of a coming day of wrath when complacent, wealthy people will not escape and will lose their possessions — echoes Mic.2:3's 'an evil time' and inability to remain proudly secure.
- Isaiah 10:5-6 (allusion): Describes the LORD's purpose to punish a nation by sending an instrument of judgment (Assyria); parallels Micah's language that the LORD is 'planning' disaster against a house/family.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I am devising disaster against this house—something you shall not remove from there; you shall not walk proud, for it is an evil time.
- Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I am devising mischief against this household—an evil from which you shall not lift your necks away, nor walk proudly; for it is an evil time.
Mic.2.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- ישא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליכם: PREP+PRON,2mp
- משל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ונהה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- נהי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- נהיה: VERB,niphal,impf,1,pl
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- שדוד: VERB,pual,perf,3,m,sg
- נשדנו: VERB,niphal,perf,1,pl
- חלק: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- ימיר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- איך: ADV
- ימיש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- לשובב: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- שדינו: NOUN,m,pl,pr.1p
- יחלק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 14:4 (verbal): Both open with the call to 'take up a taunt/parable' against a people or ruler (same formula of public derision).
- Psalm 35:21 (verbal): Enemies gloat and taunt the afflicted—'They open their mouth wide...Aha, aha!'—paralleling the scoffing/wailing voice in Micah's lament.
- Nahum 3:1-10 (thematic): A prophetic taunt over a vanquished city with derision and lament over plunder and humiliation, echoing Micah’s motif of being robbed and publicly mocked.
- Ezekiel 7:19 (thematic): Images of people discarding silver and gold and calling it 'unclean' because of sudden defeat resonate with Micah’s cry of being robbed and the loss of land/portion.
Alternative generated candidates
- On that day a taunt will be lifted up against you, a lamentation: “We are ruined—my people’s portion is carried off, their inheritance is plundered; how shall we turn back? Their spoil is divided.”
- On that day a taunt will be raised against you, a bitter lamentation, and they will say, “We are utterly ruined! The plunderer has despoiled us; he has taken away the portion of my people—how he has removed it from me! He drives us off, and our spoil is divided.”
Mic.2.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לכן: ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- משליך: VERB,hiph,ptc,3,m,sg
- חבל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- בגורל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בקהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Joel 3:2-3 (Hebrew Joel 4:2-3) (verbal): Describes nations casting lots for God's people and dividing his land — mirrors Micah's image of casting a line/lot for land and the loss of place in the LORD's assembly.
- Joshua 18:10 (verbal): Joshua 'cast lots' at Shiloh before the LORD to allot the land among the tribes — the same cultic practice of casting lots in the assembly to determine land distribution.
- Acts 1:26 (structural): The Jerusalem assembly casts lots to select Matthias as an apostle — a later example of deciding communal matters by lot in an assembly context, echoing the practice invoked in Micah.
- Deuteronomy 29:20 (thematic): Speaks of being 'cut off' from God's people and covenant as the consequence of persistent sin — parallels Micah's warning that the guilty will lose their place in the assembly and right to land allotment.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore you shall have none to draw the line by lot in the assembly of the LORD.
- Therefore you shall no longer cast the lot with the measuring line in the assembly of the LORD.
Woe to those who devise iniquity and plan evil on their beds; at morning light they carry it out, for power is in their hand.
They covet fields and seize them, houses and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.
Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I am devising disaster against this family—an evil you will not cast off from your necks, nor shall you walk haughtily; for it is a time of calamity.
In that day a taunt will be raised against you; with bitter lamentation they will wail and say, “We have been plundered—he has changed the portion of my people; how he has removed it from me! The houses of the great have been handed over to the plunderer.”
Therefore you shall have no one to cast the cord by lot in the assembly of the LORD.