Micah 3:9–12

3:9 The word “detest” suggests a reaction to that which is aesthetically or morally repulsive. For example, Proverbs lists seven sins that are morally repulsive to God (Prov. 6:16–19). Ironically, while God loves justice, these leaders are so evil that they find justice repugnant. Similarly, they take what is straight and upright and twist it into something crooked. Their character is in every way opposite to the Lord’s.

3:10 The description continues: they “build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.” The idea may be that they have ruthlessly conscripted human beings for their construction projects at great cost to human life. In the Hebrew, “blood” is plural, suggesting a great amount of blood shed through oppression, namely, the forced labor of the workers (cf. Hab. 2:12). “Iniquity” emphasizes violent deeds. It can be used to describe murderers (2 Sam. 3:34, where “wicked” is lit. “sons of iniquity”), corrupt judges who show partiality (Ps. 82:2), or dishonest merchants who cheat their customers (Ezek. 18:8, “injustice”). In this context, it could refer to the iniquity of treating human life as of little importance, perhaps especially in the context of building projects.

It is not entirely clear which building projects are in view. From archaeological research it is known there were massive building projects in Hezekiah’s time to provide some protection for the city. There was the so-called Broad Wall, which was about 20 feet (6 m) thick and 27 feet (8.2 m) high and would have probably extended a few kilometers to provide protection for growing “suburbs” on the western side of Jerusalem. There was also the construction of a tunnel nearly 100 feet (30 m) underground for about one-half mile (0.8 km), from one part of the city to another, to divert water from the Gihon Spring to another part of the city, particularly for a time of siege. Again, it is not clear if these are the projects in view, but the overall point is clear: the human effort required to build these or similar projects would have extracted a severe toll on human life, and these leaders did not care at all. They are justly condemned.

3:11 But Micah is not finished with his indictment. He blasts and condemns the leaders for the breadth and depth of their wicked corruption. The literal translation emphasizes the money the leaders seek by placing it in an emphatic position before the verb:

Its heads—for a bribe—give judgment;

Its priests—for a price—teach;

Its prophets—for money—practice divination. (AT)

The heads—the judicial officials—are bought with bribes, and so their verdicts are unjust; the priests likewise have “sold out” to money as well, tailoring their teaching to the monetary payments they desire. The prophets’ activity has become so bankrupt that it is compared to pagan divination. Moreover, they have led the people astray with their guidance so much so that they are totally oblivious to their imminent disaster: “Yet they lean on the LORD and say, ‘Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.’” Their belief in the presence of the Lord is probably rooted in the physical symbol of the temple, which represents the presence of Yahweh graphically and concretely. As verse 12 will go on to show, their “prophetic” speech is nothing but (in)famous last words.

3:12 Micah often begins a sentence of punishment with the conjunction “therefore” (cf. 2:3; 3:6), providing a suitable segue from the indictment to the penalty and reminding his audience that the latter is inextricably united to the former. “Because of you” emphasizes this link by referring back to the corrupt leaders of Judah. One can almost hear and see Micah pointing at them and calling them out.

A triad of lines expresses the unthinkable and completely contradicts the false prophets’ words of assurance. Whereas they preached peace, Micah declares that nothing could be farther from the truth:

Zion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,

and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

These three lines portray the absolute devastation of the holy city, particularly the temple hill. There is a gradual buildup to the final destruction of the temple. Zion was a term used for the original Jebusite city conquered by David (2 Sam. 5:7), but gradually its meaning became equivalent to the expanded city, Jerusalem. It is here plowed like a field, i.e., the city is turned into arable land. Then the name Jerusalem is used to indicate that the city has become a pile of ruins. And finally Micah zeroes in on the holiest site of the city, the Temple Mount: it will become simply overgrown with forest—as if nothing was ever built there. It has become a place for wild beasts. The devastation is final and complete.