Contemporary Violence, Corruption, and Disloyalty. This passage is distinct from the preceding, though the same introductory remark applies to it; in tone, however, it seems to come nearer to certain Psalms (cf. Psalms 12:1 f.). Zion laments that the pious and upright man has become, through violence, as rare in her midst as the fruit in the garden or vineyard after the ingathering; men plot against their fellows as the huntsman against his prey (Psalms 10:8 f.).
Micah 7:3 is corrupt; the general meaning appears to be that the powerful secure their interests through the bribery of dishonest judges, but the Hebrew of the first and last clauses cannot be translated. In Micah 7:4 (where the impossible worse than supplied by RV should be like) these evil men are compared with thorns, both for their harmfulness and their destiny (2 Samuel 23:6); the Day of Yahweh (Amos 5:18, etc.), foretold by His watchmen-prophets (Isaiah 21:6; Jeremiah 6:17; Habakkuk 2:1) will bring confusion upon them (text uncertain). So evil are the present times that the closest ties of intimacy and affection are unreliable (Micah 7:5 mg.); the natural authority of parents over their children (Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:15; Exodus 21:17; Deuteronomy 21:18 ff.) is disregarded, and the unity of the household (Genesis 17:27) is lost.
Micah 7:1. Cf. Isaiah 24:13; for the first ripe fig as a delicacy, see Isaiah 28:4; read the clause as mg., but soul means appetite.
Micah 7:2. earth should be land.
Micah 7:6. Note the different application of the words in Matthew 10:35 f.