Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 6:1-2

(Chapter VI—Verses 1, 2.) Listen to what the Lord is saying: Rise up, contend with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Listen, O mountains, to the Lord's judgment, and you mighty foundations of the earth, for the Lord will judge with his people and with Israel. Septuagint: Listen to what the Lord has spoken: Rise up, judge among the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Listen, O mountains, to the Lord's judgment, and you valleys, foundations of the earth, for the Lord will judge his people and with Israel. For the firm foundations of the earth, which are interpreted as the seventy valleys and foundations of the earth, Symmachus and Theodotion translated it, and the ancient foundations of the earth: but the fifth edition presented the Hebrew itself, Ethanim, the foundations of the earth. Therefore, the first voice of the prophet is: Hear what the Lord is saying. Then God speaks to the prophet: Rise up, contend with judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Again, the prophet, as he had been commanded, speaks to the mountains, and not only to the mountains, but also to the strong foundations of the earth, and says, Hear, O mountains, the judgment of the Lord, and you strong foundations of the earth. He gives the reason why he compels them to hear. Because the judgment of the Lord will be pronounced upon his people, and with Israel it will be judged. They have transferred hills and valleys to the mountains to which the prophet speaks and to the strong foundations of the earth, understanding this, as it seems to me, that the people have done nothing worthy to be heard from the mountains, either from the hills that are inferior to the height of the mountains, or from the valleys submerged in the deepest part. Arise, he says, contend in judgment before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. He commands those who are sitting, lying, sleeping, or dead to arise, according to what the Apostle says: Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light (Ephesians 5:14). Arise from the dead, so that you may walk in newness of life, that you may leave the earth and strive for higher things. And contend in judgment against the mountains, which I believe to signify no one other than the Angels, to whom the care of human matters is entrusted, as the Song of Deuteronomy concords with the same: When the Most High divided the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God (Deuteronomy 32:8). Hello, we are the administrators of the spirit, sent to minister to those who will inherit salvation. And strive for justice, so that whether mountains or hills ((or valleys)) are found, it may not be considered unworthy of the people whom I have appointed, or that the blame be removed from the people and referred to the leaders. Let us read the Apocalypse of John the Apostle, in which the Angels of the Churches are praised and accused for their virtues and vices, for which they are said to preside. For just as sometimes the fault lies with the bishops, sometimes with the people; and often the teacher sins, often the student; sometimes it is the fault of the father, sometimes of the son, so that they may be taught either well or poorly: in this way, in the judgment of God, either a charge will be brought against the angels, if they do not carry out everything that pertains to their duty, or against the people, if they have disregarded those who do everything themselves. There are those who interpret the mountains and hills and the strong foundations of the earth as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the other patriarchs, to whom it is as if they were listeners and authors, and who are summoned to judgment, for the cause of the people of Israel may be investigated. Others believe that mountains, hills, and valleys are inhabited by angels, as we said above, either serving God in the heavens, or governing over humans on this earth, or being stationed below, among those who have become earthly due to their own fault, they are said to be the foundations of the earth: concerning which foundations and elsewhere we find it written: A fire is kindled in my wrath, it shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains (Deut. 32:22). The strong and ancient foundations of the earth (whose cause the earth has not passed until now, and hanging over the void, remains balanced) are the merits of the righteous, of whom the Apostle speaks: Built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). Therefore, just as the apostles, prophets, and the entire chorus of martyrs are the strong foundations of the earth, so according to the Septuagint, the valleys and cliffs, which are more significantly called φάραγγες in Greek, are their foundations, who have received the image of the dwelling place (Mss. choici). Therefore, the judgment of the Lord will be with His people, and with Israel it will be judged. He who could, as it were, inflict punishments like God for the sins of a sinful people, does not want to appear mighty, but just, and calls sinners to judgment, according to the prophecy: Come, let us argue it out, says the Lord (Isaiah 43:26), even now He calls the people of Israel, with the presence of Angels and all creatures, if there is anything to be answered, so that God may be justified in His words and prevail when He is judged (Psalm 50).

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Micah 6:1

The mountains: That is, the great ones, the princes of the people.

[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Micah 6:3

Would you like me to utter to you the words of God to Israel, stiff-necked and hardened? “O my people, what have I done to you, or in what way have I injured you, or wherein have I wearied you?” This language indeed is more fit from me to you who insult me. It is a sad thing that we watch for opportunities against each other and having destroyed our fellowship of spirit by diversities of opinion have become almost more inhuman and savage to one another than even the barbarians who are now engaged in war against us, banded together against us by the Trinity whom we have separated. We are not foreigners making forays and raids upon foreigners or nations of a different language, which is some little consolation in the calamity. But we are making war upon one another, and almost upon those of the same household. Or if you will, we the members of the same body are consuming and being consumed by one another. Nor is this, bad as it is, the extent of our calamity, for we even regard our diminution as a gain. But since we are in such a condition and regulate our faith by the times, let us compare the times with one another; you your emperor, and I my sovereigns; you Ahab and I Josiah.

Source: AGAINST THE ARIANS AND ON HIMSELF, ORATION 33:2

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Micah 6:3

There is also a third entreaty, for although David was set in the midst of people doing evil deeds, he eagerly desires that his case be separated from contagion with them. Many suppose that this sentiment should be attributed to the Lord Jesus, because it belongs to him alone not to fear judgment, as the one who overcomes when he is judged. Indeed, he has judgment from the unjust man, and into it Christ entered willingly, as you find it written, “O my people, what have I done to you? Or wherein have I grieved you?” But since the Father has given all judgment to him, not indeed as if to one that was weak but as if to a Son, what judgment can he undergo? If they think that the Son must undergo the Father’s judgment, surely “the Father does not judge any man, but all judgment has been given to the Son, that all men may honor the Son even as they honor the Father.” The Father honors the Son, and do you not put him to judgment? We have expressed this thought here, so that no one would think that we substituted the figure of the psalmist in the Lord’s place out of fear of inquiry. Holy David foresees in spirit that the Jews will rise up against the Lord in his passion. Since he is not greatly afraid of the judgment upon his own faith, he beseeches that his own case be distinguished also from a nation of persecutors. Else, the stock of the entire Jewish race could be implicated with those wicked heirs of his own race and posterity.

Source: THE PRAYER OF JOB AND DAVID 4:8.29

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 6:3-5

(Verse 3 onwards) O my people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember, I pray, what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord. LXX: My people, what have I done to you, or how have I troubled you? Answer me: for I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, and sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak, king of Moab, devised against you, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Seir unto Gilgal; that the righteousness of the Lord might be known. Symmachus interpreted 'justitiis' or 'justitia' as 'misericordias', and where LXX Shanis; all translated it as Settim. It is the place where Balak, the king of the Moabites, gathered an army against Israel, like the trees that still grow through the desert of Mount Sinai. For in the LXX, whether it be the Ark of the Covenant, or the altar and tabernacle, and other things made of imperishable wood, they are called Settim in Hebrew, which resemble a tree that we commonly call the White Thorn. Therefore, I believe that both LXX σχίνον and σχοῖνοι have been interpreted as lentisk; but gradually, due to a mistake made by copyists, σχοῖνοι, meaning ropes, were read instead of σχίνοις, meaning lentisks. Therefore, God speaks to the people of Israel and challenges them to a judgment, granting them permission to argue against Him. My people, what have I done to you that I should not have done? Or how have I wearied you? Although this is not found in Hebrew. But the father is saddened by his son being flogged, and he visits the sins of the sheep with the shepherd's rod. How have I been troublesome to you? Or, as it is more significantly written in Hebrew, how have I burdened you with my labor? Will you interpret my favors as an insult, and while desiring Egyptian melons and meats, will you grieve being brought out of the land of Egypt, and being freed from the house of slavery with my help, because I have given you Moses as your leader, my friend, and Aaron as your priest, and Miriam as your prophetess? But if this seems insignificant to you, remember that at that time, when Balak, the king of Moab, hired Balaam, a diviner, to curse you and how, against his own will, Balaam, desiring to curse you, blessed you instead (Numbers 22): from Shittim to Gilgal, surveying the entire army of Israel with his eyes and changing places, as if I could not continue going with you and passing over with you. And I did this so that my mercy and justice would be known to you, who love you so much, that even though I curse the blasphemers every day with my mouth, I have not allowed myself to curse you as an enemy. The Hebrews interpret this passage, where it is said, 'from Sethim to Galgal, that you may know the justices of the Lord' (Numbers 25), in this way: from the time you committed fornication in Madian, until the time when Saul was anointed king in Galgal (1 Samuel 10), recall the memory of the evils you have done, and how much good I have done for you, and you will know my mercy towards you. This is how God spoke to carnal Israel according to history. But we, who desire to contemplate the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face, truly have the father Abraham, let us hear when we have sinned against disputing God, and let us be accused by the magnitude of his benefits. For we have served Pharaoh and the Egyptian people, and we have made mud and bricks. And he redeemed us who gave himself as redemption for all, so that we may declare those who were redeemed by the Lord, whom he redeemed from the hand of enemies, and whom he gathered from the regions, for his mercy endures forever. He also sent before our face Moses, the spiritual law, and Aaron, the great high priest, not having a typological Ephod, but carrying the truth, and having on his forehead the seal of holiness that God the Father has signed. And he sent Mary, the prophetess, and she not only accomplished this for us, but also delivered us from the hands of our enemies. For let us remember what he had intended against us, who wanted to devour and to ridicule our congregation, the true devil Balak. For Balak signifies 'the emptying out,' that is, 'depriver,' the king of the paternal water: indeed, according to another etymology, Moab is said to mean paternal water. Therefore, when Balak plotted against us, and he plotted against us through his empty people, which is interpreted as Balaam, God did not allow us to fall under his curses; but on the contrary, He blessed us, compelled by the truth of the matter, the empty people of the nations, born of the one who is in the skin: for Beor signifies 'in the skin,' always devoted to flesh and works of death. And the empty people responded for us, sprung from the one who is entirely in the skin, always changing places, or standing upon thorns, or upon ropes, so that we may also follow the error of the Vulgate edition. But according to the saying of the Savior, the cares of this world, and riches, and pleasures are in which the people are vain. (Matthew 13, Mark 5). But what stands in the ropes, namely in the chains of sins (for each one is bound by the ropes of their own sins (Proverbs 5)), and Isaiah is a witness, saying: Woe to those who draw out their sins like a long rope, and like the strap of a young heifer, their iniquities (Isaiah 5, 18). Therefore, if it stands, it only stands among thorns and ropes; if, however, it wishes to walk around, it does not have a stable step, but is always wavering and unstable, and it reaches even to Gilgal, which means rolling, that is, volatility or instability. If ever we see some rise up against us, and they thirst for our blood with eager jaws, and by the unexpected providence of God, they become for us, who they came against, let us say, 'Balaam came from ropes to Gilgal,' so that the justice of God may be known.

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Micah 6:3

“For the Lord will judge his people, and he will [give] comfort among his servants.” The reason for the previous praise is stated: “For the Lord will judge his people,” that is, the Jewish people, to whom he revealed great miracles and assigned his prophets so that the people would not sin. He also sent to them his own Son, so that their accursed hardness could finally be melted. But because they persisted with accursed obstinacy, he will certainly judge them, because they were unwilling to be his, though he had chosen them from all nations as his possession. To them he says, “Hear, O people, and I will speak,” and elsewhere, “My people, what have I done to you?” So he will judge them. But hear what follows as it concerns the faithful: “He will again have compassion upon us.” He means when he will render their promised rewards to those on earth afflicted with harsh contempt on account of his name. Scripture says of them, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” and in another place are the words “He that believes in me is not judged but will pass from death to life. But he that does not believe is already judged.”

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 134:14

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Micah 6:5

You see the Lord is teaching you a lesson, challenging you to goodness by his own example, teaching you even when he reproves. When accusing the Jews, for instance, he says, “O my people, what have I done to you? Or wherein have I grieved you? Or wherein have I offended you? Answer me. Is it because I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and delivered you out of the house of bondage?” adding, “And I sent before your face Moses, Aaron and Miriam. O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised.” You were indeed oppressed, an exile in foreign lands, laden with heavy burdens.

Source: LETTER 41:24

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Micah 6:5

From Setim to Galgal: He puts them in mind of the favour he did them, in not suffering them to be quite destroyed by the evil purpose of Balach, and the wicked counsel of Balaam: and then gives them a hint of the wonders he wrought, in order to bring them into the land of Promise, by stopping the course of the Jordan, in their march from Setim to Galgal.

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Micah 6:6-7

Is everyone who is turning from sin to faith, turning from sinful practices (as if they were his mother) to life? I shall call in evidence one of the twelve prophets, who says, “Am I to make an offering of my firstborn son for my impiety? Should I offer the fruit of my womb for the sin of my soul?” Can the mother buy her way to God by giving up her firstborn? This must not be taken as an attack on the words “increase in numbers.” Micah is naming, by using the word impiety, the first impulses after birth, which do not help us to knowledge of God. If anyone misuses this as a basis for saying that that birth is evil, he should also use it as a basis for saying that it is good, in that in it we come to know the truth. “Come back to a sober and upright life and stop sinning.” But the sinner knows nothing of God. “We are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against spiritual beings, potent in temptation, the rulers of this dark world,” so there is forbearance. This is why Paul says, “I bruise my own body and treat it as a slave, because every athlete goes into total training.” By “total training” we understand not that he abstains from absolutely everything but that he shows self-control in those things he has taken a deliberate decision to use. “They do it to win a crown which dies, we for one which never dies,” if we win the contest. No effort, no crown!

Source: STROMATEIS 3:16.101

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Micah 6:6-7

For what is asked of you, O man? Only that you fear God: seek for him, walk after him, follow in his ways. “With what shall I win over the Lord? Shall I win him over with burnt offerings?” The Lord is not reconciled, nor are sins redeemed, with tens of thousands of young goats or thousands of rams or with the fruits of unholiness, but the grace of the Lord is won with a good life.

Source: FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 6:33

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 6:6-7

(Vers. 6, 7.) What shall I offer to the Lord? Shall I bow down before the Most High God? Shall I offer burnt offerings to Him, and yearling calves? Can the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with many thousands of fattened goats? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? LXX: Where shall I find the Lord? Shall I seek my God on high? Shall I seek Him in burnt offerings, in yearling calves? May the Lord receive in the thousands of rams, or in the ten thousands of fat goats? If I offer my firstborn for my impiety: the fruit of my womb for the sin of my soul. God has called the people to judgment: he, knowing his own sin, does not want to contend, but to plead, and yet he has no confidence in his own prayers. For nothing is worthy to be offered to God for sin, and no humility can cleanse the stains of transgressions, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and calves, and the marrow-burning holocaust, and the blood of rams and fat goats, to wash away the filth of the soul. Will I, he says, give my firstborn for my crime, as it is described that the king of Moab did (2 Kings 3)? Or the fruit of my womb for the sin of my soul, as Jephthah did, offering his daughter for the rashness of his vow (Judith 11)? Therefore we who are of the people of God, knowing that not every living creature will be justified in his sight (Psalm 142), and saying: I have become like an animal before you (Psalm 73:22-23), repenting for our sins, we doubt and say: Where shall I find the Lord, shall I receive my exalted Lord? How can I capture him as he flees? How much cleanliness will I be able to prepare for the Trinity's lodging? Should I seize him in burnt offerings, so that I offer myself as a whole burnt offering to him, or in one-year-old calves, so that I, deserting milk and coming to solid food, may become worthy of the acceptable food in the year of the Lord? If I offer a thousand rams, if I offer ten thousand goats, and if I spiritually understand and present all the Levitical sacrifices in myself, and if a thousand and ten thousand fall from my side, yet I will not be able to give anything worthy in which I can apprehend or receive God. If I give my firstborn for impiety, and the fruit of my womb for the sin of my soul: indeed I will give whatever is first in me, but for my sin and impiety I will offer nothing worthy to God. Therefore, even David prays and says: Wash me more and more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquities, and my sin is always against me (Psalm 50, 3). Only the blood is offered worthily for the sin of the soul: and the blood, not of calves, nor of rams, nor of goats, but one's own blood is offered worthily, as the prophet says and asks: What shall I repay to the Lord for all that he has repaid to me? And afterwards, responding, I will receive the chalice of salvation and invoke the name of the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. (Ps. CXV). But we do not give the blood itself, but we give it back. And what is similar? When the righteous person died for sinners, the Son of God died for men, shall we sinners and men die for the confession of his name?

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Micah 6:6

What shall I offer: This is spoken in the person of the people, desiring to be informed what they are to do to please God.

[AD 220] Tertullian on Micah 6:8

“But God,”[adulterers and fornicators say,] “is good and most kind.” He is “merciful, compassionate and rich in mercy,” which “he prefers to every sacrifice.” “He desires not so much the death as the repentance of the sinner.” He is “the Savior of all people, and especially of the faithful.” Therefore the children of God must also be “merciful” and “peacemakers,” “forgiving each other as Christ also forgave us,” “not judging, lest we be judged.” For to “his master a man stands or falls; who are you to judge the servant of another?” “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Yet many such things as these are only said, not done, merely bandied about, unmanning rather than strengthening discipline, flattering God and pandering to themselves.

Source: ON PURITY 2

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Micah 6:8

“You have been told, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy and to be prepared to walk with your Lord?” Accordingly, the gospel says to you, “Arise, let us go from here,” while the law says to you, “You shall walk after the Lord your God.” You have learned the method of your flight from here—why do you delay?

Source: FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 6:33

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 6:8

(Verse 8) I will show you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. LXX: It has been told to you, O man, what is good, or what the Lord requires of you: only to do justice, and to love mercy, and to be prepared to walk with your God. For you hesitate, O people of Israel, indeed the entire human race (for I am not speaking specifically to the Jewish people, but generally to all mankind, my message reaches everyone), how you can appease God for your sins if you do not have victims with which your wickedness can be atoned: I will answer you, what God seeks, indeed I have shown it already in the Law. For it is written in Deuteronomy: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his statutes, which I command you today for your good? (Deut. X, 12) The Lord asks of us, seeking our necessary salvation, demands to receive what is profitable for the giver, so that we may exercise judgment, that is, do nothing without reason and counsel, and consider before our mind judges what it should do, and afterward complete it in action; so that we may love mercy, and not be merciful as if compelled or by necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver (II Cor. IX). And let us not say, go today, and return tomorrow, and I will give to you. And when we shall have done judgment, and loved mercy, what reward shall we receive? We shall walk with the Lord our God, as Enoch walked with God according to the faith of the Hebrew volumes (Genesis 5; Ecclesiasticus 44), and pleased him, and was not found, because God had translated him. For you have said, in what shall I obtain the Lord, or in what shall I apprehend him? I promise you more, do judgment, and love mercy, and you shall walk with your God. Certainly, to walk with God is not a reward, but a commandment. Just as we are commanded to do justice and love mercy, so we are instructed to be prepared to walk with our Lord God; we should not sleep at any hour, we should not be secure at any time, but always expect the coming of the father of the household, and fear the day of judgment, and in the night of this world say: I sleep, but my heart is awake (Song of Solomon 5:2). Theodotius expressed more significantly the phrase 'Verbum Esne' (which the Septuagint translated as 'ready to go and we have said, anxious to walk') as 'καὶ ἀσφαλίζου τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετὰ Ἐλωαίχ', that is, 'and be careful to walk diligently with your God'. Or, as the fifth edition translated, 'καὶ φροντίζειν', meaning to act diligently and have this care, to walk with your God. For whoever says they believe in Christ should walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). And the Apostle Paul said: 'Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.' (I Cor. 11)

The voice of the Lord cries out to the city, and salvation will be to those who fear your name. The Septuagint version says: The voice of the Lord will cry out to the city, and those who fear his name will be saved. In the Hebrew, this is the beginning of another chapter, but in the Septuagint, it is the end of the previous chapter. It means: God asks nothing else of you, O man, but that you do justice, love mercy, and be ready to walk with your God. For the voice of the Lord is heard in his city, the Church, and in the holy Scriptures, it resounds every day, that not only those who love mercy, but also those who are lowly and still fear the name of the Lord, may be saved by his teaching and mercy. But if the beginning of the following chapter is, let us recount according to the story, what is said about the metropolis of the ten tribes, which, as Michaeas prophesied, was captured, and let us say: The Lord rebukes Samaria, and he threatens the blows that are to come, so that the people of Judah, either out of fear of the name of the Lord, or out of fear of suffering other punishments, may themselves, being seized by fear, obtain salvation. For when a city is plagued by pestilence, not only the wise, but even the foolish become more prudent. And this itself applies to sinners in general and to the righteous, so that the suffering of others becomes an example to the rest. Indeed, the Lord also interprets this in the Gospel concerning those on whom the tower in Siloam fell (Luke 13): that they were not the only sinners among the people, but rather that their punishment would provoke the others to repentance.

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on Micah 6:8

Forget about burnt offerings, countless sacrifices and oblations of firstborn, he is saying. If you are concerned to appease the divinity, practice what God ordered you in the beginning through Moses. What in fact is that? To deliver fair judgment and decision in all cases where you have to choose better from worse, to continue giving evidence of all possible love and fellow-feeling to your neighbor, and be ready to put into practice what is pleasing to God in every way. He means, in short, “You will love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul, and you will love your neighbor as yourself,” as was said of old through Moses. Do this, he is saying, as something preferable to sacrifices in God’s eyes.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH 6:6-8

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Micah 6:8

You ask what you should offer: offer yourself. For what else does the Lord seek of you but you? Because of all earthly creatures he has made nothing better than you, he seeks yourself from yourself, because you have lost yourself.

Source: SERMON 48:2

[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Micah 6:8

A brother asked a hermit, ‘Tell me something good that I may do it and live by it.’ The hermit said, ‘God alone knows what is good. But I have heard that one of the hermits asked the great Nesteros, who was a friend of Antony, ‘What good work shall I do?’ and he replied, ‘Surely all works please God equally? Scripture says, Abraham was hospitable and God was with him; Elijah loved quiet and God was with him; David was humble and God was with him.’ So whatever you find you are drawn to in following God’s will, do it and let your heart be at peace.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Micah 6:8

A hermit was asked by a brother, ‘How do I find God? With fasts, or labour, or vigils, or works of mercy?’ He replied, ‘You will find Him in all those, and also in discretion. I tell you many have been very stern with their bodies, but have gained nothing by it because they did it without discretion. Even if our mouths stink from fasting, and we have learnt all the Scriptures, and memorized the whole Psalter, we may still lack what God wants, humility and love.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

[AD 735] Bede on Micah 6:8

Here is a priest who serves at every hour with great fear while walking humbly with the Lord his God in accordance with the word of the prophet. Meanwhile another priest is hardly capable of having that much fear even when he is about to die and enter into the last judgment before his Lord. But the full expression of the priesthood is comprised of the combination of the teaching of truth with good works. This is in accord with blessed Luke’s comment that in writing his Gospel he had composed a treatise concerning all the things that Jesus began both to do and to teach.

Source: On the Tabernacle 3:6

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 6:10-16

(Verse 10 and following). Listen, you who are wise, and who will approve of it? The fire is still burning in the house of the wicked, the treasure of impiety, and the measure of anger is not yet full. Shall I justify the wicked scales and the deceitful weights of the bag? In them, her rich ones are filled with iniquity, and those who dwell in her speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. And so I have begun to strike you with destruction because of your sins. You will eat, but not be satisfied, and your humiliation will be in your midst; you will try to save, but you will not succeed; and those whom you do save, I will give over to the sword. You shall sow, and not reap: you shall tread the olive, and not anoint yourself with oil; and the must, and you shall not drink wine. And you have kept the precepts of Omri, and all the works of the house of Achab; and you have walked in their wills, that I should give you up to destruction, and the inhabitants thereof to hissing, and you shall bear the reproach of my people. If the unrighteous is justified on the scales, and fraudulent weights on the balance, by which they have filled the riches of their impiety (or yours), and those who dwell (or dwelt) in it speak wickedly, and their tongue is exalted in their mouth. And I have afflicted you with destruction because of your sins: you will eat, but not be satisfied; I will cast you into yourself, and you will grasp, but not save; and all those who are saved will be handed over to the sword: you will sow, but not reap; you will tread the olive, but not be anointed with oil; and you will crush the grapes, but not drink wine; and the laws of my people will be scattered, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their councils, to deliver you to destruction, and its inhabitants to hissing, and you will receive reproach from the peoples. In this chapter, there are many discrepancies from the Hebrew truth, especially in the beginning: 'Hear, three, and who will adorn the city? And the legitimate people of mine will be scattered.' For this reason we have substituted 'And you have kept the commandments of Amri' for the sake of consistency in the narrative, even though in Hebrew it is written: 'And the commandments of Amri were kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab.' For if it had been written in Hebrew 'Ammi' (), then the LXX would have translated correctly as 'my people.' But now, since it is written 'Amri' (), and the letter 'Res' added, it signifies not the name of a people, but the father Ahab, about whom the history of King wrote (3 Kings 16), there is no doubt that there is an error. Finally, after the father's name, the son is named, and it is said, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab. Let us return, therefore, to the beginning of the chapter. And first, speaking literally, we strive to grasp the spiritual meaning while you pray. Listen, O ten tribes of Samaria, whom the Lord testifies to: there is still fire, that is, wickedness, in the house of the impious Amri, and the treasures of impiety persist in the royal house. Do you want to hear in detail with what evils your city is filled? Learn: By provoking the lesser measure of God's wrath, using deceptive scales and different weights, and selling in one weight and buying in another, they buy and sell merchandise (Prov. XI; Deut. XXV). And if the poor were to do this, poverty could justify the crime. But now the rich, full not so much with wealth as with iniquity, because all their wealth is gained through the plundering of others. A congregation of wealth is followed by deceit, and a hand accustomed to hide treasures possesses a deceitful tongue. Truth brings poverty, falsehood brings wealth. When your leaders did this, I did not immediately overthrow you; but I began to strike gradually and admonish with various blows. I sent hunger upon you, I sent thirst, I sent sickness, and hostile devastation all around: the harvest did not yield crops, the pressed olive did not produce oil, the barren vines denied wine. Against injustices, deceitful measures, and fraudulent weights, I inflicted these punishments. However, since you have kept all the ceremonies of idolatry that the wicked king Amri established (3 Kings 16ff), and all the works of the house of Ahab and Jezebel, you have preserved for my law, I have been moved by your wickedness to give you and your inhabitants over to a hissing and a reproach, so that while you are captured by the Assyrians, you are conquered like the people of God, and because of you my name is blasphemed among the nations (Rom. 2:24). It should be noted in the present place that where it is read, 'and you shall bear the shame of my people': or, as the Septuagint translated it, 'you shall receive the reproaches of the peoples,' in Hebrew it is written 'Ammi,' which means 'my people.' Therefore, if it sounds bad that I, the son of my people, was transferred for Amri, my people. We have expressed what seemed to us according to the Hebrew until now: now returning to the translation of the LXX interpreters, let us discuss each one as best we can. The Samaritan is called upon to listen, who has separated herself from the people of God. And it is said to her, 'You futilely make idols, you skillfully fashion golden calves with your own hand, and you desire to build another metropolis like Jerusalem: for who can adorn a city?' Is the fire, which is kindled by the burning darts of the devil; and the house of the wicked, which according to its stubbornness and unrepentant heart treasures up wrath for itself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom. II, 5)? And does injustice increase wickedness, so that it not only snatches away from the house of God, which is the Church, but also arrogantly and disdainfully devastates what belongs to others? Can one who deceitfully gathers riches from the testimonies of the Scriptures without balance and measure be justified, riches which are the treasures of wickedness? For when the Lord commands, 'You shall not have in your bag unequal weights, a great and a small' (Deut. XXV): these people, for the sake of shameful gain, always show favoritism in judgment, and in the same case they judge the rich and the poor, not according to the merit of the case, but according to the disparity of their wealth. And the inhabitants of their city, who think they are adorned by wicked teachings and perverse doctrine, speak falsehood and set their mouth on high, and despise the simplicity of the Ecclesiastical people. Whereas the most merciful God does not strike them equally, but strives to admonish them gradually through blows, saying: And I will begin to strike you with destruction because of your sins; and the sense is: O city that the heretics want to build, I will strike you, so that you may perish, not for annihilation, but according to what you are, a sinner. It follows: You will eat, and you will not be satisfied. For they read, and do not understand; and feasting on the words of Scriptures, they suffer from a lack of truth. And I will cast you out," he says, "and you will seize, and you will not save; and whoever is saved, will be handed over to the sword. By your own judgment, I will abandon you; and after seeking many things, finding nothing, understanding your error, you will see that you cannot be saved by all your teachings. But whoever thinks they are satisfied, and is not cast out by themselves, nor grasps the truth, will be handed over to the sword and will be educated by punishments. Therefore, you will sow, O three, and O most wicked city, which heretics build with fire, injustice, insults, deceitful scales, and fraudulent bags; you will sow, but not reap; you will press olives, but not anoint yourself with oil; you will gather grapes, but not drink wine. It is indeed profitable for you, once your error is known, not to have disciples, not to anoint your head with the oil of sinners, not to be intoxicated by drinking the wine of Sodom. And the rightful people of mine, or rather the people of Amri, and all the works of the house of Ahab, those who have arisen as leaders in heresy, will be scattered. We can refer either to opposing powers or to heretics, as was the case with Marcion and Basilides, and recently Arius and Eunomius. And you have followed their desires, namely those of Omri and Ahab. And it is rightly said, in their desires. For the doctrine of wicked teachers is not the doctrine of God, but the inventions of their own hearts. And I will deliver you to destruction, so that you may perish according to what you are, heretical. And your inhabitants into a hissing, or that you may follow the hissing of a good shepherd according to Zechariah, saying: I will whistle for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them (Zechariah 10:8). And certainly into the hissing of the dragon, that is, into the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved (I Cor. V), and let the ones being rebuked learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. I). And let them endure all of this so that they may understand their error, that they have borne the reproaches and sins of many peoples and nations. I know that some have referred to the Church, which we have interpreted as surpassing heresies. But how the names of Amri and Ahab, the leaders of Samaria, can be related to Jerusalem and Judah, under whose names the Church is interpreted, I do not quite understand.

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Micah 6:10

Full of wrath: That is, highly provoking in the sight of God.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Micah 6:16

The statutes of Amri: The wicked ways of Amri and Achab, idolatrous kings.