Micah 2:9 - Exposition

The women of my people. The prophet refers to the widows, who ought to have been protected and cared for (comp. Isaiah 10:2 ). The LXX ; with which the Arabic agrees, renders, ἡγούμενοι λαοῦ μου , "the leaders of my people." Have ye cast out. The word expresses a violent expulsion, as Genesis 3:24 . Their pleasant houses; literally, the house of their delights ( Micah 1:16 ). The house which was very dear to them, the scene of all their joys. My glory. All the privileges which they enjoyed as God's people and his peculiar care are called "the ornament" of the Lord (comp. Ezekiel 16:14 ). The "glory" is by some commentators, but not so appositely, referred to vesture exclusively. These fatherless children had been ruthlessly stripped of their blessings either by being forced to grow up in want and ignorance, or by being sold into slavery and carried away from their old religious associations. Forever . The oppressors never repented or tried to make restitution; and so they incurred the special woe of those who injure the poor, the fatherless, and the widow (Pusey). The Septuagint has no connection with the present Hebrew text of this verse, reading, ἐγγίσατε ὄρεσιν αἰωνίοις , "Draw ye near to the everlasting hills," and previously introducing a gloss, διὰ τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν ἐξώσθησαν , "They were rejected because of their evil practices." Jerome explains the Greek mystically, despairing of the literal interpretation in its present connection.