Micah 6:13

13 "As a result, I have begun to strike you severely,^[a] bringing desolation because of your sins.

Micah 6:13 Meaning and Commentary

Micah 6:13

Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee
With the rod to be heard, ( Micah 6:9 ) ; by sending among them some of his sore judgments, as famine, pestilence, the sword of the enemy, internal wars, and the like; which should cause their kingdom, and state, and families, to decline and waste away, as a sickly and diseased body. So the Targum,

``and I brought upon thee illness and a stroke.''

The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "and I began to smite thee"; as by Hazael, king of Syria, and Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, who had carried part of them captive; in making [thee] desolate because of thy sins;
went on, not only to make them sick, and bring them into a declining state, but into utter desolation; as by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who carried Israel captive; and by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who led Judah captive, because of their sins of idolatry, injustice, and oppression, with others that abounded among them.

Micah 6:13 In-Context

11 Can I excuse wicked scales or bags of deceptive weights?

12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; the tongues in their mouths are deceitful.

13 "As a result, I have begun to strike you severely, bringing desolation because of your sins.

14 You will eat but not be satisfied, for there will be hunger within you. What you acquire, you cannot save, and what you do save, I will give to the sword.

15 You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourself with oil; and [you will tread] grapes but not drink the wine.

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX, Aq, Theod, Syr, Vg; MT reads I have made [you] sick by striking you down