Micah 2:4

4 In that day a parable shall be taken on you, and a song shall be sung with sweetness of men, saying, By robbing we be destroyed; a part of my people is changed; how shall he go away from me, when he turneth again that shall part your countries? (On that day a parable shall be made about you, and a song shall be sung with sadness by people, saying, We be destroyed by robbing; a part, or a portion, of my people hath been taken away; he hath divided up our countryside unto those who took us captive.)

Micah 2:4 Meaning and Commentary

Micah 2:4

In that day shall [one] take up a parable against you
Making use of your name, as a byword, a proverb, a taunt, and a jeer; mocking at your calamities and miseries: or, "concerning you" ^F3; take up and deliver out a narrative of your troubles, in figurative and parabolical expressions; which Kimchi thinks is to be understood of a false prophet, finding his prophecies and promises come to nothing; or rather a stranger, a bystander, a spectator of their miseries, an insulting enemy, mimicking and representing them; or one of themselves, in the name of the rest: and lament with a doleful lamentation;
or, "lament a lamentation of lamentation" ^F4: a very grievous one; or, "a lamentation that is", or "shall be", or "is done" ^F5; a real one, and which will continue: [and] say, we be utterly spoiled;
our persons, families, and friends; our estates, fields, and vineyards; our towns and cities, and even our whole land, all laid waste, spoiled, and plundered: he hath changed the portion of my people;
the land of Israel, which was the portion of the people of it, given unto them as their portion by the Lord; but now he, or the enemy the Assyrian, or God by him, had changed the possessors of it; had taken it away from Israel, and given it to others: how hath he removed [it] from me!
the land that was my portion, and the portion of my people; how comes it to pass that he hath taken away that which was my property, and given it to another! how strange is this! how suddenly was it done! and by what means! turning away, he hath divided our fields;
either God, turning away from his people, because of their sins, divided their fields among their enemies; "instead of restoring" ^F6, as some read it, he did so; or the enemy the Assyrian, turning away after he had conquered the land, and about to return to his own country, divided it among his soldiers: or, "to the perverse", or "rebellious one ^F7, he divideth our fields"; that is, the Lord divides them to the wicked, perverse, and blaspheming king of Assyria; so the word is used of one that goes on frowardly, and backslides, ( Isaiah 57:17 ) ( Jeremiah 3:14 Jeremiah 3:22 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F3 (Mkyle) "super vos", Pagninus, Montanus; "de vobis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "super vobis", Cocceius.
F4 (hyhn hyn hhnw) "et lamentabitur lamentum lamenti", Montanus.
F5 (hyhn) "factum est", De Dieu; "ejulatu vero", Cocceius; "actum est", Burkius.
F6 (bbwvl) "pro reddendo", Castalio.
F7 (bbwv) "aversus, refractarius", Drusius; "ingrato et rebelli", De Dieu.

Micah 2:4 In-Context

2 They coveted fields, and took violently; and ravished houses, and falsely challenged a man and his house, a man and his heritage. (They coveted fields, and violently took them; and they robbed houses, and oppressed a man and his house, yea, every man and his inheritance.)

3 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I think on this family evil, from which ye shall not take away your necks; and ye shall not walk proud, for the worst time is. (And so the Lord saith these things, Lo! I think evil against this family, from which ye shall not be able to take away your necks, or be able to escape; and ye shall not walk proudly, for this shall be the worst time for you.)

4 In that day a parable shall be taken on you, and a song shall be sung with sweetness of men, saying, By robbing we be destroyed; a part of my people is changed; how shall he go away from me, when he turneth again that shall part your countries? (On that day a parable shall be made about you, and a song shall be sung with sadness by people, saying, We be destroyed by robbing; a part, or a portion, of my people hath been taken away; he hath divided up our countryside unto those who took us captive.)

5 For this thing, none shall be to thee sending a little cord of lot, in company of the Lord. (And because of this, no one shall be casting for thee a little cord by lot, in the congregation of the Lord.)

6 A! thou Israel, speak ye not speaking; it shall not drop (a word) on these men, confusion shall not catch, (O! thou Israel, thou saith to me, Speak ye not! ye shall not drop a word upon us, for shame shall not catch us!)