Micah 7:4

4 He that is the best in them, is as a paliurus, that is, a teasel, either a sharp bush; and he that is rightful is as a thorn of hedge. The day of thy beholding, thy visiting cometh, now shall be destroying of them. (He who is the best in them, is like a paliurus, that is, a teasel, or a sharp bush; and he who is upright is like a thorn on a hedge. The day of thy beholding, and of thy punishment, cometh, yea, now shall be their destruction.)

Micah 7:4 Meaning and Commentary

Micah 7:4

The best of them [is] as a brier
Good for nothing but for burning, very hurtful and mischievous, pricking and scratching those that have to do with them: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge;
which, if a man lays hold on to get over, or attempts to pass through, his hands will be pricked, his face scratched, and his clothes tore off his back; so the best of these princes, judges, and great inch, who put on a show of goodness, and pretended to do justice, yet fetched blood, and got money out of everyone they were concerned with, and did them injury in one respect or another; or the best and most upright of the people of the land in general, that made the greatest pretensions to religion and virtue, yet in their dealings were sharp, and biting, and tricking; and took every fraudulent method to cheat, and overreach, and hurt men in their property: the day of thy watchmen;
either which the true prophets of the Lord, sometimes called watchmen, foretold should come, but were discredited and despised, will now most assuredly come; and it will be found to be true what they said should come to pass: or the day of the false prophets, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; either which they predicted as a good day, and now it should be seen whether it would be so or not; or the day of their punishment, for their false prophecies and deception of the people: [and] thy visitation cometh;
the time that God would punish the people in general for their iniquities, as! well as their false prophets, princes, judges, and great men; who also may be designed by watchmen: now shall be their perplexity:
the prince, the judge, and the great man, in just retaliation for their perplexing the cause of the poor; or of all the people, who would be surrounded and entangled with calamities and distresses, and not know which way to turn themselves, or how to get out of them.

Micah 7:4 In-Context

2 The holy (man) perished from [the] earth, and (a) rightful (man) is not in men; all ambush, either set treason, in blood; a man hunteth his brother to death. (The holy people have perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among the people; all ambush, or set treason, for blood; everyone hunteth his brother, or his kinsman, unto the death.)
3 The evil of their hands they say good; the prince asketh, and the doomsman is in yielding; and a great man spake the desire of his soul, and they troubled together it. (They say that the evil of their hands is good; the leader, or the ruler, and the judge, ask for gifts, or bribes; the great man spoke of the evil desire of his heart, and he got it; yea, they all make trouble together.)
4 He that is the best in them, is as a paliurus, that is, a teasel, either a sharp bush; and he that is rightful is as a thorn of hedge. The day of thy beholding, thy visiting cometh, now shall be destroying of them. (He who is the best in them, is like a paliurus, that is, a teasel, or a sharp bush; and he who is upright is like a thorn on a hedge. The day of thy beholding, and of thy punishment, cometh, yea, now shall be their destruction.)
5 Do not ye believe to a friend, and do not ye trust in a duke; from her that sleepeth in thy bosom, keep thou the closings of thy mouth. (Do not ye believe a friend, and do not ye trust in a leader; and keep thou the private, or the secret, words of thy mouth, from her who sleepeth in thy bosom.)
6 For the son doeth wrong to the father, and the daughter shall rise (up) against her mother, and the wife of the son against the mother of her husband; the enemies of a man be the (ones) at home, either the household members, of him (a man's enemies be those who be at home with him, or the members of his own household).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.