Micah 6, Trial Before the Mountains

We begin Micah's third oracle.

Micah 6:1-2, Mountains will listen

Listen to what the LORD says: 

"Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; 

let the hills hear what you have to say.  

Hear, O mountains, the LORD's accusation; 

listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. 

For the LORD has a case against his people;

 he is lodging a charge against Israel.  

In Micah's third oracle, YHWH calls on the silent eternal mountains as witnesses in His accusations against Israel. (See Deuteronomy 32:1, Isaiah 1:2 for similar calls in the Old Testament. Other ANE cultures had similar language.) In this courtroom setting, the hills and mountains, which have seen everything, are sitting in the jury box. Waltke argues that God is calling on Micah to be prosecutor.

Observe a typical chiasmus:

Plead your case

before the mountains

let the hills

hear what you have to say.

Micah 6:3-5, Egypt and Moab

"My people, what have I done to you? 

How have I burdened you? Answer me.

I brought you up out of Egypt 

and redeemed you from the land of slavery. 

I sent Moses to lead you, 

also Aaron and Miriam.  

My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled 

and what Balaam son of Beor answered. 

Remember [your journey] from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD."  

YHWH has consistently defended Israel, bringing them out of slavery in Egypt and protecting them from the early assaults of Moab as the Israelites passed through the wilderness during the Exodus. During that time, God gave Israel prophets Moses, Aaron and Miriam.... and later rebuked Balak through Balaam (Numbers 23.)

The village of Shittim was just east of the Jordan River, where the Israelites camped before crossing over to Jericho (Joshua 2:1, 3:1.) It was also the location of the sexual immorality and idolatry of Baal Peor (Numbers 25.) Gilgal was just west of the Jordan River, where the Israelites gathered after crossing that river (Joshua 4:19-24.) The phrase "from Shittim to Gilgal" describes God's guidance of the nation across the Jordan into the Promised Land.

Micah 6:6-7, Are sacrifices enough?

With what shall I come before the LORD 

and bow down before the exalted God? 

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

 with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, 

with ten thousand rivers of oil? 

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, 

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  

Now the voice switches from YHWH to Micah. No, sacrifices are not enough, says Micah. Whether the yearly calf or a thousand rams or ten thousand rivers of oil, none of that really can make one righteous and able to enter God's presence. Not even offering one's firstborn will do.

Micah 6:8, Act justly and love mercy

He has showed you, O man, what is good. 

And what does the LORD require of you?

 To act justly and to love mercy 

and to walk humbly with your God.  

The accusation summarizes the simple need to be just and gracious and walk humbly with God. The NIV translates the Hebrew word hesed as "mercy."

Micah 6:9-12, False weights

Listen! The LORD is calling to the city--

 and to fear your name is wisdom-- 

"Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.

Am I still to forget, O wicked house,

 your ill-gotten treasures 

and the short ephah, which is accursed?

Shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales, 

with a bag of false weights?

Her rich men are violent; 

her people are liars 

and their tongues speak deceitfully.  

The accusations against Israel and Judah are renewed, focusing on "the city", Jerusalem. The accusations include the rich cheating the poor with short measurements and dishonest scales. The rich are not just deceitful and dishonest, but are, in fact, violent.

The tricks with false weights and scales were a particular issue in the ANE. A merchant might have scales for purchasing (which underestimated the weights) and scales for selling (which overestimated the weights.) These false weights are forbidden in the Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 25:13-16.) They represent deceit in Proverbs 20:10. The Code of Hammurabi (section 94) from 1750 BC and an ancient Hymn to Shamash, a god in the Mesopotamians pantheon, all mention false weights as detestable practices (Waltke, p. 739.)

Micah 6:13-16, Eat but not be satisfied 

Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, 

to ruin you because of your sins.

You will eat but not be satisfied; 

your stomach will still be empty.

You will store up but save nothing,

 because what you save I will give to the sword.

You will plant but not harvest; 

you will press olives but not use the oil on yourselves, 

you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.

You have observed the statutes of Omri 

and all the practices of Ahab's house,

 and you have followed their traditions. 

Therefore I will give you over to ruin 

and your people to derision; 

you will bear the scorn of the nations."

                  
Because of their oppression and dishonesty, the sentence on the rich and powerful is that they will never be satisfied, their stomachs will be empty, their stored-up wealth useless. (Waltke calls these "futility curses".) Although the rich have numerous olive fields and vineyards, they will not see the produce from that abundance. Instead they will be ruined, derided, scorned by the world.

The Omri dynasty in Israel/Samaria included considerable idolatry and evil, with rulers like Ahab and Jezebel and, for the southern kingdom, Athaliah. Pointing to that northern kingdom dynasty might be similar to modern allusions to Nazi Germany.

First published July 18, 2025; updated July 18, 2025