SUMMARY
The prophet reflects on the corruption and devolution of every sector of society, including family relationships
ANALYSIS
The Book of Micah has already and for several chapters told the reader/hearer that leadership is corrupt in Israel and JudahJudah was the name of Jacob's fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. More. This section continues that thread, pointing out that leaders and judges ask for bribes, and the great ones desire the fruits of corruption. But the vision of calamity extends further. The righteousA righteous person is one who is ethical and faithful to God's covenant. Righteousness in the Old Testament is an attitude of God; in the New Testament it is a gift of God through grace. In the New Testament righteousness is a relationship with God... More person has perished from the land. There are no innocent average people anymore. Sin and evil have spread from the top down. Now no neighbor, lover, friend, child, or in-law can be trusted. Every relationship has broken down, and no one is safe or trustworthy. ThomasOne of the twelve disciples of Jesus who is remembered for doubting then believing in the resurrection. More Hobbes famously argued in LeviathanLeviathan is a biblical sea monster. Often mistakenly identified as a whale, this creature is perceived as larger and meaner than a whale. Leviathan is mentioned in Job, Psalms, and Isaiah as an example of enormity, who is eclipsed only by the enormity and power... More that in times of war, “every man is enemy to every man… and the life of man is solitary, poore [sic], nasty, brutish and short.” He could have been paraphrasing Micah 7 here, where injustice has spread to the whole of society and no one is safe from its rot.
