The Meaning of Micah 3:2 Explained

Micah 3:2

KJV: Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

YLT: Ye who are hating good, and loving evil, Taking violently their skin from off them, And their flesh from off their bones,

Darby: Ye who hate the good, and love evil; who pluck off their skin from them, and their flesh from off their bones;

ASV: ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Who hate  the good,  and love  the evil;  who pluck off  their skin  from off them, and their flesh  from off their bones; 

What does Micah 3:2 Mean?

Context Summary

Micah 3:1-12 - The Punishment Of Avarice
The princes who as magistrates should have administered justice to others sat around the caldron, casting in the very flesh and skin of the people whom they were set to rule. Their perversion of justice would lead to their inability to distinguish between evil and good. Sin not only sears the conscience but darkens the understanding, Ephesians 4:18. Their punishment would be like their guilt. As they had refused the cry of the oppressed, so would God refuse theirs. The false prophets had wilfully misled the people. Their one desire was to get food. For those who provided it, they uttered peace; for those who opposed them, war. Therefore they would be left without a vision; God's Spirit would cease to strive. How great the contrast between them and Micah, who spoke with the consciousness of spiritual power! Oh, that every minister and teacher of God's holy gospel were able to utter Micah 3:8! It may be ours through the Holy Spirit. [source]

Chapter Summary: Micah 3

1  The cruelty of the princes
5  The falsehood of the prophets
8  The false security of them both

What do the individual words in Micah 3:2 mean?

You who hate good and love - evil who strip the skin from My people and the flesh from their bones
שֹׂ֥נְאֵי ט֖וֹב וְאֹ֣הֲבֵי [רעה] (רָ֑ע) גֹּזְלֵ֤י עוֹרָם֙ מֵֽעֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וּשְׁאֵרָ֖ם מֵעַ֥ל עַצְמוֹתָֽם

שֹׂ֥נְאֵי  You  who  hate 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: שָׂנֵא  
Sense: to hate, be hateful.
ט֖וֹב  good 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
וְאֹ֣הֲבֵי  and  love 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
[רעה]  - 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
(רָ֑ע)  evil 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
גֹּזְלֵ֤י  who  strip 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: גָּזַל  
Sense: to tear away, seize, plunder, tear off, pull off, rob, take away by force.
עוֹרָם֙  the  skin 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עֹור  
Sense: skin, hide.
מֵֽעֲלֵיהֶ֔ם  from  My  people 
Parse: Preposition-m, third person masculine plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
וּשְׁאֵרָ֖ם  and  the  flesh 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: שְׁאֵר  
Sense: flesh, food, body, near kin, near kinswoman.
עַצְמוֹתָֽם  their  bones 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עֶצֶם 
Sense: bone, essence, substance.