Micah 2:2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 [a]You covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and take them;
You cheat owners of their houses,
people of their inheritance.
Footnotes
- 2:2
To covet the “house” and other property of the neighbor was a violation of the Decalogue (Ex 20:17; 34:24; Dt 5:21).
The Lord, as owner of the earth, allotted the land by tribes and families to the people of Israel (Jos 13–19). Losing one’s inheritance diminished one’s place in the community and threatened the family’s economic viability and existence. According to Micah, those who used their power to expand their estates at the expense of weaker Israelites took more than land from them: they were tampering with the divine order.
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