Micah 3:5

The prophets. In verses 5-8 Micah denounces the sins of the false prophets, who deceived the people, and pronounces God’s judgment upon them. He shows that they thought only of themselves and of their living. In siding with the rich they closed their eyes to the social condition of the people. They did not attack the sins of the time.

Bite with their teeth. A comparison with the next clause suggests that the prophet may here be referring to eating. The expression would then signify that the prophets, when bribed with food, foretold the well-being of the people. However, because the word here translated “bite” (nashak) is always used elsewhere in the Old Testament of the bite of a serpent (Genesis 49:17; Numbers 21:6-9; Proverbs 23:32; Ecclesiastes 10:8, 11; Jeremiah 8:17), some think that the reference here is to the venom ejected by the false prophets when they prophesied, “Peace; and there was no peace” (Ezekiel 13:9, 10; cf. Jeremiah 8:11; 14:13, 14). Such spurious comfort only injected into the deceived soul the poison of disaster and death.

Into their mouths. These false prophets become hostile to those who do not bribe them.