John Calvin Commentary Micah 7:5-6

"Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man`s enemies are the men of his own house." — Micah 7:5-6 (ASV)

The Prophet continues with the subject we discussed yesterday—that license in iniquity had arrived at its highest point, for no faithfulness remained among men; indeed, there was no humanity left. The son did not perform his duty towards his father, nor the daughter-in-law towards her mother-in-law. In short, there was then no mutual love or concord.

He is not speaking here of that false confidence by which many deceive themselves, relying on mortals and transferring to them the glory that belongs to God. Therefore, those who philosophize here, saying that we ought not to trust in men, do so without reason, for this was not the Prophet's intention.

Instead, our Prophet complains of his times according to the tenor of Ovid’s description of the iron age, who says:

“—A guest is not safe from his host;
Nor a brother-in-law from a son-in-law; and brotherly love is rare:
A husband seeks the death of his wife, and she, of her husband;
Cruel stepmothers mingle the lurid poison;
The son, before the day, inquires into the years of his father.”

So also our Prophet says that there was no regard for humanity among men. For the wife was ready to betray her husband, and the son treated his father with reproach. In short, they had all forgotten humanity or natural affection. We now understand what the Prophet means by saying, Trust not a friend; that is, if anyone hopes for anything from a friend, he will be deceived, for nothing can be found among men but perfidy.

Put no faith in a counselor—so I render the word אלוף, aluph. Some translate it as 'an elder brother'; but there is no necessity to compel us to depart from the proper and true meaning of the word. Just as the Prophet had spoken of an associate or a friend, so he now adds a counselor.

And it proves what he had in view when he says in the next clause, that no enemies are worse than members of one's own household. Thus, we see that the Prophet simply means that the men of his age were not only avaricious and cruel to one another, but also that, without any regard for human feelings, the son rebelled against his father, thereby subverting the whole order of nature. Consequently, they lacked those affections which seem, at the same time, incapable of being extinguished in men.