MICAH. CHAP. I. I. Heading. HE word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite 1 in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all ye people; Hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: CHAP. I. The judgment upon Samaria and the land of Judah; and the prophet's lament. The historical fulfilment of the prophecy is in the capture of Samaria by Sargon in 722 and that same king's invasion of Judah in 711 (see note A). Compare the topographical allusions in i. 10–15 with the corresponding section in Isai. x. 28-32. 1. HEADING (see Introduction). 1. Micah the Morasthite] i.e. Micah of Moresheth-gath (see v. 14). which he saw] To 'see' is a very early and very natural synonym for 'to prophesy;' 'he that is now (called) a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer' (1 Sam. ix. 9). Hence the prophecies of Isaiah are called a ‘vision' (Isai. i. 1; comp. Nah. i. 1, Obad. i. 1). Another figure for prophecy is hearing' (see Isai. xxi. 10, xxviii. 22). The meaning is that the prophet has an inward perception of certain facts through the influence of the Divine Spirit (Zech. vii. 12). 2-7. THE THREAT OF PUNISHMENT. 2. all ye people] Rather peoples. God's judgment upon the world is now in progress (comp. Isai. iii. 13, 14, xxxiv. 1-5), and one of the principal acts in the great drama is the judgment impending over Israel. Hence all nations are summoned, not merely as legal witnesses (as when 'heaven and earth' are called upon in a figure in Deut. iv. 26, xxx. 19, xxxi. 28, Isai. i. 2), but that they may learn wisdom in time from Israel's fate. Hence the next half of the verse continues, ...against you.' The opening words of this verse are uttered by Micaiah in 1 Kings xxii. 28, which can hardly be an accidental coincidence, as Micah is a 2 MICAH 2 3 4 And let the Lord GOD be witness against you, For behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, And will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, And the valleys shall be cleft, As wax before the fire, And as the waters that are poured down a steep place. 5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? shortened form of Micaiah. Probably the words in 1 Kings were interpolated by some ill-advised scribe, who identified Micaiah with our prophet Micah. the Lord God] Rather, the Lord Jehovah. This is the reading of the Hebrew text; A. V. follows the vowel-points, which in this case merely express the exaggerated reverence of the later Jews for the sacred name. his holy temple] It is 'the temple of heaven' which is meant (Rev. xvi. 17). Comp. Hab. ii. 20, Zech. ii. 13, Isai. lxiii. 15, Ps. xi. 4. 3. cometh forth out of his place] Two persons may use the same expressions in very different senses. Heathen poets imagined that divine beings 'came forth' and mingled in the strife of mortals; the prophets adopt the same language as the symbol of the working of a spiritual Deity. 4. the mountains shall be molten...] The figure is that of a storm, but no ordinary storm. Lightning descends, and dissolves the very mountains, and torrents of rain scoop out channels in the valleys. Similar symbolic descriptions occur in Judg. v. 5, Isai. lxiv. 1, Hab. iii. 6; comp. Ex. xix. 18. 5. The cause of this awful manifestation-the sin of Samaria and Jerusalem. Jacob] A poetic synonym for Israel. The term has a slightly dif ferent meaning in the two halves of the verse. In the first, it clearly means the whole of the chosen people, including Judah; but in the second, only the Ten Tribes, sometimes called 'Ephraim' (e.g. Isai. vii. 5), but oftener (in the historical books) 'Israel.' What is the transgression] From what does it proceed? In what is it summed up? 'Transgression' is a weak rendering; apostasy would be nearer the Hebrew. what are the high places of Judah ?] In order to make sense, it is necessary to assume that the term 'high places' is here synonymous Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, And I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to 7 pieces, And all the hires thereof shall be burnt with the fire, 6 with 'apostasy' in the parallel line. But have we a right to make this assumption, for which there is no analogy in Hebrew? Our present text rests on such imperfect authority, that it is more reasonable to suppose here a corruption in the reading, and to follow the three most ancient versions (the Septuagint, the Peshito, and the Targum), which presuppose the reading What is the sin of Judah?' This is also more in harmony with what we know of the prophets of this period, who do not elsewhere so emphatically denounce the 'high places,' or shrines scattered up and down the country (comp. on v. 14). They were more concerned with principles than with the detailed application of them. Some abominations were too obvious to be passed over; other evils, less distinctly seen as evils, were tolerated, or only gently protested against. Perhaps 'high places' in this passage was originally a marginal note in an early manuscript, intended to explain in what the sin of Judah consisted. 6. as a heap] Rather, into a heap (i.e. into ruins). as plantings of a vineyard] Rather, into the plantings, &c. Samaria should remain so long in ruins, that vineyards should be laid out upon it (comp. Isai. xxviii. I the fat valley of those who are smitten down with wine'). I will pour down the stones] Samaria standing on a hill (see 1 Kings xvi. 24). "There is every appearance of the ancient buildings having been destroyed, and their materials cast down from the brow of the hill, in order to clear the ground for cultivation; masses of stone are thus seen hanging on the steep sides of the hill, accidentally stopped in the progress of their descent by the rude dykes and terraces separating the fields." "The materials of the ruins...are piled up in large heaps, or used in the construction of rude stone fences; many of these heaps of stone are seen in the plains at the foot of the hill." Journal of a Deputation sent to the East by the Malta Prot. College, Vol. II. p. 425. discover] i.e. lay bare. 7. the hires] i.e. the rich votive offerings in the sanctuaries, shortly afterwards called 'the hire of a harlot,' with reference to the shameful practices of heathenish religion (Deut. xxiii. 17, 18). shall return] i.e. shall again become (as Gen. iii. 19 'unto dust shalt thou return'). The material of the costly images acquired through the 9 8-16. Micah's Lamentation. Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stript and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, And mourning as the owls. For her wound is incurable; For it is come unto Judah; He is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. offerings of devotees shall again be used for votive offerings in other no less shameful religions, based, like those of heathen Syria, on the worship of the powers and processes of nature. 8-16. MICAH'S LAMENTATION. 8. Therefore I will wail] Such exuberance of emotion specially characterizes the Jews and the Arabs; it reminds us of the Homeric heroes. The prophets did not cease to be men when they received the gift of inspiration. Sometimes they seem to have had a kind of double consciousness, uniting them on the one hand with the inspiring Spirit, and on the other with their much-loved people. Hence their abrupt transitions from stern denunciation to tender compassion. stript and naked] i.e. without an outer garment; comp. I Sam. xix. 24, Amos ii. 16, John xxi. 7. It seems to be a single symbolic act which is referred to (comp. Isai. xx. 2). The word 'stripped' indicates that the appearance of the prophet is significant of the enforced nakedness of his people on their way to captivity (Isai. xx. 3, 4). dragons...owls] Rather, jackals...ostriches (comp. Job xxx. 29). The Hebrew poets are fond of likening the note of lamentation to those of animals. In Isaiah the swift, the crane, the dove, and the bear are referred to (Isai. xxxviii. 14, lix. 11); while here it is the 'long, piteous cry' of the jackal, and the ‘fearful screech' of the ostrich which furnish the object of comparison. 9. her wound] Lit. her stripes. Samaria's trouble is a chastisement (comp. Isai. i. 3, 4), but it is not Samaria's trouble only. It has reached Jerusalem; hence the 'incurableness' of the 'wound,' for Jerusalem is the heart of the nation. The past tenses vividly express the certainty of the prophet's intuition of the future. he is come] Or, it is come. The subject may be either the 'stripe' or the dealer of the stripe-Jehovah. the gate of my people] Jerusalem is to the chosen people in general what the gate is to the city itself. The shady space in the city gate was the favourite place of meeting; so Jerusalem is the scene of 'our solemn meetings' (Isai. xxxiii. 20), our religious and political centre. 10. Declare ye it not...] 'May we at least be spared the sight of the malicious joy of our envious neighbours!' Here begins a series of paronomasias, which however are far from indicating a playful mood in the prophet. Most of them refer to Judæan towns in the prophet's own |
