Micah 1

Mic 1:1-16.

GOD'S

WRATH AGAINST

SAMARIA AND

JUDAH; THE

FORMER

IS TO

BE

OVERTHROWN;

SUCH

JUDGMENTS IN

PROSPECT

CALL FOR

MOURNING.

2. all that therein is--Hebrew, "whatever fills it."

Micaiah, son of Imlah, our prophet's namesake, begins his prophecy

similarly, "Hearken, O people, every one of you." Micah designedly uses

the same preface, implying that his ministrations are a continuation of

his predecessor's of the same name. Both probably had before their

mind Moses' similar attestation of heaven and earth in a like case

(De 31:28; 32:1;

compare

Isa 1:2).

God be witness against you--namely, that none of you can say, when the

time of your punishment shall come, that you were not forewarned. The

punishment denounced is stated in

Mic 1:3,

&c.

from his holy temple--that is, heaven

(1Ki 8:30;

Ps 11:4;

Jon 2:7;

compare

Ro 1:18).

3. tread upon the high places of the earth--He shall destroy the

fortified heights (compare

De 32:13; 33:29)

[GROTIUS].

4. Imagery from earthquakes and volcanic agency, to describe the

terrors which attend Jehovah's coming in judgment (compare

Jud 5:5).

Neither men of high degree, as the mountains, nor men of low degree, as

the valleys, can secure themselves or their land from the judgments of

God.

as wax--

(Ps 97:5;

compare

Isa 64:1-3).

The third clause, "as wax," &c., answers to the first in the

parallelism, "the mountains shall be molten"; the fourth, "as the

waters," &c., to the second, "the valleys shall be cleft." As wax melts

poured down a steep cannot stand but are diffused abroad, so the

valleys shall be cleft before Jehovah.

5. For the transgression of Jacob is all this--All these terrors

attending Jehovah's coming are caused by the sins of Jacob or Israel,

that is, the whole people.

What is the transgression of Jacob?--Taking up the question often in

the mouths of the people when reproved, "What is our transgression?"

(compare

Mal 1:6, 7),

He answers, Is it not Samaria? Is not that city (the seat of the

calf-worship) the cause of Jacob's apostasy

(1Ki 14:16;

15:26, 34; 16:13, 19, 25, 30)?

and what are the high places of Judah?--What city is the cause of the

idolatries on the high places of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem (compare

2Ki 18:4)?

6. Samaria's punishment is mentioned first, as it was to fall before

Jerusalem.

as an heap of the field--

(Mic 3:12).

Such a heap of stones and rubbish as is gathered out of fields, to

clear them

(Ho 12:11).

Palestine is of a soil abounding in stones, which are gathered out

before the vines are planted

(Isa 5:2).

as plantings of a vineyard--as a place where vines are planted.

Vineyards were cultivated on the sides of hills exposed to the sun. The

hill on which Samaria was built by Omri, had been, doubtless, planted

with vines originally; now it is to be reduced again to its original

state

(1Ki 16:24).

pour down--dash down the stones of the city into the valley

beneath. A graphic picture of the present appearance of the ruins,

which is as though "the buildings of the ancient city had been thrown

down from the brow of the hill"

[Scottish Mission of Inquiry, pp. 293,294].

discover the foundations--destroy it so utterly as to lay bare its

foundations

(Eze 13:14).

Samaria was destroyed by Shalmaneser.

7. all the hires--the wealth which Israel boasted of receiving from

her idols as the "rewards" or "hire" for worshipping them

(Ho 2:5, 12).

idols . . . will I . . . desolate--that is, give them up to the foe

to strip off the silver and gold with which they are overlaid.

she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the

hire of an harlot--Israel gathered (made for herself) her idols from

the gold and silver received from false gods, as she thought, the "hire"

of her worshipping them; and they shall again become what they had been

before, the hire of spiritual harlotry, that is, the prosperity of the

foe, who also being worshippers of idols will ascribe the acquisition to

their idols [MAURER].

GROTIUS explains it,

The offerings sent to Israel's temple by the Assyrians, whose idolatry

Israel adopted, shall go back to the Assyrians, her teachers in

idolatry, as the hire or fee for having taught it. The image of a

harlot's hire for the supposed temporal reward of spiritual

fornication, is more common in Scripture

(Ho 9:1).

8. Therefore I will wail--The prophet first shows how the coming

judgment affects himself, in order that he might affect the minds of his

countrymen similarly.

stripped--that is, of shoes, or sandals, as the Septuagint translates. Otherwise "naked" would be a tautology.

naked--"Naked" means divested of the upper garment

(Isa 20:2).

"Naked and barefoot," the sign of mourning

(2Sa 15:30).

The prophet's upper garment was usually rough and coarse-haired

(2Ki 1:8;

Zec 13:4).

like the dragons--so JEROME. Rather, "the

wild dogs," jackals or wolves, which wail like an infant when in

distress or alone [MAURER]. (See on

Job 30:29).

owls--rather, "ostriches," which give a shrill and long-drawn,

sigh-like cry, especially at night.

9. wound . . . incurable--Her case, politically and

morally, is desperate

(Jer 8:22).

it is come--the wound, or impending calamity (compare

Isa 10:28).

he is come . . . even to Jerusalem--The evil is no longer limited to

Israel. The prophet foresees Sennacherib coming even "to the gate" of

the principal city. The use of "it" and "he" is appropriately distinct.

"It," the calamity, "came unto" Judah, many of the inhabitants of which

suffered, but did not reach the citizens of Jerusalem, "the gate" of

which the foe ("he") "came unto," but did not enter

(Isa 36:1;37:33-37).

10. Declare ye it not at Gath--on the borders of Judea, one of the

five cities of the Philistines, who would exult at the calamity of the

Hebrews

(2Sa 1:20).

Gratify not those who exult over the falls of the Israel of God.

weep ye not at all--Do not betray your inward sorrow by outward

weeping, within the cognizance of the enemy, lest they should exult at

it. RELAND translates, "Weep not in Acco," that is, Ptolemais, now

St. Jean d'Acre, near the foot of Mount Carmel; allotted to Asher, but

never occupied by that tribe

(Jud 1:31);

Acco's inhabitants would, therefore, like Gath's, rejoice at Israel's

disaster. Thus the parallelism is best carried out in all the three

clauses of the verse, and there is a similar play on sounds in each, in

the Hebrew Gath, resembling in sound the Hebrew for

"declare"; Acco, resembling the Hebrew for "weep"; and

Aphrah, meaning "dust." While the Hebrews were not to expose

their misery to foreigners, they ought to bewail it in their own

cities, for example, Aphrah or Ophrah

(Jos 18:23;

1Sa 13:17),

in the tribe of Benjamin. To "roll in the dust" marked deep sorrow

(Jer 6:26;

Eze 27:30).

11. Pass ye away--that is, Thou shall go into captivity.

inhabitant of Saphir--a village amidst the hills of Judah, between

Eleutheropolis and Ascalon, called so, from the Hebrew word for

"beauty." Though thy name be "beauty," which heretofore was thy

characteristic, thou shalt have thy "shame" made "naked." This city

shall be dismantled of its walls, which are the garments, as it were, of

cities; its citizens also shall be hurried into captivity, with persons

exposed

(Isa 47:3;

Eze 16:37;

Ho 2:10).

the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth--Its inhabitants did not

come forth to console the people of Beth-ezel in their mourning, because

the calamity was universal; none was exempt from it (compare

Jer 6:25).

"Zaanan" is the same as Zenan, in Judah

(Jos 15:37),

meaning the "place of flocks." The form of the name used is made like

the Hebrew for "came forth." Though in name seeming to imply

that thou dost come forth, thou "camest not forth."

Beth-ezel--perhaps Azal

(Zec 14:5),

near Jerusalem. It means a "house on the side," or "near." Though so

near, as its name implies, to Zaanan, Beth-ezel received no succor

or sympathy from Zaanan.

he shall receive of you his standing--"he," that is, the foe; "his

standing," that is, his sustenance

[PISCATOR]. Or, "he shall be caused a

delay by you, Zaanan." He shall be brought to a stand for a time in

besieging you; hence it is said just before, "Zaanan came not forth,"

that is, shut herself up within her walls to withstand a siege. But it

was only for a time. She, too, fell like Beth-ezel before her

[VATABLUS].

MAURER construes thus: "The inhabitant of Zaanan came not

forth; the mourning of Beth-ezel takes away from you her shelter."

Though Beth-ezel be at your side (that is, near), according to her

name, yet as she also mourns under the oppression of the foe, she cannot

give you shelter, or be at your side as a helper (as her name might

lead you to expect), if you come forth and be intercepted by him from

returning to Zaanan.

12. Maroth--possibly the same as Maarath

(Jos 15:59).

Perhaps a different town, lying between the previously mentioned towns

and the capital, and one of those plundered by Rab-shakeh on his way to

it.

waited carefully for good--that is, for better fortune, but in vain

[CALVIN].

GESENIUS translates, "is grieved for her goods," "taken

away" from her. This accords with the meaning of Maroth, "bitterness,"

to which allusion is made in "is grieved." But the antithesis favors

English Version, "waited carefully (that is, anxiously) for

good, but evil came down."

from the Lord--not from chance.

unto the gate of Jerusalem--after the other cities of Judah have been

taken.

13. "Bind the chariot to the swift steed," in order by a hasty

flight to escape the invading foe. Compare Note, see on

Isa 36:2,

on "Lachish," at which Sennacherib fixed his headquarters

(2Ki 18:14, 17;

Jer 34:7).

she is the beginning of the sin to . . . Zion--Lachish was the first

of the cities of Judah, according to this passage, to introduce the

worship of false gods, imitating what Jeroboam had introduced in Israel.

As lying near the border of the north kingdom, Lachish was first to be

infected by its idolatry, which thence spread to Jerusalem.

14. shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath--that its inhabitants

may send thee help.

MAURER explains it, "thou shalt give a writing of

renunciation to Moresheth-gath," that is, thou shalt renounce all claim

to it, being compelled to yield it up to the foe. "Thou," that is,

Judah. "Israel" in this verse is used for the kingdom of Judah, which

was the chief representative of the whole nation of Israel.

Moresheth-gath is so called because it had fallen for a time under the

power of the neighboring Philistines of Gath. It was the native town

of Micah

(Mic 1:1).

Achzib--meaning "lying." Achzib, as its name implies, shall prove a

"lie to . . . Israel," that is, shall disappoint Israel's hopes of

succor from her (compare

Job 6:15-20;

Jer 15:18).

Achzib was in Judah between Keilah and Mareshah

(Jos 15:44).

Perhaps the same as Chezib

(Ge 38:5).

15. Yet will I bring an heir unto thee--rather, "the heir." As

thou art now occupied by possessors who expelled the former inhabitants,

so will I bring "yet" again the new possessor, namely, the

Assyrian foe. Other heirs will supplant us in every inheritance but that

of heaven. There is a play upon the meaning of Mareshah, "an

inheritance": there shall come the new heir of the inheritance.

Adullam the glory of Israel--so called as being superior in

situation; when it and the neighboring cities fell, Israel's glory was

gone. MAURER, as the Margin, translates,

"the glory of Israel" (her chief citizens: answering to "thy delicate

children,"

Mic 1:16)

"shall come in flight to Adullam." English Version better

preserves the parallelism, "the heir" in the first clause answering to

"he" in the second.

16. Make thee bald, &c.--a token of deep mourning

(Ezr 9:3;

Job 1:20).

Mourn, O land, for thy darling children.

poll--shave off thy hair.

enlarge thy baldness--Mourn grievously. The land is compared to a

mother weeping for her children.

as the eagle--the bald eagle, or the dark-winged vulture. In the

moulting season all eagles are comparatively bald

(compare

Ps 103:5).