Micah 1 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Micah 1

1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

The Coming Destruction

2   Hear, you peoples, all of you;¹
    pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
  and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.
3   For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place,
    and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4   And the mountains will melt under him,
    and the valleys will split open,
  like wax before the fire,
    like waters poured down a steep place.
5   All this is for the transgression of Jacob
    and for the sins of the house of Israel.
  What is the transgression of Jacob?
    Is it not Samaria?
  And what is the high place of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?
6   Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
    a place for planting vineyards,
  and I will pour down her stones into the valley
    and uncover her foundations.
7   All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
    all her wages shall be burned with fire,
    and all her idols I will lay waste,
  for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
    and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
8   For this I will lament and wail;
    I will go stripped and naked;
  I will make lamentation like the jackals,
    and mourning like the ostriches.
9   For her wound is incurable,
    and it has come to Judah;
  it has reached to the gate of my people,
    to Jerusalem.
10   Tell it not in Gath;
    weep not at all;
  in Beth-le-aphrah
    roll yourselves in the dust.
11   Pass on your way,
    inhabitants of Shaphir,
    in nakedness and shame;
  the inhabitants of Zaanan
    do not come out;
  the lamentation of Beth-ezel
    shall take away from you its standing place.
12   For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
  because disaster has come down from the LORD
    to the gate of Jerusalem.
13   Harness the steeds to the chariots,
    inhabitants of Lachish;
  it was the beginning of sin
    to the daughter of Zion,
  for in you were found
    the transgressions of Israel.
14   Therefore you shall give parting gifts²
    to Moresheth-gath;
  the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
    to the kings of Israel.
15   I will again bring a conqueror to you,
    inhabitants of Mareshah;
  the glory of Israel
    shall come to Adullam.
16   Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
    for the children of your delight;
  make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
    for they shall go from you into exile.

Footnotes

[1] 1:2 Hebrew all of them
[2] 1:14 Or give dowry

Commentary

v1: Micah, a prophet to Judah and Israel, represented by their capital cities. He prophesies during the reigns of:

Jotham, 2 Kings 15.32-38; good, but tolerated idolatry;
Ahaz, 2 Kings 16.1-4; evil, making an alliance with Assyria, 2 Kings 6.7-9; and
Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18-1-8; good, reforming the nation.

v2: The message is relevant beyond the borders of Judah and Israel; the God of the Hebrews is God of all the earth.

Three sections start 'hear.' See 3.1 (and 3.9) and 6.1. Each end with prophecies of future blessings; 2.12-13; 5.7-13; 7.18-20.

v3-4: The mighty power of God, and He "comes down" to the earth, bringing judgment.

The Lord comes with authority; He insists the whole earth pay attention, as He is witness against them. He comes from His holy temple, from His place, from the seat of authority. And he gives that authority to the propeht (3.8), since he is full of power and the Spirit of God.

v5: The sins of Israel; the clear, ungodly testimony of Samaria; the very existence of two kingdoms instead of one; the idolatry in Israel, and the high places in Judah. Jacob's transgressions and Israel's sins, are all very evident. As with Amos, the focus is on Israel and Judah.

v6-7: Samaria will be destroyed because of her prostitution. She worshipped idols, but these will be destroyed. She gathered temple gifts, but these will be burned with fire. She grew rich by adultery, but her riches will be used again for prostitutes.

v8: It seems the prophet himself goes about the city and beyond, howling and moaning.

v9: The wound of Israel is incurable, since the nation is about to be finally defeated. But Judah has not learned from Israel's experience; even the transgressions of Israel are found in her (v13).

v10-16: Mourning throughout Judah; Micah uses wordplay throughout this section, as the names of the towns have meanings relevant to his message.. There is irony too, as he refers to Shaphir, meaning pleasantness, when the people would live in "nakedness and shame."` It may have been that Micah was familiar with these towns, perhaps as he worked in the area.

Some suggest that Micah was 'a man of the field,' in contrast to his contemporary Isaiah, who moved in 'higher' company, including access to the king. Micah frequently uses agricultural and rural vocabulary.