Commentari biblici

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 Micah 1:10-15 with the corresponding section in Isaiah 10:28-32.

1. Heading (see Introduction)

2. Micah the Morasthite] i.e. Micah of Moresheth-gath (see Micah 1:14).

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 Samuel 9:9). Hence the prophecies of Isaiah are called a ‘vision’ (Isaiah 1:1; comp. Nahum 1:1, Obadiah 1:1). Another figure for prophecy is ‘hearing’ (see Isaiah 21:10; Isaiah 28:22). The meaning is that the prophet has an inward perception of certain facts through the influence of the Divine Spirit (Zechariah 7:12).

2–7. The Threat of Punishment

2. all ye people] Rather peoples. God’s judgment upon the world is now in progress (comp. Isaiah 3:13-14; Isaiah 34:1-5), 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 Deuteronomy 4:26; Deuteronomy 30:19; Deuteronomy 31:28, Isaiah 1:2), 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 22:28, which can hardly be an accidental coincidence, as Micah is a 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 (Revelation 16:17). Comp. Habakkuk 2:20, Zechariah 2:13, Isaiah 63:15, Psalm 11:4.

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 Jdg 5:5, Isaiah 64:1, Habakkuk 3:6; comp. Exodus 19:18.

5. The cause of this awful manifestation—the sin of Samaria and Jerusalem.

Jacob] A poetic synonym for Israel. The term has a slightly different 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. Isaiah 7:5), 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 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 Micah 5:14). 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. Isaiah 28:1 ‘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 16:24). “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 (Deuteronomy 23:17-18).

shall return] i.e. shall again become (as Genesis 3:19 ‘unto dust shalt thou return’). The material of the costly images acquired through the 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.