聖經註釋書

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

The word of the Lord, … — See Trapp on " Hosea 1:1 "

To Micah the Morasthite — To distinguish him from Micaiah, the son of Imlah, who prophesied in Ahab’s days, over a hundred years before this. Micah the Morasthite, so called from the place of his birth or abode, which is made famous by him (as Abder was by Democritus, Hippo by Austin), and not he by it. Ambrose saith his name signifieth Quis iste? Who is this? Who (saith that father in answer)? not one of the common sort, but an elect vessel to carry God’s name to his people. Jerome, from his title, Morasthite, interpreted, calleth him cohaeredem Christi, co-heir with Christ, of whom and his kingdom he sweetly prophesieth; and may, therefore, be called the evangelical prophet; as was Isaiah, his contemporary, with whom he hath many things common; and this one thing above him, that he nameth Bethlehem, Christ’s birthplace, Micah 5:2 , for the which (as well as for his boldness, Jeremiah 26:18 ) he was famous in the Church, Matthew 2:6 John 7:42 .

In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah — Ahaz standeth between Jotham and Hezekiah, as a thistle or thorn between two lilies, or roses. Manasseh comes after, and degenerates into his grandfather Ahaz. To his time Micah attained not, much less to Josiah’s, as Isidore hath it; for between Jotham and Josiah were a hundred and twenty years at least. It is probable that Micah prophesied forty years, if not more; wherein he saw many changes and met with many molestations; had cause enough to cry out with his colleague, "Who hath believed our report?" "My leanness, my leanness," … Yet held he on his course; as being of Latimer’s mind, who, speaking in one of his sermons of a minister that gave this answer why he left off preaching? viz. because he saw he did no good. This, saith Latimer, is a naughty, a very naughty answer.

Which he saw — sc. with the eyes of his mind for the use of the Church; whereto this prophecy comes commended, first, as "the word of the Lord," and, secondly, as extraordinarily revealed to this prophet.

Concerning Samaria and Jerusalem — Samaria seemeth to be first named because most guilty before God. They are yoked together, because there was scarcely ever a better (Aholah and Aholibah, sisters in sin), and one the much worse for the other’s neighbourhood. Jerusalem would take it in high scorn, likely, to be matched with Samaria, so much slighted and shunned by her, John 4:9 , as Papists now do to be set by Protestants, Turks by Christians (the word of a Mussulman bears down all other testimony among them). But this prophet is very bold (as it is said of Isaiah’s contemporaries, Romans 10:20 ), binds them both up in one bundle, and spareth not to show Judah their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.

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Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

Hear, all ye people — He beginneth as Isaiah, in a lofty and stately style, pouring himself out in a golden flood of words (as Cicero speaketh of Aristotle’s Politics), and calling for utmost attention and affection; as knowing that he had to do with men more deaf than sea monsters, and more dull than the very earth they trod on; which is therefore here commanded to hearken, since men (that habitable part of God’s earth, Proverbs 8:31 ) will not hear and give ear; wherein they are worse than the insensible creatures, Psalms 119:91 .

And let the Lord God be witness against you — Here he turneth his speech to the refractory Jews; speaking to God as a righteous judge and swift witness, Iudex, Iudex, vindex, against them if they hearkened not to his message: nisi pareant, ideoque pereant.

The Lord from his holy temple — That is, let him testify from heaven, Psalms 11:4 , that he is displeased with you, and that I have carefully sought your soul’s health. Or, from his temple at Jerusalem, wherein ye glory, and where ye think ye have him as fast bound to you as the Tyrians had their idol Apollo, whom they chained and nailed to a post, that he might not forsake them, when Alexauder besieged their town, and took it (Macrob. lib. 8, cap. 9). The heathens had a trick, when they besieged a city, to call the tutelar gods out of it by a certain charm, as believing that it could not otherwise be taken (Virg. Aen. 2). In a like sense whereunto some have interpreted the following verses here.

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For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place — That is, say they, out of Judea and his temple there, leaving it to the Chaldeans and Assyrians. See Ezekiel 3:12 , and chapters 9-11, where God makes various withdrawals from the cherubins to the threshold, from thence to the east gate, from thence to mount Olivet, quite out of the city, Ezekiel 11:23 , and when God was gone, then followed the fatal calamity, in the ruin of the city. But by God’s coming forth out of his place here I conceive is meant his descending from heaven to do justice on this hypocritical nation, Isaiah 26:21 , and because hypocritis nihil stupidius; hypocrites, resting on their external performances and privileges, will hardly be persuaded of any evil toward them. Micah 3:11 , "Is not the Lord," say they, "among us? none evil can come upon us"; therefore we have here an emphatic Ecce, "Behold, the Lord cometh"; he is even upon the way already, and will be here with the first. He will come down as once at Sodom, when their sin was very grievous, Genesis 18:20 , when they were overcharged with the superfluity of naughtiness; God came from heaven to give their land a vomit; and so he would do here; for unregenerate Israel was to God as Ethiopia, Amos 9:7 , as the rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, Isaiah 1:10 .

And tread upon the high places of the earth — The high and mighty ones, that, having gotten on the top of their hillocks as so many ants, think themselves so much the better and safer, repose confidence in their high places and strongholds, as Nebuchadnezzar did in his Babel, Edom in his clefts of the rocks, munitions of rocks, Obadiah 1:3 , the rich fool in his heaps and hoards, Luke 12:19 ; these, with their false confidences, God will tread down in his anger, and trample them in his fury, as the mire of the streets; he will bring down their strength to the earth, and lay their honour in the dust, Isaiah 63:3 ; Isaiah 63:6 .

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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.

And the mountains shall be molten under him — This is to the self same sense; though men swell, in their own eyes, to the size of so many mountains; and though, gotten upon their hill of ice, they think they shall never be moved, Psalms 30:6-7 ; yet, when God, with his devouring fire and everlasting burnings, comes in presence, these craggy mountains shall soon dissolve and melt as wax, they shall be as waters poured down a descent, they shall flow as a land flood. By which similitudes, and familiar comparisons, is notably set forth the irresistible wrath of God for the frightening of hard hearted sinners, that they may take hold of his strength, and make peace with him, Isaiah 27:5 .

The valleys also shall be deft — The poorer sort also shall have their share in the common calamity. God will neither spare the high for their might, nor the base for their meanness, but lords and lowies together, shall be

as wax before the fire, … — Wax is a poor fence against fire, sticks and stubble against a strong torrent; so human force against Divine judgments.

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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? and what [are] the high places of Judah? [are they] not Jerusalem?

For the transgression of Jacob is all this — Lest they should think, either that these things were threatened in terrorem in fear only, and would never be inflicted; or else that they had not deserved such severity, but that God should pour out his wrath rather upon the heathen, that knew him not, and upon the families that called not on his name. The prophet here showeth that Jacob was become a just object of God’s indignation, by his transgressions or rebellions, and the whole house of Israel by their sins; there was a general defection, and therefore they must expect a general destruction. For what reason? the just Lord is in the midst thereof: he will not do iniquity, he will not acquit the guilty: morning by morning doth he bring his judgments to light, he faileth not: but the unjust knoweth no shame, will take no warning, which is a just both presage and desert of his ruin.

What is the transgression of Jacob? — Say they in a chatting way; like those miscreants in Malachi, that so worded it with God, Malachi 1:1-14 ; Malachi 3:1-15 .

Is it not Samaria? — Saith the prophet, in answer to that daring demand of theirs. So,

what are the high places of Judah? — viz. the superstitious and carnal confidences thereof? Is it not Jerusalem? saith the prophet. Are not their capital cities become their capital sins? Read we not of the calf of Samaria, Hosea 8:5 , and did not her kings set up idols at Dan and Bethel, and Gilgal and Beersheba? As for Jerusalem, had she not turned the very temple into a high place, by resting in her ceremonial services and sacrifices? Did not some of her best kings wink at the high places? And Ahaz, that stigmatic Belialist, shut up God’s temple and set up strange worships? How then could these frontless fellows ask "What is the transgression?" and "What are the high places?" The prophet goes not behind the door to tell them that the best of them were no better than a rabble of rebels against heaven; and their chieftains were most in fault, though they least liked to hear of it. Samaria is a very Poneropolis, and Jerusalem is little better; they both are even transformed into sin’s image; the prophet here speaks of them as if they were not only sinful, but sin itself; as Cicero saith of one Tubulus, a Roman praetor, that he was so desperately wicked, ut eius nomen non hominis sed vitii esse videretur; that he passed not for a man, but for a vice, so flagitious were his practices; or, as Austin saith of this present evil world, that it is nothing else but a sty of filthy hogs, or a kennel of mad dogs, Hara porcorum, vel colluvies rabidorum canum (Aug.).

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Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, [and] as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field — i.e. When stones are gathered out of a field they are laid together on heaps, so I will take course that where Samaria now is, there shall be nothing to be seen but heaps of stones and rubbish. God is the true προλιπορθος : "for thou hast made of a city a heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built," Isaiah 25:2 . Of Rome it was long since prophesied:

“ Tota eris in cineres, quasi nunquam Roma fuisses. ”

“The entire city will be in ashes, just as Rome never existed.”

Oh that God would hasten that day! Scipio foresaw it, and wept, sc. when he saw Carthage set all on fire by himself. In the greatness of the Turkish empire are swallowed up many kingdoms and countries; besides all those churches and places so much spoken of in Scripture, the Romans only excepted; yet, no doubt, for their many and mighty sins, time shall triumph over this so great a monarchy, when it shall but then live by fame, as others now do. Iam seges est ubi Troia fuit. Though thou build thy walls as high as heaven (said the oracle to wicked Phocas), yet sin, that lieth at the foundation, will one day overturn them.

And as plantings of a vineyard — That is, it shall be made a place fit for the planting of vines; it shall be utterly rased and harassed. A Lapide observeth the fitness of the expression here used, in that Samaria was situated on a hill that bore vines; and before it was a city it had been a vineyard: God threateneth to make it so again, and so to stain the pride of all its glory. See what a trouble town sin is. Surely did people but know what it will once cost them and cause to them, they dared not but be innocent.

And I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley — That is, into a bycorner. Clearing of stones is necessary to a vineyard, Isaiah 5:2 , there being no possession that requireth more pains and care, as Cato hath observed.

And I will discover the foundation thereof — I will not leave a stone upon a stone, nor any footstep of so stately a city, that hath so long time been a cage of unclean birds, an Augean stable of abominable idolaters. God, as he hath loving respects to the places of his servants’ birth and abode, Psalms 87:6 Isaiah 49:16 , so he sets the marks of his wrath upon those places where foul sins have been perpetrated, as upon our abbeys and monasteries, whose very foundations are laid naked.

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And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered [it] of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

And all the graven images thereof — Upon these the jealous God will execute vengeance: so to show his hatred of idolatry. "The stones of the altars he will make as chalk stones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and the images shall not stand up," Isaiah 27:9 . As for those that "worship them, and repent not of the works of their hands," Revelation 9:20 , they shall smart surely for their idolatries, as did those of old in the wilderness; and the more ingenuous of their posterity acknowledge at this day, that there is no punishment befalleth them in which there is not still an ounce of that golden calf. True it is, that the Samaritan superstition which was grosser at first (and for which they were carried captive by the Assyrian), was afterwards refined by Manasseh, a Jewish priest, that in Alexander’s time made a defection to him, and brought many Jews with him, but that saved them not from utter destruction.

And all the hires thereof shall be burnt with fire — Her rewards given her by her sweet hearts, Hosea 2:5 ; Hosea 2:12 ; Hosea 9:1 ; her vowed presents and memories (as Papists now call them), her monies and donaries, shall be set on a light fire. God will confute their vain confidences, as he did those Popish rebels of Norfolk, in Edward VI’s time, who brought into the battle the Pix under his canopy, and with all his trinkets, crosses, banners, candlesticks, memories, …, which in the end could neither help themselves nor save their friends from the hands of their enemies (Acts and Mon. fol. 1190).

For she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, … — Ill-gotten goods thrive not. Few harlots are found to be rich. Indeed we read of Phryne, a notable strumpet, that she offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, on the condition that this might be engraved on them, ’ O μεν Aλεξανδρος κατεσκαψεν , … Alexander pulled them down, and Phryne set them up again, but it would not be accepted. Flora also, the Roman harlot, was very rich; and so is the whore of Babylon to this day, by her trading with the merchants of the earth; but this will not hold long, Revelation 18:10 . In one hour shall her judgment come, and in one hour so great riches shall come to nothing, Revelation 18:17 . England was wont to be counted and called the Pope’s ass, for bearing his burdens, and his puteus inexhaustus, his infinite pit of treasure, whence he drew at pleasure. Polydore Virgil was sometime collector of his Peter Pence here, …; but Henry VIII cashiered and cast him out hence, depriving him of his harlot hire. And well he had done, had he not given occasion to those that came after to complain, Possidebant Papistae, possident iam Rapistae.

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Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

Therefore I will wail and howl — Good men are usually more deeply affected with the wretched estate of wicked persons than they themselves are. Thus Samuel mourned for Saul’s rejection; Daniel was astonished and troubled at the import of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Daniel 4:19 ; Habakkuk’s belly trembled, and his lips quivered, at the consideration of the judgments that were to come upon the Chaldeans, Habakkuk 3:16 . Do we so (saith Mr Perkins) at other men’s smartings?

I will go stripped — Tam mente quam veste, rending off my garments, and casting them from me, as if bereft of my wits: Pro demente vel insane quidam accipiunt, saith Calvin here. See Isaiah 59:15 , with the margin, and Isaiah 20:2 .

I will make a wailing like the dragons — Which, sucking the elephant’s blood till he fall down dead upon them and oppress them with his huge bulk, make a horrible howling; so horrible (saith Palacius out of Pliny and Solinus) that they amaze, yea, kill those that hear it. Fides sit penes autores.

And mourning as the owls — Heb. as the daughters of the owl, or of the ostrich. Young ostriches cast off by their dams, Job 39:14 Lamentations 4:3 , and hunger bitten, howl pitifully, as do also the young ravens for like cause, Psalms 147:9 . Of the ravens of Arabia it is recorded, that, full gorged, they have a tuneable sweet song; but empty, screech horribly. By these similitudes here used the prophet would express his grief to be unexpressible.

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