Micah
Chapter 1
This is the word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. These are his visions concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Theophany of Judgment
Hear, all you peoples: let the earth and everyone on it listen. For the Lord is witnessing against you from his holy temple.
The Lord has left his place; he comes down and steps on the tops of the earth.
Beneath him, mountains crumble, and valleys melt away, like wax before the fire, as torrents rush down the hillside.
All of this is for Jacob’s crime, for the sin of the nation of Judah. What is Jacob’s crime? Is it not Samaria? What is the sinof the nation of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
Therefore, I will turn Samaria into a heap of ruins in the open country, making it a place for planting vineyards. I will scatter her stones down into the valley and expose her foundations.
All her carved images will be shattered and her filthy idols burned with fire. I will turn all her idols into a waste heap, for they were made with harlot’s wages;and to harlot’s wages, they will return.
Lament of the Prophet
For this reason, I mourn and cry out, go barefoot and bare.I will howl like a jackal and wail like an ostrich.
For her wound cannot be healed; instead, it has come to Judah. It has reached the capital of my people, Jerusalem.
Mourning of the People
Exult not in Gath; break down and weep in Acco. In Beth-leaphra, roll in the dust.
Sound the bugle, O people of Shaphir, and do not let the dwellers in Zaanan come out. Mourn deeply, Beth-ezel: your treasures have been taken away.
Surely they trembled, the people of Maroth, when calamity came down from the Lord to the gates of Jerusalem.
Hitch the horses to the chariot, citizens of Lachish. In you, the rebellions of Israel were rooted; and because of you, Zion started to stray.
Therefore, you must compensate Moresheth-gath. The houses of Achzib have become untrustworthy to the kings of Israel.
Again, I will bring the conqueror to you, people of Maresha, and the elite of Israel will leave forever.
Shave your hair for your delightful children. Make yourself bald as an eagle, for they have been deported far from you.
Commentaries
Title of the Book.
The author states the prophet’s name, the time of his ministry, and its purpose: to deliver God’s word based on the experience or “vision” that God grants to the prophet.
Theophany of Judgment – Lament of the Prophet – Mourning of the People.
The Lord, whose glory dwells in the Temple of Jerusalem, witnesses the sins of the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. The prophet sees a theophany and then condemns the corruption of their leaders, who will fall under their enemies, Assyria and Babylon, respectively. Samaria, the capital of Israel, will be destroyed (6-7), which happened in 721 B.C. The worship of idols is seen as the prostitution of God’s chosen people (7). Like Jeremiah (Jr 9:1) and Isaiah (Is 22:4), the prophet expresses his grief and deep sorrow over the devastation that strikes his people (8:16). Among the cities mentioned in verses 10-15 is the prophet’s hometown, Morashe, which in Hebrew means “bitter” or “rebellious.” These cities, near Jerusalem, were devastated by the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 B.C., during King Hezekiah’s reign.