2.2 Inheritance, land belonging to God and given to Israel as a gift, which Israel is commanded to respect. To lose one’s inheritance was to lose one’s independence.
2.3 Against this family. Referent uncertain, perhaps Judah or the whole of Israel. The metaphor of a yoked ox describes the punishment for expropriation of land.
2.4 A mocking song that predicts disaster.
2.5 Those guilty of covetousness and amassing property not their own are destined to lose everything. Assembly of the LORD, the religious community of Israel.
2.6–11 Disputation prophecy addressed to all of Israel. Here Micah quotes God, who quotes some members within the community (vv. 6, 11).
2.8 The enemy who rises up against the Israelites is, ironically, from their own household.
2.10 Arise and go, a double command spoken by God through Micah that makes a clear ethical point: just as the oppressors drove out others (v. 9), so they too are driven out. Expulsion from the land foreshadows the Assyrian invasion and resultant exile.
2.11 God, through Micah, states sarcastically that the people would prefer corrupt prophets to those who tell the truth.
2.12–13 Salvation proclamation dated to the Babylonian exile (587–539 BCE) by some and claimed as authentic material from Micah by others. The Lord who is shepherd-king speaks (Jer 23.1–4; Ezek 34). The promised restoration is described in terms of a new exodus (Isa 49.9–12).
2.12 Survivors, those who will be redeemed.
MICAH 3
Wicked Rulers and Prophets
1And I said:
Listen, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Should you not know justice?—
2you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin off my people,a
and the flesh off their bones;
3who eat the flesh of my people,
flay their skin off them,
break their bones in pieces,
and chop them up like meatb in a kettle,
like flesh in a caldron.
4Then they will cry to the LORD,
but he will not answer them;
he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have acted wickedly.
5Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against those
who put nothing into their mouths.
6Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without revelation.
The sun shall go down upon the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.
8But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the spirit of the LORD,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
and chiefs of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice
and pervert all equity,
10who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with wrong!
11Its rulers give judgment for a bribe,
its priests teach for a price,
its prophets give oracles for money;
yet they lean upon the LORD and say,
“Surely the LORD is with us!
No harm shall come upon us.”
12Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
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a Heb from them
b Gk: Heb as
3.1–12 A prophetic judgment speech presenting a gruesome picture of Israel’s social injustice and political and religious decay, along with an insight into the character and mission of the prophet (v. 8). It is composed of four subunits: vv. 1–4, 5–7, 8, 9–12.
3.1–4 Address to Israel’s political and religious leaders. With a brutal metaphor (vv. 2b–3), Micah compares Israel’s leaders to savage butchers and voracious cannibals who treat people like animals to be consumed. The metaphor stresses the extent of injustice within the community, by its leadership in particular. Silence and hiddenness are the divine responses to such atrocities.
3.5–7 Proclamation concerning the prophets. Here Micah confronts those who have corrupted their prophetic office for the sake of personal gain.
3.5 Peace (Hebrew shalom) means wholeness, well-being, integrity.
3.6–7 Imagery of darkness communicates a single message: neither legitimate nor illegitimate prophecy will continue.
3.7 Covering their lips, a sign of deep mourning (Ezek 24.17, 22).
3.8 Interlude: statement of confidence. Micah lists four gifts with which he has been divinely endowed to enable him to exercise his prophetic office and mission. In stark contrast to those who have corrupted their prophetic office, Micah becomes a sign of hope for the poor and oppressed.
3.9–12 Second address to Israel’s leadership. Micah enumerates the crimes of Jacob/Israel, while now citing the priests along with the corrupt leaders, rulers, and prophets.
3.10 Archaeology testifies to the building activities underway in Jerusalem at that time, obviously done at the expense of the poor.
3.11 “Surely the LORD…upon us.” Secular and religious leaders flaunt their piety while continuing their blatant injustices. They are guilty of spiritual pride and smug confidence.
3.12 The severest of all judgments. What is most precious to God is about to be destroyed; what happened to Samaria (1.6) will also happen to Jerusalem. This stunning announcement is the one least expected by the political and religious leaders, who had put their confidence in the Zion tradition with its message of the inviolability of Jerusalem. Here Micah shatters the leaders’ religious pride.
MICAH 4
Peace and Security through Obedience
1In days to come
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
2and many nations shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
4but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
5For all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.
Restoration Promised after Exile
6In that day, says the LORD,
I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away,
and those whom I have afflicted.
7The lame I will make the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion
now and forever
more.
8And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of daughter Zion,
to you it shall come,
the former dominion shall come,
the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.
9Now why do you cry aloud?
Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
that pangs have seized you like a woman in labor?
10Writhe and groan,a O daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor;
for now you shall go forth from the city
and camp in the open country;
you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued,
there the LORD will redeem you
from the hands of your enemies.
11Now many nations
are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be profaned,
and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12But they do not know
the thoughts of the LORD;
they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13Arise and thresh,
O daughter Zion,
for I will make your horn iron
and your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples,
and shallb devote their gain to the LORD,
their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Gk Syr Tg: Heb and I will
4.1–5 A prophetic vision that promises peace for the future, closely paralleled in Isa 2.2–4, but in marked contrast to Mic 3.12. Scholars disagree on the relationship between these texts, and some have posited dependence on a common source.
4.1 The mountain of the LORD’s house, Mount Zion.
4.2 Three times each year on the major feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) pilgrims went up to Jerusalem (Ps 122.1, 4). Instruction (Hebrew torah), in the sense of divine teachings.
4.3 Micah describes a vision of world peace that God as just ruler and judge will bring about in a nonviolent way through arbitration. This vision would fulfill one of the sovereign’s main responsibilities, namely, to bring peace and tranquility to all nations (1 Kings 5.4; Isa 9.7; 11.1–9; Jer 23.5–6;33.15–16).
4.4 Peace among nations leads to individual peace, symbolized by an agrarian image of security and stability. Vines and fig trees represent long-term stability, peace, and prosperity.
4.5 We, the congregation in Judah.
4.6–8 A divine promise. God will act positively on behalf of the remnant, and both sovereignty and noble dignity will be restored to Jerusalem.
4.7 The dispersed will be brought back to Jerusalem, where the Lord will exercise dominion on their behalf from the Temple Mount.
4.8 Tower of the flock, translation of the Hebrew place-name Migdal Eder, situated between Bethlehem and Hebron, where Jacob tented after burying Rachel (Gen 35.21). Towers were sometimes erected to protect pastures. Here tower of the flock designates Mount Zion. Hill (Hebrew ‘ophel) refers to the fortified upper sector of capital cities where the palace and other royal buildings stood. In Jerusalem, Ophel designated the area lying between the Temple Mount and the City of David on the southeast hill.
4.9–10 Prophetic announcement of salvation. God’s suffering people will be consoled and redeemed from their suffering. The references to childbirth suggest new life. At this juncture the people are in a state of transition as they move from devastation to reprieve to restoration.
4.10–11 Like a woman in labor, an image that, although not fully developed in these verses, is suggestive of the birth pangs necessary for new life. The simile conveys a message of hope, but one not without its dangers.
4.11–13 Prophetic announcement of salvation. The nations are coming to wage war against Zion, but Zion, according to God’s divine plan, will prevail against them.
4.13 Iron, bronze, symbols of strength and hardness, respectively (cf. Jer 1.18). Gain, legitimate plunder as well as ill-gotten treasures, including bribes. Wealth, legitimate gain.
MICAH 5a
1Now you are walled around with a wall;b
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel
upon the cheek.
The Ruler from Bethlehem
2c But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
3Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
4And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
5and he shall be the one of peace.
If the Assyrians come into our land
and tread upon our soil,d
we will raise against them seven shepherds
and eight installed as rulers.
6They shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword;e
theyf shall rescue us from the Assyrians
if they come into our land
or tread within our border.
The Future Role of the Remnant
7Then the remnant of Jacob,
surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like dew from the LORD,
like showers on the grass,
which do not depend upon people
or wait for any mortal.
8And among the nations the remnant of Jacob,
surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver.
9Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10In that day, says the LORD,
I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots;
11and I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds;
12and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you shall have no more soothsayers;
13and I will cut off your images
and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands;
14and I will uproot your sacred polesg from among you
and destroy your towns.
15And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
on the nations that did not obey.
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a Ch 4.14 in Heb
b Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
c Ch 5.1 in Heb
d Gk: Heb in our palaces
e Cn: Heb in its entrances
f Heb he
g Heb Asherim
5.1–6 Prophetic announcement of salvation. The passage strengthens the hope of the people as they anticipate a new royal messiah, the ideal leader, promised by the prophet, who will usher in a time of strength, justice, and peace.
5.1 They strike…upon the cheek, an act of humiliation expressing contempt for the king. It may refer to King Hezekiah, who in 701 BCE was cowed by Sennacherib.
5.2 Bethlehem, a small town five miles south of Jerusalem. David, a native of Bethlehem, was anointed there by Samuel (1 Sam 16.1–13). Ephrathah is identified with Bethlehem. The relationship betwee
n Bethlehem and Ephrathah is unclear. Ephrathah may have been the ancient name of Bethlehem, or it may have been absorbed into Bethlehem. This undistinguished town was paradoxically to be the source of salvation. Me, God. Whose origin…ancient days, the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7).
5.4 A description, comparable to that in the royal psalms (e.g., Pss 2; 72), of the ideal shepherd-king, who will bring security and peace.
5.5–6 A picture of victory over the unrelenting Assyrians to be accomplished by Israel’s own leaders.
5.5 Seven…eight, a numerical progression, as in Am 1.3, signifying an indefinite number. The reference is to an alliance of rulers defeating the Assyrians.
5.6 Land of Nimrod, a poetic term for Assyria, is in parallel with land of Assyria. Nimrod, renowned as a hunter, was an ancient Mesopotamian king (Gen 10.8–12).
5.7–9 Prophetic announcement of salvation. The theme of victory introduced in vv. 5–6 continues in these verses, but now the remnant itself will be victorious over its adversaries.
5.10–15 Continued proclamation of salvation. As part of the messianic restoration, Israel will be stripped of all those things that have caused alienation from the Lord, including military armament, sorcery, and idolatrous worship.
5.13 Images, carved or sculpted from stone, metal, or wood. Representations of God were forbidden to the Israelites (Ex 20.4; Deut 5.8). Pillars, standing stone monuments with a variety of functions; they may have been symbols of the male deity (Deut 16.22; 1 Kings 14.23). Work of your hands, sardonic reference to idols.
5.14 Sacred poles, wooden cult symbols of the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah.
MICAH 6
God Challenges Israel
1Hear what the LORD says:
Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD,
and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for the LORD has a controversy with his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
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