INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 1 This chapter treats of the judgments of God on Israel and Judah for their idolatry. It begins with the title of the whole book in which is given an account of the prophet, the time of his prophesying, and of the persons against whom he prophesied, Micah 1:1; next a preface t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO MICAH THE MORASTHITE,.... So called, either from Mareshah, mentioned Micah 1:15; and was a city in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:44; as the Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Zacutus i; or rather from Moresheth, from which Moreshethgath, Micah 1:14; is distinguished; which... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAR, ALL YE PEOPLE,.... Or, "the people, all of them" m; not all the nations of the world, but the nations of Israel, so called from their several tribes; though some n think the rest of the inhabitants of the earth are meant: thee are the same words which are used by Micaiah the prophet in the tim... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR, BEHOLD, THE LORD COMETH OUT OF HIS PLACE,.... Out of heaven, the place of the house of his Shechinah or Majesty, as the Targum; where his throne is prepared; where he keeps his court, and displays his glory; from whence he removes, not by local motion, since he is everywhere; but by some manife... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MOUNTAINS SHALL BE MOLTEN UNDER HIM,.... As Sinai was when he descended on it, and as all nations will be at the general conflagration; but here the words are to be taken, not literally, but figuratively, for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and for the kings, and princes, and great men in... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE TRANSGRESSION OF JACOB [IS] ALL THIS, AND FOR THE SINS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL,.... All this evil, all these calamities and judgments, signified by the above metaphorical phrases, these did not come by chance, nor without, reason; but were or would be inflicted, according to the righteous jud... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE I WILL MAKE SAMARIA AS AN HEAP OF THE FIELD, [AND] AS PLANTINGS OF A VINEYARD,.... As a field ploughed, and laid in heaps; see Micah 3:12; or as stones gathered out of a field, and out of a vineyard planted, and laid in a heap; so should this city become a heap of stones and rubbish, being... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE GRAVEN IMAGES THEREOF SHALL BE BEATEN TO PIECES,.... By the Assyrian army, for the sake of the gold and silver of which they were, made, or with which they were adorned, as was usually done by conquerors to the gods of the nations they conquered; these were the calf of Samaria, and other... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE I WILL WAIL AND HOWL, I WILL GO STRIPPED AND NAKED,.... To his shut, putting off his upper garment; the rough one, such as the prophets used to wear; which he did as the greater sign of his mourning: sometimes, in such cases, they rent their garments; at other times they stripped themselve... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HER WOUND [IS] INCURABLE,.... Or her "stroke [is] desperate" e. The ruin of Samaria, and the ten tribes, was inevitable; the decree being gone forth, and they hardened in their sins, and continuing in their impenitence; and their destruction was irrevocable; they were not to be restored again, n... [ Continue Reading ]
DECLARE YE [IT] NOT AT GATH,.... A city of the Philistines, put for all the rest: the phrase is borrowed from 2 Samuel 1:20; where the reason is given, and holds good here as there; and the sense is, not that the destruction of Israel, or the invasion of Judea, or the besieging of Jerusalem, could b... [ Continue Reading ]
PASS YE AWAY, THOU INHABITANT OF SAPHIR,.... A village, according to Eusebius l, between Eleutheropolis and Ashkelon; perhaps the same with Sephoron; it is mentioned among the cities of Judah, in the Greek version of Joshua 15:48. Calmet m conjectures the prophet intends the city of Sephoris or Seph... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE INHABITANT OF MAROTH WAITED CAREFULLY FOR GOOD,.... Or, "though [they] waited for good" r; expected to have it, yet the reverse befell them: or "verily [they were] grieved for good" s; for the good things they had lost, or were likely to lose; and which they had no more hope of, when they sa... [ Continue Reading ]
O THOU INHABITANT OF LACHISH, BIND THE CHARIOT TO THE SWIFT BEAST,.... Horses, camels, dromedaries, or mules. Some u render the word swift horse or horses, post horses; others dromedaries w; and some mules x the two latter seem more especially to be meant, either dromedaries, as the word is translat... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE SHALT THOU GIVE PRESENTS TO MORESHETHGATH,.... Since Lachish was the cause of leading Judah into idolatry, and was a city so very wicked; therefore it should be reduced to such distress as to send messengers with presents to the Philistines at Moreshethgath, a place near to Gath of the Phi... [ Continue Reading ]
YET WILL I BRING AN HEIR UNTO THEE, O INHABITANT OF MARESHAH,.... Another city in the tribe of Judah, mentioned with Achzib in Joshua 15:44; and by many thought to be the birth place of this prophet; and, if so, his faithfulness may be observed in declaring the whole counsel of God, though against... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE THEE BALD, AND POLL THEE FOR THY DELICATE CHILDREN,.... Which is said, either with respect to Mareshah, or to Adullam, or to the whole land, as Kimchi observes; rather to the latter; and that either to Israel, or to Judah, or both; the prophecy in general being concerning them both, Micah 1:1;... [ Continue Reading ]