THBJ
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN Oli' GLOUOESTED;
AND BY TilE
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
MIO A H. e!xposftfon IlY REV. W. J. DEA.NE, M.A.., BEOTOB Oli' .A.SUEN.
~omClrtfct BY REV. S. D. HILLMAN, B.A..
~omflies h'1 lJarfous Qutbot1. mw. E s. PROUT, M.A. REV. A. ROWLAND, B.A., LL.B. REV. D. TIIOJl:IAS, D.D.
NEW EDITION,
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1907 THE BOOK OF MICAH,
INTRODUCTION.
§ I. SUBJECT OF THE BOOK.
THE Book of Micah, in our present Hebrew copies and in the Latin Vnlga.te, stands sixth among the minor prophets; in the Septuagint it is placed third. Collected apparently into one volume in the last year of the prophet's life, it contains a number of prophecies uttered, perhaps, at different times, but yet connected together by logical sequence, and dis- playing a certain symmetrical arrangement. Caspari suggests that he thus gathered the notes of his various discourses, and read them in the ears of the people, in order to assist Hezekiah's great reformation. Threatening and promise alternate in these addresses, upbraiding and pleading, judgment and mercy. There is very much that is common with Isaiah, and the actual words in both are often identical. Being contemporaries, and confronted with the same circumstances, the two prophets natlll'lllly use corresponding expressions in dealing with similar subjects. In his account of the moral corrnption that prevails, Micah agrees thoroughly with Isaiah, though he differs from -him in not touching on politics, and in taking a more hopeless view of the reformation of Israel; in his Messianic anticipations he is as clear and precise as the evangelical prophet himself. Both he and Isaiah look to the great world-empire as fatal to Israel, though Micah calls it in one place (eh. v. 5, etc.) by the current name of Assyria, and in other passages, Babylon. The state of Judah before Hezekiah's reformation was most unsatis- h.ctory. Apart from the idolatry which was at the bottom of all the evil that prevailed, we gather from the prophet's denunciations that the chiefs of the nation were proud, luxurious, unscrupulous, and cruel; the peasants were ground down by exactions and deprived of their legal rights. And the improvement in religion which Hezekiah effected had not extended very deep, nor produced that real impression which we are wont to assume. "High places" still remained; practical unbelief widely existed; coincident with the worship of Jehovah a virtual idolatry was practised. Looking MIOAH, l, ii INTRODUCTION TO
1,a.dly on all this e,il, Micah knew to what result it tended, and his warn- ings were embittered by the consciousness that the punishment which he foretold was righteously deserved, and would not now be averted by timely repentance. The book is arranged, for rhetorical purposes, into three prophetical a<ldresses, consisting of words uttered originally at various times, as the Spirit within moved the prophet to speak. The three portions have a generally distinctive character and a certain inward connection. The first is chiefly of a threatening nature ; in the second, Messianic hopes pre- dominate ; the third is hortatory, urging to repentance under God's chastening hand, in remembrance of past mercies and promised salvation. Micah begins with a grand description of the coming of the Lord to judge Israel and Judah for their sins and idolatry, when Samaria, as first in wickedness, shall be first to fall before the avenging enemy ; and then a similar fate shall happen to Jerusalem and Judma (whose towns are not mentioned in strictly geographical order), with the deportation of their inhabitants. The sins of the grandees have brought this jndgment upon them. There are found in them oppression, injustice, and violence. The false prophets only pander to their evil lusts, and lull them into false security; and the penalty of all this guilt shall be removal from their present home. But God will not cast them off altogether; for they shall yet one day be restored in triumph (eh. i., ii.). In the second part the prophet, showing the necessity of the judgment, more particularly rebukes the cruelty and rapacity of the great men ; denounces woe on the false prophets who led the people astray; on the priests who taught for hire; on the judges who sold their sentences, and the diviners who practised their cheating art for lucre. In requital for these enormities, Zion the royal seat, J ernsalem the holy city, and the temple the house of God, should be brought to desolation. Then a. con- trast is introduced. This triple overthrow shall be compensated by a. triple restoration. The people shall return from captivity, and the Lord's house shall be raised on high., and the nations sha.11 flock unto it to learn piety and true religion ; Jerusalem shall be inhabited a.gain, increased and beautified; the royal power shall again be seated in Zion; Jehovah himself shall reign there in the midst of universal peace, having overthrown all the peoples who once rejoiced in Judah's calamity. The Redeemer shall be born in Bethlehem ; his kingdom shall extend to the ends of the e9.J'th ; but all idolatry, all trll.St in the arm of flesh, mast be removed before the great consummation shall occur (eh. iii.-v.). In the last part, which differs from the preceding portions in being of t. more subjective character, Jehovah is represented as holding a contro- versy or lawsuit with his people, justifying his conduct, and listening to their rejoinder, which is so far from being satisfactory that judgruent is pronounced upon them. Then, in touching words, Micah, identifying himself with the people, acknowledges the justice of the sentence, while he bewails THE BOOK OF MICAH. iii