Micah 1

This is the first chapter of the Book of Micah. It opens with a superscription identifying the era in which the prophet Micah ministered and his place of origin, and then proclaims the judgment to fall on the two capitals, that of the northern kingdom of Israel and that of Judah. As the first chapter of the book, it does not continue from a preceding chapter.

Outline

• Verse 1 Superscription. It states that this is the word that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and that it is a vision concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
• Verses 2–4 All the peoples of the earth are summoned to hear. The LORD comes forth out of His place and descends, and the mountains melt and the valleys are split.
• Verses 5–7 The reason given is the transgression of Jacob and the sin of Israel, and Samaria and Jerusalem are identified as their center. Samaria will become like a heap in the field, and its graven idols and wooden images will be broken.
• Verses 8–9 The prophet wails, going stripped and naked. He laments that the wound is incurable and has reached Judah, even the gate of Jerusalem.
• Verses 10–16 The lament continues as the prophet addresses in turn Gath, Beth-le-aphrah, Saphir, Zaanan, Beth-ezel, Maroth, Lachish, Moresheth-gath, Achzib, Mareshah, and Adullam. The chapter ends with the command to shave the head, because the children have gone into captivity.

Key Verses

• Micah 1:1 "The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite" — the book's superscription, identifying the prophet's era, his origin, and the objects of the prophecy.
• Micah 1:5 "What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria?" — the root of the sin is traced to the capitals of the two kingdoms.
• Micah 1:9 "For her wound is incurable" — this foretells that the judgment on the northern kingdom of Israel will spread to Judah.

People and Places

• Micah: The prophet from Moresheth.
• Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah: The kings of Judah during the period of Micah's ministry.
• Samaria: The capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.
• Jerusalem: The capital of Judah. In verse 13 it is called "the daughter of Zion."
• Moresheth: Micah's hometown. Many identify it with Moresheth-gath in verse 14.
• Lachish: A fortified city in the lowlands of southwestern Judah. In verse 13 it is identified as "the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion."
• Gath: A city of the Philistines.
• Adullam: The site of the cave where David hid from Saul (1 Samuel 22:1).

Points for Reflection

• Wordplay on town names: Verses 10–16 are understood to express judgment by drawing on the meaning or sound of the town names. In Beth-le-aphrah ("house of dust") the people roll in the dust, and Saphir ("beauty") suffers shame. Maroth ("bitterness") waits anxiously for good, and Achzib ("deception") deceives the kings of Israel. This wordplay is largely lost in translation.
• Historical background: The judgment on Samaria in verses 6–7 is read in connection with the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria around 722 BC. Many interpreters connect the towns in verses 10–16 with the route of the Assyrian king Sennacherib's invasion of Judah in 701 BC. The text itself, however, does not name the invader.
• The "temple" in verse 2: Some interpreters read it as the heavenly temple, linking it with "cometh forth out of his place" in verse 3; others read it as the temple in Jerusalem.
• Connections with other texts: "Declare ye it not at Gath" in verse 10 recalls David's lament over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:20). The prophet's going naked in verse 8 is often compared with the symbolic action of his contemporary, the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 20). The New Testament does not directly quote this chapter. The best-known New Testament citation of Micah is from chapter 5 (Matthew 2:6).