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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Micah 1:8-16

We have here a long train of mourners attending the funeral of a ruined kingdom. I. The prophet is himself chief mourner (Mic. 1:8, 9): I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked, as a man distracted with grief. The prophets usually expressed their own grief for the public grievances, partly to mollify the predictions of them, and to make it appear that is was not out of ill-will that they denounced the judgments of God (so far were they from desiring the woeful day that they dreaded... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Micah 1:10

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 be hid from the Philistines; but that it was a thing desirable, was it possible, since it would be matter of rejoicing to them, and that would be an aggravation of the distress of Israel and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Micah 1:10

Declare ye it not at Gath - Do not let this prediction be known among the Philistines, else they will glory over you. House of Aphrah - Or, Beth-aphrah. This place is mentioned Joshua 18:23 , as in the tribe of Benjamin. There is a paronomasia, or play on words, here: עפר לעפרה בבית bebeith leaphrah aphar , "Roll thyself in the dust in the house of dust." read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Micah 1:10

Verse 10 The Prophet seems here to be inconsistent with himself: for he first describes the calamity that was to be evident to all; but now he commands silence, lest the report should reach the enemies. But there is here nothing contradictory; for the evil itself could not be hid, since the whole kingdom of Israel would be desolated, the cities demolished or burnt, the whole country spoiled and laid waste, and then the enemies would enter the borders of Judah: and when Jerusalem should have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 1:10

Declare ye it not at Gath. This phrase from David's elegy over Saul ( 2 Samuel 1:20 ) had become a proverbial saying, deprecating the malicious joy of their hostile neighbours over the misfortunes that befell them. Gath is mentioned as the seat of the Philistines, the constant and powerful enemy of Judah. (For its situation, see note on Amos 6:2 .) The paronomasias in this passage, which seem to modern ears artificial and puerile, are paralleled in many writings both Hebrew and classic,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Micah 1:10-15

4. The judgment on Judah is exemplified by the fate of certain of its cities, whose names the prophet connects with their punishment in a series of paronomasias. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Micah 1:10

Tell it not in Gath - Gath had probably now ceased to be; at least, to be of any account . It shows how David’s elegy lived in the hearts of Judah, that his words are used as a proverb, (just as we do now, in whose ears it is yearly read), when, as with us, its original application was probably lost. True, Gath, reduced itself, might rejoice the more maliciously over the sufferings of Judah. But David mentions it as a chief seat of Philistine strength ; now its strength was gone.The blaspheming... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Micah 1:10-12

Micah 1:10-12. Declare ye it not in Gath Lest the Philistines triumph. The words seem to be taken out of David s lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, 2 Samuel 1:20, where see the note. Weep ye not at all Or, weep ye not with loud weeping, as Archbishop Newcome renders it. Do not make any loud lamentations, lest the evil tidings be spread. In the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust Or, wallow in the ashes, as was commonly practised in times of great mourning. The word Aphrah ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Micah 1:1-16

1:1-3:12 SAMARIA AND JERUSALEM DOOMEDA picture of coming destruction (1:1-16)The prophet Micah was from a country village in the Judean foothills between the central mountain range and the coastal plain. He was probably a farmer, and he directed his attacks at the upper class city dwellers who drove the farmers into poverty. They lived in luxury by exploiting the poor. As a Judean he was concerned mainly with conditions in his country’s capital, Jerusalem, but he also attacked the northern... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Micah 1:10

Declare ye it not at Gath. Compare 2 Samuel 1:20 . Gath. Now Tell es Safi (Joshua 11:22 , &c). at all. Hebrew. bakko, written defectively for beakko. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia ( App-6 ). Hebrew. bakko 'al tibku "[in] Weep-town weep not". in . . . Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia ( App-6 ). Hebrew in 'aphrah . . . 'aphar, English, "in Dust-house roll thyself in dust, " read more

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