Micah 1:2-9

Micah 1:2-1 Samuel : . The Judgment of Israel.— The nations of the earth are summoned to take warning from the Divine judgment to be executed on Israel. Yahweh comes forth from heaven (His “ holy temple” ; cf. Habakkuk 2:20, Isaiah 63:15, Psalms 114), and down ( cf. Exodus 19:11) upon the heights ( Amos 4:13), His presence being revealed as by earthquake shock ( cf. Isaiah 24:19) and volcanic eruption ( Micah 1:2-Numbers :). The moral rebellion of the northern kingdom is concentrated in its capital, Samaria, and that of the southern in Jerusalem. Samaria shall be utterly destroyed, its site becoming a place for vine-growing, its foundations bared, its idols broken and burned ( Micah 1:5-Judges :). Because of this judgment, the prophet goes mourning, barefoot and cloakless ( 2 Samuel 15:30, Isaiah 20:2) and loudly lamenting ( Job 30:29), because the irretrievable disaster to Samaria extends to his own land, to Jerusalem, the “ gate” ( i.e. the centre of the life) of Judah ( Micah 1:8 f.; see Introduction for historical occasion)

Micah 1:5 . Read “ sin” , both for “ sins” , and for “ high places” , with VSS.

Micah 1:7 may be interpolated, since it breaks the connexion.— the hire of an harlot seems to be figuratively used of religious infidelity to Yahweh, as in Hosea 2:12; it denotes the produce of the land regarded as the gift of the Baalim; the idols, etc. derived from such wealth are called hires, and their material will pass to the service of other heathen deities in the hands of the conquerors. Some, however, refer to the actual prostitution of Deuteronomy 23:18.