1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the a Morasthite
in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah,
which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Argument - Micah the prophet of the tribe of Judah served
in the work of the Lord concerning Judah and Israel at least
thirty years: during which time Isaiah prophesied. He
declares the destruction first of the one kingdom, and then
of the other, because of their manifold wickedness, but
chiefly because of their idolatry. And to this end he notes
the wickedness of the people, the cruelty of the princes and
governors, and the allowing of the false prophets, and the
delighting in them. Then he sets forth the coming of
Christ, his kingdom, and the felicity of it. This Prophet
was not that Micah who resisted Ahab and all his false
prophets, (1Ki 22:8) but another with the same name.
(a) Born in Mareshah, a city of Judah.
1:2 Hear, b all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that
therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the
Lord from his holy temple.
(b) Because of the malice and obstinacy of the people, whom
he had so often exhorted to repentance, he summons them
to God's judgments, taking all creatures, and God
himself as witness, that the preaching of the Prophets,
which they have abused, will be avenged.
1:3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and
will come c down, and tread upon the high places of the
earth.
(c) Meaning by this that God will come to judgment against
the strong cities and strongholds.
1:5 For the transgression of Jacob [is] all this, and for the
sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the transgression of
Jacob? [is it] not d Samaria? and what [are] the high e
places of Judah? [are they] not Jerusalem?
(d) Samaria, which should have been an example to all Israel
of true religion and justice, was the dirty pool and the
tank that all idolatry and corruption was kept alive in,
and who prided themselves in their father Jacob, and
boasted of him.
(e) That is, the idolatry and infection.
1:7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces,
and all the f hires thereof shall be burned with the fire,
and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she
gathered [it] of the hire of an harlot, and they shall
return g to the hire of an harlot.
(f) Which they gathered by evil practices, and thought that
their idols had enriched them with these wages because
of their service to them.
(g) The gain that came by their idols will be consumed as a
thing of nothing: for as the wages or riches of harlots
are wickedly gotten, so are they vilely and quickly
spent.
1:10 Declare ye [it] not at h Gath, weep ye not at all: in the
house of i Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
(h) Lest the Philistines our enemies rejoice at our
destruction.
(i) Which was a city near to Jerusalem (Jos 18:23),
there called Ophrah, and signifies dust: therefore he
wants them to mourn and roll themselves in the dust,
for their dusty city.
1:11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of k Saphir, having thy
shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the
mourning of Bethezel; he shall l receive of you his
standing.
(k) These were cities by which the enemy would pass as he
came to Judah.
(l) He will not depart before he has overcome you, and so
you will pay for his staying.
1:12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but
evil came down from the LORD unto the m gate of
Jerusalem.
(m) For Rabshakeh had shut up Jerusalem, so that they could
not send to help them.
1:13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the n
swift beast: she o [is] the beginning of the sin to the
daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were
found in thee.
(n) To flee away: for Sennacherib laid siege first to that
city, and remained there when he sent his captains and
army against Jerusalem.
(o) You first received the idolatry of Jeroboam, and so
infected Jerusalem.
1:14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to p Moreshethgath:
the houses of Achzib [shall be] a lie to the kings of
Israel.
(p) You will bribe the Philistines your neighbours, but
they will deceive you, as well as those of Jerusalem.
1:15 Yet will I bring an q heir unto thee, O inhabitant of
Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam r the glory of
Israel.
(q) He prophesies against his own city: and because it
signified a heritage, he says that God would send an
heir to possess it.
(r) For so they thought themselves because of the strength
of their cities.
