Conclusion of the CHAPTER IV. book of Jonah. than six-score thousand persons that cannot discern, || Jonah's complaints, and made him sensible of his &c.-That is, infants, who have no knowledge be- fault in repining at God's mercy. It has been obtween good and evil, as it is expressed Deut. i. 39. || served, that the book of Jonah ends as abruptly as If we compute these as a fifth part of the inhabitants | it begins. It begins with a conjunction copulative, of Nineveh, the whole sum will amount to six hun- || And the word came unto Jonah, &c., which has dred thousand persons, which are as few as can well made some commentators think that it was but an be supposed to have inhabited a city of such large || appendix to some of his other writings: and it ends dimensions. And also much cattle-Besides men, || without giving us any manner of account, either of women, and children in Nineveh, there are many what became of the Ninevites, or of Jonah himself other of my creatures that are not sinful, and my after this expedition. It is likely, indeed, from the tender mercies are, and shall be, over all my works. compassionate expressions which God makes use of If thou wouldest be their destroyer, yet I will be toward the Ninevites, that for this time he reversed their saviour. Go, Jonah, rest thyself content, and || their doom; and it is not improbable that Jonah, be thankful that the goodness which spared Nineveh when he had executed his commission, and been hath spared thee, in this thy inexcusable froward- || satisfied by God concerning his merciful procedure, ness, peevishness, and impatience. I will be to re- returned into Judea. We may presume, however, penting Nineveh what I am to thee, a God gracious that the repentance of the Ninevites was of no long and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, continuance; for, not many years after, we find the and I will turn from the evil which thou and they Prophet Nahum foretelling the total destruction of deserve. This reasoning seems to have silenced that city. See Calmet and Bishop Newton. 3 957 THE BOOK OF MICAH. ARGUMENT. MICAH, of whose family nothing certain is known, was a Morasthite, or of Moresa, a village near Eleutheropolis, in the south of Judah. He was cotemporary with Isaiah, began to prophesy a little after him, and continued in the prophetic office about fifty years. What we find here in writing seems to be an abstract of what he preached during that time. He had seen the prophecies of Isaiah, and has introduced whole passages verbatim into his own. Compare Isa. ii. 2, with Mic. iv. 1; and Isa. xli. 15, with Mic. iv. 13. "The style of Micah," says Bishop Lowth, " is, for the most part, close, forcible, pointed, and concise; sometimes approaching the obscurity of Hosea in many parts animated and sublime, and in general truly poetical." "Like Amos and Hosea;" says Archbishop Newcome, "he reproves and threatens a corrupt people with great spirit and energy. See chap. ii. 1-10; iii. 2-4; vi. 10-16; vii. 2-4. And, like Hosea, he inveighs against the princes and prophets with the highest indignation. See chap. iii. 5–12; vii. 3. Some of his prophecies are distinct and illustrious ones, as chap. ii. 12, 13; iii. 12; iv. 14, 10; v. 24; vii. 8-10." In many passages, 66 we may justly admire the beauty and elegance of his manner; —his animation;-his strength of expression; his pathos;-his sublimity." The scope of his whole book is, 1. To convince Israel and Judah of their sins, and of the judgments of God ready to break in upon them; 2. To comfort the righteous with promises of mercy and deliverance, and especially with an assurance of the coming of the Messiah. To be more particular, In the first chapter of his prophecies he foretels the calamities of Samaria, which was some time after taken and spoiled by Shalmaneser; and then prophesies against Judah, denouncing the evils which were accordingly brought upon it by Sennacherib, in the reign of Hezekiah. In the second chapter he inveighs against those who devised evil against others, and who coveted and took away by violence other men's possessions, &c. In the third chapter he reproves the heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel, for their avarice, injustice, and oppression of the people; and also the false prophets, for their deceiving of the people; and tells them that they will be the occasion of Jerusalem's being reduced to a heap of rubbish. After these terrible denunciations, in chapters fourth and fifth he speaks of their restoration, and, under the figure of that, of the times of the Messiah. In the sixth and seventh chapters the sins of the people are reproved, and threatenings denounced against them; but with promises of better things on their amendment. This prophet is cited by Jeremiah, (chap. xxvi. 18,) which shows that he prophesied before Jeremiah. “Ît is related by Epiphanius, and the Greek writers who copied him, that Micah was thrown from a precipice and killed by Jehoram, the son of Ahab, whom he erroneously calls king of Judah, but who was really king of Israel; and whose grandson Jehoram lived at least one hundred and thirty years before Micah. But these writers seem to have confounded Micah with Micaiah the son of Imlah, who flourished in Israel, and prophesied evil of Ahab. Micah does not appear to have suffered martyrdom, as may be collected from Jer. xxvi. 18, 19, but probably died in peace in the reign of Hezekiah. St. Jerome says, that his tomb was at Morasthi, and converted into a church in his time and Sozomen professed to have heard, that his body was shown, in a divine vision, to Zebennus, bishop of Eleutheropolis, in the reign of Theodosius the Great, near a place called Berathsatia, which probably might be a corruption of Morasti, since Sozomen describes it to have been at nearly the same distance from Jerusalem that St. Jerome places Morasthi."-Gray's Key. CHAPTER I. In this chapter we have, (1,) The time when Micah prophesied, and a demand of attention, 1, 2. (2,) A solemn warning of the desolations impending over Israel and Judah, for their abounding sins, 3–7. (3,) The greatness of the destruction manifested by the prophet's sorrow for it, 8, 9; and by the general sorrow that should be produced by it in the several places that should share in it, 10-16. i 4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valley shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down 3 a steep place. a Jer. xxvi. 18.b Amos i. 1.- Heb. Hear, ye people, all of them. - Deut. xxxii. 1; Isaiah i. 2. Heb. the fulness thereof. d Psa. 1. 7; Mal. iii. 5.- Le Psa. xi. 4; Jonah ii. 7; Hab. ii. 20.- Isa. xxvi. 21. NOTES ON CHAPTER I. Verse 1. In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah-Micah is thought to have prophesied about sixteen years in Jotham's time, as many under Ahaz, and fourteen under Hezekiah: in all, forty-six years. And he survived the captivity of Israel ten years, which he lamented as well as foretold. Which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem-Concerning both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, whereof Samaria and Jerusalem were the capital cities. It is said, Which he saw, &c., because the prophets having the general name of seers, every kind of prophecy, in whatever way delivered, seems to have been generally called a vision. Samaria and Jerusalem. B. C. 750. 5 For the transgression of Jacob is A. M. 3254. all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem ? k 6 Therefore, I will make Samaria * as a heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will 1 discover the foundations thereof. 1 7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the 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 a harlot, and they shall return to the hire of a harlot. g Psa. cxv. 3. h Deut. xxxii. 13; xxxiii. 29; Amos iv. 13. i Judges v. 5; Psa. xcvii. 5; Isaiah lxiv. 1, 2, 3; Amos ix. 5; Hab. iii. 6, 10.- 3 Heb. a descent. k 2 Kings xix. 25; Chap. iii. 12. Ezek. xiii. 14.- -m Hos. ii. 5, 12. the heavens and the earth shall be dissolved at Christ's appearing. Verse 5. For the transgression of Jacob-That is, of the sons of Jacob; for the many transgressions committed among them; is all this-All these many, great, and irresistible judgments of God foretold and executed. What is the transgression of Jacob-Where is the chief cause of Israel's sin and apostacy? Is it not Samaria-Is it not in that city, the chief seat of the kingdom, the residence of the king and his princes, who have set up the idolatry of the golden calves, and made it the established religion of the kingdom? What are the high places of Judah, &c.-Doth not the idolatrous worship, practised in the high places of Judah, receive its chief encouragement from the city of Jerusalem, even from Ahaz, and the great men who there join with him in that idolatry? Verses 2-4. Hear, all ye people-All ye of Israel and Judah. Hearken, O earth-Or, O land, [of Israel,] and all that therein is-That is, all its inhabitants. Let the Lord be witness against you—"I call him to witness, that I have forewarned you of Verses 6, 7. Therefore I will make Samaria as the judgments that hang over your heads, unless you a heap-A heap of ruins. And as plantings of a speedily repent. And he himself will become a vineyard-As in planting vineyards men dig the witness against you, and convince you of your sins earth, and cast it up in hillocks, so shall they make in such a manner that you shall not be able to deny this city. The Vulgate reads, I will make Samaria the charge." The Lord from his holy temple- as a heap of stones in a field, when a vineyard is Heaven, his holy habitation. The Lord cometh forth planted. I will pour down the stones thereof, &c. out of his place-God is said, in Scripture, to come -The stones of it shall be tumbled down, from the out of his place, or heaven, when he makes his judg- lofty eminence on which it is situated, into the valments or mercies to be remarkably conspicuous, byley beneath, and shall leave the foundations thereof visible effects on the earth. And will tread upon the high places of the earth-He will cause places of the greatest strength to be destroyed, and men of the highest rank to be brought down. And the mountains shall be molten under him, &c.—An allusion to God's coming down upon mount Sinai, when thunder and lightning shook the mountain, and violent rains, which accompanied this tempest, made the hills look as if they were melted down. Or the words may be referred to the general judgment, of which all particular judgments are an earnest, when || naked and bare. All this, and what follows, was fulfilled by Shalmaneser, who made a conquest of Samaria. And all the graven images thereof— || Whether made of gold, silver, brass, wood, or stone; shall be beaten to pieces-Shall be pulled out of their chapels, shrines, or repositories, by their conquering enemies, and shall be trampled upon and broken, either out of contempt, or that the rich materials of which they are made may be carried away. And all the hires thereof shall be burned with fire-The rich gifts, given for the honour and Various cities threatened B. C. 750. MICAH. 6 with desolation. B. C. 750. A. M. 3254. 8 Therefore I will wail and howl; || at all: in the house of Aphrah roll A. M. 3254. • I will go stripped and naked: "I will thyself in the dust. make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. t 11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of 9 Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of 10 Beth-ezel; he shall receive of you his standing. 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth 11 waited That is, dust.- Jer. vi. 26.- 7 Or, thou that dwellest n Isaiah xxi. 3; xxii. 4; Jer. iv. 19. Isaiah xx. 2, 3, 4. P Job xxx. 29; Psalm cii. 6. Heb. daughters of the owl. || fairly.Or, she is grievously sick of her wounds.-42 Kings xviii. 13;|| xiii. 22; Isa. viii. 7, 8.- 2 Sam. i. 20. place near. service of the idols by the deceived idolaters, shall house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust—Or, valbe consumed. This seems to be spoken of the gifts || low in the ashes, as was commonly practised in times sent to their temple by the Assyrians, whose wor- of great mourning. The word Aphrah signifies ship they imitated. For she gathered it of the hire dust; and the prophet, it is likely, puts it here for of a harlot, &c.-She got it by the gifts of idola- Ophrah, a town in the tribe of Benjamin, that the ters, and it shall return to those idolaters again. name might better suit their present condition. Pass Verses 8, 9. Therefore I will wail and howl-Iye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir-Houbigant will mourn and lament. I will go stripped and naked-That is, without an upper garment; or, with garments rent and torn. This would fitly denote the naked condition to which the ten tribes were to be reduced by their enemies. I will make a wailing like dragons-The word rendered dragons, according to Pocock on the place, may "sig- || nify a kind of wild beast like a dog, between a dog and a fox, or a wolf and a fox, which the Arabians, from the noise which they make, call Ebn Awi, (filius Eheu,) and our English travellers jackals; which, abiding in the fields and waste places, make in the night a lamentable, howling noise:" see Encycl. Brit. And mourning as the owls-Or rather, os- || triches: see note on Job xxx. 29. "It is affirmed by travellers of good credit," says Pocock, "that ostriches make a fearful, screeching, lamentable noise." Shaw also observes, that "during the lone- || some part of the night, they often make a very doleful and hideous noise ;" and that he had "often heard them groan, as if they were in the greatest agonies." For her wound is incurable-The wound of Samaria and Israel, namely, their own sins and God's just displeasure: the calamities coming upon them will end in their destruction: nothing can prevent it. It is come even unto Judah-The contagion of her sins, and the indignation of God against them, have reached to Judah also, yea, to Jerusalem. This was accordingly fulfilled: for a few years after the Assyrians had destroyed Samaria, and spoiled all the land of Israel, their conquering army, led by Sennacherib, entered the kingdom of Judah, and took all the fenced cities; and a part of it, termed a great host, was sent up to the gates of Jerusalem, as is related, 2 Kings xviii. 17. says that Eusebius places this city, the name of which signifies fair, or elegant, in the tribe of Judah, between Eleutheropolis and Askelon. Some think, however, that Saphir is not a proper name, and that there was no place so called in Judea; but that the clause ought to be rendered, Pass away, thou inhabitant of a delightful place, that is, Sama||ria, which was very pleasantly situated. The prophet here threatens the inhabitants of that place that they should go into captivity, in a way very unsuitable to their former softness and luxury, even stripped by the conquering enemy, and without so much as a covering to hide their nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan-A place in the tribe of Judah, called Zenan, Josh. xv. 37; came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel-"There was no burial of her dead with solemn mourning out of the precincts of her city, but she was besieged and put to the sword."-Newcome. Or, the meaning may be, || the inhabitants of Zaanan were so much concerned to provide for their own safety, that they took no notice of the mournful condition of their near neighbour Beth-ezel, which seems to have been a place near Jerusalem, termed Azal, Zech. xiv. 5. Grotius, however, supposes Zaanan to denote Zion, and Beth-ezel to signify Beth-el, called here by another name, importing the house of separation, because it was the principal seat of idolatrous worship. He || shall receive of you his standing-The standing, or encamping of an army against the city; that is, the enemy shall encamp among you, shall stand on your ground, so that you will have no opportunity of coming out to the help of your neighbours. For the inhabitant of Maroth—A town in Judea, (the same probably that is called Maarath, Josh. xv. 59,) waitVerses 10-12. Declare ye it not in Gath-Lested, &c.--Or rather, as the words may be translated, the Philistines triumph. The words seem to be|| Although the inhabitant of Maroth waited for good, taken out of David's lamentation over Saul and Jona-yet evil came, &c., unto the gate of Jerusalem-Such than, 2 Sam. i. 20, where see the note. Weep ye not a calamity as stopped not at Maroth, but reached 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 || even to Jerusalem. By Maroth, which signifies bitterness, or trouble, Grotius understands Ramah, or, expressed as it often is in the plural, Ramoth, a place Judgments threatened against B. C. 750. CHAPTER II. the plotters of wickedness. B. C. 750. A. M. 3254. carefully for good: but "evil came || Moresheth-gath: the houses of 13 Achib A. M. 3254. down from the LORD unto the gate shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. 15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of a Mareshah: 14 he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel. Χ of Jerusalem. y in the tribe of Benjamin, near Beth-lehem, and not far from Jerusalem. || Israel once gloried in as their ally, shall come to Adullam. This was a town in Judah not far from Lachish: see Josh. xv. 35. Some think the meaning of this clause is, that the chief men of Israel should be forced to hide themselves from their ene fled from Saul, 1 Sam. xxiii. Josh. xv. 44. The name signifies an inheritance; so here, by way of allusion, it is said, that a new heir Verses 13-15. O thou inhabitant of Lachish-- or master should come and take possession of it, This was a strong fortress in the tribe of Judah: see namely, a conquering enemy. He shall come unto Josh. xv. 39. Bind the chariot to the swift beast--In Adullam the glory of Israel-Or, The glory of Isorder to flee from the approaching enemy. Lachish rael shall come to Adullam; the Assyrians, whom was one of the first cities that Sennacherib besieged,|| when he invaded Judea. She is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion-She was the first among the cities of Judah which practised those idolatries which the kings and people of Israel had begun. Therefore shalt thou give presents to Mo-mies in the cave of Adullam, as David did when he resheth-gath―Or, to Moresheth of Gath; that is, to the Philistines of that country, either to defend thee against the enemy, or to receive thee under their protection. The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel-The word Achzib signifies a lie. There was a town of that name in the tribe of Judah, mentioned Josh. xv. 44. This place, the prophet here foretels, will answer its name, and disappoint the kings of Israel that depended upon its strength and assistance: see 2 Chron. xxi. 3; and xxviii. 19. Israel is sometimes used for Judah, and so it may probably be taken here. Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah-This was another town belonging to Judah, mentioned || pressions of grief. Verse 16. Make thee bald-0 Judah and Israel, tear off thy hair; and poll thee-Shave what thou canst not tear off; for thy delicate children, &c.— For the loss of them, some being slain, others starved or swept away by pestilence, and the residue car|| ried into captivity. Cutting the hair, or shaving it close, were expressions of mourning and lamentation anciently used among most nations. Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle-When she moults her feathers; for they are gone into captivity, &c.—By these phrases the prophet signifies, that the calamity would be so great as to deserve the strongest ex CHAPTER II. We have here, (1,) A representation of the sins of Israel, and of the judgments hanging over them, 1-11. (2,) Gracious promises of comfort to the pious, 12, 13. B. C. 730. b d B. C. 730. A. M. 3274. WO WO to them that devise iniquity,|| 2 And they covet fields, and take A. M. 3274. and work evil upon their them by violence; and houses, and beds! when the morning is light, they practise take them away: so they 1oppress a man and it, because it is in the power of their hand. his house, even a man and his heritage. Verses 1, 2. Wo to them that devise iniquity—tice; and do whatsoever they have a mind to do, That design and frame mischief; and work evil upon their beds-Contrive how to work it, and actually execute their plans when they rise in the morning. Because it is in the power of their hand-Because they can do it; because there is none that can hinVOL. III. ( 61 ) whether right or wrong, because they have power in their hands. And they covet fields-Set their || minds upon the estates of their meaner neighbours, thinking how convenient they lie to theirs, as Ahab thought concerning the field of Naboth. And take 3 961 |