Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Micah 1:2
Hear, 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.
2 7. The Threat of Punishment
2. all ye people ] Rather peoples. God’s judgment upon the world is now in progress (comp. Isa 3:13-14; Isa 34:1-5), and one of the principal acts in the great drama is the judgment impending over Israel. Hence all nations are summoned, not merely as legal witnesses (as when ‘heaven and earth’ are called upon in a figure in Deu 4:26; Deu 30:19; Deu 31:28, Isa 1:2), but that they may learn wisdom in time from Israel’s fate. Hence the next half of the verse continues, ‘ against you.’ The opening words of this verse are uttered by Micaiah in 1Ki 22:28, which can hardly be an accidental coincidence, as Micah is a shortened form of Micaiah. Probably the words in 1 Kings were interpolated by some ill-advised scribe, who identified Micaiah with our prophet Micah.
the Lord God ] Rather, the Lord Jehovah. This is the reading of the Hebrew text; A. V. follows the vowel-points, which in this case merely express the exaggerated reverence of the later Jews for the sacred name.
his holy temple ] It is ‘the temple of heaven’ which is meant (Rev 16:17). Comp. Hab 2:20, Zec 2:13, Isa 63:15, Psa 11:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hear, all ye people – Literally, hear, ye peoples, all of them. Some 140, or 150 years had flowed by, since Micaiah, son of Imlah, had closed his prophecy in these words. And now they burst out anew. From age to age the word of God holds its course, ever receiving new fulfillments, never dying out, until the end shall come. The signal fulfillment of the prophecy, to which the former Micalah had called attention in these words, was an earnest of the fulfillment of this present message of God.
Hearken, O earth, and all that therein is – The peoples or nations are never Judah and Israel only: the earth and the fullness thereof is the well-known title of the whole earth and all its inhabitants. Moses Deu 32:1, Asaph Psa 50:7, Isaiah Isa 1:2, call heaven and earth as witnesses against Gods people. Jeremiah, Jer 6:19 as Micah here, summons the nations and the earth. The contest between good and evil, sin and holiness, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, everwhere, but most chiefly where Gods Presence is nearest, is a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men 1Co 4:9. The nations are witnesses of God against His own people, so that these should not say, that it was for want of faithfulness or justice or power Exo 32:12; Num 14:16; Jos 7:8-9, but in His righteous judgment, that He cast off whom He had chosen. So shall the Day of Judgment reveal His righteousness Rom 2:5. Hearken, O earth. The lifeless earth Psa 114:7; Psa 97:5 trembles at the Presence of God, and so reproaches the dullness of man. By it he summons man to listen with great reverence to the Voice of God.
And let the Lord God be witness against you – Not in words, but in deeds ye shall know, that I speak not of myself but God in me, when, what I declare, He shall by His Presence fulfill. But the nations are appealed to, not merely because the judgments of God on Israel should be made known to them by the prophets. He had not yet spoken of Israel or Judah, whereas he had spoken to the nations; hear, ye peoples. It seems then most likely that here too he is speaking to them. Every judgment is an earnest, a forerunner, a part, of the final judgment and an example of its principles. It is but the last great link in the chain, which unites Gods dealings in time with eternity. Gods judgments on one imply a judgment on all. His judgments in time imply a Judgment beyond time. Each sinner feels in his own heart response to Gods visible judgments on another. Each sinful nation may read its own doom in the sentence on each other nation.
God judges each according to his own measure of light and grace, accepted or refused. The pagan shall be judged by the law written in their heart Rom 2:12-15; the Jew, by the law of Moses and the light of the prophets; Christians, by the law of Christ. The word, Christ saith, that I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last Day Joh 12:48. God Himself foretold, that the pagan should know the ground of His judgments against His people. All nations shall say, wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers which He made with them, when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, … Deu 29:24-25. But in that the pagan knew why God so punished His people, they came so far to know the mind of God; and God, who at no time left Himself without witness Act 14:17, bore fresh witness to them, and, so far us they neglected it, against them. A Jew, wherever he is seen throughout the world, is a witness to the world of Gods judgments against sin.
Dionysius: Christ, the faithful Witness, shall witness against those who do ill, for those who do well.
The Lord from His holy temple – Either that at Jerusalem, where God shewed and revealed Himself, or Heaven of which it was the image. As David says, The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lords throne is in heaven Psa 11:4; and contrasts His dwelling in heaven and His coming down upon earth. He bowed the heavens also and came down Psa 18:9; and Isaiah, in like words, Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity Isa 26:21.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. Hear, all ye people] The very commencement of this prophecy supposes preceding exhortations and predictions.
Hearken, O earth] arets, here, should be translated land, the country of the Hebrews being only intended.
And let the Lord God be Witness] Let him who has sent me with this message be witness that I have delivered it faithfully; and be a witness against you, if you take not the warning.
The Lord from his holy temple.] The place where he still remains as your King, and your Judge; and where you profess to pay your devotions. The temple was yet standing, for Jerusalem was not taken for many years after this; and these prophecies were delivered before the captivity of the ten tribes, as Micah appears to have been sent both to Israel and to Judah. See Mic 1:5-9; Mic 1:12-13.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hear: the prophet here by proclamation requires earnest attention to his word. So Moses, Deu 4:26; 30:19; 32:1; so the psalmist, Psa 50:1,4; and so Isaiah, Isa 1:2; 34:1.
All ye people; either all the people of both kingdoms, all Israel and Judah, or else universally all people of all kingdoms whatever, both of that present age and all of future ages. Hearken, O earth: it may be taken for the meaner sort of people, the commonalty; but I rather incline to interpret it as both a tacit reproof of the deafness of this sinful and hardened people, with whom Micah now contends, and an appeal to the senseless creatures, or a summons to bring them in evidences for God against those kingdoms.
All that therein is; animate or inanimate creatures, all that are on the earth. If we interpret earth for the meaner sort of people, then this fulness of the earth will be the whole multitude of the people. It is a lofty strain, such as those of Moses, Deu 32:1, David, Psa 1:1; Isa 1:1,2, and Jer 6:19.
Let the Lord God; the mighty, holy, gracious, and faithful God, Lord of heaven and earth; who knows all your ways, who is a just judge, and a severe avenger of obdurate sinners.
Be witness against you, by his word, the voice of his law, by his prophets whom he hath sent, by the judgments he doth execute according to his menaces; as by his sovereignty he is supreme judge, so by his omniscience and truth he is an authentic witness against you, O house of Jacob.
From his holy temple; either from his temple at Jerusalem, or else from heaven, as Psa 11:4; Hab 2:20.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. all that therein isHebrew,“whatever fills it.” Micaiah, son of Imlah, our prophet’snamesake, begins his prophecy similarly, “Hearken, O people,every one of you.” Micah designedly uses the same preface,implying that his ministrations are a continuation of hispredecessor’s of the same name. Both probably had before their mindMoses’ similar attestation of heaven and earth in a like case(Deu 31:28; Deu 32:1;compare Isa 1:2).
God be witness againstyounamely, that none of you can say, when the time of yourpunishment shall come, that you were not forewarned. The punishmentdenounced is stated in Mic 1:3,c.
from his holy templethatis, heaven (1Ki 8:30 Psa 11:4;Jon 2:7; compare Ro1:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hear, all ye people,…. Or, “the people, all of them” m; not all the nations of the world, but the nations of Israel, so called from their several tribes; though some n think the rest of the inhabitants of the earth are meant: thee are the same words which are used by Micaiah the prophet in the times of Ahab, long before this time, from whom they might be borrowed, 1Ki 22:28. The phrase in the Hebrew language, as Aben Ezra observes, is very wonderful, and serves to strike the minds and excite the attention of men; it is like the words of a crier, in a court of judicature, calling for silence:
hearken, O earth, and all that therein is; or, “its fulness” o; the land of Israel and Judah, the whole land of promise, and all the inhabitants of it; for to them are the following words directed:
and let the Lord God be witness against you; or, “in you” p; the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; let him who is the omniscient God, and knows all hearts, thoughts, words, and actions, let him bear witness in your consciences, that what I am about to say is truth, and comes from him; is not my own word, but his; and if you disregard it, and repent not, let him be a witness against you, and for me, that I have prophesied in his name; that I have faithfully delivered his message, and warned you of your danger, and reproved you for your sins, and have kept back nothing I have been charged and entrusted with: and now, you are summoned into open court, and at the tribunal of the great God of heaven and earth; let him be a witness against you of the many sins you have been guilty of, and attend while the indictment is read, the charge exhibited, and the proof given by
the Lord from his holy temple, from heaven, the habitation of his holiness; whose voice speaking from thence should be hearkened to; who from thence beholds all the actions of men, and from whence his wrath is revealed against their sins, and he gives visible tokens of his displeasure; and especially when he seems to come forth from thence in some remarkable instances of his power and providence, as follows:
m “populi omnes ipsi”, Montanus, Drusius, Piscator, Tarnovius. n So Burkius. o “et plenitude ejus”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Cocceius, Burkius. p “in vobis”, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet here rises into an elevated style, being not content with a simple and calm manner of speaking. We hence may learn, that having previously tried the disposition of the people, he knew the stubbornness of almost all classes: for except he was persuaded that the people would be rebellious and obstinate, he would certainly have used some mildness, or have at least endeavored to lead them of their own accord rather than to drive them thus violently. There is then no doubt but that the obstinacy of the people and their wickedness were already fully known to him, even before he began to address one word to them. But this difficulty did not prevent him from obeying God’s command. He found it necessary in the meantime to add vehemence to his teaching; for he saw that he addressed the deaf, yea, stupid men, who were destitute of every sense of religion, and who had hardened themselves against God, and had not only fallen away through want of thought, but had also become immersed in their sins, and were wickedly and abominably obstinate in them. Since then the Prophet saw this, he makes here a bold beginning, and addresses not only his own nation, for whom he was appointed a Teacher; but he speaks to the whole world.
For what purpose does he say, Hear, all ye people? (62) It was not certainly his object to proclaim indiscriminately to all the truth of God for the same end: but he summons here all nations as witnesses or judges, that the Jews might understand that their impiety would be made evident to all, except they repented, and that there was no reason for them to hope that they could conceal their baseness, for God would expose their hidden crimes as it were on an open stage. We hence see how emphatical are the words, when the Prophet calls on all nations and would have them to be witnesses of the judgment which God had resolved to bring on his people.
He afterwards adds, Let also the earth give ear and its fullness We may take the earth, by metonymy, for its inhabitants; but as it is added, and its fullness, the Prophet, I doubt not, meant here to address the very earth itself, though it be without reason. He means that so dreadful would be the judgment of God, as to shake created things which are void of sense; and thus he more severely upbraids the Jews with their stupor, that they heedlessly neglected the word of God, which yet would shake all the elements by its power.
He then immediately turns his discourse to the Jews: after having erected God’s tribunal and summoned all the nations, that they might form as it were a circle of a solemn company, he says, There will be for me the Lord Jehovah against you for a witness — the Lord from the temple of his holiness. By saying that God would be as a witness for him, he not only affirms that he was sent by God, but being as it were inflamed with zeal, he appeals here to God, and desires him to be present, that the wickedness and obstinacy of the people might not be unpunished; as though he said, “Let God, whose minister I am, be with me, and punish your impiety; let him prove that he is the author of this doctrine, which I declare from his mouth and by his command; let him not suffer you to escape unpunished, if ye do not repent.”
We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet, when he says that God would be for him a witness; as though he had said, that there was no room here to trifle; for if the Jews thought to elude God’s judgment they greatly deceived themselves; inasmuch as when he has given a command to his servants to treat with his people, he is at the same time present as a judge, and will not suffer his word to be rejected without immediately undertaking his own cause.
Nor is this addition superfluous, The Lord from the temple of his holiness: for we know how thoughtlessly the Jews were wont to boast that God dwelt in the midst of them. And this presumption so blinded them that they despised all the Prophets; for they thought it unlawful that any thing should be said to their disgrace, because they were the holy people of God, his holy heritage and chosen nation. Inasmuch then as the Lord had adopted them, they falsely boasted of his favors. Since then the Prophet knew that the people insolently gloried in those privileges, with which they had been honored by God, he now declares that God would be the avenger of impiety from his temple; as though he said, Ye boast that God is bound to you, and that he has so bound up his faith to you as to render his name to you a sport: he indeed dwells in his temple; but from thence he will manifest himself as an avenger, as he sees that you are perverse in your wickedness. We hence see that the Prophet beats down that foolish arrogance, by which the Jews were inflated; yea, he turns back on their own heads what they were wont boastingly to bring forward. After having made this introduction, to awaken slumbering men with as much vehemence as he could, he subjoins —
(62) שמעו עמים כלם, “Hear, ye peoples, all of them.” Were it not for a similar anomaly as to number in the following line, “Give ear, thou earth, and its fullness,” we might think that כלן is here a mistake for כלכם, as it is evidently the case in 1Sa 6:4, and Job 17:10; for in these two places there are several MSS. Which have כלכם, though here there is no variety. Some, to get rid of the difficulty, have suggested that כלם here is to be construed as an adverb, “universally,” regarding it as assuming the same form with חנם, “gratuitously,” and ריקם, “vainly.” But such irregularity is common in Hebrew; there is therefore no need of having recourse to such expedients.
The word עמים, peoples, may be rendered nations: for, notwithstanding the dissent of Drusius, what Horsley says seems to be correct, that עם in the plural number designates the heathen nations, as distinguished from the people of Israel. The verse literally is this, —
Hear, ye nations, — all of them; Give ear, thou earth, — even its fullness; And the Lord Jehovah shall be against you a witness The Lord from the temple of his holiness.
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
A CALL TO HARKEN . . . Mic. 1:2-4
RV . . . Hear, ye peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.
LXX . . . Hear these words, ye people; and let the earth give heed, and all that are in it: and the Lord God shall be among you for a testimony, the Lord out of his holy habitation. For, behold, the Lord comes forth out of his place, and will come down, and will go upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be shaken under him, and the valleys shall melt like wax before the fire, and as water rushing down a declivity.
COMMENTS
A CALL TO HEAR AND HARKEN . . .
EVIDENCE OF UNIVERSAL CONCERN . . . Mic. 1:2(a)
At the outset of Micahs recorded prophecy there is evidence of Gods universal concern for all men. The prophets call is to both ye peoples, all of you, and to (hearken) earth, and all therein is.
The term people is frequently used in Scripture to designate the covenant people of God. It is a term used to delineate between Israel and the nations. (e.g. Psa. 50:7)
In Mic. 1:2, Micah calls to ye people, all of you. His message is intended for all those to whom the expression the people may rightly be applied, both in the northern and southern kingdom.
By his use of . . . earth and all that therein is, Micah calls the whole world to listen to Gods indictment of His covenant people. The use of earth and all that therein is to describe the non-covenant nations (i.e. the Gentiles) was one of longstanding precedent.
Moses, in Deu. 32:1, uses this expression to declare to all mankind the name and greatness of Jehovah.
Micahs contemporary, Isaiah, used the same phrase to tell all mankind that Gods people have rebelled against Him. (Isa. 1:2)
Two reasons are apparent for Gods concern that the earth and all that is in it hear His charges against both Samaria and Jerusalem; i.e. against both branches of the covenant people: (1) All men have a vital interest in the fulfillment of the covenant through the people. The more nationalistic the people became, and the more their religious practices became polluted with Baalism, the less aware they became of Gods promise to bless, through them, all the nations of the earth. But God never forgot. (2) The time was fast approaching when God would cast off His rebellious people. When this happened, neither the world nor the people themselves would have any reason to say that God was unfaithful. None could say that He had not warned the people of the dire consequence of their failure to keep His covenant and obey His law. (Cf. Rom. 11:1-4)
A vital lesson is to be learned from this verse by todays people, the church, namely that he who will not learn from Gods past dealings with His people can blame only himself and not God for his own suffering. When the Jews were finally cast off by God it was after they had ignored not only the warning of the prophets but the meaning of the captivity which they endured as a result of not heeding that warning.
THE LORD IS TO BE WITNESS . . . Mic. 1:2(b)
The condemnation of God is never arbitrary, The people are to have a fair trial. The star witness for the prosecution is to be the Lord Jehovah Himself.
Moses had issued a similar warning of impending judgment, And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they shall see the plagues of the land, the sickness wherewith Jehovah hath made it sick; and that the whole land thereof is brimstone and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, not any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zebion, which Jehovah overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath: even all the nations shall say, whereof hath Jehovah done this unto this land? Then men shall say, because they forsook the covenant of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that He had not given them: therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring down upon it all the curse that is written in this book; and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day. (Deu. 29:22-28)
Anyone who has visited present day Palestine has been amazed that this land was once called a land flowing with milk and honey. Excepting those sections that have felt the improvements of modern technology and agricultural reclamation, it is a barren rocky wasteland. Such a visitor finds himself asking, Wherefore hath Jehovah done this to this land?
The answer of both Moses and the prophets is . . . because they (Gods people) forsook, the covenant of Jehovah . . . What is true of the land is equally true of the people who once inhabited it. Micah presents the Lord Himself as the chief witness to the justice of Gods wrath against His rebellious people.
Nor is the Lord the only witness. The defense of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was essentially the same testimony against the people as that made by the Lord in the prophetic writings. The burden of Stephens defense is that Gods dealing with the people had always been progressive, toward the accomplishment of His eternal purpose to bless all men rather than static and prejudiced toward the commonwealth of the Jews. This purpose Stephen saw as universal rather than local. Underlying his entire argument is Stephens insistence that Gods treatment of Israel has always been ethical, rather than erratic. His actions are governed by the same morality He demands of them. Stephen closes with the classic accusation that the people have always been stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears to the point of murdering the prophets whom God sent to call them back to the covenant. (Cf. Acts, chapter seven)
THE LORD IS IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE . . . Mic. 1:2(c) – Mic. 1:3(a)
The temple here is not necessarily, nor even probably the temple at Jerusalem. Psa. 11:4 speaks of Jehovah in His holy temple. The eleventh Psalm is generally recognized as a Psalm of David, and was therefore written before there was a temple in Jerusalem.
The temple, or holy dwelling place out of which the Lord comes to testify against His people is His real dwelling place. The sanctuary of Solomons temple (or its reconstructed post-Babylonian counterpart) was never more than a type of the real habitation of God.
We have this on the word of no less an author than the writer of the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews. Heb. 8:5 (a) informs us that the tabernacle (which was given permanence in the building of the temple) was . . . a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.
God is not an absentee God. He does not dwell in temples made by hand, (Act. 17:24) it is true, but the fact that He is invisible is not to be misunderstood. His judgments in history are evidence that the Lord of Lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see . . . (1Ti. 6:15(b)-16) does indeed come forth out of His place, and will come down . . . (Mic. 1:3)
There is no need to read the second advent of Christ into these verses. God has always come out of His holy place to chastise His people. Perhaps these historic comings, such as this one spoken by Micah, are a foretaste, a warning, of the final coming of Christ in judgment, but the words of Micah were fulfilled in the judgments of God against the northern and southern kingdoms at the hands of Sargon and Nebuchadnezzar.
TREAD UPON THE HIGH PLACES . . . Mic. 1:3(b) +
The high places refer to Baal worship. They were generally any natural or man-made projection which stood above their surroundings. (Cf. 1Ki. 13:32 and 2Ki. 23:15)
High places were forbidden by the law (Deu. 12:11-14) and when Israel entered the promised land they were instructed to destroy them as monuments to Canaanite idolatry. (Cf. Lev. 26:30, Num. 33:52, Deu. 33:29) These commandments were so completely ignored by the people that they became practically unknown.
By divine command, Gideon built altars in the high places, as did also Manoah. (Jdg. 6:25-26; Jdg. 13:16-23) Samuel also appears to have violated the commandment against high places in building the altar at Mizpah, (1Sa. 7:10) and again at Bethlehem, (1Sa. 16:5) Saul transgressed this command at Gilgal and Ajalon. (Compare 1Sa. 13:9; 1Sa. 14:35) David ignored the divine ordinance against high places on the threshing floor at Ornan, (1Ch. 21:26) as did Elijah on Mount Carmel (1Ki. 18:30) and other prophets. (1Sa. 10:5)
Some of the above named men violated this command in obedience to directive from God for a special purpose (e.g. Elijahs contest with the prophets of Baal.)
Rehoboam instituted definite worship in the high places. (2Ch. 11:15, 2Ki. 23:9)
Hezekiahs reforms included the systematic elimination of these shrines to paganism. (2Ki. 18:4; 2Ki. 18:22, 2Ch. 31:1) This task was completed under Josiah. 2 Kings 23, 2Ch. 34:3)
After this systematic destruction, there is no further mention of the worship of Jehovah in high places in the Old Testament. However, the worship in these hills mentioned by the Samaritan women at Jacobs well (John, chapter four) was probably a vestige of this despicable practice of mixing Jehovah worship with Baal worship. Baalbek, the last surviving center of sun god worship, continued to flourish under the Roman domination of the New Testament period and well into the third century A.D.
The working of God in history has long since trodden down the high places of Baal worship and of polluted Jehovah worship, but the influence of Baal among Gods people is apparent yet today as Christians continue the observance of the same holy days by the use of many of the same devices and customs.
The more one learns of the abominable practice of Baal worship and of its devastating effect upon the covenant people, the more one questions the wisdom of promoting such days and customs in the church. The history of virtually every major Christian holiday is traceable directly to the worship of the sun god in one form or another.
MOUNTAINS TO MELT, VALLEYS TO MELT LIKE WAX . . .Mic. 1:4
Fire is the traditional symbol of Gods purifying judgment. Moses, exhorting Israel against covenant breaking, warned; Take heed to yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee. For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. (Deu. 4:23-24)
It is fitting that Micah, and other prophets (e.g. Isa. 66:15) in their attempt to call the people back to the covenant through obedience to the law, should remind them of this symbol. The heat of Gods wrath is depicted as melting the mountains and turning the valleys to wax. The symbolism is obvious, both the high and the low, the great and the small will be devoured by Gods fiery wrath. God is no respecter of persons. As the song writer has put it:
The great man was there, but his greatness
When death came was left far behind.
The angel who opened the records
Not a trace of his greatness could find.
No matter how high or low the station, hearts hard as stone against the pleading of Gods prophets become like wax in the presence of His wrath. One of the primary warnings of the prophets is that human greatness does not bring preferential treatment from God.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(2) Hear, all ye people.The three-fold repetition of the appeal, Hear ye, seems to mark three divisions in the book: 1. Hear, all ye people (Mic. 1:2); 2. Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob (Mic. 3:1); 3. Hear ye now what the Lord saith (Mic. 6:1).
From his holy templei.e., from heaven; for the Lord is in His holy temple, the Lords throne is in heaven (Psa. 11:4).
Micaiah, the son of Imlah, ended his appeal to Ahab and Jehoshaphat with the words with which Micah opens his prophecy, Hearken, O people, every one of you (1Ki. 22:28).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
JUDGMENT UPON ISRAEL AND JUDAH, Mic 1:2-16.
Micah is impelled by the Divine Spirit to announce the destruction of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capitals of Israel and Judah. The latter may not suffer as soon as the former; nevertheless, escape is impossible. The prophecy opens with a sublime apostrophe to the nations of the earth and a magnificent picture of the approach of Jehovah in judgment (2-4). Samaria will be laid in ruins on account of her sins (5-7). In time the judgment will fall also upon Judah (8-16). The announcement to Judah the prophet puts into the form of a lament over its fall, a lament indicating the deep emotion which sways the prophet as he contemplates the terrible calamity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The judgment upon Samaria, Mic 1:2-7.
Mic 1:2-4 picture the coming of Jehovah in judgment.
All ye people; O earth, all that therein is A sublime apostrophe to the whole earth. All the nations of the earth are to listen and take warning, for a world judgment is decreed by Jehovah. Because these verses speak of a world judgment, while ordinarily the book speaks of judgment upon Israel or Judah only, Stade and Marti consider 2-4 a later interpolation by some one who could not understand how Judah and Israel alone could be punished, when other nations deserved even more the divine judgment. This conclusion does not follow necessarily; as an introduction to a more specific announcement these verses are perfectly natural. Similar expressions are found in other parts of the Old Testament (Deu 4:26; Deu 30:19; Deu 31:28; Isa 1:2). In 1Ki 22:28, the words may be a later interpolation from this passage (compare LXX.).
And let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you Perhaps better, that the Lord Jehovah will be witness against you. Be witness is equivalent to be accuser. Since in 2a the nations are addressed, it seems only natural to interpret these words as addressed to the same. Micah means to announce the coming of Jehovah to a general judgment, though at present he will confine himself to Israel and Judah (5ff.). To understand Mic 1:2 as addressed to Israel, “people” (literally, peoples) referring to the tribes constituting the nation, is arbitrary and unnatural, and to refer 2a to the nations and “against you” in 2b to Israel is even less warranted.
From his holy temple Not the temple in Jerusalem, but, as “come down” inverse 3 shows, the dwelling place of Jehovah on high (Psa 11:4). On holy see comment on Joe 2:1; Zec 14:20.
For Mic 1:3 does not state the reason why the people should give ear; it is rather the continuation of the statement in 2b. A better translation would be, Yea, behold.
Cometh More accurately, is about to come (G.-K., 116p.). The event is thought to be imminent. The language of Mic 1:3-4 is highly poetic. As frequently in the Old Testament (for example, Psa 18:7 ff.), Mic 1:4 describes the appearance of Jehovah in the imagery of a thunderstorm, while Mic 1:3 seems to think of him as a mighty hero leaving his castle and going forth to war.
His place Temple (Mic 1:2).
Come down From heaven to earth.
Tread upon the high places See on Amo 4:13.
The present Hebrew text does not show the several clauses of Mic 1:4 in their logical order. A more natural arrangement would be, “And the mountains shall be melted under him as wax before the fire, and the valleys shall be cleft as waters that are poured down a steep place.” Whether or not this was the original order, the present arrangement being due to a later copyist, cannot be determined. The picture is that of a terrible thunderstorm.
Molten Some have interpreted this simile of the flashes of lightning, which seem to dissolve the mountains. It is better, however, to think of streams of water that pour from heaven until the very mountains appear to be dissolved by them (Jdg 5:5; Psa 68:8).
Cleft This is a continuation of the first simile. The water rushes on with such force that it cuts out deep channels, until the valleys seem to be cleft asunder. The force of these torrents is likened to the force of water falling over a high precipice. Both similes imply utter destruction, and they are intended to teach that, when Jehovah passes through the earth in judgment, nothing but ruin and desolation is left behind.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mic 1:2. Let the Lord God be witness, &c. “I call the Almighty to witness, that I have forewarned you of the judgments hanging over your heads, and which will inevitably fall upon you, unless you speedily repent; and the Almighty himself will become a witness against you, and convince you of your sins, in such a manner, that you shall not be able to deny the charge.” This sublime and elevated beginning indicates the importance of what he was about to say, and the lively impression which was made upon him by the sins of Israel, and the misfortunes about to fall upon them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mic 1:2 Hear, 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.
Ver. 2. Hear, all ye people ] He beginneth as Isaiah, in a lofty and stately style, pouring himself out in a golden flood of words (as Cicero speaketh of Aristotle’s Politics), and calling for utmost attention and affection; as knowing that he had to do with men more deaf than sea monsters, and more dull than the very earth they trod on; which is therefore here commanded to hearken, since men (that habitable part of God’s earth, Pro 8:31 ) will not hear and give ear; wherein they are worse than the insensible creatures, Psa 119:91 .
And let the Lord God be witness against you
The Lord from his holy temple
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hear, all ye people. Micah begins by taking up the concluding words of the other Micah or Micaiah (1Ki 22:28), and recurs to them in Mic 3:1, Mic 3:9; Mic 6:1, Mic 6:2. Five times, not three, as some say; and forms no part of the Structure of the whole book. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:1). App-92.
all ye = ye peoples, all of them.
people = peoples. Including ourselves.
all that therein is = her fullness.
let the Lord GOD be witness. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 31:50).
the Lord. Hebrew Adonai. App-4.
GOD Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
the LORD*. One of the 134 places where the Sopherim say they altered “Jehovah” of the primitive text to “Adonai”. See App-32.
from His holy temple. Compare Psa 11:4. Jon 2:7. Hab 2:20.
holy. See note on Exo 3:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mic 1:2-4
A CALL TO HEAR AND HARKEN . . . Mic 1:2-4
EVIDENCE OF UNIVERSAL CONCERN . . . Mic 1:2(a)
At the outset of Micahs recorded prophecy there is evidence of Gods universal concern for all men. The prophets call is to both ye peoples, all of you, and to (hearken) earth, and all therein is. The term people is frequently used in Scripture to designate the covenant people of God. It is a term used to delineate between Israel and the nations. (e.g. Psa 50:7) In Mic 1:2, Micah calls to ye people, all of you. His message is intended for all those to whom the expression the people may rightly be applied, both in the northern and southern kingdom. By his use of . . . earth and all that therein is, Micah calls the whole world to listen to Gods indictment of His covenant people. The use of earth and all that therein is to describe the non-covenant nations (i.e. the Gentiles) was one of longstanding precedent. Moses, in Deu 32:1, uses this expression to declare to all mankind the name and greatness of Jehovah. Micahs contemporary, Isaiah, used the same phrase to tell all mankind that Gods people have rebelled against Him. (Isa 1:2)
Two reasons are apparent for Gods concern that the earth and all that is in it hear His charges against both Samaria and Jerusalem; i.e. against both branches of the covenant people: (1) All men have a vital interest in the fulfillment of the covenant through the people. The more nationalistic the people became, and the more their religious practices became polluted with Baalism, the less aware they became of Gods promise to bless, through them, all the nations of the earth. But God never forgot. (2) The time was fast approaching when God would cast off His rebellious people. When this happened, neither the world nor the people themselves would have any reason to say that God was unfaithful. None could say that He had not warned the people of the dire consequence of their failure to keep His covenant and obey His law. (Cf. Rom 11:1-4)
A vital lesson is to be learned from this verse by todays people, the church, namely that he who will not learn from Gods past dealings with His people can blame only himself and not God for his own suffering. When the Jews were finally cast off by God it was after they had ignored not only the warning of the prophets but the meaning of the captivity which they endured as a result of not heeding that warning.
Zerr: Mic 1:2. The Lord God was about to be a witness against the people. The significance of that is that since God knows everything, there could be no question as to the truth of the testimony about to be uttered. From his holy temple refers to the throne of the universe, which indicates the supreme headquarters from which the testimony was to be issued.
THE LORD IS TO BE WITNESS . . . Mic 1:2(b)
The condemnation of God is never arbitrary, The people are to have a fair trial. The star witness for the prosecution is to be the Lord Jehovah Himself. Moses had issued a similar warning of impending judgment, And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they shall see the plagues of the land, the sickness wherewith Jehovah hath made it sick; and that the whole land thereof is brimstone and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, not any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zebion, which Jehovah overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath: even all the nations shall say, whereof hath Jehovah done this unto this land? Then men shall say, because they forsook the covenant of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that He had not given them: therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring down upon it all the curse that is written in this book; and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day. (Deu 29:22-28)
Anyone who has visited present day Palestine has been amazed that this land was once called a land flowing with milk and honey. Excepting those sections that have felt the improvements of modern technology and agricultural reclamation, it is a barren rocky wasteland. Such a visitor finds himself asking, Wherefore hath Jehovah done this to this land? The answer of both Moses and the prophets is . . . because they (Gods people) forsook, the covenant of Jehovah . . . What is true of the land is equally true of the people who once inhabited it. Micah presents the Lord Himself as the chief witness to the justice of Gods wrath against His rebellious people.
Nor is the Lord the only witness. The defense of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was essentially the same testimony against the people as that made by the Lord in the prophetic writings. The burden of Stephens defense is that Gods dealing with the people had always been progressive, toward the accomplishment of His eternal purpose to bless all men rather than static and prejudiced toward the commonwealth of the Jews. This purpose Stephen saw as universal rather than local. Underlying his entire argument is Stephens insistence that Gods treatment of Israel has always been ethical, rather than erratic. His actions are governed by the same morality He demands of them. Stephen closes with the classic accusation that the people have always been stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears to the point of murdering the prophets whom God sent to call them back to the covenant. (Cf. Acts, chapter seven)
THE LORD IS IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE . . .
Mic 1:2(c) – Mic 1:3(a)
The temple here is not necessarily, nor even probably the temple at Jerusalem. Psa 11:4 speaks of Jehovah in His holy temple. The eleventh Psalm is generally recognized as a Psalm of David, and was therefore written before there was a temple in Jerusalem. The temple, or holy dwelling place out of which the Lord comes to testify against His people is His real dwelling place. The sanctuary of Solomons temple (or its reconstructed post-Babylonian counterpart) was never more than a type of the real habitation of God. We have this on the word of no less an author than the writer of the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews. Heb 8:5 (a) informs us that the tabernacle (which was given permanence in the building of the temple) was . . . a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.
God is not an absentee God. He does not dwell in temples made by hand, (Act 17:24) it is true, but the fact that He is invisible is not to be misunderstood. His judgments in history are evidence that the Lord of Lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see . . . (1Ti 6:15(b)-16) does indeed come forth out of His place, and will come down . . . (Mic 1:3) There is no need to read the second advent of Christ into these verses. God has always come out of His holy place to chastise His people. Perhaps these historic comings, such as this one spoken by Micah, are a foretaste, a warning, of the final coming of Christ in judgment, but the words of Micah were fulfilled in the judgments of God against the northern and southern kingdoms at the hands of Sargon and Nebuchadnezzar.
Zerr: Mic 1:3. The holy temple in heaven is the Lord’s personal duelling place, hut He is everywhere at all times in a spiritual sense. And He. is spoken of as being in or coming to specific spots on the earth when some definite work is to be accomplished, such as inflicting a chastisement on His people for their sins.
TREAD UPON THE HIGH PLACES . . . Mic 1:3(b)
The high places refer to Baal worship. They were generally any natural or man-made projection which stood above their surroundings. (Cf. 1Ki 13:32 and 2Ki 23:15) High places were forbidden by the law (Deu 12:11-14) and when Israel entered the promised land they were instructed to destroy them as monuments to Canaanite idolatry. (Cf. Lev 26:30, Num 33:52, Deu 33:29) These commandments were so completely ignored by the people that they became practically unknown. By divine command, Gideon built altars in the high places, as did also Manoah. (Jdg 6:25-26; Jdg 13:16-23) Samuel also appears to have violated the commandment against high places in building the altar at Mizpah, (1Sa 7:10) and again at Bethlehem, (1Sa 16:5) Saul transgressed this command at Gilgal and Ajalon. (Compare 1Sa 13:9; 1Sa 14:35) David ignored the divine ordinance against high places on the threshing floor at Ornan, (1Ch 21:26) as did Elijah on Mount Carmel (1Ki 18:30) and other prophets. (1Sa 10:5)
Some of the above named men violated this command in obedience to directive from God for a special purpose (e.g. Elijahs contest with the prophets of Baal.) Rehoboam instituted definite worship in the high places. (2Ch 11:15, 2Ki 23:9) Hezekiahs reforms included the systematic elimination of these shrines to paganism. (2Ki 18:4; 2Ki 18:22, 2Ch 31:1) This task was completed under Josiah. 2 Kings 23, 2Ch 34:3) After this systematic destruction, there is no further mention of the worship of Jehovah in high places in the Old Testament. However, the worship in these hills mentioned by the Samaritan women at Jacobs well (John, chapter four) was probably a vestige of this despicable practice of mixing Jehovah worship with Baal worship. Baalbek, the last surviving center of sun god worship, continued to flourish under the Roman domination of the New Testament period and well into the third century A.D.
The working of God in history has long since trodden down the high places of Baal worship and of polluted Jehovah worship, but the influence of Baal among Gods people is apparent yet today as Christians continue the observance of the same holy days by the use of many of the same devices and customs.
The more one learns of the abominable practice of Baal worship and of its devastating effect upon the covenant people, the more one questions the wisdom of promoting such days and customs in the church. The history of virtually every major Christian holiday is traceable directly to the worship of the sun god in one form or another.
MOUNTAINS TO MELT, VALLEYS TO MELT LIKE WAX
Mic 1:4
Fire is the traditional symbol of Gods purifying judgment. Moses, exhorting Israel against covenant breaking, warned; Take heed to yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee. For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. (Deu 4:23-24) It is fitting that Micah, and other prophets (e.g. Isa 66:15) in their attempt to call the people back to the covenant through obedience to the law, should remind them of this symbol. The heat of Gods wrath is depicted as melting the mountains and turning the valleys to wax. The symbolism is obvious, both the high and the low, the great and the small will be devoured by Gods fiery wrath. God is no respecter of persons. As the song writer has put it:
The great man was there, but his greatness
When death came was left far behind.
The angel who opened the records
Not a trace of his greatness could find.
No matter how high or low the station, hearts hard as stone against the pleading of Gods prophets become like wax in the presence of His wrath. One of the primary warnings of the prophets is that human greatness does not bring preferential treatment from God.
Zerr: Mic 1:4. The power of God is illustrated by the figurative melting of mountains and cleaving of the alleys. AH of the material events mentioned in this verse are for the same purpose, to indicate that God can do as he wills with kingdoms of men.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
all ye people: Heb. ye people all of them
hearken: Mic 6:1, Mic 6:2, Deu 32:1, Psa 49:1, Psa 49:2, Psa 50:1, Isa 1:2, Jer 22:29, Mar 7:14-16, Rev 2:7, Rev 2:11, Rev 2:17, Rev 2:29, Rev 3:6, Rev 3:13, Rev 3:22
all that therein is: Heb. the fulness thereof, Psa 24:1, Psa 50:12
let: Psa 50:7, Jer 29:23, Mal 2:14, Mal 3:5
the Lord from: Psa 11:4, Psa 28:2, Jon 2:7, Hab 2:20
Reciprocal: Gen 31:50 – God Deu 4:26 – I call heaven 1Sa 24:15 – be judge 1Ki 22:28 – Hearken Jer 7:2 – Hear Jer 42:5 – The Lord be Eze 19:7 – the fulness Eze 46:18 – thrust Joe 1:2 – Hear
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mic 1:2. The Lord God was about to be a witness against the people. The significance of that ts that since God knows everything, there could be no question as to the truth of the testimony about to be uttered. From his holy temple refers to the throne of the universe, which indicates the supreme headquarters from which the testimony was to be issued.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mic 1:2-4. 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 the judgments that hang over your heads, unless you speedily repent. And he himself will become a witness against you, and convince you of your sins in such a manner that you shall not be able to deny the charge. The Lord from his holy temple Heaven, his holy habitation. The Lord cometh forth out of his place God is said, in Scripture, to come out of his place, or heaven, when he makes his judgments or mercies to be remarkably conspicuous, by 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 Gods 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 the heavens and the earth shall be dissolved at Christs appearing.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mic 1:2-9. 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. Hab 2:20, Isa 63:15, Psalms 114), and down (cf. Exo 19:11) upon the heights (Amo 4:13), His presence being revealed as by earthquake shock (cf. Isa 24:19) and volcanic eruption (Mic 1:2-4). 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 (Mic 1:5-7). Because of this judgment, the prophet goes mourning, barefoot and cloakless (2Sa 15:30, Isa 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 (Mic 1:8 f.; see Introduction for historical occasion)
Mic 1:5. Read sin, both for sins, and for high places, with VSS.
Mic 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 Hos 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 Deu 23:18.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
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.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
II. THE FIRST ORACLE: ISRAEL’S IMPENDING JUDGMENT AND FUTURE RESTORATION 1:2-2:13
This is the first of three messages that compose the Book of Micah (cf. chs. 3-5; 6-7). Each of these messages gives evidence of containing other messages that Micah evidently preached and then compiled into the canonical form in which we have them. Each of the three main messages begins with the same imperative (Heb. shm’), translated "Hear" (cf. Deu 6:4). In each one, promises of restoration follow predictions of ruin. Words of hope follow announcements of doom.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
A. The judgment coming on Israel 1:2-7
This opening pericope sets the tone and forms the backdrop for the rest of the book. All people were to hear God’s indictment against His people (Mic 1:2). Punishment was coming (Mic 1:3-4) that would be both reasonable (Mic 1:5) and certain (Mic 1:6-7).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Micah cried, "Hear ye, hear ye!" to the people of the earth, as a clerk summons a courtroom jury to pay attention to the testimony that will follow. Micah presented his message in the setting of a courtroom trial. This is the rib (lawsuit) oracle form, examples of which are quite common in the Prophets. Sovereign Yahweh was about to give His witness against His people ("you," Micah’s audience; cf. Deu 31:19-21; Deu 31:26). This appeal assumes that those called on to listen will agree with the testimony to be given. The Lord would come out of His temple to give His testimony. The Hebrew word hekal literally means "palace" rather than "temple." It refers to the location of the throne of judgment. This appears to be a reference to God’s heavenly temple in view of the following verses (cf. Psa 11:4; Isa 3:13-14; Hab 2:20).
"What the peoples are supposed to hear serves not to increase their knowledge but to determine their lives." [Note: Hans W. Wolff, Micah, p. 55.]