Micah: A Commentary (The New Testament Library) 0664232337, 9780664232337

Table of contents :
MICAH
PREFACE
ABBREVIATIONS
INTRODUCTION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
COMMENTARY

Citation preview

ISBN 0-664-23233-7

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JAM~ LUTHER

MICAH

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THE OLD TESTAMENT LIBRARY

General Editors PETER ACKROYD, university of London JAMES BARR, Oxford University BERNHARD w. ANDERSON, Princeton Theological Seminary JAMES L. MAYS, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

Advisory Editor JOHN BRIGHT, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

JAMES LUTHER MAYS

MllCAH A Commentary

THE WESTMINSTER PRESS PHILADELPHIA

Because she made the years of its writing such good years this book is dedicated to Mary Will Mays

© 1976 James Luther Mays

Published by The Westminster Press8 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Mays, James Luther. Micah : a commentary. (The Old Testament library) Bibliography: p. 1. Bible. O.T. Micah-Commentaries. I. Bible. O.T. Micah. English. 1976. II. Title. III. Series. BS1615.3.M39 224'.93'07 76-2599 ISBN 0-664-23233-7

CONTENTS Preface .Abbreviations I. Introduction 1. The form of the book Part One: 1.2-5.15 Part Two: 6.1-7.20 2. Micah the Moreshite The sayings of Micah Theman The mission of Micah 3. The formation of the book of Micah Part One: chapters 1-5 Part Two: chapters 6-7

Bibliograpl!J II. Commentary 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. IO. II.

12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

The title: I.I Capital punishment for the capital cities: 1.2-16 Let the world hear the witness of the Lord: 1.2 The coining of the Lord: 1.3-5 The punishment of Samaria: I .6f. A wail over the wound of the Lord: I.8-16 The plan of men and the plan of God: 2.I-5 Don't preach such things: 2.6-II The Lord will lead the remnant away: 2.12£ Cannibals in the court: 3.1-4 Those who sell the word shall lose it: 3.5-8 The terrible word: 3.g-12 'A city set on a hill': 4.1-5 The crippled shall become strong: 4.6f. Doininion shall be restored to Jerusalem: 4.8 The loss of the city is the way to redemption: 4.9f. Thethreatenedcitywilltriumph:4.11-I3 The present and future kings: 5.1-4 (MT 4.14-5.3)

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2 4 9 12 12 15 17 21 23 29

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36 36 38 39 41 45 48 60 66 73 76 80 86 93 99 102 I04 106 111

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CONTENTS

19. Peace with Assyria: 5.5f. (MT w.4£). 20. The remnant among the peoples: 5.7-g (MTw.6-8) !.II. The divine purge: 5.10-15 (MT w.g-14) 22. God's salvation is his justification: 6.1-5 23. It's you, not something, God wants: 6.6-8 24. Guilt and punishmeht under the covenant: 6.g-16 25. The loneliness of the faithful: 7.1-6 !.16. The literary analysis of 7.7-20 27. The decision to wait: 7.7 28. The exodus from darkness to light: 7.8-10 29. The day of restoration: 7.11-13 30. Let the history of salvation resume: 7.14-17 31. God's victory over sin: 7.18-20

117 121 123 127 136 143 149 152 156 157 16o 162 166

PREFACE

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HE Boo K OF Micah has not received the attention it deserves i1t publications in English. That may be partly because of the challenge it presents to the interpreter. In some parts of the book the text is in bad condition. There is not much homogeneity in the style and content. It reflects a variety of circumstances and was formed over a rather long period for such a short book. In many respects it is a miniature of the book of Isiah, but without sufficiently large blocks of material to provide the same amount of data to bring to bear on particular problems. In this commentary I hope some justice has been done to all dimensions of the book. It has been my intention to provide the user with a guide to the individual sayings, to the way they were understood and used as they were gathered into large complexes and integrated into the growing collection, and to their role in the final form of the document. I am convinced that the book is not just a collection of prophetic sayings, but is the outcome of a history of prophetic proclamation and is itself in its final form prophecy. The material can and ought to be heard as prophecy in the various settings which belong to the history ofits formation. The translation of the text in the commentary is part of the comment, and not offered as an alternative to the several good translations of the Old Testament published in recent years. It undertakes to display those features of the Hebrew text which are pertinent to the comment, rather than literary polish. Biblical chapter and verse numbers follow the English Bible to avoid complicated citations; the reader is reminded at the beginning of each unit where the verse numbering of the Massoretic Text differs. Names cited in parentheses within the comment are those of commentators or authors of major works listed in the Bibliography or previously cited in footnotes on the particular passage. The Bibliography is, ofcourse, only a selection. Other items relevant to particular problems are listed within the commentary. Among those whose interest and encouragement have helped in the preparation of the commentary, some must be named. My colleagues, John Bright and Patrick D. Miller, Jr., have never failed to

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PREFACE

respond to requests for their judgment and advice. The hospitality and assistance of Walther Zimmerli during a recent sabbatical in Gottingen is remembered with gratitude. Hannah Clark, ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church and secretary of the Biblical Department, gave her enthusiasm and competence during the early stage of work on the manuscript. Before it was completed she died suddenly and left those of us who had worked with her a sense of loss that will not diminish. ArleneJones helped greatly at the end.

ABBREVIATIONS The Ancient Near East in Pictures relating to the Old Testament, ed.J. B. Pritchard, 1954 ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, ed.J. B. Pritchard, 1955 8 ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch BA The Biblical Archaeologist BDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver and C. A. Briggs, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon ofthe Old Testament, rev. ed., 1957 BH Biblia Hebraica, ed. R. Kittel, 19373 BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia 10, 'Liber XII Prophetarum', ed. K. Elliger, 1970 BK Biblischer Kommentar BO Bibliotheca Orientalis BZAW Beihefte zur l(,eitschriftfur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CAT Commentairedel'Ancien Testament FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literature des Alten und Neuen Testaments Septuagint G GKa Gesenius-Kautzsch, Hebrew Grammar, 1910 HAL L. Koehler and W. Baumgartner, Hebriiisches und aramiiisches Lexikon .tum Alten Testammt, 19673 HAT Handbuch zum Alten Testament Handkommentar zum Alten Testament HK HTR Harvard Theological Review The Interpreter's Bible IB ICC The International Critical Commentary IDB Interpreter's Dictionary ofthe Bible Int Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology ]BL Journal ofBiblical Literature KAT Kommentar zum Alten Testament KHC Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten Testament Massoretic Text MT Old Testament Library OTL s Peshitta ANEP

xii SAT SBT

TDNT TBA. T

ABBREVIATIONS

Die Schriften des Alten Testaments Studies in Biblical Theology

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Eng. trans. of TWNT), 1964ff. Theologisches Handwiirterbuch .tUm Alten Testament, ed. E. Jenni and C. Westermann, 1971ff.

ThB TWNT

Theologische Bilcherei

VT

Vetus Testamentum

Theologisches Worterbuch ~um Neuen Testament, ed. G. Kittel, 1932ff.

WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament

;:,AW :(,DMG QJPV

:(,eitschriftftr die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft :(,eitschrift der deutschen morganliindischen Gesellschajt :(,eitschrift des deutschen Paliistina-Vereins

Il INTRODUCTION

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ICAH (mikah I.I, or mikiiyah Jer.26.I8) is the short form of the Hebrew name that means 'Who is like YHWH ?' (mikiiyahil or mikayahu). The name is in fact an exclamation of praise, an expression of adoration and wonder at the incomparable God of Israel. The name belonged to a man from the village of Moresheth in Judah who was called by God to be his spokesman. His mission gave the originating impulse to the formation of the prophetic book which bears his name. The name is appropriate for a book whose range reflects the greatness of God. It is difficult to imagine a document which could offer in seven chapters a more comprehensive testimony to YHWH. Diametrically opposed aspects of the activity of God and his revelation finds expression in the sayings collected and arranged in the book. In the sayings YHWH speaks and is described as God of Israel and of the nations, Judge and Saviour, majestic in wrath and astonishing in compassion, worker of justice and promiser of forgiveness. He scatters his people and collects them as his flock; he destroys Zion and 'resurrects' her; he threatens the nations with humiliation and offers them peace. There is a corresponding richness in the style and genre oflanguage in the book. It contains announcements of judgment, oracles of salvation, controversy sayings, a lawsuit speech, instruction, laments, prayer, a proclamation of YHWH's appearance, a hymn. The historical setting of the sayings extends from the second half of the eighth century BC to the end of the sixth. In its variety and historical scope the book of Micah is a miniature of the book oflsaiah to which it is related in so many ways. This variety and historical scope sets the task for a commentary on

INTRODUCTION

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the book of Micah. A commentary must undertake first of all to identify the individual sayings collected in the book and to determine their original historical setting so that each can be heard in its own right. It must attempt to trace and follow the stages in which the sayings were collected and seek to discern the way they are to be understood as the word ofYHWH in the new and broader context in which they were set. Was the process of collecting and arranging more or less arbitrary and based only on a concern with the past and its tradition, or did it grow out of a perception of the meaning and coherence oflarger groupings as a testimony to YHWH? A commentary must also seek to do justice to the present form of the book as the final stage in the shaping of a prophetic witness to YHWH. What is its coherence? Is there a prophetic intention which pervades the whole and makes the book itself an instance of prophecy as well as a hermeneutical context in which its parts are to be heard? The last question involves more than simply a consideration of the final stage of redaction. It asks whether the book itself can be read with a measure of continuity and unity as prophecy in a larger sense, heard as 'the word ofYHWH' in a fashion that does justice to the title. In the following discussion, the last question is dealt with first in hope that an awareness of the content, arrangement, and integrating features of the book will provide a point of vantage for dealing with the mission of Micah as the book's origin and then with an attempt to discern the history of its formation. The comment on single passages will point to the way the sayings are related to their literary context as part of the whole and to their place in process of forming the book.

1.

THE FORM OF THE BOOK

Like the other prophetic books Micah is a collection of brief literary units. These units with their own structure, style, and theme have for the most part been maintained in the collection in their distinctiveness. It is generally possible to recognize these units for individual study and to ask about their original historical setting. This analytical approach is essential to any grasp of the material of which the book is composed. Dealt with in this fashion the units lose their context in the book and are understood in relation to a reconstructed historical situation. When the book is studied carefully with an interest, not in what makes it come apart, but in what holds it together, then a variety of

THE FORM OF THE BOOK

3 integrating features begin to appear.• Catchwords and repeated motifs connect units which lie in sequence in the arrangement, and sometimes those which lie in different parts of the book. Units are sometimes arranged according to similar style and subject. Passages are placed in sequence S() that their contrasting or complementary messages may be heard in relation to each other. Introductory rubrics are repeated to link units into larger complexes. Transitions lead from one unit into the next. These features are identified and discussed in the comment on particular passages. Beyond these features there is an arrangement of the material which employs them in a movement of proclamation that flows through the entire book. The structure of this arrangement does not, of course, have the clarity and coherence of an original composition where the movement of thought creates the material. But there does seem to be a discernible pattern in the material which is the result of an accumulative and sustained intention to say something which incorporates all the smaller parts into a larger message. The book is composed of two major parts, 1.2-5.15 and 6.1-7.20. Each part opens with an introductory summons to hear which identifies its audience (1.2 and 6.1a). Each is arranged so as to unfold a revelation ofYHWH's way in the world. The first part is addressed to a universal audience of all peoples. It combines YHWH's judgment of Samaria and Jerusalem (1.3-3.12) and his redemption of Zion and Israel (4.1-5.9) into a witness to the nations that YHWH's coming kingdom faces them with a choice between subinission (4.1-4) and punishment (5.10-15). The second is addressed to Israel. It portrays an Israel that lives under the inescapable judgment of God (6.1-7.6) and yet stands before the proinise of the salvation of God (7.8-17), an Israel who must and may expect that salvation (7.7) only through the forgiveness of God (7.18-20). Each section is rounded off by a passage which concludes its movement, the first with the threat of YHWH's vengeance on the disobedient nations (5.15) and the second with a hymn to the compassion of God. Within each section there is evidence in the arrangement and shaping of the material that a persistent intention has been at work to bring the individual units under the control of broader kerygmatic purposes. •For studies of the literary form of the book, see: E. Nielsen, Oral Tradition (SBT 11), 1954, pp. 79-93; B. Renaud, Structur1 el Atlaeku Liltlrair1s de Mid&U IY-Y (Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 2), 1964;J. T. Willis, 'The Structure of Micah 3-5 and the Function of Micah 5. g-14 in the Book,'