Micah 1:5

5. In this instance the judge of all the earth comes for a specific purpose, to execute judgment upon Israel.

Jacob… Israel Some suppose that Jacob means the whole of the chosen people, including Judah, while Israel is thought to refer to the northern kingdom only; but there seems to be insufficient warrant for this differentiation. In view of the distinction between north and south in 5b it would be natural to expect the same distinction in 5a. Since “Jacob” designates the northern kingdom in 5b, it can hardly be used of Judah in 5a. Hence the question suggests itself, whether in the place of “Israel” the text did not read originally “Judah.” If the present text is correct “Israel” and “Jacob” in 5a should probably be regarded as synonyms, both denoting the whole nation, which only in 5b is divided into north and south, called Jacob and Judah respectively.

Transgression A weak reproduction of the original. The rendering “rebellion,” or “apostasy,” which implies taking a determined hostile attitude, comes nearer the original.

High places The technical Old Testament term for the local sanctuaries scattered throughout the land; they were so called because they were commonly located on natural or artificial elevations. Nominally the worship practiced there was in honor of Jehovah, but it became so permeated with immoral, heathenish elements that it threatened the very life of the Jehovah religion. As a result the prophets hurl the severest condemnation against this cult; and finally, under Josiah (621 B.C.), worship at the local sanctuaries was abolished (compare also 2 Kings 18:4). Instead of “high places” three of the most important ancient versions present a different reading; Peshitto reads “sin”; LXX. and Targum, “sin of the house of.” If either of these is accepted as original, the parallelism between the two parts of 5b will resemble more closely that between the two parts of 5a. If the present Hebrew text is followed, “high places” must be understood as practically equivalent to “transgression.”

The suggestion that 5b is a later marginal gloss to 5a is without sufficient warrant.

What is the transgression Literally, Who is. Transgression, the abstract, is here equivalent to the concrete transgressor, or better, originator of transgression. The thought is that the apostasy of the people is due to the influence that went out from the two capitals. Here the court and nobility were to be found; and it is the teaching of all the eighth century prophets that these were in a large measure responsible for the sins of the people.

The indictment is followed by the announcement of judgment; Micah 1:6-7 deal with Samaria, the rest of the chapter with Judah. The former will be destroyed.

As an heap Literally “into an heap.” It will become like a heap of stones in a field. The prophet seems to think of stones gathered out of the field by the husbandman. The emendation “into jungle,” favored by some, is not needed.

As plantings of a vineyard R.V., “as places for planting vineyards.” Again better, into. If the city was allowed to remain in ruins, in time people would plant vineyards on the sides of the fertile hill upon which Samaria was located. The rest of Micah 1:6 presents a picture of complete ruin. Houses and walls will be broken down to their very foundations (Psalms 137:7); and since the land is to be cultivated, the stones are removed by hurling them down the hill on which the city was built (1 Kings 16:24). Cheyne quotes from a report describing the ruins of Samaria in modern times as follows: “There is every appearance of the ancient buildings having been destroyed, and their materials cast down from the brow of the hill, in order to clear the ground for cultivation; masses of stones are thus seen hanging on the steep sides of the hill, accidentally stopped in the progress of their descent by the rude dykes and terraces separating the fields.… The materials of the ruins… are piled up in large heaps, or used in the construction of rude stone fences; many of these heaps of stones are seen in the plains at the foot of the hill.” A later destruction of Samaria by John Hyrcanus is described by Josephus ( Antiquities, 13: 10, 3).

With the city the images of the gods will be destroyed, which will prove their impotence and nothingness (Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 30:22).

Graven images Representations of deities made of stone; the expression “shall be beaten to pieces” would hardly be applicable to wooden idols (compare Micah 5:13).

Hires Refers to the love gifts offered by the worshipers to the illegitimate deities, in order to secure their favor; “gifts suspended in temples and sacred places in honor of the gods.” These along with the idols and graven images will be swept away in the impending judgment. This will happen because they have gathered it R.V., “them.” This word is not in the original, but the context makes it clear that the images, votive offerings, idols, etc., are meant.

Of the hire of an harlot Not to be understood literally of wages of prostitution; nor is the expression to be connected with the licentious practices at the local sanctuaries (Deuteronomy 23:17-18); it is to be explained rather in the light of Hosea 2:5 ff. Israel had prospered; the prosperity she regarded as the gift of her lovers, the Baalim; it could be called the hire of a harlot, because it allured the pure wife Israel from her faithful husband Jehovah, to run after illegitimate paramours, the gods of the land. The things made of the harlot’s hire will return “unto the hire of a harlot.” If the preceding figure is continued this must mean that the things will be regarded by the enemies who will despoil the city as gifts from their deities, given in order to increase the love of the worshipers. It is not necessary, however, to suppose that the same figure is retained. The prophet may intend to change it and mean that the things carried away will be used by the captors in their idolatrous worship; they will present them to the deities to secure their favor. If so, the second “hire of a harlot” is equivalent in meaning to “hire” earlier in the verse. It was customary in ancient times, when a city was captured, to carry away its idols and temple treasures (Joel 3:5; Hosea 10:6; Isaiah 46:1-2; Daniel 1:3).

The suggestion of Wellhausen, favored by other scholars, to read “her Asherahs” (Micah 5:14) for “her hires” is worthy of notice. The emendation is based upon the opinion that in view of the expressions “her graven images” and “her idols” in the two parallel lines we should expect a similar expression in the third line.