The book of Micah provides insight into the struggle of a prophet with
his vocation in an extremely difficult time. The aggressive policies of
Neo-Assyrian kings which involved large-scale destruction, deportation
and resettlement upturned existing social structures everywhere. Kings
of Judah like Ahaz and Hezekiah had to compromise with the enemy to
retain their position. Micah denounced their overindulgence. Initially,
the results of his efforts were disappointing and one may certainly say
that Micah was a tragic figure who towards the end of his life felt he
had been a failed prophet.
It is no coincidence that in the Hebrew Bible Micah 3:12 occupies the
middle of the whole book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. In this verse
Micah courageously announced the destruction of the temple on Zion
because of Jerusalem’s sins – more than a hundred years before it
actually happened. His contemporaries had ridiculed him because they did
not believe God would ever allow the destruction of his holy abode.
Whistleblowers are never popular and it is possible that Micah has had
to pay with his life for his scathing criticism of the authorities.
However, history proved him right and Micah’s impressive sermons
inspired later generations to complement them with consoling messages of
forgiveness and hope. Prophecy, also prophecy outside Israel, was always
open to future expansion. In this way the book of Micah became a
cherished source of messianic expectations among both Jews and
Christians.
Modern research into the book of Micah denies him the authorship of more
than half of the chapters attributed to him. On the basis of new textual
and archaeological data from the entire Ancient Near East this
commentary argues that much more can be regarded as actual
fire-and-brimstone preaching of the historical prophet Micah. This
conclusion was achieved among other things by collating more than a
hundred Hebrew manuscripts of the book of Micah. The commentary devotes
also much attention to geology, climate, flora, fauna, agriculture and
art. Fifty illustrations elucidate these realia.
