Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
Parallel Translations
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Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
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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.
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Hear, ye peoples, all of you; Hearken, O earth, and all that therein is; and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Micah 1:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 11:4 Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
- Isaiah 1:2 Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.
- Psalms 49:1-2 Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together.
- Psalms 50:7 “Hear, my people, and I will speak. Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.
- Jeremiah 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear Yahweh’s word!
- Jonah 2:7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
- Micah 6:1-2 Listen now to what Yahweh says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, you mountains, Yahweh’s controversy, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
- Habakkuk 2:20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”
- Malachi 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Mark 7:14-15 He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.
- Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.
- Revelation 3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
- Revelation 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”
- Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
- Psalms 24:1 The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it.
- Psalms 28:2 Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
- Psalms 50:1 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
- Psalms 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
- Jeremiah 6:19 Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.
- Jeremiah 29:23 because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says Yahweh.
- Malachi 2:14 Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
- Revelation 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won’t be harmed by the second death.
- Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
- Revelation 2:29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
- Revelation 3:6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet here rises into an elevated style, being…
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? 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.
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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 —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Because of the malice and obstinacy of the people,…
Because of the malice and obstinacy of the people, whom he had so oft exhorted to repentance, he summoneth them to God’s judgments, taking all creatures, and God himself to witness, that the preaching of his Prophets, which they have abused, shall be revenged.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Mic 1:2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth,…
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.
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And let the Lord God be witness against you] Here he turneth his speech to the refractory Jews; speaking to God as a righteous judge and swift witness, Iudex, Iudex, vindex, against them if they hearkened not to his message: nisi pareant, ideoque pereant.
The Lord from his holy temple] That is, let him testify from heaven, Psa 11:4, that he is displeased with you, and that I have carefully sought your soul’s health. Or, from his temple at Jerusalem, wherein ye glory, and where ye think ye have him as fast bound to you as the Tyrians had their idol Apollo, whom they chained and nailed to a post, that he might not forsake them, when Alexauder besieged their town, and took it (Macrob. lib. 8, cap. 9). The heathens had a trick, when they besieged a city, to call the tutelar gods out of it by a certain charm, as believing that it could not otherwise be taken (Virg. Aen. 2). In a like sense whereunto some have interpreted the following verses here.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Hear: the prophet here by proclamation requires earnest attention…
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.
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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.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Hear, all ye people,.... Or, "the people, all of…
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, Kg1 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:
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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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain O earth - This seems to be an appeal…
O earth - This seems to be an appeal to the senseless creatures, or a summons to bring them in evidences for God against those kingdoms. Therein - Animate or inanimate creatures, all that are on the earth. Temple - Either from his temple at Jerusalem, or from heaven.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Hear, all ye people] The very commencement…
Verse 2. Hear, all ye people] The very commencement of this prophecy supposes preceding exhortations and predictions.
Hearken, O earth] ארץ arets, here, should be translated land, the country of the Hebrews being only intended.
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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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mic 1:2-4. Hear, all ye people — All ye…
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 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 the heavens and the earth shall be dissolved at Christ’s appearing.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Hear, all ye people - Literally, “hear, ye peoples,…
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 God’s 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 God’s 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.
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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 God’s dealings in time with eternity. God’s 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 God’s 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 God’s 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 Lord’s 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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Witness. Deuteronomy xxxii., Isaias i., and vi.. The prophet…
Witness. Deuteronomy xxxii., Isaias i., and vi.. The prophet discharges his duty, and will not be blameable, if people die in their sins, Jeremias iii. 18. (Worthington) --- This sublime address shews the importance of the subject, and how deep an impression the sins of Israel had made in his breast.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain JUDGMENT UPON ISRAEL AND JUDAH, Mic_1:2-16.
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.
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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.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2–7. The Threat of Punishment
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.
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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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Hear, all ye people.—The three-fold repetition of the…
(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 temple—i.e., from heaven; for “the Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Psa_11:4).
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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).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 2-4. Introduction to the prophet"s address. The nations…
Vers. 2-4. Introduction to the prophet"s address. The nations and earth itself are summoned to attend the solemn announcement.
Hear, all ye people; rather, all ye peoples; Septuagint, laoi . All nations are summoned to come and witness the judgment, and to profit by the warning. So Micaiah, son of Imlah, the bold denouncer of false prophets in the age of Ahah, had cried, "Hear, ye peoples, all of you". (1Ki_22:28) So Moses, in his song, (Deu_32:1) calls on heaven and earth to listen to his words. (comp. Isa_1:2) These expressions are not mere rhetorical figures; they have a special application. Whatever happens to Israel has a bearing on the development of the kingdom of God; the judgments on the chosen people are not only a warning to the heathen, but bring on the great consummation. All that therein is; literally, the fulness thereof; Vulgate, plentitudo ejus; Septuagint, pantev oi en auth , "all ye that are therein". (Psa_24:1) Let the Lord God (the Lord Jehovah) be witness against you. Let God by his judgments against you, viz. Israel and Judah, confirm my denunciation. (comp. Deu_29:24) From his holy temple; i.e. from heaven, as ver. 3 shows. (1Ki_8:30 Psa_11:4 Hab_2:20)
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Vers. 2-7. The Divine judgments against Israel.
Micah was a prophet of Judah, and had special reference in his prophecy to that kingdom. Still, he referred also to the kingdom of Israel. In these verses he directed attention to the tribulations speedily to come upon the kingdom of Israel; and, whilst his words have reference to "the dead past," they suggest lessons for all times. Consider
I THE DIVINE JUDGMENTS AGAINST THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL AS HERB PREDICTED. Note:
1. Their occasion. (Ver. 5) The secular historian has his account of the causes of the calamities which overtook the Jewish people. He traces these to lust of power and dominion on the part of the ancient monarchies, Assyrian, Chaldean, Babylonian, by which they were attacked and conquered. But the true spiritual teacher probes deeper, and seeks to get at the root of it all, and finds this to be sin national transgression (ver. 5). There were three stages in the downward progress of the nation.
(1) Degeneration in worship. Jeroboam, influenced by mere political considerations and worldly policy, set up, at Dan and Bethel, new seats of national worship, and represented the Divinity under the outward figure of the sacred calf. Thus did he "sin and make Israel to sin.
(2) Degeneration in the form of worldliness. The reign of Omri was marked by the nation"s growth in pride and self-sufficiency, m the arts and luxuries of life. He founded Samaria, and made it the capital of the country. "The town sloped down from the summit of the hill. A broad wall with a terraced top ran round it. It stood amidst a circle of hills commanding a view of its streets and slopes, itself the crown and glory of the whole scene. Its soft, rounded, oblong platform was, as it were, a vast luxurious couch, in which its nobles rested, securely propped and cushioned up on both sides, as in the cherished corner of a rich divan" (Stanley"s "Jewish Church," 2:239, 240).
(3) Degeneration resulting from foreign alliances, and specially the union of Ahab to Jezebel, and the consequent establishment in the land of the Phoenician worship, the heathen temples rising, and worship to Ashtaroth and Baal being presented side by side with the degenerate worship offered to the God of heaven. These evils wrought their natural effects in the moral degradation of the land, calling for those Divine judgments which the prophet here declared to be impending. Drunkenness and revellings prevailed; (Hos_4:11 Hos_7:5) immorality reigned; (Hos_4:13 Hos_7:4 Amo_2:7) oppression, swearing, lying, theft, murder, were crimes of constant occurrence. (Hos_4:1, Hos_4:2)
2. Their necessity. (Ver. 3) "For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place a striking sentence employed to express the necessity that existed for retribution to be exercised. "God"s place" is his mercy. He is love. He is good and gracious. It is his nature to show compassion. Let all prominence be given to this characteristic of our God. We cannot dwell too much upon it, and can never exhaust the rich theme. "God is love," and mercy is "his place. " But there are times when there is a stem necessity for him to "come forth out of his place." He is not only loving, he is also righteous, and he is righteous because he is loving. True love excludes partiality, and true justice requires that men be dealt with according to their actions; so that, if God would be true to his character as a God of love, both the recompense of the good and the punishment of the evil is demanded. We are to warn men of the terrible and far reaching consequences of sin, and whilst joyfully proclaiming "the acceptable year of the Lord," we are also to declare with true solemnity the fact of "the day of vengeance of our God." Whilst delighting to speak of mercy as his dwelling place, we must also declare that there is the necessity for him "to come forth out of his place" to vindicate the right and to punish the wrong.
3. Their severity. (Vers. 3, 4) This is set forth here in striking metaphor. God is represented as treading upon the high places, the pride of the haughty being as the dust beneath his feet. His judgments are described as fire, under the influence of which the mountains should be molten and the valleys be cleft; whilst as wax melts before the fire, and as the rushing waters, poured over a steep place, no more return, but are scattered in spray and dissipated in vapours, so should the evil doers at length be brought to nought. Samaria, the centre of the nation, and the source whence proceeded noxious and pestilential influences, should be brought to utter desolation (vers. 6, 7). This stern sentence was literally fulfilled (see Porter"s "Giant Cities of Bashen," p. 227; Stanley"s "Jewish Church," 2:311, 312).
4. Their equity. The prophet, like other seers, summons the nations and the earth to bear testimony to the rightness which marks all God"s judgments (ver. 2). The acknowledgment of the universe shall be that the Divine judgments are "true and righteous altogether.
II THE BEARING OF THE STORY OF ISRAEL"S GUILT AND FALL UPON NATIONAL LIFE IN THE PRESENT DAY.
1. It warns us that if we use the preeminence God has assigned to us as a nation, simply with a view to our own aggrandizement and the furtherance of our own selfish ends, if, instead of worshipping him, and living with a single eye to his glory, we prostrate ourselves before wealth and luxury, ease and sloth, human reason and human applause, God will be against us, and will come forth "out of his place" to judgment, and national decay and death will assuredly follow. A haughty Frenchman once taunted an English captain, saying, "When will you English fetch Calais again?" The captain replied, "When your sins shall weigh down ours!
2. It reminds us how essential it is, in order to national prosperity, that the sovereign should be a pattern of every virtue; that rulers should not only be men of wisdom and foresight, but also God-fearing; and that religion, spiritual and practical, should characterize all classes of the community.
3. It indicates to us the forbearance of God in sparing our nation, despiteall the defections which have marked us as a people, and should lead us to repentance and a new life. And this must be personal and individual. "He who would reform the world must first improve himself." Then let us each "fear God, and keep his commandments," and so prove good citizens of the land we love. And conscious of our weakness, as Nature in all her helplessness offers herself to the kindly influence of the sun and the refreshing effects of the shower, so let us offer our hearts to the quickening and fertilizing influences of God"s Spirit, that as Nature becomes clothed with verdure, so we may abound in all holy graces, and in us the Lord and God of all the nations of the earth be abundantly glorified!
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT Ver. 2. The Lord God a witness against sinners.
God never leaves himself without witness among men. He bears witness perpetually to them by the gifts of his hand, (Act_14:17) by the still small voice within, and by the voice of his messengers. God has borne and still bears witness to us on behalf of Christ. This may be illustrated from Joh_5:31-39, where our Lord speaks of three ways in which the Father testified on his behalf.
1. By the mission of John the Baptist, representing preachers and teachers.
2. By his works (to us, miracles of grace, converts to Christ).
3. By the written Word. We have to add God"s witness:
4. By the resurrection of Christ. (Act_17:31)
5. By the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Act_5:32)
In all these ways God is bearing witness for us. So even in his chastisements. (1Co_11:32) But if we heed not these testimonies for us, we must be prepared at any time to hear the voice of God"s providence calling for judgments (vers. 3, 4), and thus witnessing against us. When such judgments fall, God will be able to testify:
(1) That we have had abundant privileges. Illustrate from 1Sa_12:6-15.
(2) That we have had fair warning and have neglected it, as did Samaria, (2Ki 17) and Judah, (2Ch_36:11-21) and the later Jews. (Act_13:46)
(3) That his judgments are so righteous that God can summon all people to observe and justify them. (cf. Deu_29:24-28) "It is a bitter case when our provoked Lord is provoked to go out of doors to the streets with his beloved"s faults." They proceed from the very temple of his holiness. (cf. Rev_15:3-6, where the songs of vindication and the angels of vengeance are coupled together) God never hesitates to give reasons for his judgments. (Pro_1:24-27 Jer_29:23 Mal_2:14 Mal_3:5) Such judgments as fall now are but predictions and earnests of the great judgment awaiting the ungodly. God, who will then be a witness against us, warns us now of some of the ways in which he will then testify. He will bring as witnesses:
(1) The Law. (Joh_5:45)
(2) The gospel. (Joh_12:47)
(3) Our outward privileges. Illustrate from Jos_24:26, Jos_24:27. So there may be cited against us the pulpit from which we heard the Word, and the preacher who in it "testified repentance towards God," etc. (Act_20:21)
(4) The less privileged of our brethren. (cf. Luk_11:31, Luk_11:32)
(5) Our misused talents. (Jam_5:1-4)
(6) Our words. (Mat_12:37)
(7) Our consciences. (Joh_8:9 Rom_2:15) If true now, how much more then! Lest God should be a witness against us then, we must, by repentance, faith, and obedience, secure his testimony now, like Enoch. (Heb_11:5; cf. Psa_147:11) Then we shall have the testimony of our brethren (Rom_16:6-13 3Jn_1:3-6) and of our own consciences, (2Co_1:12) and shall be able to anticipate without fear the final verdict of God. E.S.P. (Rom_8:33, Rom_8:34)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Micah 1:2-7 is about God's judgment on Samaria.
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Listen, all you peoples. Listen, earth, and all that is in you
This begins Micah's prophecy. Micah speaks to the people of Samaria as if all the people of the earth and even the earth itself were able to hear him. (See: Apostrophe)
he will come down and tread on the high places of the earth
Micah speaks as if Yahweh were a mighty soldier coming down from heaven and beginning to march on top of the mountains. (See: Metaphor)
he will ... tread
"he will ... march"
the high places of the earth
"the high mountains"
The mountains will melt under him; the valleys will break apart, like wax before fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place
Micah speaks as if Yahweh were a hot, solid object that melted the earth as it moved. AT: "He will crush the mountains and the valleys as he marches over them; he will destroy them, and they will completely disappear" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
people group
Lord Yahweh
testimony
holy
temple
Yahweh
high place
fire
water
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:2–2:13 This message of judgment introduces some of the…
1:2–2:13 This message of judgment introduces some of the major concerns of Micah’s prophecies and asserts God’s determination to judge his people and put them into exile (1:16; 2:4-5), but it concludes with the Lord’s assurance that he will rescue a remnant from exile (2:12-13).
1:2-7 This oracle concerns Samaria prior to 722 BC, when Samaria was destroyed and its people were deported. The Sovereign Lord was coming to judge his people.
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1:2 Attention! translates the same word that introduces the Shema (“Listen!”) in Deut 6:4. • The holy Temple is the Lord’s heavenly abode, not the corrupt Temple in Jerusalem (Mic 1:2-3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.