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Miquéias 1

ARC · Chapter 1/7

1Palavra do Senhor, que veiu a Miqueas, morasthita, nos dias de Jothão, Achaz e Ezequias, reis de Judah, a qual elle viu sobre Samaria e Jerusalem.

2Ouvi, todos os povos, attenta tu, terra, e a plenitude d'ella, e seja o Senhor Jehovah testemunha contra vós, o Senhor, desde o templo da sua sanctidade.

3Porque eis que o Senhor sae do seu logar, e descerá, e pizará as alturas da terra.

4E os montes debaixo d'elle se derreterão, e os valles se fenderão, como a cera diante do fogo, como as aguas que se precipitam n'um abysmo.

5Tudo isto por causa da prevaricação de Jacob, e dos peccados da casa de Israel: quem é o auctor da rebellião de Jacob? não é Samaria? e quem o das alturas de Judah? não é Jerusalem?

6Por isso farei de Samaria um montão de pedras do campo, uma terra de plantar vinhas, e farei rebolar as suas pedras no valle, e descobrirei os seus fundamentos.

7E todas as suas imagens de esculptura serão esmiuçadas, e todos os seus salarios serão queimados pelo fogo, e de todos os seus idolos eu farei uma assolação, porque da paga de prostitutas os ajuntou, e para a paga de prostitutas voltarão.

8Por isso lamentarei, e uivarei, andarei despojado e nú: farei lamentação como de dragões, e pranto como de abestruzes.

9Porque a sua chaga é incuravel, porque chegou até Judah: estendeu-se até á porta do meu povo, até Jerusalem.

10Não o annuncieis em Gath, nem choreis muito: revolve-te no pó, na casa de Aphra.

11Passa, ó moradora de Saphir, com nudez vergonhosa: a moradora de Zaanan não sae para fóra; o pranto de Beth-ezel receberá de vós a sua estancia.

12Porque a moradora de Maroth teve dôr pelo bem; porque desceu do Senhor o mal até á porta de Jerusalem.

13Ata os animaes ligeiros ao carro, ó moradora de Lachis (esta é o principio do peccado para a filha de Sião), porque em ti se acharam as transgressões de Israel.

14Por isso dá presentes a Moreshethgath: as casas de Achzib serão casas de mentira aos reis de Israel.

15Ainda te trarei um herdeiro, ó moradora de Maresha: chegar-se-ha até Adullam, para gloria de Israel.

16Faze-te calva, e tosquia-te, por causa dos filhos das tuas delicias: alarga a tua calva como a aguia, porque te foram levados captivos.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Micah announces that the Lord is coming to judge Samaria and Jerusalem for their idolatry, describing the destruction that will spread through several towns of Judah through wordplay on their names.

Explanation

Micah prophesied shortly after Amos and Hosea, witnessing both the fall of Samaria (722 B.C.) and later threats against Jerusalem. The chapter uses a sophisticated literary device: puns on the names of towns in Judah (such as Lachish, which sounds like 'horses,' and Moresheth-gath) to make the prophecy of judgment memorable and striking, like a tragic play on words. The root of the accusation is the same as with other prophets: idolatry disguised as religion, with idols funded by cultic 'harlot's wages.' The prophet personally identifies with the pain he announces, lamenting 'barefoot and naked.' The application today: sin that seems confined to a capital city ends up affecting the whole surrounding nation, like ripples spreading outward.

Fun facts

  • Micah was from Moresheth, a small rural town in Judah, making him, like Amos, a prophet of humble origin who confronted the urban and political elite of the capital cities head-on.
  • The wordplay on city names (vv. 10-15) is a device that is almost impossible to carry over fully into another language; for example, 'Lachish' sounds phonetically similar to the Hebrew word for 'chariot horses,' linking the city's name to the very means of its likely destruction.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Miquéias 1:1Micah was from Moresheth, a small town in the countryside of Judah, and he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah — a contemporary of Isaiah, in the late 8th century BC, when Assyria threatened both the Northern Kingdom (Samaria) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah, with Jerusalem). The book speaks against both kingdoms at once.
  2. Miquéias 1:2A universal summons: all the peoples of the earth are called to listen, because God Himself will be a witness against the people, speaking from His heavenly temple.
  3. Miquéias 1:3The image of God "coming down" from heaven to intervene directly on earth, treading even upon the highest places — nothing is beyond His reach.
  4. Miquéias 1:4God's presence is so powerful that the very landscape dissolves, the mountains melt like wax — common biblical language for describing God manifesting Himself.
  5. Miquéias 1:5Explains the cause of it all: the sin of Israel and Judah, pointing directly at the capitals Samaria and Jerusalem as the source of the rebellion against God.
  6. Miquéias 1:6This prediction that Samaria would become "an heap of the field" was fulfilled when Assyria actually destroyed the Northern Kingdom's capital, in 722 BC.
  7. Miquéias 1:7Samaria's idols, bought with money tied to cultic prostitution, will be destroyed and go back to paying for prostitution — a complete cycle of shame.
  8. Miquéias 1:8The prophet himself expresses extreme, physical mourning — walking barefoot and half-naked, imitating the sounds of wild animals in distress — over the seriousness of what is about to happen.
  9. Miquéias 1:9Samaria's "wound," the Northern Kingdom's capital, was not contained: it spread all the way to Judah, reaching the gates of Jerusalem itself.
  10. Miquéias 1:10The names of the cities listed here (Gath, Aphrah, Saphir, and others) form a wordplay in Hebrew tied to each one's fate — for example, "Aphrah" sounds like "dust," and the text tells the city to roll itself in the dust; the poetic effect is lost in translation, but the idea is a march of destruction advancing from city to city.
  11. Miquéias 1:11The parade of cities struck by the invasion continues, each name carrying a Hebrew wordplay describing its specific fate.
  12. Miquéias 1:12Maroth waits for good things but only receives pain, because the punishment is already coming down from the Lord to the gate of the capital.
  13. Miquéias 1:13Lachish, a fortified city of Judah, is accused of being the gateway through which Israel's sins entered Judah — that is why it must flee quickly.
  14. Miquéias 1:14Moresheth-gath, Micah's own hometown, will have to be given away as a parting gift, and Achzib, whose name sounds like "lie" in Hebrew, will disappoint the kings.
  15. Miquéias 1:15Mareshah will receive a conqueror, not a friendly heir, and the fleeing people will seek refuge in Adullam, the same place where David hid centuries before.
  16. Miquéias 1:16"Make thee bald" commands shaving the head as a sign of mourning, an ancient custom of extreme grief — here, over the exile of the children, carried off captive by the enemy.

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