A Commentary On Micah

In this masterful commentary, respected biblical scholar Bruce Waltke carefully interprets the message of the prophet Micah, building a bridge between Micah's ancient world and our life today. Waltke's Commentary on Micah quickly distinguishes itself from other commentaries on this book by displaying an unprecedented exegetical thoroughness, an expert understanding of historical context, and a keen interest in illuminating the contribution of Micah to Christian theology. Tackling hard questions about date and authorship, Waltke contends that Micah himself wrote and edited the nineteen sermons comprising the book. Waltke's clear analytical outline leads readers through the three cycles of Micah, each beginning with an oracle of doom and ending with an oracle of hope, decisively showing that hope wins over doom. Learned yet amazingly accessible, combining scholarly erudition with passion for Micah's contemporary relevance, this book will well serve teachers, pastors, and students alike.

This much-needed commentary provides an authoritative guide to a better understanding of the often-neglected book of Micah. It gives insight into the individual sayings of Micah, to the way they were understood and used as they were gathered into the growing collection, and to their role in the final form of the document. "I am convinced," says Dr. Mays, that Micah "is not just a collection of prophetic sayings, but is the outcome of a history of prophetic proclamations and is itself, in its final form, prophecy." The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

The eloquent and uncompromising calls for social righteousness by the Minor Prophets are familiar to many, yet the writings themselves are probably the least-studied and least-known texts of the Old Testament. Those who are familiar with these books are also aware of the historical and literary problems that plague their study. Drawing on theological, historical, and literary insights, Leslie Allen’s commentary on Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah carefully and imaginatively reconstructs the context in which the original Hebrew audience received the prophets’ messages. In turn, Allen shows what relevance they hold for contemporary Christians. For each of the books, Allen includes a substantial introduction, presenting and assessing a broad range of scholarship, a select bibliography, and an extensive commentary on the author’s own translation of the text. Allen pays special attention to Micah, in which he treats at greater length many of the forms and motifs that also appear in Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah. The introductory material for Joel includes discussions of canonicity and textual criticism that apply to the entire volume.

As the most forceful biblical proponent of the ideals of justice, loyalty, and kindness, Micah holds special appeal for those who are concerned about the powerlessness of the poor and humble. In this commentary Juan Alfaro examines the prophecies of Micah as they address both the internal and the external crises that faced Judah in the eighth century B.C. Throughout his exposition Alfaro stresses that Micah does not belong to a dead past; rather, Micah's challenging message of judgment and hope calls for change and conversion in our world today.

One of the twelve Minor Prophets, Micah unwaveringly spoke God's message to Israel--a message filled with judgment but also laced with the promise of redemption. Micah combined poetic complexity and literary sophistication to compel his audience to respond. And now, through an exacting linguistic and literary analysis of the biblical text, coauthors Francis I. Andersen and David Noel Freedman explain what Micah meant to his contemporaries, as well as what his message means to readers today. What sets Micah apart is the attention it pays to the details of the prophet's original text. The commentary is descriptive rather than speculative, philological rather than theological. With unusual care, the authors--two of the world's leading Bible scholars--examine the features of Micah's biblical Hebrew and prophetic discourse. They discover the use of a special kind of language, which, in its poetic composition, differs significantly from the language of classical Hebrew prose. At the zenith of their careers, masters of all relevant disciplines, Andersen and Freedman are the perfect duo to unlock the words of this challenging prophet.

Highly regarded Old Testament scholar John Goldingay offers a substantive and useful commentary on Hosea through Micah and explores the contemporary significance of these prophetic books. This volume, the first in a new series on the Prophets, complements the successful series Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Wisdom and Psalms (series volumes have sold over 55,000 copies). Each series volume is both critically engaged and sensitive to the theological contributions of the text. Series editors are Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville.

The prophet Micah lived in dark times. He was one of a small remnant of faithful believers living in a godless society where corruption and violence were rife, the vulnerable were the victims of exploitation and the religious leaders failed to speak out against the people's sin, but instead gave them the message they wanted to hear. Micah often seemed to be a lone voice as he faithfully proclaimed God's word, warning of judgement to come on the nation - a judgement from which even the believing remnant would not be exempt. Yet at the same time he also preached a message of hope, pointing his hearers forward to the coming of Christ and to the future glories which await the true people of God, Jews and Gentiles alike. With such a prospect in view, the book closes on a note of triumphant praise to God.

Eminently qualified to write this groundbreaking book, Philip King is known as both an archaeological and biblical authority. Defining biblical archaeology as the "process of correlating archaeological evidence with the biblical record," he sees the function of this discipline as the illumination of the events recorded in the Bible in order to clarify the text. In Amos, Hosea, and Micah, King offers an enlightening and elegant commentary on the eight-century prophets from an archaeological perspective.