The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV
Page 429
2. God completely cleanses us from the stain of our sins (Is. 1:18)
3. God throws our sins behind His back (Is. 38:17)
4. God remembers our sins no more (Jer. 31:34)
5. God treads our sins underfoot (Mic. 7:19)
6. God casts our sins into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19)
Micah 1
1:1 a (2 Pet. 1:21); Jer. 26:18
1:1 b 2 Kin. 15:5, 7, 32–38; 2 Chr. 27:1–9; Is. 1:1; Hos. 1:1
1:2 c (Ps. 11:4)
1:4 d Amos 9:5
1:5 e Deut. 32:13; 33:29; Amos 4:13
1:6 f 2 Kin. 19:25; Mic. 3:12
1:6 g Ezek. 13:14
1:7 h Hos. 2:5
1:7 i Deut. 23:18; Is. 23:17
1:8 j Ps. 102:6
1:9 k 2 Kin. 18:13; Is. 8:7, 8
1:10 l 2 Sam. 1:20
1:10 1 Lit. House of Dust
1:11 2 Lit. Beautiful
1:11 3 Lit. Going Out
1:12 m Is. 59:9–11; Jer. 14:19; Amos 3:6
1:12 4 Lit. Bitterness
1:12 5 Lit. was sick
1:13 n Josh. 10:3; 2 Kin. 14:19; 18:14; Is. 36:2
1:13 o Ezek. 23:11
1:14 p 2 Sam. 8:2
1:14 q Josh. 15:44
1:14 6 Lit. Possession of Gath
1:14 7 Lit. Lie
1:15 r Josh. 15:44
1:15 s 2 Chr. 11:7
1:15 8 Lit. Inheritance
1:15 9 Lit. Refuge
1:16 t Job 1:20
1:16 u Lam. 4:5
1:16 v 2 Kin. 17:6; Amos 7:11, 17; (Mic. 4:10)
Micah 2
2:1 a Hos. 7:6, 7
2:1 1 Plan
2:2 b Is. 5:8
2:3 c Ex. 20:5; Jer. 8:3; Amos 3:1, 2
2:3 d Amos 5:13
2:4 e 2 Sam. 1:17
2:4 2 Lit. portion
2:4 3 Lit. one turning back, an apostate
2:5 4 Lit. one casting a surveyor’s line
2:6 5 Or preach, lit. drip words
2:6 6 Lit. to these
2:6 7 Vg. He shall not take shame
2:10 f Deut. 12:9
2:10 g Lev. 18:25
2:11 h Is. 30:10; Jer. 5:30, 31; 2 Tim. 4:3, 4
2:11 8 Or preach, lit. drip
2:11 9 concerning
2:12 i (Mic. 4:6, 7)
2:12 j Jer. 31:10
2:12 k Ezek. 33:22; 36:37
2:12 10 Heb. Bozrah
2:13 l (Hos. 3:5)
2:13 m Is. 52:12
Micah 3
3:1 a Ezek. 22:27
3:1 b Ps. 82:1–5; Jer. 5:4, 5
3:2 1 Lit. them
3:3 c Ps. 14:4; 27:2; Zeph. 3:3
3:3 d Ezek. 11:3, 6, 7
3:4 e Ps. 18:41; Prov. 1:28; Is. 1:15; Jer. 11:11
3:5 f Is. 56:10, 11; Jer. 6:13; Ezek. 13:10, 19
3:5 g Matt. 7:15
3:5 h Ezek. 13:18
3:5 2 All is well
3:5 3 For those who feed them
3:6 i Is. 8:20–22; 29:10–12
3:6 j Is. 29:10; (Jer. 23:33–40); Ezek. 13:23
3:6 4 Prophetic revelation
3:7 k Amos 8:11
3:8 l Is. 58:1
3:9 5 Lit. twist
3:10 m Jer. 22:13, 17
3:10 n Ezek. 22:27; Hab. 2:12
3:11 o Is. 1:23; Mic. 7:3
3:11 p Jer. 6:13
3:11 q Is. 48:2; Jer. 7:4
3:11 6 Lit. silver
3:12 r Jer. 26:18
3:12 s Ps. 79:1; Jer. 9:11
3:12 t Mic. 4:1, 2
3:12 7 Lit. house
Micah 4
4:1 a Is. 2:2–4; Ezek. 17:22; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5
4:3 b Is. 2:4; Joel 3:10
4:3 c Ps. 72:7
4:3 1 pruning knives
4:4 d 1 Kin. 4:25; Zech. 3:10
4:5 e Zech. 10:12
4:6 f Ezek. 34:16
4:6 g Ps. 147:2
4:7 h Mic. 2:12
4:7 i (Is. 9:6; 24:23; Luke 1:33; Rev. 11:15)
4:9 j Jer. 8:19
4:9 k Is. 13:8; Jer. 30:6
4:9 2 childbirth
4:10 l 2 Chr. 36:20; Amos 5:27
4:10 m (Is. 45:13; Mic. 7:8–12)
4:10 n Ezra 1:1–3; 2:1; Ps. 18:17
4:11 o Lam. 2:16
4:11 p Obad. 12
4:12 q (Is. 55:8, 9)
4:12 r Is. 21:10
4:13 s Jer. 51:33; (Zech. 12:1–8; 14:14)
4:13 t Is. 41:15
4:13 u Dan. 2:44
4:13 v Is. 18:7
4:13 w Zech. 4:14
Micah 5
5:1 a 1 Kin. 22:24; Job 16:10; Lam. 3:30; Matt. 27:30; Mark 15:19
5:2 b Is. 11:1; Matt. 2:6; Luke 2:4, 11; John 7:42
5:2 c Gen. 35:19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11
5:2 d 1 Sam. 23:23
5:2 e Ex. 18:25
5:2 f (Gen. 49:10; Is. 9:6)
5:2 g Ps. 90:2; (John 1:1)
5:2 1 Lit. the days of eternity
5:3 h Hos. 11:8; Mic. 4:10
5:3 i Mic. 4:7; 7:18
5:4 j (Is. 40:11; 49:9; Ezek. 34:13–15, 23, 24); Mic. 7:14
5:4 k Ps. 72:8; Is. 52:13; Zech. 9:10; (Luke 1:32)
5:4 2 shepherd
5:5 l (Is. 9:6); Luke 2:14; (Eph. 2:14; Col. 1:20)
5:6 m Gen. 10:8–11
5:6 n Is. 14:25; Luke 1:71
5:6 3 devastate
5:7 o Mic. 5:3
5:7 p Gen. 27:28; Deut. 32:2; Ps. 72:6; Hos. 14:5
5:7 4 wait
5:7 5 delay
5:8 q Gen. 49:9; Num. 24:9
5:9 6 destroyed
5:10 r Zech. 9:10
5:10 s Deut. 17:16
5:10 t Is. 2:7; 22:18; Hos. 14:3
5:10 7 destroy
5:12 u Deut. 18:10–12; Is. 2:6
5:13 v Zech. 13:2
5:13 w Is. 2:8
5:14 8 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
5:15 x (2 Thess. 1:8)
5:15 9 obeyed
Micah 6
6:2 a Ps. 50:1, 4
6:2 b (Is. 1:18); Hos. 12:2
6:2 c (Is. 1:18)
6:2 1 bring charges against
6:3 d Is. 5:4; Jer. 2:5, 31
6:3 e Is. 43:22, 23; Mal. 1:13
6:4 f (Deut. 4:20)
6:5 g Num. 22:5, 6; Josh. 24:9
6:5 h Judg. 5:11
6:5 2 Heb. Shittim, Num. 25:1; Josh. 2:1; 3:1
6:7 i Ps. 50:9; Is. 1:11
6:7 j Job 29:6
6:7 k Lev. 18:21; 20:1–5; 2 Kin. 16:3; Jer. 7:31; Ezek. 23:37
6:7 3 My own child
6:8 l (Deut. 10:12; 1 Sam. 15:22); Hos. 6:6; 12:6
6:8 m Gen. 18:19; Is. 1:17
6:8 4 Or lovingkindness
6:11 n Lev. 19:36; Hos. 12:7
6:12 o Is. 1:23; 5:7; Amos 6:3, 4; Mic. 2:1, 2
6:12 p Jer. 9:2–6, 8; Hos. 7:13; Amos 2:4
6:13 q Lev. 26:16; Ps. 107:17
6:14 r Lev. 26:26
6:14 5 Or Emptiness or Humiliation
6:14 6 Tg., Vg. You shall take hold
6:15 s Deut. 28:38–40; Amos 5:11; Zeph. 1:13; Hag. 1:6
6:16 t 1 Kin. 16:25, 26
6:16 u 1 Kin. 16:30; 21:25, 26; 2 Kin. 21:3; Hos. 5:11
6:16 v Is. 25:8
6:16 7 Or object of horror
6:16 8 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX nations
Micah 7
7:1 a Is. 17:6
7:1 b Is. 28:4; Hos. 9:10
7:2 c Ps. 12:1; Is. 57:1
7:2 d Hab. 1:15
7:2 1 Or loyal
7:3 e Amos 5:12; Mic. 3:11
7:4 f Is. 55:13; Ezek. 2:6
7:5 g Jer. 9:4
7:5 h Deut. 28:56
7:6 i Matt. 10:36; Mark 3:21; Luke 8:19; John 7:5
7:7 j Ps. 130:5; Is. 25:9; Lam. 3:24, 25
7:8 k Prov. 24:17; Obad. 12; (Acts 10:43)
7:8 l Ps. 37:24; (Prov. 24:16); 2 Cor. 4:9
7:9 m Lam. 3:39, 40; (2 Cor. 5:21)
7:9 n Jer. 50:34
7:10 o Ps. 35:26
7:10 p Ps. 42:3
7:11 q Is. 54:11; (Amos 9:11)
7:11 2 Or the boundary shall be extended
7:12 r (Is. 11:16; 19:23–25)
7:12 3 Lit. he, collective of the captives
7:12 4 Heb. arey mazor, possibly cities of Egypt
7:12 5 Heb. mazor, possibly Egypt
7:12 6 The Euphrates
7:13 s Jer. 21:14
7:14 t Is. 37:24
7:14 7 Alone
7:15 u Ps. 68:22; 78:12
7:15 v Ex. 34:10
7:15 8 Lit. him, collective for the captives
7:16 w Is. 26:11
7:16 x Job 21:5
7:17 y Ps. 72:9; (Is. 49:23)
7:17 z Ps. 18:45
7:17 a Jer. 33:9
7:17 9 Lit. crawlers
7:18 b Ex. 15:11
7:18 c Ex. 34:6, 7, 9; Is. 43:25; Jer. 50:20
7:18 d Mic. 4:7
7:18 e Ps. 103:8, 9, 13; (Is. 57:16)
7:18 f (Ezek. 33:11)
7:18 10 Or lovingkindness
7:19 11 Lit. their
7:20 g Luke 1:72, 73
7:20 h Ps. 105:9
7:20 12 Or lovingkindness
Introduction to Nahum
Title
The book’s title is taken from the prophet-of-God’s oracle against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Nahum means “comfort” or “consolation” and is a short form of Nehemiah (“comfort of Yahweh”). Nahum is not quoted in the NT, although there may be an allusion to Nah. 1:15 in Rom. 10:15 (cf. Is. 52:7).
Author and Date
The significance of the writing prophets was not their personal lives; it was their message. Thus, background information about the prophet from within the prophecy is rare. Occasionally one of the historical books will shed additional light. In the case of Nahum, nothing is provided except that he was an Elkoshite (1:1), referring either to his birthplace or his place of ministry. Attempts to identify the location of Elkosh have been unsuccessful. Suggestions include Al Qosh, situated in northern Iraq (thus Nahum would have been a descendant of the exiles taken to Assyria in 722 B.C.), Capernaum (“town of Nahum”), or a location in southern Judah (cf. 1:15). His birthplace or locale is not significant to the interpretation of the book.
With no mention of any kings in the introduction, the date of Nahum’s prophecy must be implied by historical data. The message of judgment against Nineveh portrays a nation of strength, intimating a time not only prior to her fall in 612 B.C. but probably before the death of Ashurbanipal in 626 B.C., after which Assyria’s power fell rapidly. Nahum’s mention of the fall of No Amon, also called Thebes (3:8–10), in 663 B.C. (at the hands of Ashurbanipal) appears to be fresh in their minds and there is no mention of the rekindling that occurred ten years later, suggesting a mid-seventh century B.C. date during the reign of Manasseh (ca. 695–642 B.C.; cf. 2 Kin. 21:1–18).
Background and Setting
A century after Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, she returned to idolatry, violence, and arrogance (3:1–4). Assyria was at the height of her power, having recovered from Sennacherib’s defeat (701 B.C.) at Jerusalem (cf. Is. 37:36–38). Her borders extended all the way into Egypt. Esarhaddon had recently transplanted conquered peoples into Samaria and Galilee in 670 B.C. (cf. 2 Kin. 17:24; Ezra 4:2), leaving Syria and Palestine very weak. But God brought Nineveh down under the rising power of Babylon’s king Nabopolassar and his son, Nebuchadnezzar (ca. 612 B.C.). Assyria’s demise turned out just as God had prophesied.
Historical and Theological Themes
Nahum forms a sequel to the book of Jonah, who prophesied over a century earlier. Jonah recounts the remission of God’s promised judgment toward Nineveh, while Nahum depicts the later execution of God’s judgment. Nineveh was proud of her invulnerable city, with her walls reaching 100 ft. high and with a moat 150 ft. wide and 60 ft. deep; but Nahum established the fact that the sovereign God (1:2–5) would bring vengeance upon those who violated His law (1:8, 14; 3:5–7). The same God had a retributive judgment against evil which is also redemptive, bestowing His loving kindnesses upon the faithful (cf. 1:7, 12, 13, 15; 2:2). The prophecy brought comfort to Judah and all who feared the cruel Assyrians. Nahum said Nineveh would end “with an overflowing flood” (1:8); and it happened when the Tigris River overflowed to destroy enough of the walls to let the Babylonians through. Nahum also predicted that the city would be hidden (3:11). After its destruction in 612 B.C., the site was not rediscovered until 1842 A.D.
Interpretive Challenges
Apart from the uncertain identity of Elkosh (cf. Introduction: Author and Date), the prophecy presents no real interpretive difficulties. The book is a straightforward prophetic announcement of judgment against Assyria and her capital Nineveh for cruel atrocities and idolatrous practices.
Outline
I. Superscription (1:1)
II. Destruction of Nineveh Declared (1:2-15)
A. God’s Power Illustrated (1:2-8)
B. God’s Punishment Stated (1:9-15)
III. Destruction of Nineveh Detailed (2:1-13)
A. The City is Assaulted (2:1-10)
B. The City is Discredited (2:11-13)
IV. Destruction of Nineveh Demanded (3:1-19)
A. The First Charge (3:1-3)
B. The Second Charge (3:4-7)
C. The Third Charge (3:8-19)
The Book of
NAHUM
Nahum 1
God’s Mercy and Judgment
1The 1burden aagainst Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
God’s Wrath on His Enemies
2God is bjealous, and the LORD avenges;
The LORD avenges and is furious.
The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;
3The LORD is cslow to anger and dgreat in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.
e The LORD has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
4f He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
g Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
5The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth 2heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
6Who can stand before His indignation?
And hwho can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.
7i The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And jHe knows those who trust in Him.
8But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.
9k What do you 3conspire against the LORD?
l He will make an utter end of it.
Affliction will not rise up a second time.
10For while tangled mlike thorns,
n And while drunken like drunkards,
o They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried.
11From you comes forth one
Who plots evil against the LORD,
A 4wicked counselor.
12Thus says the LORD:
“Though they are 5safe, and likewise many,
Yet in this manner they will be pcut down
When he passes through.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more; God’s Judgment Against Assyria/Nineveh
13For now I will break off his yoke from you,
And burst your bonds apart.”
14The LORD has given a command concerning you:
6“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer.
Out of the house of your gods
I will cut off the carved image and the molded imag
e.
I will dig your qgrave,
For you are rvile.”7
15Behold, on the mountains
The sfeet of him who brings good tidings,
Who proclaims peace!
O Judah, keep your appointed feasts,
Perform your vows.
For the 8wicked one shall no more pass through you;
He is tutterly cut off.
Nahum 2
The Destruction of Nineveh
1He1 who scatters has come up before your face.
Man the fort!
Watch the road!
Strengthen your flanks!
Fortify your power mightily.
2For the LORD will restore the excellence of Jacob
Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out
And ruined their vine branches.
3The shields of his mighty men are made red,
The valiant men are in scarlet.
The chariots come with flaming torches
In the day of his preparation,
And 2the spears are brandished.
4The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.
5He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
6The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
73 It is decreed:
She shall be led away captive,
She shall be brought up;
And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
Beating their breasts.
8Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
4“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
But no one turns back.
95 Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of agold!
There is no end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
10She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much pain is in every side,
And all their faces 6are drained of color.
11Where is the dwelling of the blions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub,
And no one made them afraid?
12The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
7 Killed for his lionesses,
c Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with 8flesh.
13“Behold, dI am against you,” says the LORD of hosts, “I will burn 9your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your emessengers shall be heard no more.”