3“O my people, what have I done to you?
In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”
What God Requires
6“With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7Will the LORD be pleased
with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Cheating and Violence to Be Punished
9The voice of the LORD cries to the city
(it is sound wisdom to fear your name):
Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!a
10Can I forgetb the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
11Can I tolerate wicked scales
and a bag of dishonest weights?
12Yourc wealthy are full of violence;
yourd inhabitants speak lies,
with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
13Therefore I have begune to strike you down,
making you desolate because of your sins.
14You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
and there shall be a gnawing hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not save,
and what you save, I will hand over to the sword.
15You shall sow, but not reap;
you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
16For you have kept the statutes of Omrif
and all the works of the house of Ahab,
and you have followed their counsels.
Therefore I will make you a desolation, and yourg inhabitants an object of hissing;
so you shall bear the scorn of my people.
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a Cn Compare Gk: Heb tribe, and who has appointed it yet?
b Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
c Heb Whose
d Heb whose
e Gk Syr Vg: Heb have made sick
f Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb the statutes of Omri are kept
g Heb its
6.1–5 A covenant lawsuit (Hebrew riv). The prophet, acting as an attorney, represents God’s case against an ungrateful people.
6.1–2 The natural elements are invoked as witnesses (cf. 1.2).
6.3–5 God, acting as a plaintiff, now puts forth the charge against the people. The repeated use of the vocative O my people (vv. 3, 5) adds a note of poignancy.
6.4 God’s complaint contains allusions to the exodus.
6.5 King Balak tried unsuccessfully to persuade the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelite armies (Num 22–24). From Shittim to Gilgal, from the east to the west side of the Jordan. Shittim was the site of Israel’s camp under Joshua east of the Jordan River; Gilgal was the site of the Israelite camp after crossing the Jordan (Josh 3–5).
6.6–8 Torah liturgy. In vv. 6–7 Micah speaks on behalf of the community for whom he responds to God’s complaint. In v. 8 he offers a response to the people’s questions posed in vv. 6–7.
6.6 Burnt offerings, holocausts in which the entire victim is burned and is thus totally dedicated to God.
6.7 Give my firstborn. Human sacrifice may have been practiced in Judah under Kings Ahaz (2 Kings 16.3) and Manasseh (2 Kings 21.6).
6.8 Acts of justice, kindness, and right relationship with God, symbolized by a humble walk, are preferred to ritual sacrifices. The verse summarizes the prophetic teaching on true religion.
6.9–16 Judgment speech. The people of Jerusalem are indicted by God because of their social sins, and they will be chastised accordingly.
6.10–11 A rhetorical question introduces the charge of cheating with fraudulent weights and measures (Lev 19.35–36; Deut 25.13–16).
6.14–15 Curses, based on the old covenant curses (Deut 28.30–31, 38–40), are invoked on the people as a response to their unjust ways.
6.16 Omri and his son Ahab, ninth-century BCE kings of Israel guilty of syncretism and apostasy (1 Kings 16.25–26, 30–33).
MICAH 7
The Total Corruption of the People
1Woe is me! For I have become like one who,
after the summer fruit has been gathered,
after the vintage has been gleaned,
finds no cluster to eat;
there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.
2The faithful have disappeared from the land,
and there is no one left who is upright;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and they hunt each other with nets.
3Their hands are skilled to do evil;
the official and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the powerful dictate what they desire;
thus they pervert justice.a
4The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of theirb sentinels, of theirc punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.
5Put no trust in a friend,
have no confidence in a loved one;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your embrace;
6for the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
your enemies are members of your own household.
7But as for me, I will look to the LORD,
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Penitence and Trust in God
8Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be a light to me.
9I must bear the indignation of the LORD,
because I have sinned against him,
until he takes my side
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall see his vindication.
10Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the LORD your God?”
My eyes will see her downfall;d
now she will be trodden down
like the mire of the streets.
A Prophecy of Restoration
11A day for the building of your walls!
In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12In that day they will come to you
from Assyria toe Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13But the earth will be desolate
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their doings.
14Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock that belongs to you,
which lives alone in a forest
in the midst of a garden land;
let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
15As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
show usf marvelous things.
16The na
tions shall see and be ashamed
of all their might;
they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
their ears shall be deaf;
17they shall lick dust like a snake,
like the crawling things of the earth;
they shall come trembling out of their fortresses;
they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God,
and they shall stand in fear of you.
God’s Compassion and Steadfast Love
18Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over the transgression of the remnant
of yourg possession?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in showing clemency.
19He will again have compassion upon us;
he will tread our iniquities under foot.
You will cast all ourh sins
into the depths of the sea.
20You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and unswerving loyalty to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
from the days of old.
a Cn: Heb they weave it
b Heb your
c Heb your
d Heb lacks downfall
e One Ms: MT Assyria and cities of
f Cn: Heb I will show him
g Heb his
h Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb their
7.1–6 A lament uttered by the prophet, who feels alone and abandoned as he undertakes the futile task of finding a good person.
7.2–4 In the absence of honorable people, only the treacherous, including the civil leaders, remain.
7.5–6 Normal human relations, even among family members, have ceased for lack of trust.
7.7–20 A prophetic liturgy of hope, petition, and confidence spoken by the prophet on behalf of the community.
7.7 But as for me. In Hebrew, this clause is grammatically unrelated to the main sentence, which serves to separate Micah from the rest of his dishonorable community members. The repeated reference to the LORD and God (twice) attests to Micah’s steadfast faith.
7.8–10 The prophet speaks on behalf of those of his community who, confident of their deliverance, confess their sins.
7.11–13 The prophetic vision describes restoration and repopulation in the future.
7.12 River, the Euphrates in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).
7.14–17 With this prayer of petition Micah, on behalf of his community, asks God to act as a shepherd as in days past and to govern the people with strength as in the days of the exodus, so that enemy nations will be put to shame and stand in fear of Israel’s God.
7.14 Bashan, the fertile plateau northeast of the Jordan River. Gilead, a highland region with rich pastures lying east of the Jordan. Both symbolize abundance.
7.15 You, God.
7.16–17 The nations other than Israel will be humiliated.
7.18–20 Micah, on behalf of the community, makes a confession of faith. The image of a loving and forgiving God echoes Ex 34.6–7.
NAHUM
1 | 2 | 3 |
Historical Context
NAHUM IS THE ONLY PROPHETIC ACCOUNT to name itself a “book.” The poetic images vividly express the Lord’s coming judgment against Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrians and a city in northern Iraq near the modern city of Mosul. The title of the “book of vision”(1.1) gives no specific date for Nahum’s activity, but it is reasonable to assume that the oracles were delivered after the fall of Thebes (663 BCE), alluded to in 3.8, and shortly before the fall of Nineveh (612 BCE). Since there is no mention of the sins of Judah, as is so frequently found in earlier and later prophetic accounts, Nahum’s activity is best located at the height of Josiah’s reformation (622–609 BCE), when attention was directed to reform and not the past ills of God’s people.
Message
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF NINEVEH’S IMPENDING FALL is placed in the context of the initial psalm (1.2–8), which pictures a God of awesome power who sees Judah’s need for assurance that the Lord will deliver it. After one hundred and twenty-five years of brutal Assyrian domination of many small countries, including Judah, and the destruction of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) in 722 BCE, Judah heard these oracles as both reassuring and terrifying. To know that the Lord “is slow to anger but great in power” (1.3) and “a stronghold in a day of trouble” (1.7) gives profound assurance in the face of a terrible enemy like Assyria. On the other hand, Judah knows that there are those in its midst who question the Lord’s resolve to destroy the enemy (1.9–10). Nahum’s oracles do not call the Judahites to account for their transgressions but remind them that their God above all else will not permit oppression and “will by no means clear the guilty” (1.3). The utterances collected in the book of Nahum encompass both judgment and salvation. Judgment will come for all who would subvert God’s justice. Salvation will come to Judah as a result of God’s judgment on Nineveh (1.12), thus making possible once again the joyous celebration of sacred festivals (1.15).
Canonical Context
THE BOOK OF NAHUM has often been criticized as vengeful and lacking in the strong moral tone of a book like Amos. Some have suggested that Nahum does not present the breadth and depth of a book like Isaiah or Jeremiah. We do not know what else Nahum may have spoken, but this “account” regarding Nineveh yields unforgettably powerful poetic words. Others have said that Nahum would be complemented by reading it with Jonah to highlight God’s compassion. These concerns about the religious and theological perspectives of Nahum, along with a series of literary and historical issues, continue all too often to impede the reading of the book. One must, however, place Nahum among his contemporaries, such as Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah, to hear the interplay between God’s judgment and salvation and the strong word of assurance in Nahum that the LORD will prevail against evil. [KENT HAROLD RICHARDS]
NAHUM 1
1An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
The Consuming Wrath of God
2A jealous and avenging God is the LORD,
the LORD is avenging and wrathful;
the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries
and rages against his enemies.
3The LORD is slow to anger but great in power,
and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
and he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither,
and the bloom of Lebanon fades.
5The mountains quake before him,
and the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who live in it.
6Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.
7The LORD is good,
a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
8even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries,a
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9Why do you plot against the LORD?
He will make an end;
no adversary will rise up twice.
10Like thorns they are entangled,
like drunkards they are drunk;
they are consumed like dry straw.
11From you one has gone out
who plots evil against the LORD,
one who counsels wickedness.
Good News for Judah
12Thus says the LORD,
“Though they are at full strength and many,b
they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13And now I will break off his yoke f
rom you
and snap the bonds that bind you.”
14The LORD has commanded concerning you:
“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the cast image.
I will make your grave, for you are worthless.”
15c Look! On the mountains the feet of one
who brings good tidings,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the wicked invade you;
they are utterly cut off.
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a Gk: Heb of her place
b Meaning of Heb uncertain
c Ch 2.1 in Heb
1.1 The title, or superscription, identifies Nahum as an oracle, or message (lit. “burden,” used frequently in prophetic accounts; cf. Isa 13.1; Hab 1.1; Zech 9.1; Mal 1.1), against Nineveh and as a book of the vision. No other superscription of a prophetic book refers to the contents as a book, although Hab 2.2 refers to the Lord instructing the prophet to “write the vision.” Vision is used in prophetic superscriptions (Isa 1.1; Ob 1) and also in parallel with “dream” (Job 33.15). The distinction between dream and vision is not always made in Hebrew. Nahum, not mentioned anyplace else in the Bible, means “comfort” and is related to the name Nehemiah. Elkosh, also not mentioned anyplace else in the Bible, is not known precisely but most likely is in the southwestern part of Judah.
1.2–8 (9) An alphabetic (acrostic) psalm (cf. Pss 9–10; 25; 34; 37; 111; 112; 119; 145; Prov 31.10–31; Lam 1–4). It contains only the first half (eleven of twenty-two) of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalm expresses in awesome, theophanic terms the Lord’s protection of those who take refuge (v. 7; cf. Pss 27.1; 31.4) in the God who is creator and judge of all adversaries. No mention of Nineveh occurs in these verses. The use of nature to describe God’s power is reminiscent of Pss 18.7–12;97.1–5; Mic 1.3–4 and serves as a prelude to the verses that follow.
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