s in
Matt. x.

THE PROPHET MICAH.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet
is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the
helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according
to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not,
however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to
assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On
the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At the
termination of his prophetic ministry, under Hezekiah, the prophet
committed to writing everything which was of importance for all coming
time that had been revealed to him during the whole duration of that
ministry. He collected into one comprehensive picture all the detached
visions which had been granted to him in manifold repetition; giving us
the sum and substance (of which nothing has been lost in the case of
any of the men inspired by God) of what was spoken at different times,
and omitting all which was accidental, and purely local and temporary.

This view, which alone is the correct one, and which contributes so
largely to the right understanding of the prophet, has been already
advanced by several of the older scholars. Thus _Lightfoot_ (_Ordo
temporum_, opp. i. p. 99) remarks: "It is easier to conceive that the
matter of this whole book represents the substance of the prophecy
which he uttered under these various kings, than to determine which of
the chapters of this book were uttered under the particular reign of
each of these kings." _Majus_ also (_Economia temporum_, p. 898) says:
"He repeated, at a subsequent period, what he had spoken at different
[Pg 414] times, and under different kings." In modern times, however,
this view had been generally abandoned; and although, at present, many
critics are disposed to return to it, _Hitzig_ and _Maurer_ still
assert, that the book was composed at different periods.

We shall now endeavour to prove the unity of the book, _first_, from
the prophecies themselves. If we were entitled to separate them at all,
according to time and circumstances, we could form a division into
three discourses only; viz., chap. i. and ii.; chap. iii.-v.; and chap.
vi. and vii. For, 1. Each of these discourses forms a whole, complete
in itself, and in which the various elements of the prophetic
discours