MICAH
name
are
the
following:—!.
Micah,
a
dweller
in
the
hill-
country
of
Ephraim;
he
stole
from
his
mother
eleven
hundred
pieces
of
silver,
which,
however,
he
returned
on
hearing
the
curse
which
his
mother
pronounced
against
the
thief.
With
part
of
the
returned
silver
his
mother
causes
an
image
to
be
made,
which
Micah
sets
up
in
his
house;
he
then
consecrates
one
of
his
sons
a
priest.
But
a
Levite,
named
Jonathan,
comes
to
the
house
of
Micah
while
journeying;
Micah
induces
him
to
be
his
priest
instead
of
the
son
whom
he
had
first
consecrated.
During
this
time
the
Danites
send
out
five
men
to
search
for
a
suitable
locaUty
wherein
to
settle
down;
these
five
men
come
to
the
house
of
Micah,
and
while
staying
there
they
recognize
the
Levite.
On
their
return
they
report
that
they
have
found
a
place
for
their
tribe
to
dwell
in.
The
whole
'family'
of
the
Danites
then
set
out,
and
come
to
take
possession
of
the
district
they
intend
to
make
their
home.
On
their
coming
into
the
neighbourhood
of
Micah's
dwelling-
place,
the
five
men
who
had
already
been
there
come
and
persuade
Micah's
Levite
to
join
them,
and
to
bring
with
him
Micah's
ephod,
teraphim,
and
graven
image.
Micah
follows
after
them;
but
protests
in
vain,
for
he
is
warned
that
if
he
attempts
to
regain
his
priest
and
lost
treasures
by
force
he
will
lose
his
goods
and
his
life;
he
therefore
returns
home
without
them
(Jg
17.
18).
This
very
interesting
narrative
has
undoubtedly
a
basis
in
fact:
it
records
—
though
later
editors
have
some-what
altered
its
original
form
—
how
the
sanctuary
in
Dan
first
came
to
be
estabUshed
(see
esp.
Jg
IS^*-'').
2.
Micaiah,
the
son
of
Imlah;
a
prophet
of
Jahweh
who
is
called
by
Ahab,
at
the
request
of
Jehoshaphat,
king
of
Judah,
to
prophesy
concerning
the
result
of
a
projected
expedition
against
the
Syrians.
In
reply
to
Abah's
inquiry
Micaiah
first
prophesies
smoothly;
but
Ahab
bids
him
speak
nothing
but
the
truth;
thereupon
he
foretells
the
disaster
that
is
to
befall
the
allied
armies
of
Israel
and
Judah
if
they
go
up
to
Ramoth-gilead
to
battle.
The
parable
which
the
prophet
then
utters
is
a
terrible
indictment
against
the
'lying
prophets'
of
Israel;
the
blow
which
one
of
them
thereupon
gives
him
is
answered
by
a
further
prophecy,
this
time
directed
against
the
false
prophet
who
gave
the
blow.
Micaiah
is
then
commanded
to
be
imprisoned
until
the
king
returns
in
peace;
but,
undaunted,
the
prophet
replies,
'
If
thou
return
at
aU
in
peace,
Jahweh
hath
not
spoken
by
me.'
The
sequel
showed
Micaiah
to
have
prophesied
truly
(1
K
22).
3.
Micah,
the
son
of
Mephibosheth
(1
Ch
8*"-
9""-
[2
S
9>2
Mica]).
4.
Micaiah,
one
of
the
teachers
sent
by
Jehoshaphat
to
teach
the
command-ments
of
Jahweh
in
the
cities
of
Judah
(2
Ch
17').
5.
Micaiah,
the
son
of
Gemariah,
and
a
contemporary
of
Jeremiah,
who
heard
Baruch
reading
out
the
proph-ecies
of
Jeremiah,
and
then
spoke
of
them
to
the
princes
who
were
assembled
in
the
scribe's
chamber
(Jer
36'-"),
perhaps
identical
with
the
Micaiah
of
2
K
22'^
and
the
Micah
of
2
Ch
34".
6.
One
of
the
priests
who
took
part
in
the
dedication
of
the
wall
(Neh
12").
Other
less
important
bearers
of
the
name
are
mentioned
in
1
Ch
6'
23M
(cf.
24»"),
2
Ch
13^
(see
Maacah,
4),
Neh
IQii
123S.
[1
Ch
9i»
Mica]
«,
Jth
6'5.
For
the
prophet
Micah
see
the
following
article.
W.
O.
E.
Oesterley.
MICAH.
—
The
Morashtite,
one
of
the'four
prophets
of
the
8th
century
b.c.
whose
writings
have
survived.
Probably
his
prophecy
does
not
extend
beyond
the
first
three
chapters
of
the
Book
of
Micah
(see
next
art.).
According
to
the
general
interpretation
of
1',
Micah
prophesied,
at
least
in
part,
before
the
destruction
of
Samaria,
which
took
place
in
b.c.
722;
though
some
place
his
prophetic
activity
entirely
in
the
years
705-701.
In
any
case,
he
prophesied
a
generation
or
so
later
than
Amos,
later
also
than
Hosea;
but
he
was
contemporary
with
Isaiah,
and
his
activity
coincides
with
the
mid-
career
of
Isaiah,
or
its
close,
according
as
we
accept
the
one
or
the
other
of
the
two
views
just
mentioned.
JVIICAH,
BOOK
OF
He
was
a
native
of
Moresheth
(1',
Jer
26"),
a
place
which,
if
we
identify
it,
as
we
probably
should,
with
Moresheth-gath
(Mic
1"),
lay
in
the
Shephelah
of
Judah,
a
fertile
country
with
views
over
the
PhiUstine
country
to
the
Mediterranean,
and
backed
by
the
loftier
hills
which
rise
to
the
plateau
on
which
Jerusalem
is
placed.
The
home
of
Micah
thus
lay
a
good
day's
journey
from
the
capital,
which,
if
we
may
judge
from
the
vividness
of
his
descriptions,
he
must
frequently
have
visited.
How
Micah
worked
we
are
not
told;
that
he
spoke
in
public,
and
that
perhaps
both
at
home
and
in
Jeru-salem,
is
probable
in
the
light
of
what
is
known
of
Amos
and
Isaiah;
and,
guided
by
the
same
analogy,
we
may
suppose
that
he
himself
summarized
his
teaching
in
writing
(Mic
1-3
in
the
main).
Of
the
call
of
Micah
we
have
no
details,
but
he
under-stood
his
duty
as
prophet
to
consist
in
'declaring
to
Jacob
his
transgression,
and
to
Israel
his
sin'
(3*),
and
the
doom
which
these
involved.
This
transgression
is
centralized
in
the
capitals
—
Samaria
and
Jerusalem
(IB
'What
is
the
sin
(so
LXX)
of
Judah?
Is
it
not
Jerusalem?';
cf.
3i°-'2).
The
rising
buildings
and
the
growing
magnificence
of
Jerusalem
in
Hezekiah's
day
spoke
to
him
of
the
grinding
down
of
the
poor
by
which
the
wealth
needed
for
such
works
had
been
obtained.
It
is
more
especially
the
leading
and
ruUng
classes
that
Micah
upbraids
—
the
wealthy
land-proprietors
who
squeeze
out
the
smaller
holders
(2'*-;
cf.
Is
5'),
the
judges
and
officials
(3i-*),
the
prophets
(.3^-),
and
the
priests;
they
have
wholly
misunderstood
Jahweh;
in
the
very
pursuit
of
injustice
and
inhumanity
they
rely
on
His
presence
for
safety
1
(3").
With
Micah
as
with
Isaiah,
Amos,
and
Hosea,
Jahweh
is
thus
essentially
a
righteous
God,
offended
by
man's
moral
sins,
pleased
only
with
a
moral
life;
the
ethical
is
the
essential
element
in
His
personality.
Brief
as
is
his
prophecy,
this
is
clear,
and
the
deep
impression
made
by
his
work
is
evident
from
the
narrative
in
Jer
26.
G.
B.
Gbay.
MICAH,
BOOK
OP.
—
The
Book
of
Micah
stands
in
EV
sixth
in
order
of
the
so-called
Minor
Prophets.
In
the
LXX
it
stood
third,
preceded
only
by
Hosea
and
Amos.
EV
in
its
arrangement
follows
the
Hebrew
Bible.
In
the
Hebrew
Bible
the
Book
of
Micah
is
the
sixth
section
of
a
collection
of
prophecies
already
known
about
B.C.
180
as
'the
Twelve
Prophets'
(Sir
49i»).
This
Book
of
'the
Twelve
Prophets'
cannot
have
been
compiled
earher
than
the
5th
cent,
b.c,
for
it
contains
the
Book
of
Malachi,
and
it
probably
was
not
compiled
till
towards
the
close
of
the
3rd
century
b.c.
For
the
history
of
the
Book
of
Micah
prior
to
its
in-clusion
in
this
compilation
we
must
rely
entirely
on
internal
evidence,
except
for
any
conclusions
which
may
be
drawn
from
Jer
26i™..
It
appears
certain
that
the
section
of
the
Book
of
the
Twelve
Prophets
entitled
Micah
consists
in
part
of
prophecies
of
Micah
the
Morashtite
(see
preced.
art.),
a
contemporary
of
Isaiah,
and
in
part
of
prophecies
of
later
date;
but
the
determination
of
what
are
the
later
prophecies
is
not
in
every
case
equally
easy
or
sure.
The
book
divides
into
three
clearly
marked
sections
—
chs.
1-3,
Prophecies
of
Judgment
for
sin
(exception
2'2');
chs.
4.
5,
Prophecies
of
Promise
(mainly,
if
not
entirely);
chs.
6.
7,
more
miscellaneous
in
character,
but
containing
in
ch.
7
confessions
of
national
sin.
The
first
of
these
sections
contains,
and
for
the
most
part
consists
of,
prophecies
of
Micah.
The
allusion
to
Samaria
(which
was
destroyed
in
722)
as
still
standing,
and
the
accordance
of
the
other
conditions
presupposed
with
what
is
otherwise
known
of
the
latter
half
of
the
8th
cent,
b.c,
would
suffice
to
prove
this;
but
we
also
possess
early
external
evidence
that
Micah
was
the
author
of
a
saying
occurring
in
this
section
of
the
book.
At
the
close
of
the
following
century
(b.c
608)
the
prophet
Jeremiah
was
denounced
by
the
priests
and
prophets
as
worthy
of
death,
because
he
had
predicted
the
de-
