Old Testament · Prophecy · book 33 of 66 · 2 min read
The book of Micah
A contemporary of Isaiah writing from a village rather than the capital, with the clearest one-line summary of the prophetic demand in the Bible.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
At a glance
- Chapters
- 7
- Author
- Micah of Moresheth
- Written
- Eighth century BC
- Written for
- Both kingdoms, and their leaders in particular
- Themes
- justice, leadership, Bethlehem, humility
What it is about
Micah prophesied to both kingdoms in the eighth century, and his complaint is against those with power — rulers who hate good and love evil, prophets who prophesy for money, judges who take bribes.
He alternates between judgement and promise in a way that can be disorienting on a first read: a passage announcing Jerusalem's ruin sits next to one of the best-known promises of peace, swords into ploughshares, which he shares with Isaiah.
Chapter 6 stages a courtroom scene where God brings a case against his own people, and it produces the summary that has served as a definition of religion for three thousand years: act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.
Where to start
Chapter 6, the courtroom, which ends in the verse everyone quotes and gives it the setting it needs.
The chapters worth knowing
- Micah 4 — Swords into ploughshares, shared almost word for word with Isaiah.
- Micah 5 — The ruler who comes from Bethlehem, a town small enough to be beneath notice, quoted by the scribes in Matthew's nativity.
- Micah 6 — The courtroom scene where God brings a case against his own people, ending in the verdict everybody quotes: act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.
What people get wrong about it
That 6:8 is a gentle summary of the good life. It is the verdict in a legal case God is bringing against his people, answering a sarcastic question about whether thousands of rams would help.
Questions
What does Micah 6:8 mean?
It answers a question raised in a courtroom scene: what does God actually want, given that sacrifices are not it. The answer is justice, mercy and humility, and it is a verdict rather than a proverb.
Was Micah a contemporary of Isaiah?
Yes, in the eighth century BC. They share the swords-into-ploughshares passage almost word for word, though Micah writes from a rural town rather than from Jerusalem.