Table Of ContentRiemer Roukema
Micah in Ancient Christianity
Studies of the Bible
and Its Reception
Edited by
Christine Helmer, Steven McKenzie,
Thomas Römer, Jens Schröter,
Barry Dov Walfish, and Eric Ziolkowski
Volume 15
Riemer Roukema
Micah in Ancient
Christianity
Reception and Interpretation
ISBN 978-3-11-066340-2
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-066602-1
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-066391-4
ISSN 2195-450X
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019944384
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
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To the memory of Tjitze Baarda
(1932–2017)
Preface
TheoriginofthisbookliesinStrasbourg,whereIworkedasprofessorinthehis-
toryofancientChristianityandpatristicstudiesattheFacultyofProtestantThe-
ologyof the – then so called – Université Marc Bloch from 2000 to 2002. Iwas
invitedtoparticipateinateamthatwastocomposethevolumeonMicahinthe
seriesLaBibled’Alexandrie,whichconsistsofFrenchtranslationsoftheSeptua-
gint,includingextensiveannotationsandintroductions.Mytaskwouldbetore-
searchthepatristicinterpretationofMicah,sothatitsresultscouldbeincluded
bothintheannotationstothetranslationandintheintroduction.Iacceptedthe
invitation,andasateamwecontinuedtoworkontheprojectafterIreturnedto
theNetherlands,where–forthetimebeing–Ifinalizedmyresearch.However,
forreasonsthatarenotrelevanthere,thecompletionofthevolumeMichéeofLa
Bible d’Alexandrie was delayed.When it was clear to me that for the coming
yearsitspublicationcouldnotbeexpected,IdecidedtorewritemyFrenchdocu-
ment in English, to add detailed references to the ancient sources – footnotes
thatwerenotrequiredintheFrenchseries–andtoexpanditwithothermateri-
al.Thishasresultedinthisbook,whosescopeconsiderablyexceedsmyoriginal
French introduction and notes.
For my research I have benefited from the help of several colleagues. My
thanks go to Jan Joosten for drawing my attention to the book of Micah and
for sharing his insights into its version in the Septuagint; to Mats Eriksson for
sending a copy of his PhD thesis on Hesychius of Jerusalem’s Scholia on the
Twelve Prophets; to Adelrich Staub osb for lending a copy of his PhD thesis on
Jerome’s Commentary on the Twelve Prophets; to Thomas Scheck for sending
the translation of Jerome’s Commentary on Micah before it was published; to
Hans van Loon for elucidating some passages of Cyril of Alexandria; to Frans
van Liere for a scan of Rahmer’s book on Jerome’s use of Jewish sources and
for his reference to Andrieu’s Ordines Romani; to Lucas Van Rompay for his in-
formation on Syriac literature and some recent publications; to Gerard Rouw-
horst for his comments on my earlier paper on the Improperia; to Stefan Royé
for clarifying my questions about the Byzantine Typika; to Barry Hartog for his
remarksonJesus’allegedquotationfromMic1:7inJewishsources;tothelibrar-
ians of the Protestant Theological University in Amsterdam and Groningen for
supplying many books and articles from our own and other libraries; to the li-
brarians of the Theological University in Kampen (‘Broederweg’),the University
ofGroningen,andVUUniversityinAmsterdam;toJacobFaberforimprovingthe
Englishstyleofsomeoftheshorterchapters;toAnthonyRuniawhohaschecked
and corrected my English in the whole book (though I am responsible for re-
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110666021-001
VIII Preface
mainingerrors);to Jesse de Bruin for his assistance in compiling the bibliogra-
phy;andtoLilyBurggraaffwhohasalwaysshownherinterestintheprogressof
this work.
Contents
Abbreviations XIII
I Introduction 1
II Micah in the New Testament 5
II. Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Christ (Mic 5:1 [5:2]) 5
II. The families divided (Mic 7:6) 7
II. Conclusion 9
III Church Fathers: Introduction 10
III. Ancient Christian authors on the Twelve Prophets 10
III. The need for interpretations of the Twelve Prophets 13
III. Criteria for the selection of patristic interpretations 17
III. Translations of the ancient Commentaries on the Twelve
Prophets 20
IV Heterodox views 22
IV. Introduction 22
IV. Heterodox references to Micah 24
IV.. Irenaeus on the Ophites’ view of Micah 24
IV.. Micheus and Michar in Sethian works 25
IV.. Heterodox interpretations of Micah 31
IV... Evil coming down from the Lord (Mic 1:12b) 31
IV... Spears and swords transformed (Mic 4:3c [Isa 2:4c]) 32
IV... Should Christians abstain from procreation? (Mic 6:7cd) 33
IV.. Heterodox reminiscences (Mic 7:6) 35
IV. Conclusion 35
V Patristic interpretation of Micah 37
V. Micah’s name and identity (Mic 1:1a) 38
V. The historical context of Micah’s prophecies (Mic 1:1bc) 42
V. Hear the words, all peoples (Mic 1:2) 43
V. The Lord descending on the mountains and valleys
(Mic 1:3–5) 45
V. Samaria’s destruction because of its idolatry (Mic 1:6–7) 51
V. Samaria’s captivity and Jerusalem’s siege (Mic 1:8–9) 55
V. Gath and Akim addressed (Mic 1:10–11) 58
X Contents
V. Jerusalem threatened by the Assyrians (Mic 1:12–13a) 63
V. Lachis and Odollam (Mic 1:13b–15b) 65
V. The eagle’s widowhood or baldness (Mic 1:15c–16) 67
V. The fields divided up (Mic 2:1–5a) 70
V. No tears! (Mic 2:5b–8) 73
V. Everlasting mountains (Mic 2:9–11a) 78
V. Spirit, lie, and captivity (Mic 2:11b–12) 81
V. The capture of Jerusalem (Mic 2:13) 88
V. Israel’s unrighteous leaders (Mic 3:1–4) 90
V. The false prophets (Mic 3:5–8) 93
V. Jerusalem ploughed like a field (Mic 3:9–12) 99
V. The nations will go up to the mountain of the Lord (Mic 4:1–3 //
Isa 2:2–4) 102
V. The Lord will reign on Mount Zion (Mic 4:4–7) 114
V. The kingdom from Babylon (Mic 4:8–10) 117
V. A clash between Zion and the nations (Mic 4:11–14
[4:11–5:1]) 124
V. The future ruler from Bethlehem (Mic 5:1–2 [5:2–3]) 128
V. The Lord will shepherd his flock (Mic 5:3–4c [5:4–5c]) 136
V. The fate of Assyria and the land of Nimrod (Mic 5:4d–5 [5:5d–
6]) 141
V. Israel’s remnant unassailable among the nations (Mic 5:6–8
[5:7–9]) 146
V. Destruction and vengeance (Mic 5:9–14 [5:10–15]) 153
V. The Lord’s lawsuit against Israel (Mic 6:1–2) 157
V. The Lord’s interrogation and retrospective (Mic 6:3–5) 160
V. What should we do? (Mic 6:6–7) 166
V. Thisis what the Lord requires (Mic 6:8) 169
V. The voice of the Lord (Mic 6:9ab) 174
V. Injusticeand punishment (Mic 6:9c–16) 175
V. Micah’s lament (Mic 7:1–3d) 182
V. Like a moth on a rod (Mic 7:3e–4) 186
V. Distorted relationships (Mic 7:5–6) 191
V. Israel’s salvation and its enemy’s devastation
(Mic 7:7–13) 194
V. Israel’s peace and vindication (Mic 7:14–17) 202
V. God’s compassion and forgiveness (Mic 7:18–20) 211
V. Conclusions 216
V.. Diverging punctuation and delimitation 216
V.. Syntactical difficulties 217
