V. 1. To Micah.
When the disturbance of the Jewish people was imminent and a new time was to come, many prophets were sent beforehand, who announced the disturbance, whether they could not move the people to repentance. Among the older ones are 1. Amos, 2. Hosea, 3. Micah. They go about prophesying the end of this people and the beginning of a new people. They introduce the kingdom of the Assyrians [against the kingdom of Judah and Israel]; 1) After this came to an end bodily, the spiritual followed. Since both Judah and Israel were destroyed, the outcome of the gospel gathered some from Judah, some from Israel. The people from Judah etc. remain small etc. This is what the prophets have in mind. Before a great disturbance, God uses to send an extraordinary sermon, a light in advance. Those ^shouted): Promise, promise! eternal, eternal! In contrast, the prophets said: You are not righteous etc. This kingdom will not endure, another will come etc. So nowadays the light of the gospel is there; there is a new [situation, hurried) change of all things. "He will not preach in vain," he will not pour out his word in vain; retribution will follow as it did there. This imminent Assyrian ge
1) Supplemented by us according to the Hall manuscript.
captivity these prophets Hosea and Micah saw before their eyes, at the same time also the final ^destruction) of Jerusalem by the Romans etc. God always fulfills his words wonderfully. There should always be someone who sweetens on David's chair until the hero (Shiloh) comes etc. [Gen. 49:10] The kingdom of Israel does not have the eternal promise, but Judah does, as is clear from the blessing of Jacob. The kingdom of Judah did not fall away completely. In the Babylonian 2) captivity Jechaniah remained and was thrown into prison, but not killed. By the son of the king of Babylon 3) he was set over all the kings that were at Babylon. So Paul says [Rom. 11, 1.]: Are all the Jews perishing? No, I am not perishing etc. "The rest will be saved," Rom. 9, 27. So they understood [the word 2 Sam. 7, 16. (Gen. 49, 10.): Your throne) shall not cease, that is, the throne will remain in the land etc. Therefore, the prophecy of Hosea and Micah was not sorry for them etc. We have not so certain a cause of unbelief as they, because we have no promise etc. They boast that the church must be preserved, and say that they are the church. This can remain even if all the monks and bishops perished;
2) From the Weimar edition set instead: V.88^riaou.
3) "Babel" set by us instead of: ^ss^riorunu
In the Zwickau manuscript, this writing has the title: In NieNarn. v. U. 4,. It is first printed in the Erlangen edition, 6X6A. opp., torn. XXVI, p. 83; then in the Weimar one, vol. XIII, p. 260. According to the latter, we have translated.
it can consist of three people etc. Not the outward showiness is the church as they want. The prophets preached against the divine promise, that is, against the false interpretation of the divine promise. Note the passage in Jeremiah 1) [Cap. 32, 4. f., where it is said],he will see the king of Babylon, and in Ezekiel [Cap. 12, 12. f.]: he will not see [the Chaldean land] etc. This is miraculously fulfilled etc. He is silent of the kings of Israel. Hosea and Amos did not want to do this because they prophesied against or against the kingdom of Israel, Micah against Judah, 'therefore he calls etc.
From Maresa.
Morasthitem, [that is] of Maresa, from the city of Maresa etc. This prophet reached a good age; he taught and preached a lot. We will therefore divide the prophecy into many sermons. Lucas says [Cap. 3, 4..]: 2) "Speeches of Isaiah", so here are speeches of Micah.
Jerusalem.
That meant touching the ulcer, touching the eye. This is nothing else than prophesying against God. It is to be wondered at that he lived so long, but he had a godly king, Hezekiah or Ezekiah etc. So said the elders of Isaiah and Jeremiah etc.: We cannot suffer it, God is with us; we have the miracles, the law etc. They prophesy against the kingdom in which they were etc.
V. 2. listen, all peoples, take heed, land, and all that is within; for God the Lord has to speak to you.
Adonai is the Lord. - He speaks with a great spirit. He has imagined the disturbance with certain faith that he does not see 3) how it can be resisted. It is with a great, moved and sorrowful spirit that he wants them to know: "Let me tell you", something great "is present".
1) In our original Ezekiel is erroneously in Jeremiah's place and vio, 8 versa. The Erlangen edition has complete nonsense here.
2) In our original in the margin: Luc. 4, 17.
3) In the original: viüet instead of: videat.
God the Lord has to talk to you (Sit Dominus vobis in testem).
God is witness that I do not speak what I speak, but God bears witness through me, "let it be told you", as if God Himself spoke. I will speak of great things. Great is the one who speaks. The prophet is sure that it is not he who speaks, but the Lord. He, I say, who is in the temple at Jerusalem. With this word he lays down all their glory. I call upon the Lord, whom you exalt and in whom you glory.
V. 3. For behold, the Lord will go out of his place and come down.
Now follows what he wants to say: Gather yourselves together for the descent [of the Lord^f etc. This is the opinion: Do not imagine that God is gracious to you. The kingdom and the priesthood were not given to you so that you might be secure and presumptuous. He hates presumption and security; those who fear, He loves etc. - ["He will go out from his place"] is a figure of speech which means]: He is now hidden, but will soon come; now he dwells in a hidden place. - "Descend," that is, make himself present by efficacy through the King of the Assyrians and Babylonians.
And step on the heights in the country.
"Heights" are altars that have been so called from the height, I believe. So is also called everything that is high, elevated. Here it does not stand for altar etc. God the Lord will tread down everything that is high in the land, which you imagine to be permanent and eternal. It is the subject of which he will speak in the whole sermon, namely 4) that he will destroy the temple, the kingdom and the priesthood.
V. 4. 5) That the mountains will melt under him and the valleys will crack.
That is, those who are in the valleys etc. He understands this whole people. It is a
4) In our template: iriirum instead of: nimirum.
5) Here the Weimar edition has neither a new verse number, nor these words highlighted as a keyword, but continues after a comma.
mountainous country. Everything will be dissolved, scattered, what is there in mountains and valleys. That which is contained therein for that which is contained therein etc.
[As wax melts before the fire, as the waters that flow beneath [quae decurrunt in praeceps).]1 )
Over a sloping place or in flowing down etc., very easily and unstoppable, 2) like wax and water cannot be stopped etc. So it is with this in such a great course that you cannot resist. 3) There are two parables. When he is angry, "no one can resist".
V. 5: All this because of Jacob's transgression (in scelere).
Here is his boldness in punishing such great men, the priests who kept the law day and night etc. It is not well translated here [by in]. Ps. 17:9: 4) in anima, that is, for my soul's sake. Thus here: All this is "for the transgression of Jacob," and for the sin of the hemp of Israel. They did not want to hear that they were sinners, as our [papists] do nowadays, that they should fear the wrath of God etc. Therefore they say, "Which is the transgression?" This whole priesthood, the whole kingdom is ungodly, because it has set up for itself a worship of God etc. "Transgression" is to leave the right way and find another, "to become apostate." Here "heights" stands for altars. Both kingdoms find, Israel in Samaria, Judah in Jerusalem, services and sacrifices are set up which God has not commanded. [They say,] Micah, you are lying. He answers their question.
V. 6. And I will make Samaria a heap of stones in the field.
He interprets what xxx 5) means in Hebrew: a fence around a vineyard made of stones, which
1) This keyword is inserted by us.
In the Weimar: iinpoäibilitor instead of: iniinpeäidilitor.
3) In our template potostis instead of poWitis.
4) That this passage is meant, we recognize from the Hallic manuscript: oii-ouinäoäorunt ino in uniinain IN6SM i. e. proprer. But in the Vulgate there is only snirnurn without in.
5) Weimar li with correct explanatory note. Erlanger: ii.
are not joined together with mortar, where one stone lies on another; that is, I will destroy the whole. I will throw its stones into the valley, in heaps and with impetuosity I will throw them down into the valley, so that it shall no longer be a wall, [it shall] "tumble over" etc.
And to break ground.
I will mow down this city so that not one stone will be left upon another. I will destroy it from the foundation. [It should mean:] here was once Samaria, [here was once a] "monastery" etc., "hie was vorzeiten" etc.
V. 7. 6) All their idols shall be broken, and all their whoredoms shall be burned with fire, and will destroy all their images; for they are gathered of whoredoms, and shall become whoredoms again.
In perditionem, that is, they shall be laid waste. All images shall be utterly broken by 7) the kings of Assyria. "Harlot's wages" (mercedes) are the contributions to the arrangement of religious services. Thou hast had pleasure in the wages, the gifts of consecration, the dues given both for the priests and for the temple, to set up worship etc. "Harlot's wages" 8) is proverbial, [as:] evil gained, evil broken; "it is harlot's wages, shall again become harlot's wages," it is brought together by harlotry, by harlotry it shall be done. That is, from ungodliness [come the goods], I will see to it: "as they are won," that they are so "laid up" [are] etc. The kings of the Assyrians are the fornicators etc. So it will go with our monasteries, because they are whores' wages. The war servants wait for it etc. because "shamefully won, shamefully killed", malo partum9 ) male disperit.
V. 8. Therefore I must mourn and howl, I must walk bereft and bare; I must lament like the dragons, and mourn like the ostriches. For their plague is no counsel etc.
6) This verse number and the keyword are missing in the Weimar edition. The following is attached to v. 6 without distinction.
7) Instead of in in our original, the Altenburg handwriting will read per.
8) Instead of rnoretrix we have assumed rnoroos rnorotriois.
9) purtnrn put by us instead of paruta.
The rest of this chapter is quite difficult, and we are quite incompetent who undertake to interpret the prophets without the knowledge of the language, since here the knowledge of the language is hardly sufficient. I do not know what to say, let us leave it to the diligence of others. So far, he has prophesied the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, and that all images, wages of harlotry, and votive gifts shall be destroyed and become wages of harlotry again, and he presents the destruction as if it had already happened, and behaves as if he were a spectator of the destruction. The verba which follow are to be understood in the mode of possibility; in Hebrew they are in the indicative futuri. The Hebrew has no optative. Thus, "Es möcht einer heulen und weinen," about this someone would like to walk along bereft and bare. This "being bare" is to be referred to the more delectable clothing, as Isa. 20:2 ff: "Remove thy sackcloth from off thy loins" and go naked, indicated, as the text says, that the kingdom of Egypt was to be bereft. Thus the prophets indicated calamity by some gesture. It is not necessary to believe that they went naked, but he was dressed in some garment after the upper one was taken off. Thus we read in the Gospel [Marc. 14, 52.] of the young man etc. "I would like to take off my clothes" and just walk around as a sign of great sadness, to indicate the nakedness that will be in the whole country. Likewise: Someone would make a lamentation "like the dragons"; this is hidden from me. Gen. 1:21: "Great whales," sometimes meaning dragons. He leads great beasts. According to the size of the body they emit a great roar. It seems to mean: "that one might howl" like a large "whale". The ostrich is almost always called "the daughter of the ostrich" by the Hebrews. The nature and behavior of this bird is known from Job [Cap. 39, 14. ff.]. It is a large animal, but its behavior and manner is this: when it has laid eggs, it becomes as hard on the young as if they were not its, for God has deprived it of understanding [Job 39, 16. 17.]. 1)
1) Weimarsche: "slok. 39, 20.^", as well as the Erlangen ones in the margin.
It is God alone who takes care of them. Therefore, just as those who are abandoned by their mothers mourn, just as those who have no mothers mourn, so I must mourn, suffering everything.
V. 9. for their plague is no counsel (Desperata).
XXXX, 2) Man in Hebrew, is not actually desperatum, "it means a wretched, miserable, sorrowful, afflicted being". Ps. 8, 5. translates "man" thus: a forgetful one, a sorrowful one, others: a despairing one. 3) Therefore I will mourn, because it is a very miserable, afflicted plague, because it has come even to Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem. I do not think the prophet is speaking of the Babylonian 4) captivity, but of the fear that arose from the captivity of the neighbor, by which they were seized after the Israelites were led into captivity by the Assyrians. Thus, if the king of the Turks devastated the nearest cities, this plague would terrify all of us in this city, and we would fear that he would come tomorrow, so that the proximity of the plague 5) terrified. The plague therefore came through terror, through fear, not through the thing itself. He says of the blow inflicted by the Assyrians on the kingdom of Israel, which did not extend to Judah, but Judah was carried away by the Babylonian captivity. Therefore I understand it from the fear that came upon them by the capture of the neighboring cities. They thought that now they would also have to succumb. This is the reason why I must lament.
V. 10. Do not proclaim it to Gath, do not let yourselves be heard crying.
2) In the interpretation here is a confusion of and kurtieipiuru ?u88lvi of LHx, but this error is made up by the given explanation.
3) Likewise in Luther's work on the first 22 Psalms, St. Louiser Allsgabe, vol. IV, 643 f.
4) We have adopted Lud^Ionioa with the Hall manuscript instead of ^.W^riuea in our original. - Immediately following we have read with the Altenburg manuscript: pavor" vieinus oaptivitat^ instead of: pavors vielno eaptivituU.
5) Instead of male in the Weimarschen we have adopted with the Erlanger rnuli.
Lachrymis [in the Vulgate] could have been omitted. 2 Sam. 1, 20. 1) It is said, when Saul was slain, "Tell it not at Gath," lest the strangers rejoice at our calamity and blaspheme the Lord. This is imitated by the prophets: "Oh, that no one said it," and that one would not weep so that it would be heard.
But go into the mourning chamber and sit in the ashes (In domo pulveris).
If you can conceal it, conceal it, lest the enemies rejoice. "He that hath the hurt, let him not look for mockery and scorn." The Philistines and the neighboring countries rejoiced: Is here God who did the miracles in Egypt? When does he defend them? "Behind him!" He lets them perish. Here we see how powerful their God is! These are descriptions of mourning. It is not actually pulveris. We have it in the third chapter [v. 19.] of the first book of Moses. It is actually the excavated earth so called, the "loose earth," as is that which is cast upon the dead as dust (pulvis); for it is dust, not 2) a clod, clumped earth. In other places it is translated by "earth." "In the house of the earth" means: in the house where dust is sprinkled, where earth is sprinkled on the head. I believe that all images and flowery speeches are in this chapter. As if he wanted to say: Do not sit [publicly], hide ench, 3) do not mean publicly. "Creep into a corner," hide in the cellar, where those who mourn are wont to be. "Eat your own sorrow," lest it become public, lest enemies rejoice. That is, [go] to a place where the mourners may hide themselves. All this the prophet says twice, as if the plague had already happened, now to provoke to repentance and to instruct the hard people by these tremendous tribulations.
1) In the original: II 2.
2) In the Weimar one it says nam, in the Erlangen one non. The Altenburg manuscript agrees with the latter reading. It seems to us that here non has been substituted for nain and vieo forsa.
3) Instead of Inders in our original we have assumed tutete. Immediately following, where also the Weimarsche reads tutete, the Erlanger has likewise tutere. - Before xaturn üere we have added notite.
V. 11. You beautiful city must dahiu with all the shame.
"There the torture goes out." (According to the Hebrew I read thus:] 4) Transi tibi, habitatio pulchra, discooperta ignomini. In his translations, St. Hierouymus always translates the proper names into generic names; in his interpretations, he does the opposite, he leaves the proper names. Therefore, an interpreter of the Bible must know the languages.
The inhabitant (habitatio) of Zaenan will not move out. 5)
[Here I translate after the Hebrew:] 6) Planctum domus proxima de vobis [accipiet], dum stat ipsa, quoniam aegrotat ad bonum etc. - Habitatio, Hebrew n^v, 7) means a citizen: you inhabitants in this city. He is not speaking of the houses, but of those who dwell in the city. This the prophet says in a bitter concession and moved by pain. This image is also used very frequently in Latin. "Go thy way, thou fair and tender city," thou glorious kingdom of Samaria, thou beautiful and rich kingdom. Not that he bids them go thither, but he prophesies that it shall be so. We say: Go in the name of the Lord (as he said above [v. 4]: "As wax melts before the fire" etc.), there is no remedy; there is no one who can resist. And not alone, "Go thy way," but thy shame also is manifest, it is uncovered. "Lest it be revealed in Gath," the city of the Philistines, - but in vain, because the shame is revealed when the people see it. Shortly before he reminded that they would like to mourn alone in a corner, since the enemies do not see it, so that they could not rejoice over it. Go with your shame uncovered, that your shame and your disgrace may be revealed, that there may be both shame and disgrace. The people would gladly have [the damage] 8)
4) Supplemented according to the Altenburg manuscript.
5) Here is inserted in our template: "(i^xoä. 24)." We do not understand what this citation is supposed to mean here.
6) Compare the Altenburg manuscript; after the same we have inserted uooipist.
7) In text:
8) Added after the Hall manuscript.
carried and the disgrace averted, but it was not possible. "The inhabitant of Zaenan will not go out" seems to me to have been spoken by the prophet in imitation. One reads in Joshua, Cap. 15, 37th, "Zenan," a city of Judah, which the prophet calls "Zaenan" by adding a letter. And these are the cities near which the prophet was, as if I prophesied of the destruction of the kingdom, and took the nearest cities etc. So he takes the cities that are neighboring to his fatherland: "Go thy way, O kingdom of Israel. Our city, in which we live, does not go out, they say. But it is spoken in imitation. The bishops or the mighty and the princes say to me: "You must wait lukewarmly", that the Turk or the Assyrian should come here, the calamity will not come upon us. He shows that he has often suffered this humiliation and mockery. Everything is figuratively spoken: Not, not, no, "my Zaenau will still go out", [will) do this glicht), as long as she can still do something better. 1) Zenan means: having abundance. Thus they ridicule the fierce prophet: "If now Zenan goes away, we shall see that [it] comes true." - Or [one would like to understand it without picture in such a way), 2) that it is suspended, [but nevertheless fulfilled,) namely by the other, namely the Babylonian captivity.
[For the sake of the suffering of the next house etc.] 3)
["From) you" who are now going into Assyrian captivity, [the neighboring house will receive suffering,] as happens when neighbors are taken captive. - "The house," that is the kingdom of Judah, which is neighboring. - "Will receive," from terror at the neighbor's captivity.-^Which is still unharmed." The kingdom
1) This sentence reads in our original: istu kuoere, si (zuis msiiuK tuciut (zuankloczus. We have added the words "will" and "not" from the preceding, and instead of Huis we have assumed ^uiü. The Weimar one has the note: "perhaps 86<t ^uiü."
2) Supplemented according to the Hall manuscript.
3) Vulgate: klnnotuna äomns vülna uempivt ex vodis, (MÄ6 stetit Kidimot [the neighboring house will receive suffering from you, which is still unharmedl. This is what the interpretation refers to.
4) Already here, the Weimar has the verse number: "12."
Judah still stands, which has terror inside. It stands because it receives suffering, 5) it is not weakened.
V. 12. the afflicted city cannot comfort itself, for calamity will come from the Lord etc. 6)
This can be understood in two ways, either from guilt or from punishment. First, from guilt, because it [the kingdom of Judah] is weak for good, does not exert itself for good. - "Bitterness," in the Hebrew, means disobedience. Erbittern means to provoke by disobedience, and it deserved to be thus terrified and put in fear, and has also been caught. - "Misfortune," namely, of punishment, when both are understood of punishment. It stands indeed, but cannot be joyful; it bears sorrow, mourns and grieves for your sakes, because it also fears for itself. And this I like better, that he speaks of punishment: it is weak for good, incapable of joy and cannot rejoice much, because the calamity (that is, the captivity of Israel) has come near to it, "also wants to devour itself sheerly".
V. 13. you city of Lachis, harness runners
This, too, is spoken out of a bitter and painful concession: Span to drive. - "You Lachis." Lyra thinks it is Lais or Lesem, 7) which afterwards was called Dan [Jos. 19, 47.), but he did not pay attention to the orthography. Laish is on the northern border, Lachish and the following are cities in the regions of Judah, so close to each other (a mile), like with us the villages, on the border of the Philistines. And in the midst of these cities the prophet had his being and lived there, and applied his prophecy to those among whom he dwelt. You can see these cities in the 15th chapter [v. 37. 39.44.] of the book of Joshua. "Tighten the
5) Instead of ineipist in our original we have assumed aeeipiet according to the Vulgate.
6) Vulgate: Jnia inürrnata est in üonnm, üaditat in ainarltnZinikns [for it (the house of Judah) has become weak for good, dwelling in bitterness. - The Weimarsche has no keyword here.
7) In our template: I^stuua.
Chariot on, you must go away." Tumultus stuporis swhas in the Vulgate cannot take place, ses rather means according to the Hebrew:] Harness the chariot to drive. "My Lachis, you are gone, send you, you must also go."
For you are the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, and in you are found the transgressions of Israel.
These histories are unknown [and are not] in the holy scriptures; you have to believe the prophet Micah that Lachish in Judah was the beginning to sin for the daughter of Zion, that she followed the worship of the kingdom of Israel. You are the originator, O Lachis. You are situated and glorious in the kingdom of Judah, and yet you degenerate from Judah and seize the ungodliness of Israel. If thou wilt be the comrade in sin, thou shalt also be the comrade, and the first, in captivity; for Lachish was the first city taken by the king of Babylon. From you they learned the ungodliness that you learned from Israel; therefore hitch up the chariot. You are the authors of iniquity; you shall be the first in punishment. The transgressions of Israel are also found in you," not that they were the first to invent them.
V. 14. You will have to give prisoners, as well as Gath. 1)
Siloh, give or send. In the Evangelio Johannis (Cap. 9, 7.) it says: "Siloah (that is interpreted], sent." Hence Greek. Silas in Greek means a messenger or apostle. Messengers. The Hebrews have no distinction between the neuter and feminine genders, so it can be said of a gift or of a messenger. I like to take it for messengers. Again, it is a concession out of bitter pain: "Go," send envoys, gifts, seek helpers. (It is said in the Vulgate:) To the heir Gath, not simply: to Gäth.
1) Vulgate: kroptereu dapit smlssurios super dsreditatelu Outti.
The city of Achsib will lack the kings of Israel.
"Achsib" is the name of a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos. 15, 44. 1 Mos. (38, 5.) is said of the woman of Judah (in the Vulgate), when she had given birth to Shelah: she ceased to give birth; in the Hebrew it is written: "and he was at Chesib" (in Achsib). It is a famous city in the Scriptures and yet Jerome did not see the city of Achsib ( but translated: the house of lies).- "Will it be lacking with the kings of Israel" (ad fallendum reges Israel), understand thus: You Lachish and Israel, who agree with their (the kings of Israel) ungodly nature, "go on, you are on the right track"; send envoys, gather the Philistines, accept the city of Achsib 2) who agree with you. The kings of Israel will ally themselves with the Philistines through the inhabitants of Lachish and Achsib; but this confidence will be a deception to them when the king of Assyria has come and smitten them. This is how I take it, but it is not enough for me.
V. 15. I will bring you, Maresa, the right heir.
Maresa is a city and the fatherland of the prophet. This can be understood in two ways; either ironically: I will bring you another inheritance, "will give you an heir", namely the king of Assyria. "The glory," that is the shame; so he speaks ironically. The villages in our regions are scarcely so near to each other as in this country are the cities. Why does he call an inheritance? It is an image by a play on words (allusione), because.
XXXXX (Maresa) and XXX 3) "means" inheritance, "I will make a right Maresa out of you". Achsib "he also makes an allusion out of it": the glory which Israel has now 4), "the beautiful" glory etc., the captivity, "shall also come to Adullam". Simple and better is this: Maresa, you will still exist, but through the blessing of God, the Lord sends you an inheritance, namely me, so that by my wisdom you may be able to
2) domos --- the houses of Achsib, which Luther translated: "The city of Achsib".
3) In our template: "isrss".
4) Instead of non, we have assumed nuno.
gnug will be obtained, and that the glory of Israel, that is, the prophecy, will come to Adullam.
V. 16. Let the hair be shaved off and go bald.
This is the conclusion. It was a sign of sadness to make the head bare. That is, [your descendants,] on whom you have
will be [the cause of] your mourning, because they will wander away from you. Again, a bitter concession: "Only make the plates (blatten) large!" "The eagle" is a bird frequently mentioned in Scripture: "And thou shalt grow young again, as an eagle" etc. [Ps. 103, 5.] "Mausern auf deutsch" (maußern on teuschtz). So your soul becomes young again etc., in the Psalm.