Глава 1

Micah 1:2. Hear ye people (λαοι) all the words, and give ear to the earth, and all that dwell on it, and the Lord God will be in you to obey, the Lord from his holy house. Since he said that the words of the God of all things came to him about Samaria and Jerusalem, he rightly gathers for hearing not the people, but the nations. He calls the tribes, divided into two kingdoms, not a people, but nations, and he urges everyone living on this land to heed the prophecy, as the testimony of the Lord God Himself, broadcasting from the Divine Church. Micah 1:3–4. Behold, the Lord proceeds from His place: He will come down and step on the heights of the earth, and the mountains will shake under Him, and the valleys will melt like wax from the presence of fire, and like water that comes down with aspiration. From divine scripture we learn that the God of all things is not limited to place; because it is incorporeal, indescribable, “all things bear the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). But because He showed His presence in Jerusalem; then the church is rightly called His place. So through the great Moses he legitimizes: “You cannot eat the Passover in any of your cities, but only in the place that the Lord your God chooses” (Deut. 16:5, 6). From this place, says the Prophet, God comes, steps on the heights, shakes the mountains with His coming, and melts the valleys like wax melting from the approaching fire. This is literally fulfilled whenever God pleases; and if understood figuratively, it also contains truth; because the Prophet calls those who think highly of their dominion as shaken mountains and fall into disaster; and by the melting valleys - the subordinates, who, like the valleys lying at the foot of the mountains, live under the rule of the rulers. And God, like water rushing noisily down the side of a mountain, inflicts punishment on those worthy of it. And showing the reason for this, the Prophet continues: Micah 1:5. All this is for Jacob's sake, and sin for the house of Israel. Then, showing what wickedness and sin consist of, he sets out the reproof in the form of questions and answers. What is wickedness to the house of Jacob? Isn't it Samaria? and what sin is it to the house of Judah? Isn't it Jerusalem? Some filled Samaria with idols; and others, living in Jerusalem, taught in the church the Divine law, spent their lives in lawlessness. One should pay attention to the fact that the Prophet, in a few words, called those named above the house of Israel the house of Judah, and just as he called the ten tribes the house of Jacob, using a natural name, so he assigned the spiritual name Israel to the tribe of Judah; because, having the church of God, it also had many pious people. Micah 1:6. And I will put Samaria in the village's vegetable store, and in the vineyard, and I will cast her stone into the abyss, and I will open her foundations. Samaria will be given over to such desolation that its stones will become useless and completely disappear; the place of squares, streets and houses will be taken by vineyards, and the guardians of the vineyards will set up their tabernacles in it, and the churches of idols will be destroyed to the ground. Micah 1:7. And all her bribes will be set on fire, and all her idols I will put into destruction: from the hiring of fornication I have gathered, and from the hiring of fornication I have seduced. Because Samaria, having left Me, preferred serving idols, and, as if giving some kind of reward to idols, erected altars and churches, and made many offerings; then together with her I will betray all this to the enemies. God accuses Samaria of this through the mouth of the Prophet Ezekiel. For he says: the opposite of what all women like you do has happened to you; every harlot takes wages, “but you have given hire to your stewards” (Ezek. 16:33–34). Probably the Prophet means those prodigal wives who, collecting bribes for lewdness, brought the first fruits of this to the unclean demon. For to this day others dare to do this. Micah 1:8. For this reason he will weep and weep, he will go barefoot and naked: he will create weeping like the serpents, and weeping like the daughters of Syria, excessive crying will produce an excessive degree of suffering. Micah 1:9. Because the plague took hold, it came even to Judah, and touched the gates of My people even to Jerusalem. This the Prophet foretells the invasion of the kings of Assyria, Felgaffellaser, Shalmaneser and Sennacherib. They, having enslaved ten tribes, took them captives; and Sennacherib, taking Lachish and other cities of Judah by storm, plundered them; Having sent most of the army with Rampsak to the very gates of Jerusalem, he learned from experience that he would not overcome anyone, if God did not want it. And with the words: “he will create weeping like serpents, and weeping like the daughters of Syria,” the Prophet wanted to show the excessiveness of grief. Because it is the custom of those who weep to cry out in chanting, like hissing snakes to let out sighs from a flaming heart, and to do this with some violence to themselves; for the Prophet used the above-mentioned similarities. And since he foretold lamentation to all the tribes of Israel, he foresaw that foreigners would rejoice at these disasters; then he turns his word to them and says: Micah 1:10. Ye who are in Gath shall not be magnified, and the Jehanimites shall not flee from home to ridicule; sprinkle dust upon your derision. Do not think highly of yourself, rejoicing in their misfortunes, because you yourself remain as if unharmed; but instead of laughing at the Israelites, sprinkle dust on yourself, mourn your own misfortunes. Enakim is not, as others suggest, any other city besides Gath, but the Prophet calls the inhabitants of Gath the Enakimites, as the descendants of the giant Enakim, and this can be learned from many places of divine scripture. Micah 1:11. Living kindly in her cities, I will destroy her cities. Neither the beauty of the buildings nor the strength of the fortifications will help you at all, but your cities are desolate. The one who lives in Enan and does not leave, weep for the house that exists near her, and she will receive the plague of diseases from you. Because I didn’t want to show you compassion and be chaste with the punishments that you were admonished with: then, involuntarily, she will take part in your misfortune. Enan was one of the neighboring cities. Micah 1:12. Who began for good and entered into illness? Now the Prophet turns his speech to Jerusalem, but the order of words is distorted and the composition is extremely unclear, so it is necessary to look for the meaning by arranging the words like this: who started the illnesses of the good one? that is, who was the cause of the disasters of the city, which was well-organized and enjoying peace and great success in everything? The Prophet wants to show that it is not man, but the God of all things himself, who imposes punishment on this city, in revenge for its wickedness. Therefore he adds: For evil has descended from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem. And showing what kind of disasters these are, he added: Micah 1:13. The noise of chariots and horsemen: God clearly revealed this to us through the Prophet Isaiah: “Woe to the Assyrians, the rod of My wrath is in their hand. I will send My wrath upon the wicked tongue, and I will command My people to create covetousness and captivity” (Is. 10:5, 6). So it is said here: “Who has begun for good by dwelling in sickness? As if from the Lord the noise of chariots and horsemen came down on the gates of Jerusalem,” that is, on Jerusalem, which enjoyed all sorts of blessings, I sent diseases, raising up many enemies against it. And since Lachish was destroyed before Jerusalem; because Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and Lachish by Sennacherib; then the Prophet addresses Lachish. the ruler of sin who dwells in Lachish is the daughter of Zion, for in you is found the wickedness of Israel. You, Lachish, will be the first to suffer punishment; because he was dishonestly jealous of the ten tribes, and drew Jerusalem into iniquity. Micah 1:14. For this reason he will give those sent even to the inheritance of Gath, houses of vanity: in vain he was king of Israel, Micah 1:15. I will bring you the heirs of Dondezh: Therefore, the enemies will take many captives from you (the Prophet called them “those sent”), and all the way to Gath, your land will turn into a desert; because you have investigated the wickedness of the foolish kings of Israel, you will be in this desolation, “until I bring you heirs,” that is, until I again free and return those taken into captivity, and give them the paternal inheritance. Others translated “enemies” instead of “heirs,” meaning this passage as follows: he will dwell in the houses of vain, which the kings of Israel were in vain, “until I bring you heirs,” that is, enemies. And according to the translation of Aquila, which puts “heir” in the singular, we find a deeper meaning, namely: in desolation you will dwell in vain houses, “until I will bring you an Heir,” whom the evil workers saw from afar, in the words of the Master’s parable, “deciding to themselves: This is the Heir, let us kill Him, and ours will be the inheritance” (Mark 12:7). Having come, He will free not only Lachish, but the whole universe from slavery to vain idols. The Prophet adds to this: dwelling in Lachish, the inheritance will come even to Adullam, that is, this desolation will not only befall you, but will extend to Adollam, and will touch the glorious Jerusalem; for the Prophet called him the daughter of Zion, and turning his word to him, he said: Micah 1:16. Throw yourself, and shave your hair after your young children: expand your hair like an eagle, before you were taken captive. Take on a deplorable appearance and remove your hair decoration, imitating an eagle. which, according to natural law, at a certain time loses all its feathers, and then is no longer able to catch prey, and ceases to be terrible for those to whom it was terrible before. Likewise, you, having lost My providence for you, will be available to enemies, because none of your inhabitants will remain in you.