Chapter 39

sought for only in _Arabia Deserta_. We need to think only of that branch of the Midianites who had gone over to _Arabia Deserta_, whilst their chief settlement continued in _Arabia Petræa_. But the following arguments may be adduced _against_ the distinction. 1. Bozrah is constantly and simply spoken of, without any further distinctive designation. 2. The Edomitic Bozrah must have been a great and powerful city, which agrees well with the "mighty ruins" in _Hauran_, but not with the much more insignificant ruins near _Busseireh_ in _Dshebal_. 3. It is improbable that so important a city as that of Bozrah in Auranitis should never have been mentioned in Scripture.--But not satisfied with a double Bozrah, even a third, in Moab, has been assumed on the ground of Jer. xlviii. 24. But it is certainly strange that Bozrah, in that passage, is mentioned as the last of all the Moabitish towns, and that, immediately after its mention, there follow the words, "Upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near." It may be that Bozrah was conquered by the Edomites and Moabites in common, or that, in later times, the latter obtained a kind of possession of the town in common with the former.

[Pg 440]

CHAP. III.-V.

The discourse opens with new reproofs and threatenings. It is _first_, in vers. 1-4, directed against the rapacious great, who in ver. 2 are described as murderers of men (compare Sirach xxxi. 21: "He who taketh from his neighbour his livelihood, _killeth_ him"), and in ver. 3, as eaters of men, because they turn to their own advantage the necessaries of life of which they have robbed the poor. The discourse _then_ passes over to the false prophets, vers. 5-7. Their character is described as hypocritical, weak, and selfish, and is incidentally contrasted with the character of the true prophet, as represented by himself, whose strength is always renewed by the Spirit of the Lord, and who, in this strength, serves only truth and righteousness, and holds up their sins to the people deluded by the false prophets, ver. 8. This the prophet continues to do in vers. 9-12. The three orders of divinely called rulers, upon whom the life or death of the Congregation was depending,--the princes, the priests, and the prophets (compare remarks on Zech. x. 1),--have become so degenerate, that they are not at all concerned for the glory of God, but only for their own interest. And while they have thus inwardly apostatized from Jehovah, they are strengthened in their false security by the promises which God has given to His people, and which they, altogether overlooking the fact that these are conditional, referred, in hypocritical blindness, to themselves. But God will, in a fearful manner, punish them for this apostasy, and frighten them from their security. The Congregation of the Lord, which has been desecrated inwardly, shall be so outwardly also. Zion shall become a corn-field; Jerusalem, the city of God, shall sink into rubbish and ruins; the Temple-hill shall again become what it was previous to its being the residence of God, viz., a thickly wooded hill, which shall then appear in all its natural lowness, and be considered as insignificant when compared with the neighbouring mountains.--In the whole section, the twelve verses of which are equally divided into three portions of four verses each, the prophet views chiefly the great, and the civil rulers. The false prophets, whom he takes up in the second of these subdivisions (vers. 5-8), come under consideration as their helpers only. In the third subdivision, [Pg 441] the discourse is again directed to the great alone, in vers. 9, 10. The two other orders are added to them in vers. 11, 12 only; and the charges raised against them refer to their relation to the great. The _priests_ are not by any means reproved because they made teaching a profession, from which they derived their livelihood, but because, for bribes, they interpreted the law in a manner favourable to the rapacious lusts of the great, and thereby, no less than the false prophets, assisted them in their wickedness.--The charge raised in ver. 10 against the great,--"Building up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity,"--has been frequently misunderstood. The words must not be explained from Hab. ii. 12, but from Ps. li. 20, where David prays to the Lord, "Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem," which he had destroyed by his blood, ver. 16. The word "building" is used ironically by Micah, and is tantamount to: "Ye who are destroying Jerusalem by blood and iniquity (compare ver. 12: 'For your sakes Zion shall be ploughed as a field'), instead of building it up by righteousness." Righteousness builds up, because it draws down God's blessing and protection; but unrighteousness destroys, because it calls down the curse of God.

The unfaithfulness of the Covenant-people can nevertheless not make void the faithfulness of God. The prophet, therefore, passes suddenly from threatening to promise. _Calvin_ thus expresses the relation of these two: "But I must now come to the little remnant. Hitherto I have spoken about the judgment of God, which is near at hand, upon the king's councillors, upon the priests and prophets, upon the whole people in short, because they are all wicked and ungodly, because the whole body is pervaded by contempt of God, and by desperate obstinacy. Let them receive, then, that which they all have deserved. But I now gather the children of God apart, for to them too I have a message to deliver."

The intimate relation of the first part of the promise to the preceding threatening has been already demonstrated, p. 420. The Mount of Zion, which forms the subject of vers. 1-7, shall, in future, not only be restored to its former dignity, but it shall be exalted above all the mountains of the earth. The kingdom of God, which is represented by it, shall, by the glory imparted to it by a new revelation of the Lord (compare ver. 7: "And [Pg 442] the Lord shall be King over them on Mount Zion"), outshine all the kingdoms of the world, and exercise an attractive power upon their citizens; so that they flow to Zion, there to receive the commands of the Lord, vers. 1, 2. By the sway which the Lord exercises from Zion, peace shall have its dwelling in the heathen world, ver. 3, and, consequently, the Congregation of the Lord ceases to be a prey to injury from the world's power, ver. 4^a. How incredible soever it may appear, this promise shall surely be fulfilled; for omnipotent faithfulness has given it, ver. 4^b, and has given it indeed for this very purpose; for it is altogether natural, and to be expected, that the glory of the Lord should in all eternity display itself in His dealings with His people, ver. 5. In vers. 6, 7, the promise receives a new impetus, by which it connects itself with ver. 4^a. In that time of mercy, the Lord will put an end to all the misery of His people.

Ver. 1. "_And it shall come to pass at the end of the days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be firmly established on the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, and people flow unto it._"

The words, "And it shall come to pass," excite the attention to the great and unexpected turn which things are to take. The expression, באחרית הימים, is explained by many as meaning: "In times to come," "in future." But we have already proved, in our work on _Balaam_, p. 465 seq., that the right explanation is: "At the end of the days." This is the explanation given by the LXX. also, who commonly render it by ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταισ ἡμέραις; and by the Chaldee Paraphrast, who translates it by בסוף יומיא. The reasons which seem, at first sight, to favour the signification "in future," are invalidated by these two considerations:--_first_, that it is not at all necessary that the end be just absolutely the last, but only the end of those events which the speaker is reviewing; and, _second_, that it altogether depends upon the will of the speaker, what extent he is to assign to the beginning and to the end. The expression is used by the prophets in a manner different from that of the Pentateuch. The prophets use it almost exclusively with a reference to the Messianic times,--an _usus loquendi_ which originated in Deut. iv. 30. They divide the whole duration of the kingdom of God into two parts, the beginning and the end,--the state of humiliation, and [Pg 443] the state of glorification. The line of demarcation is formed by the birth of the Messiah, according to v. 2 (3): "He will give them up until she who is bearing brings forth."--"The mountain of the house of the Lord" is, according to the common _usus loquendi_, not Moriah, but the whole mountain of Zion, of which Moriah was considered as a part; compare Ps. lxxvi. 3, lxxviii. 68. In ver. 8, the prophet speaks of two parts only, Zion and Jerusalem. In iii. 12, Zion only, as the better part, is first spoken of; and then, in the second clause, Jerusalem and the mountain of the house, the latter corresponding to Zion, are contrasted with each other, or Jerusalem and Mount Zion considered in its highest quality as the temple-mountain.--נכון, "fixed," "firmly established," implies more than, simply, "placed." It shows that the change is not merely momentary, but that the temple-mountain shall be exalted for ever, and that no earthly power shall be able to abase it. It thus goes hand in hand with the declaration in ver. 7: "The Lord shall be king over them from now _until eternity_." The same word נכון is used in 1 Kings ii. 45 of the immutable firmness of the throne of David: "The throne of David shall be firmly established before the Lord for ever;" compare 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13. The commentary on נכון is given by Dan. ii. 44: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed in all eternity ... it shall break in pieces and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." That בראש ההרים does not mean, "at the head of the mountains," _i.e._, standing at the head, as the first among them (as _Hitzig_ and others think), but "on the summit of the mountains" (the ב is used in a similar manner in Judg. ix. 7, compared with 1 Sam. xxvi, 13), is evident from the fact that בראש, in connection with הר, is constantly used of the summit of the mountains, and, hence, cannot be used in a figurative sense, in this connection. The sense can therefore be this only: "Zion, in future, so pre-eminently stands out from among the other mountains, that these serve, as it were, only for its foundation." Now, the elevation of the temple-mountain is considered, by several interpreters, as a _physical_ one. Passages from Jewish commentaries, in which the expectation is expressed that, in the days of the Messiah, Jehovah would bring near Mount Carmel and Tabor, and place Jerusalem on [Pg 444] the summit of them, will be found in _Galatinus_, _de Arcanis Catholicæ Veritatis_, L. v. c. 3. The literal explanation has, in recent times, been defended by _Hofmann_ and _Drechsler_. But _Caspari_, by pointing out the exact correspondence between the words, "The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be firmly established on the top of the mountains," and the words in ver. 2, "The law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem," has proved in a very striking manner that the elevation is a moral one. "As 1^b corresponds to 2^a, so does 1^a to 2^b; ver. 1^a is the ground of ver. 1^b; ver. 2^a, by which ver. 1^b is further expanded, is the consequence of 2^b. Hence 2^b must be substantially identical with ver. 1^a; but 2^b speaks of something that points to the moral height of Mount Zion, and states something upon which it is based." To this it may be added, that height, in a moral sense, is often ascribed to the temple-mountain, even with reference to the ante-Messianic time, and that the passage under consideration could be disjoined from these by force only. It is upon such a view of it, indeed, that the use of עלה in reference to the journeys to Jerusalem rests, just as it is here used in ver. 2. We may, moreover, compare Ps. xlviii. 3; Ezek. xvii. 22, 33: "And I plant upon a mountain high and elevated. On the high mountains of Israel I will plant it;" but especially Ps. lxviii. 16: "Mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan, the top of mountains is the mountain of Bashan." Ver. 17. "Why do ye tops of mountains insidiously observe the mountain which God desireth for His residence? Yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever." The mountain of God is, in these verses, an emblem of the kingdoms of the world, which are powerful through God's grace. In ver. 16, the Psalmist declares what the mountain of Bashan is. In ver. 17, he rejects the unfounded claims which it raises on account of its real advantages. Although it be great, yet Mount Zion is infinitely greater, and vain are all its efforts to overturn this relation. This passage, then, leads to another argument against the literal interpretation. We find in it the kingdoms represented under the figure of mountains,[1]--a mode of representation which is of very frequent occurrence in Scripture; compare my Commentary on [Pg 445] Ps. lxv. 7, lxxvi. 5; Rev. viii. 8, xvii. 9. The more difficult it was to separate, according to the Israelitish conception, _mountain_ and _kingdom_, the more natural it was to find, in the passage before us, expression given to the thought, that the kingdom of God would, in future, be exalted above all the kingdoms of the world. If we take into account the common practice of employing "mountain" in a figurative sense, it is natural to suppose that not the exaltation alone is to be understood figuratively, but that the mountain itself also is to be regarded chiefly in its symbolical signification,--as the symbol of the kingdom of God in Israel; although, in this aspect, we should expect, at least in the beginning of the relation, that the thing itself should still be connected with the symbol; afterwards they may be disjoined without any hesitation. The deep grief which must, of necessity, have been called forth by the announcement in iii. 12, did not regard the mountain as such. It had, for its real object, the condition of the kingdom of God which was prefigured by the condition of the mountain; and it is just this to which the consolation has respect.--But by what means is the exaltation of the temple-mountain to be effected? _Cocceius_ has already directed attention to the circumstance, that it must not be supposed to consist in the flowing of the people unto it; for that is not the _cause_, but the _effect_. We find the correct answer in ver. 2: "The law goeth forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem;" and in ver. 7: "And the Lord will be king over them on Mount Zion." The exaltation will, accordingly, be effected by a glorious manifestation of the Lord within His congregation; in consequence of which, Zion becomes the centre of the whole earth. That this manifestation is to take place in Christ, is brought out only subsequently; compare especially, v. 1, 3 (2-4). A parallel passage is also Ezek. xl. 2, where Mount Zion is likewise seen exalted in the Messianic time.

Ver. 2. "_And many nations go and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways, and that we may walk in His path; for from Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem._"

From the words, "And many nations go," to "paths," we have an expansion of--"People flow unto it." Zech. viii. 20-23 are founded upon, and serve as a commentary on the passage before [Pg 446] us. The people go to one another, and send messengers to one another; a powerful commotion pervades the heathen world, which causes them to seek Zion, that had formerly been despised by them. It makes no substantial difference whether the going is to be understood physically or spiritually,--whether the people flow to the literal Mount Zion, or to the Church, which is thereby prefigured. All that is requisite is, that the commencement of their going and flowing must belong to a time in which the symbol and the thing symbolized were still connected,--when the literal Zion was still the seat of the Church. The _plurality_ of nations forms a contrast with the _unity_, but not with the _universality_, as is shown by a comparison of the parallel passage in Isaiah, where the "many people" are preceded by the mention of "all the heathens (כל־הגוים, _i.e._, the whole heathen world) flow unto it," instead of--"People flow unto it," as in Micah. Formerly, _one_ people only went to Zion, in order there to offer to the Lord their worship, and to be taught His ways, Exod. xxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23; Deut. xxxi. 10 sqq.; now, many people flow thither. In the anticipation of this future glory of Mount Zion, which will infinitely outshine that of the present, the sad interval described in iii. 12, during which the mountain of the house is altogether forsaken, may be more easily borne. The connection of הורה with מן, which is rather uncommon, may be most simply explained by viewing the instruction as proceeding from its object. "The ways of the Lord" are the ways in which He would have men to walk,--that mode of life which is well-pleasing to Him. The contrast of it is walking in one's own ways. Is. liii. 6,--regulating of one's life according to the desires of one's own corrupt heart.--The last words, "For from Zion, etc.," are not to be conceived of as spoken by the people, stirring up and encouraging one another, but by the prophet. They state the reason why the people are so anxious to go to Zion; and this accounts also for the circumstance that Zion is so emphatically placed at the beginning. Zion shall, at that time, be the residence of the true God, and proved to be such by glorious revelations; and from it His commands go forth over the whole earth. יצא, "to go out," stands here, as in ver. 1, in the sense of "to go forth." As the sphere for the going forth of the law from Zion is not limited, it must be considered in as wide an extent as possible; in harmony with the preceding words, [Pg 447] according to which we must think of "people," "many nations," as being comprehended within this sphere.--We must not overlook the fact that the article is awanting before תורה, and that the law is not more strictly defined as the law of God. It is intended, in the first place, only to indicate that despised and desolate Zion is to be the seat of legislation for the whole earth. The law itself is then more strictly defined as the word of God. Many interpreters understand תורה here as meaning religion in general;[2] the going forth is explained by them of its spreading itself. From Zion, true religion is to extend over all the nations; and hence it is that to Zion the eyes of all of them are directed. Thus, _e.g._, _Theodoret_, who remarks: "This is the preaching of the Gospel, which began at Jerusalem, and from thence, as from its source, flowed over all the earth, offering drink to those who came to it in faith." But תורה never signifies "doctrine," "religion," any more than does משפט: it is always used as meaning "law;" and this sense of it can with the less propriety be departed from here, as the people, according to what precedes, flow to Zion not in order to seek religion in general, but laws for their conduct in life. But even if we were to follow _Caspari_, and to modify the explanation thus, "The law, which was formerly confined to Zion, and hence to a narrow circle, shall go forth from thence into the wide world,"--weighty objections to it would still remain. If "to go forth" were to be understood as meaning "to spread," the sphere of the going forth would have been more closely determined; as, _e.g._, in Is. xlii. 1: "He shall bring forth judgment _to the Gentiles_." In Is. li. 4, "Law shall _go out_ from Me, and My judgment I will make for a light of the people," _to go out_ is tantamount to, _to go forth_. "Mine arms shall judge the people," in li. 5, is parallel to it. יצא in itself does not mean "to go forth." _Further_--The circumstance that the law spreads from Zion, does not account sufficiently for the zeal with which the nations flow to Zion. If it _goes out_, there is then no need for their seeking for it at its home. In Zech. viii. 20-23, also, the thronging of the people to Zion, in order to enter there into a closer relation to the Lord, forms the subject of discourse. Zion, as the place where the Lord of [Pg 448] the whole earth issues His orders, as if from His residence (Is. xi. 10), forms an appropriate contrast to "Zion shall be ploughed as a field,"--a suitable parallel to the exaltation of the temple-mountain above all the mountains of the earth, to which the prophet here returns, after having, in the first part of the verse, expanded the thought: "People flow unto it;" and to vers. 7, 8 also, where Zion appears likewise as the seat of dominion.

Ver. 3. "_And He judges among many people, and rebukes strong nations, even unto a distance. And they heat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-knives; nation shall not lift up a sword, against nation, neither shall they learn war any more._"

It appears strange to us that here we see ourselves transferred all at once to the sphere of the general description of the Messianic time; for, according to the whole context, and to the contrast with chap. iii., we expect such predictions as will serve especially for the consolation of the daughter of Zion, whose heart had been pierced by the announcement that the mountain of the house should become a wooded hill, and that she herself should be given into the power of the Gentiles. But this difficulty is removed by remarking that this verse only prepares the way for ver. 4, where there is a representation of the advantage which accrues to the daughter of Zion from the spirit of peace, which, through the powerful influence of Zion's God, has become prevalent in the heathen world. It is from failing to perceive the connection of the two verses, that the remark of _Hitzig_ has arisen: "It is very probable that Micah, if he had been the (original) author, would rather have mentioned the change and restoration of Jerusalem, than the change of the arms."--The subject is the Lord. That it was through _Christ_, who as early as in the Song of Solomon appears as the true Solomon, that the Lord would carry out what is here announced, the prophet could, according to his plan, detail only afterwards. In chap.