Micah

Authorship

Micah’s name means “Who is like Yahweh?” He was born in Judah (the Southern Kingdom) about 20 miles west of Jerusalem (in Gath). This is why he only spends one chapter writing about the Northern Kingdom (ch. 6).

Micah lived contemporaneously with Isaiah, and this is why Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4 are identical. In fact, McComiskey notes that Micah grew up close to Isaiah (did they know each other as kids?), which he speculates “may explain certain similarities between the prophecies of both men.”

Micah grew up in Moresheth-Gath (1:14) in Shepelah of Judah. This is right in the middle of the frontier-zone between Judah and Philistia. It may have been a rough area in which to grow up, and it would have made him starkly aware of Israel’s enemies.

Date

Micah must have been written before 722 BC. Otherwise, his statements about the Northern Kingdom escaping judgment would make no sense (see Micah 1:6). Archer believes that “the conditions of corruption and immorality in Judah as Micah depicts them correspond well with what is known of the reign of Ahaz (742–728), or else possibly of the earliest years of Hezekiah’s reign as co-regent with Ahaz (728–725).” Since Micah 1:1 states that he began his ministry in the reign of Jotham (751-736), then this must place him even earlier.

Micah played a major role on King Hezekiah’s faithful reign. Jeremiah writes, “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus the Lord of hosts has said, ‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become ruins, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and the Lord changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves’” (Jer. 26:18-19).