Micah 1:9

Destruction looms

9 Indeed, Zion has been weakened by her wounds! It has come as far as Judah; he has struck as far as the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem.

Micah 1:9 Meaning and Commentary

Micah 1:9

For her wound [is] incurable
Or her "stroke [is] desperate" F5. The ruin of Samaria, and the ten tribes, was inevitable; the decree being gone forth, and they hardened in their sins, and continuing in their impenitence; and their destruction was irrevocable; they were not to be restored again, nor are they to this day; nor will be till the time comes that all Israel shall be saved: or "she is grievously sick of her wounds"; just ready to die, upon the brink of ruin, and no hope of saving her; this is the cause and reason of the above lamentation of the prophet: and what increased his grief and sorrow the more was, for it is come unto Judah;
the calamity has reached the land of Judah; it stopped not with Israel or the ten tribes, but spread itself into the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; for the Assyrian army, having taken Samaria, and carried Israel captive, in a short time, about seven or eight years, invaded Judea, and took the fenced cities of Judah in Hezekiah's time, in which Micah prophesied; he is come unto the gate of my people, [even] to Jerusalem;
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, having taken the fenced cities, came up to the very gates of Jerusalem, and besieged it, where the courts of judicature were kept, and the people resorted to, to have justice done them; and Micah, being of the tribe of Judah, calls them his people, and was the more affected with their distress.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (hytwkm hvwna) "desperata est plaga ejus", V. L. "plagae ejus", Montanus, Drusius.

Micah 1:9 In-Context

7 All her images will be beaten to pieces; all her wages will be burned; I will make all her idols worthless. Since she gathered them from the wages of a prostitute, they will again become wages of a prostitute.
8 On account of this, I will cry out and howl; I will go about barefoot and stripped. I will cry out like the jackals, and mourn like the ostriches.
9 Indeed, Zion has been weakened by her wounds! It has come as far as Judah; he has struck as far as the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem.
10 In Gath tell it not; no need to weep there! In Beth-le-aphrah, roll yourself in the dust!
11 Pass by (for your sake), inhabitants of Shaphir! In nakedness and shame she will not go out, inhabitants of Zaanan. The cry of Beth-ezel will take away from you anyplace to stand.
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