Micah — Chapter 1
Synopsis Capitis
Chapter 1 opens Micah's prophetic ministry with a theophany of divine judgment descending on the high places of Israel and Judah. À Lapide situates Micah as contemporary with Isaiah, contrasting the courtly Isaiah with the rural Micah of Moresheth. The lamentation over the cities of the Shephelah is handled with careful attention to the Hebrew puns (which Jerome preserves), demonstrating à Lapide's philological care.
Verse 1
Verbum Domini quod factum est ad Michaem
Micah's superscription places him under three kings of Judah, making his ministry approximately 740–700 BC. À Lapide notes that Micah is cited by the elders in Jeremiah 26:18 (Mic. 3:12), demonstrating the authority the scroll carried within the prophetic tradition. The divine word 'that came' (quod factum est) uses the same formula as Hosea, underscoring the common source of all prophecy.
Verse 3
Quia ecce Dominus egredietur de loco suo
'For behold the Lord will come forth out of his place and will come down and will tread upon the high places of the earth.' À Lapide reads the divine descent as both historical (the Assyrian invasion as God's instrument) and eschatological (the final judgment). The melting mountains and splitting valleys figure the moral collapse of structures built without God's foundations.