1:8 In view of this coming judgment, Micah said he felt compelled to lament and wail. He would express his sorrow by going barefoot and naked, a common way of expressing it in his culture (cf. 2 Sam. 15:30; Isa. 20:2; 22:12; Jer. 25:34). Jackals and ostriches (or owls) were nocturnal animals that lived alone and were notable for their wailing sounds, and Micah said he would mimic them.
1:9 Samaria had a wound from which she could not recover, namely, a wound of punishment caused by her sin. This sin and its consequence had also infected Judah, even the capital city of Jerusalem (cf. Isa. 1:5-6). Jerusalem should have been specially holy because of the temple and God's presence there, but it was alike polluted. Punishment reached the gate of Jerusalem in 701 B.C. when Sennacherib attacked the city, but the Lord turned back the invader (cf. 2 Kings 18-19).
The prophet used several clever wordplays in this poem to describe the desolation that God would bring on Judah. He selected towns and villages near his own hometown in Judah's Shephelah whose names were similar to the coming devastations or to other conditions that he described.
"Interestingly Sennacherib too used wordplays when recording hisconquests."10
1:10 Micah urged the Israelites not to report the Assyrian invasion of Jerusalem in Gath (cf. 2 Sam. 1:20), not even to indicate a crisis by weeping publicly. Why Gath? It was an enemy (Philistine) town, and news of Jerusalem's siege would encourage Israel's enemies. Specifically, "Gath"(gat) may have been chosen because of its similar sound in Hebrew to the verb "tell"(taggidu; cf. 2 Sam. 1:20).
However, in the cities of Israel, like Beth-le-aphrah (Beth Ophrah, house of dust), the inhabitants should roll in the dust expressing their distress (cf. Josh. 7:6; Job 16:15; Isa. 47:1; Jer. 25:34).
1:11 Residents of Shaphir ("beautiful,""pleasant") would become the opposite of their name, shamefully naked, when the invasion came. Inhabitants of Zaanan, a town name that sounds like the Hebrew word translated "come out,"would not be able to come out of their town to escape. The people of Beth-ezel ("house of removal") would lament because the Lord would remove its support.
1:12 Residents of Maroth, which sounds like the Hebrew word translated "bitterness,"would become weak as they waited for help that would not come. Their expectation would become bitter because God would send calamity to the gates of Jerusalem. Before Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem in 701 B.C., he defeated 46 other towns in Judah (2 Kings 18-19).11
1:13 Sarcastically, Micah urged the people of Lachish (Heb. lakish), a town known for its horses, to hitch a team (Heb. rekesh) of horses to a chariot to escape from the enemy. They would not be able to escape, however, because Lachish had led Jerusalem, as horses lead a chariot, into the sin of idolatry.
1:14 Zion (Jerusalem) would give Moresheth-gath as a portion of a parting gift to the invader. Jerusalem would not be able to prevent the Assyrians from taking Moresheth-gath captive. The people of Achzib (Heb. akzib), represented here by their houses, would become deceitful (Heb. akzab) to the kings of Israel because they could not fend off the enemy.
1:15 The Lord would bring on the inhabitants of Mareshah ("possessor") one who would take possession of them. The glory of Israel, probably her leaders, would flee ashamedly for safety to Adullam, as David had done earlier (1 Sam. 22:1).12
1:16 Micah called on the Judeans to cut their hair very short as a sign of sorrow over the departure of their children into exile. The eagle appeared to be bald because its head was white.
"This section (vv. 10-16) begins with words that recall David's lament at the death of Saul and ends with the name of the cave where David hid from Saul. These dark moments in David's life form a gloomy backdrop to the description of the fall of the towns Micah spoke of. Though he is never directly mentioned, the figure of David appears hauntingly in the tapestry of destruction--not a David standing tall in triumph, but a David bowed down by humiliation. It is as if Micah saw in the fall of each town and the eventual captivity of the two kingdoms the final dissolution of the Davidic monarchy. Like David, the glory of Israel would come to Adullam."13
