| |
Easton's Bible Dictionary
a shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah?
(1) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Judges
17, apparently for the purpose of leading to an account of the settlement
of the tribe of Dan in Northern Palestine, and for the purpose also of illustrating
the lawlessness of the times in which he lived (Judges
18 ; 19:1-29
; 21:25
).
(2) The son of Merib-baal (Mephibosheth), 1
Chronicles 8:34 ,
8:35 .
(3) The first in rank of the priests of the family of Kohathites ( 1
Chronicles 23:20 ).
(4) A descendant of Joel the Reubenite ( 1
Chronicles 5:5 ).
(5) "The Morasthite," so called to distinguish him from Micaiah, the son of Imlah
( 1
Kings 22:8 ). He was a prophet of Judah, a contemporary of Isaiah ( Micah
1:1 ), a native of Moresheth of Gath ( Micah
1:14 ,
1:15 ). Very little is known of the circumstances of his life (Compare Jeremiah
26:18 ,
26:19 ). SEE MICAH,
THE BOOK OF
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
who is like to God? (same as Micaiah)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(who is like God?)
(1) The son of Mephibosheth. ( 2
Samuel 9:12 )
(2) A Levite who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. ( Nehemiah
10:11 )
(3) The father of Mattaniah, a Gershonite Levite and descendant of Ashaph. ( Nehemiah
11:17 , 11:22
)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
mi'-ka (mikhah, contracted from mikhayahu, "who is like
Yah?"; Codex Vaticanus, Meichaias; Codex Alexandrinus, Micha; sometimes in the
King James Version spelled Michah):
(1) The chief character of an episode given as an appendix to the Book of
Judges (Judges 17; 18).
Micah, a dweller in Mt. Ephraim, was the founder and owner of a small private
sanctuary with accessories for worship (Judges 17:1 - 5), for which he hired as
priest a Judean Levite (Judges 17:7 - 13). Five men sent in quest of new territory
by the Danites, who had failed to secure a settlement upon their own tribal allotment,
visited Micah's shrine, and obtained from his priest an oracle favoring their
quest (Judges 18:1 - 6). They then went on until they reached the town of Laish
in the extreme North, and deeming it suitable for the purpose, they returned to
report to their fellow-tribesmen. These at once dispatched thither 600 armed men,
accompanied by their families (Judges 18:7 - 12). Passing Micah's abode, they
appropriated his idols and his priest, and when their owner pursued, he was insulted
and threatened (Judges 18:13 - 26). They took Laish, destroyed it with its inhabitants
and rebuilt it under the name of Dan. There they established the stolen images,
and appointed Micah's Levite, Jonathan, a grandson of Moses (the King James Version
"Manasseh"), priest of the new sanctuary, which was long famous in Israel (Judges
18:27 - 31).
The purpose of the narrative is evidently to set forth the origin of the Danite
shrine and priesthood. A few peculiarities in the story have led some critics--e.g.,
Moore, "Judges," in ICC and "Judges" in SBOT; Budde, Richter--to regard it as
composite. Wellhausen, however, considers that the peculiarities are editorial
and have been introduced for the purpose of smoothing or explaining the ancient
record. Most authorities are agreed that the story is nearly contemporary with
the events which it narrates, and that it is of the highest value for the study
of the history of Israelite worship.
See also JUDGES; DAN; PRIESTHOOD.
(2) A Reubenite, whose descendant Beerah was carried into exile by Tiglath-pileser (1 Chronicles 5:5).
(3) A son of Merib-baal (1 Chronicles 8:34 f; 9:40 f).
See MICA, (1).
(4) A Kohathite Levite (1 Chronicles 23:20 ; 24:24 f).
(5) The father of Abdon,
one of Josiah's messengers to the prophetess Huldah (2 Chronicles 34:20).
In the parallel passage (2 Kings 22:12), the reading is "Achbor the son of Micaiah,"
the King James Version "Michaiah."
(6) A Simeonite mentioned in the Book of Judith (Judith 6:15).
(7) The prophet,
called, in Jeremiah 26:18 (Hebrew), "Micaiah the Morashtite." See special article.
(mikhah; Meichaias; an abbreviation for Micaiah (Jeremiah
26:18), and this again of the longer form of the word in 2 Chronicles 17:7; compare
1 Kings 22:8):
1. Name and Person:
The name signifies "who is like Yah?"; compare Michael, equal to "who is like
El?" (i.e. God). As this name occurs not infrequently, he is called the "Morashtite,"
i.e. born in Moresheth. He calls his native city, in Micah 1:14, Moresheth-gath,
because it was situated near the Philistine city of Gath. According to Jerome
and Eusebius, this place was situated not far eastward from Eleutheropolis. The
prophet is not to be confounded with Micah ben Imla, in 1 Kings 22:8, an older
prophet of the Northern Kingdom.
2. Time of Micah:
According to Jeremiah 26:18, Micah lived and prophesied in the reign of Hezekiah;
according to Micah 1:1, he labored also under Jotham and Ahaz. This superscription
has, it must be said, great similarity to Isaiah 1:1 and is probably of a later
date. Yet the contents of his first discourse confirm the fact that he prophesied,
not only before the destruction of Samaria, but also before the reformation of
Hezekiah (compare Micah 1:5). Accordingly, Micah 1 is probably a discourse spoken
already under Ahaz, and Micah 2-5 under Hezekiah. No mention is any longer made
of Samaria in chapters 2 to 5. This city has already been destroyed; at any rate,
is being besieged. Accordingly, these discourses were pronounced after the year
722 BC, but earlier than 701 BC, as the reformation of Hezekiah had not yet been
entirely completed. It is impossible to date exactly these discourses, for this
reason, that all the separate sentences and addresses were afterward united into
one well-edited collection, probably by Micah himself. The attacks that have been
made by different critics on the authenticity of Micah 4 and 5 have but a poor
foundation. It is a more difficult task to explain the dismal picture of the conditions
of affairs as described in Micah 6 and 7 as originating in the reign of Hezekiah.
For this reason, scholars have thought of ascribing them to the reigns of Jotham
and Ahaz. But better reasons speak for placing them in the degenerate reign of
Manasseh. There is no reason for claiming that Micah no longer prophesied in the
times of this king. It is true that a number of critics declare that Micah did
not write these chapters, especially the so-called psalm in Micah 7:7 - 20, which,
it is claimed, clearly presupposes the destruction of Jerusalem (Micah 7:11)!
But it is a fact that Micah did really and distinctly predict this destruction
and the exile that followed this event in Micah 3:12; and accordingly he could
in this concluding hymn very easily have looked even beyond this period.
Micah is, then, a younger contemporary of Isaiah, and, like the latter, he prophesied
in Judah, perhaps also in Jerusalem. To the writings of this great prophet his
book bears a close resemblance both in form and in contents, although he did not,
as was the case with Isaiah, come into personal contact with the kings and make
his influence felt in political affairs.
3. Relation to Isaiah:
The statement in Micah 4:1 is found almost literally in Isaiah 2:2. Opinions differ
as to who is to be credited with the original, Isaiah or Micah. In the latter,
the passage seems to suit better into the connection, while in Isaiah 2 it begins
the discourse abruptly, as though the prophet had taken it from some other source.
However, Micah 4:4 f is certainly a sentence added by Micah, who, accordingly,
was not the first to formulate the prophecy itself. It is possible that both prophets
took it from some older prophet. But it is also conceivable that Isaiah is the
author. In this case, he placed this sentence at the head of his briefer utterances
when he composed his larger group of addresses in Micah 2-4, for the purpose of
expressing the high purposes which God has in mind in His judgments.
4 - 5 (SEE MICAH,
THE BOOK OF) |
(8) The son of Imlah.
See MICAIAH, (7).
John A. Less
Tags:
bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, define, micah, micaiah, micaiah the morashtite, prophet, son of merib-baal (mephibosheth)
Comments:
|
 |
|
