Jeremiah 26:18

Jer 26:18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed [like] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

Ver. 18. Micah the Morashite.] See on Mic 1:1.

Zion shall be ploughed like a field.] See Mic 3:3.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, of the House of the Lord, to wit, Zion, and these examples the godly alleged to deliver Jeremiah out of the Priests’ hands, whose rage else would not have been satisfied but by his death.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(Mic 3:12).

Morasthite--called so from a village of the tribe Judah.

Hezekiah--The precedent in the reign of such a good king proved that Jeremiah was not the only prophet, or the first, who threatened the city and the temple without incurring death.

mountain of the house--Moriah, on which stood the temple (peculiarly called "the house") shall be covered with woods instead of buildings. Jeremiah, in quoting previous prophecies, never does so without alteration; he adapts the language to his own style, showing thereby his authority in his treatment of Scripture, as being himself inspired.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. Micah the Morasthite] The same as stands among the prophets. Now all these prophesied as hard things against the land as Jeremiah has done; yet they were not put to death, for the people saw that they were sent of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

We ought to notice the time, for it might seem strange, that when that holy king was anxiously engaged in promoting the true worship of God, things were in so disordered a state as to call for so severe a denunciation. If there ever was a king really and seriously devoted to the cause of religion, doubtless he was the first and chief exemplar; he spared no labor, he never seemed to shun any danger or trouble, whenever religion required this; but we find that however strenuously he labored, he could not by his zeal and perseverance succeed in making the whole people to follow him as their leader. What then must happen, when those who ought to shew the right way to others are indifferent and slothful? In the meantime the good princes were confirmed by the example of Hezekiah, so that they did not faint or fail in their minds when they saw that success did not immediately follow his labors, nor any fruit. For it is a grievous trial, and what shakes even the most courageous, when they think that their efforts are vain, that their labors are useless, yea, that they spend their time to no purpose, and thus it happens that many retrograde. But this example of Hezekiah ought to be remembered by them, so that they may still go on, though no hope of a prosperous issue appears; for Hezekiah did not desist, though Satan in various ways put many hinderances in the way, and even apparently upset all his labors, so that they produced no fruit. So much as to the time that is mentioned.

The elders said, that Micah had spoken to the whole people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Sion, shall be plowed as a field, We have already seen on what occasion it was that Micah spoke with so much severity; it was when hypocrites set up their false confidence and falsely assumed the name of God, as though they held him bound to themselves. For you, he said, Sion shall be plowed as a field He began with the temple, and then he added, and Jerusalem shall be in heaps, or a solitude; and lastly, he said, and the mountain, of the house, that is, of the temple, etc. He repeated what he had just said, for what else was the mountain of the temple but Sion? But as this prediction could have hardly been believed by the Jews, the Prophet, for the sake of confirmation, said the same thing twice. We hence conclude that it was not a superfluous repetition, but that he might shake with terror the hypocrites, who had hardened themselves against God’s threatenings, and thought themselves safe, though the whole world went to ruin.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) Micah the Morasthite.—On the general history and work of this prophet, see Introduction to Micah. The Hebrew text gives Micaiah, the two forms being (as in Jdg_17:1; Jdg_17:4, compared with 5, 12), in the Hebrew interchangeable. The epithet indicated his birth in Moresheth-gath in Philistia (Mic_1:14). As Micah had prophesied under Jotham and Ahaz (Mic_1:1), the prediction here referred to must have been delivered towards the close of his ministry. The words cited are from Mic_3:12, and immediately precede the prediction of an ultimate restoration of Judah in the last days in Mic_4:1-2, which we find in identical terms in Isa_2:2-3. Here, then, was a case, is the implied argument of the elders, in which a threat did its work, and therefore was not fulfilled. It did good, and not evil. The phrase “mountain of the house” is not found elsewhere in Jeremiah as a description of the Temple.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. Micaiah] So MT. reads in its text. Micah in its mg. is of course the Minor Prophet.

Morashtite] native of Morésheth, a small town near Gath, about 23 miles S.W. of Jerusalem.

Zion shall be plowed, etc.] Mic_3:12; the only citation by name of another prophet’s utterance in the whole of prophetic literature.

the mountain of the house] i.e. the Temple, as standing on Mount Moriah.

as the high places of a forest] better, wooded heights. “The temple mount shall be overgrown with low brushwood.” C.B. (Cheyne) on Micah, l.c.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah,.... Or, Micah of Maresha, as the Targum. Mareshah was a city of the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:44; the native place, of this prophet; who appears, by the following quotation, to be the same Micah that stands among the minor prophets; and who is also so called, and lived in the times of Hezekiah, Mic 1:1;

and spake to all the people of Judah; very openly and publicly, and just as Jeremiah had done, Jer 26:2;

saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Zion shall be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps; Mount Zion, on part of which the temple was built, and on the other the city of David, together with the city of Jerusalem, should be so demolished, as that they might be ploughed, and become a tillage; as the Jews say they were by Terentius, or Turnus Rufus, as they call him, after their last destruction by the Romans:

and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest; covered with grass and shrubs, and thorns and briers; even Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood, which is designed by the house; and so the Targum calls it the house of the sanctuary. Now this was saying as much against the city and temple as Jeremiah did; and was said in the days of a good king too, who encouraged a reformation, and carried it to a great pitch. See Mic 3:12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mountain. Sion, on which the house of the Lord was built. Conquerors have sometimes ploughed up cities. (Calmet) --- Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit. (Ovid, ep. i.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This was that

Micah whose prophecies are part of holy writ, as appeareth by Mic 1:1; 3:12, where are the very words of the prophecy here mentioned. The substance of that prophecy was the same with this of Jeremiah, that Zion should be ploughed up, and the place where the temple stood should become so desolate that trees should grow there, as in a wood or forest.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. Micah the Morasthite — See Mic_3:12. The name stands in the original in its full form, Micajah — who is like God? He is called the “Morasthite” from the place of his residence, Morasheth. The pertinence of the reference consists in this, that predictions of evil against the holy place are not without distinguished precedent, and even good Hezekiah was not above taking warning from them.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 18, 19. Micah the Morasthite, etc. The "elders" appeal for a precedent to the case of Micah (called after his native place, Moresheth-Gath, to distinguish him from other Micahs), who had been equally explicit in his declarations of woe to Jerusalem, without incurring the charge of blasphemy. The prediction referred to is in Mic_3:12, the form of which agrees verbally with our passage.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Micah - This was that Micah, whose prophecies are part of holy writ, as appears by Micah i, 1; iii, 12, where are the very words of the prophecy here mentioned, the substance of whose prophecy was the same with this, that Zion should be plowed up, and the place where the temple stood, should become so desolate that trees should grow there, as in a forest.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

See: How to Translate Names

Morashite

a person from the town or region of Moresheth

Yahweh of hosts says this

Jeremiah often uses these words to introduce an important message from Yahweh. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 6:6.

Zion will become a plowed field ... and the hill of the temple will become a thicket

"Zion" and "the hill of the temple" refer to the same place. When a farmer plows a field, he turns over all the dirt and uproots all the plants that are growing there. A thicket is so full of bushes that no one can use it for anything. These two metaphors cannot be literally true at the same time, but they emphasize that Yahweh will allow the invaders to completely destroy the temple area. (See: Metaphor)

Did Hezekiah ... put him to death?

The speakers are trying to get the hearers to agree with what they are saying. AT: "You know very well that Hezekiah ... did not put him to death." (See: Rhetorical Question)

all of Judah

The land is a metonym for the people who live there. AT: "all the people of Judah" (See: Metonymy)

Did he not fear Yahweh and appease the face of Yahweh ... them?

The speakers are trying to get the hearers to agree with what they are saying. AT: "You know very well that he feared Yahweh and appeased the face of Yahweh so that Yahweh ... them."

appease the face of Yahweh

The face is a synecdoche for the whole person. AT: "cause Yahweh to be less angry" (See: Synecdoche)

So will we do greater evil against our own lives?

The speakers are trying to get the hearers to agree with what they are saying. The word "lives" is a metonym for the people. AT: "If we kill Jeremiah, we will do greater evil against our own lives." or "We do not want to do worse things to ourselves." (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

Micah

Hezekiah

king

Judah

Yahweh of hosts

Zion

Jerusalem

die

fear

face

life

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Micah the Morashtite Who was from Maresha.

heaps עִיִּים, heaps.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.