The book of Micah, explained simply

Who wrote it

The book names Micah of Moresheth, a small farming town in the hill country southwest of Jerusalem. Tradition holds that he is the source of the whole book. Many modern scholars agree that much of chapters 1 to 3 goes back to Micah himself, but think parts of chapters 4 to 7 were added later by others who kept and expanded his message, possibly after Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC. This is still debated.

When

The opening line places Micah in the reigns of three kings of Judah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, so roughly 740 to 700 BC. This was the same time as the prophet Isaiah. The great empire of Assyria was swallowing up smaller nations. It destroyed Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, in 722 BC and invaded Judah in 701 BC. Meanwhile, wealthy landowners at home were seizing the fields and houses of poorer families.

Who it was written to

First to the people of Judah and Israel, especially their leaders in Jerusalem and Samaria: rulers, judges, priests and prophets who took bribes and told people what they wanted to hear. If parts were added later, the finished book also spoke to people living through defeat and exile who wondered whether God was finished with them.

Why it was written

Micah speaks up for people losing their land and homes to the greedy and well connected, and he insists that religious ritual means nothing without justice. His warning that Jerusalem would be ploughed like a field was still remembered a century later. The book of Jeremiah records elders quoting it (Jeremiah 26:18). In the Bible's bigger story, Micah gives one of its best known summaries of what God asks (6:8): to act justly, love kindness and walk humbly with God. It also gives a promise of a ruler from Bethlehem (5:2), which the Gospel of Matthew later applies to Jesus.

Big themes

Justice for the poor and powerless · Leaders who abuse their power · Judgment that is real but not the final word · A God who forgives and keeps his promises

How it is laid out

Disaster is coming to Samaria and Jerusalem (1)

Land grabbers, corrupt leaders and false prophets (2-3)

Visions of peace and a ruler from Bethlehem (4-5)

God puts his people on trial (6)

Grief over a broken society, then hope in God's mercy (7)

A tip for reading it

The book swings suddenly between harsh warnings and bright hope, and the speaker often changes without notice between God, Micah and the people. So it helps to ask who is talking at each point. Some images are deliberately brutal, such as leaders pictured tearing the flesh off the poor (3:1-3) and the survivors of Israel pictured as a lion tearing its prey (5:8). Chapter 1 is full of puns on town names that are lost in translation, so footnotes help. Some Bibles also number the verses of chapter 5 one off from others.