Moresheth is a small village of Palestine, near the city of Eleutheropolis. Others think it is the Maresah, mentioned in Josh. xv. 44, which Eusebius says is a place, now in ruins, in the tribe of Judah, two miles from Eleutheropolis."

But Micah distinguishes his Moresheth from that, by calling it Moresheth of Gath. (i. 14.) The Micah [or Micaiah] who occurs in 1 Kings xxii. 8, is a different man from this.

b

The above date is but partially confirmed. Since Micah presupposes the perilous situation of the two kingdoms with regard to Assyria and Egypt, which were soon to destroy the kingdom of Israel, and that of Judah, at a later date; since Jeremiah (xvi. 18) expressly places one oracle of Micah (iii. 12) in the time of Hezekiah; and since the other prophecies contain no reference to any different time, we have the best reason for regarding the last years of Ahaz, and the first of Hezekiah, as the period of his prophetic glory.

The mention of Babylon (iv. 10) makes little difference in the political relations of Israel and Judah; for Babylon also belonged to the kingdom of Assyria. Some think this passage refers to the captivity of Manasseh at Babylon, (2 Ch. xxxiii. 11;) but this opinion is contrary to the prophetic spirit of the passage, and is also uncertain, considered as a matter of history. Hart

See Cyrill. Alex. Com. in loc.; Jerome, Proll. in Mic.; Eusebius, De Locis Hebraicis; Hitzig, in loc.; Bellermann, Handbuch d. bib. Litt. vol. iii. p. 139; [and Robinson's Calmet, art. Mareshah.]

Chap. i. 6-16, iii. 12, iv. 9—14, v. 4, 5, vii. 12.

Justi, Theol. Abhand. vol. ii. p. 300. Bertholdt, p. 1635. Eichhorn, Heb. Proph. vol. i. p. 381, sqq. Einleit. § 580, p. 371. See above, § 191. Hartmann, p. 16. Rosenmüller, in loc. According to Hartmann, (p. 8, sqq.,)

mann's opinion is still more uncertain and venturesome. He regards iv. 10, as a later interpolation. Bertholdt supposes that vii. 13,-"Therefore will I sorely smite thee, and make thee desolate on account of thy sins,"implies that the ten tribes were already carried into captivity. But the supposition is unnecessary, at the least; for idolatry still prevailed in Hezekiah's time, as it appears from 2 Kings xxiii.a

§ 239.

CONTENTS AND SPIRIT OF HIS PROPHECIES.

Micah prophesied against Israel and Judah, especially against the latter. The moral The moral corruption, apostasy, and false prophecy, and not political mistakes, are the objects of his indignation. He utters bold threats, which he may have lived to see partly fulfilled. (i. 12, sqq., ii. 3, sqq., 10, 12, iv. 9, 10, 14.) Lofty promises are mingled with these threats. (ii. 12, 13, iv. 1, sqq., 8, 13, vi. 1—8, vii. 11, 12, 17.)

He resembles Hosea in his rapid transition from threats of punishment to promises of prosperity, as well as in his style. But he has more roundness, fulness, and clearness, in his style and in his rhythm. He frequently indulges in play upon words in i. 10-15. In vi. 1—8, and vii. 1—20, he makes a successful use of

with whom Eichhorn agrees, Micah prophesied from the fourteenth year of Hezekiah to some period in Manasseh's time. Against this view, see Rosenmüller, Procem. in Mic.

a

Hitzig places iii. 12, iv. 9, 11, 14, in the time after the fall of Samaria. But this date is doubtful.

the form of a dialogue. He is full of feeling, (i. 8, and

"Woe is me! I live when the summer fruits are gathered, And the vintage is gleaned;

His prophecies are penetrated by the purest spirit of morality and piety, (vi. 6—8):—

"Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah,

And bow myself before the most high God?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
With calves of a year old?

Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams,
Or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my first-born for my sin,

The fruit of my body for my transgression?"
"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good:
What doth Jehovah require of thee,

But to do justly, and to love mercy,
And to walk humbly before thy God?"

Also, vii. 1-10.

I will look to Jehovah;

I will hope in the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy!

Though I have fallen, I shall arise;
Though I sit in darkness,

Jehovah shall be my light.

I will bear the indignation of Jehovah,

Because I have sinned against him;

Until he maintain my cause, and execute judgment for me;
Until he bring me to the light,

And I behold his mercy."

"It is hardly possible to make an accurate distinction between the separate prophecies. Probably they were all written one after the other. But see Bertholdt, p. 1638, sqq. Eichhorn, Heb. Proph. p. 360, sqq. Hitzig, p. 164.

VII. NAHUM.

§ 240.

HIS LIFE AND TIMES.

Nahum of Elkos- to follow the contents of his oracles -prophesied after the unsuccessful irruption of Senna

a Theod. Bibliandri Proph. Nahum, juxta Veritatem Ebr. Latine redditus cum Exegesi, &c.; Tigur. 1534.

J. H. Ursini Hypomnemata in Obad. et Nah.; Frcf. 1652.

Matth. Hafenrefferi Comm. in Nah. et Habac.; Stutg. 1663, 4to.

R. Abarbanelis Rabbinicus in Nahum Comm. Latio donatus a J. Did. Sprechero; Helmst. 1703, 4to.

Petri von Höke, Zergliedernde Auslegung üb. d. sechs letztern kl. Proph. Nah., Hab., Zeph., Hagg., Zachar., u. Malach. u. s. w.; Holl. Leid. 1709, 4to.; Deutsch Frkf. 1710, 4to.

Vaticc. Chabac. et Nah. itemque nonnulla Jes., Mich. et Ezech. Oracula, Observatt. hist. phil. illustr., &c. Auct. J. Gottl. Kalinsky; Vratisl. 1748, 4to. Vatice. Nah. Observatt. phil. illustratum. Diss. præs. M. C. M. Agrell, resp. N. S. Colliander; Ups. 1788, 4to.

Vaticc. Nah. et Habac. Interpret. et Notas adjecit E. J. Greve. Edit. metrica; Amst. 1793, 4to.

Nahum Latine Vers. et Notis philol. illustratus, pt. i. Diss. Præs. Andr. Svanborg, resp. J. Boden; Ups. 1806, 4to.

Chr. M. Frähn, Curarum exeg. crit. in Nah. Proph. Spec.; Rost. 1806, 4to. Nahumi Vatic. phil. et crit. expositum. Spec. acad., præs. J. H. Pareau, resp. Ever. Kreenen; Harderv. 1808, 4to.

Translated into German, by Wahl, in his Mag. 1790; Grimm, 1790; Neumann, 1808; Middeldorpf, 1808; Justi, 1820, and in his Blumen althebr. Dichtk. vol. ii. p. 577.

Jerome, in the Proem to his Commentary on this prophet, says, "Some think Helkeseus was the father of Nahum, and, according to the Hebrew tradition, he was a prophet also. But, at this day, Elkos (Helkesei) is a village in Galilee, small, indeed, and scarcely disclosing the remnants of some ancient edifices, in ruins, yet it is well known to the Jews, and was pointed out to me by my guide.”

E, derived its name

Some have conjectured that Capernaum, from Nahum, n. (See Hitzig and Knobel.) Pseudo Epiphanius (De Vit. Proph. c. xvii.) says, Οὗτος ἦν ἀπὸ ̓Ελκεσεὶ υἱὸς ̓Ελκεσαίου ἀπὸ Ιεσβεί πέραν τοῦ ̓Ιορδάνου εἰς Βήγεβαρ ἐκ φυλῆς Συμεών. Cyrill. Αlex. ad Nah.

cherib into Judea, and consequently after the fourteenth year of Hezekiah. Sennacherib's ill-success led Nahum to hope for the deliverance and restoration of his countrymen, (i. 13, ii. 3,) and the destruction of the hostile kingdom. (i. 14, ii. 2, 4, sqq., iii. 1, sqq.)’

The destruction of Thebes is mentioned in iii. 8"Art thou better than No-ammon, that was situated among the rivers?" &c. But this is an uncertain date. However, it leads us to Hezekiah's time. [It is uncertain when Thebes was conquered, or to what conquest of it the prophet alludes; but we may reasonably conjecture it was near the beginning of Hezekiah's reign, for in Isaiah's time, Sargon, one of the Assyrian monarchs, invaded Egypt, conquered Ashdod, and for three years

i. 1: Ορασις Ναούμ, τοὺ ἀπὸ τῆς ̓Ελκεσέ· κώμη δὲ αὔτη πάντως που τῆς 'Iovdalen zogas. Asseman (Bib. Or. vol. i. p. 525, and iii. pt. i. p. 352) and Niebuhr (Reise, vol. ii. p. 352) think Elkos was in Assyria. Michaelis, (Uebers. A. T. vol. xi. Anmerk. p. 138,) Eichhorn, (§ 585,) Hezel, (Bibelwerk, vol. vii. p. 175,) and Grimm, (Ubers. p. 1, sqq.,) think Nahum was born there. See the well-founded objections of Jahn, (p. 509, sqq.,) Kreenen, (Nah. Vatic. p. 28,) Bertholdt, (p. 1652, sq.,) and Knobel, to this view.

tor.

a

i. 11, 12, ii. 1, 3, 14. Comp. 2 Kings xix. 22, 23.

Jerome, 1. c.: Post Micheam sequitur Nahum, qui interpretatur consolaJam enim decem tribus ab Assyriis deductæ fuerant in captivitatem sub Ezechia rege Juda, sub quo etiam nunc in consolationem populi transmigrati adversum Niniven visio cernitur. Nec erat parva consolatio tam his, qui jam Assyriis serviebant, quam reliquis, qui sub Ezechia de tribubus Juda et Benjamin ab iisdem hostibus obsidebantur, ut audirent Assyrios quoque a Chaldæis esse capiendos. And yet Jerome makes him the first to prophesy the defeat of Sennacherib.

The above view is taken by Vitringa, (Typ. Doct. Proph. p. 37,) Rosenmüller, (Proœm. in Nah.,) Bertholdt, and Knobel. On the other hand, Hitzig places him somewhat later. See the erroneous opinions of Josephus, (Ant. x. 11, 3,) Jarchi, Abarbanel, Grotius, and Grimm.

Nahum could not have alluded to the historical circumstances under which Nineveh was taken by Cyaxares, king of the Medes, with the help of Nabopolassar the Chaldean, (625, 603, or 600, B. C.,) for at that time Babylon, and not Assyria, was formidable to the Hebrews. Perhaps, however, he was led to prophesy by the liberation of the Medes (from the Assyrians,) and their election of a king, in the person of Dejoces.