Samaria fell, and the northern kingdom was conquered by Assyria. The northern kingdom lost most of its territory, including all of Gilead and much of Galilee. Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria led a military campaign against Aram (Syria), Philistia and parts of Israel and Judah. Several significant historical events occurred during this period: Biblical passages covering this period are 2 Kings 15:32-20:21, 2 Chronicles 27-32 and Isaiah 7, 20, 36-39. The background of this book is the same as that found in the earlier portions of Isaiah. His message was aimed in particular at greedy and oppressive landowners ( 2:1-5) who supported Israel’s corrupt political and religious leaders who had led the nation into moral decay. Micah ministered primarily to the southern kingdom of Judah, but he also addressed the northern kingdom of Israel and predicted the fall of Samaria ( 1:6), which took place in 722 B.C. This would place his ministry during the second half of the eighth century B.C, making him a contemporary of Isaiah, Amos and Hosea. Micah 1:1 informs the reader that Micah preached during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. This approach to the text, which is founded on the premise that a given prophet had only a single, uncomplicated message, is misguided and simplistic. The prophecies of judgement in particular are thought to be authentic, with the more optimistic predictions – those that promise salvation for Judah – coming from some other prophet. Today some scholars believe that only a part of the book of Micah came from the prophet himself and that the rest is secondary (written by someone else). In addition, Habakkuk 2:12 is a modification of Micah 3:10, and 4:2-3 is almost identical to Isaiah 2:2-4, although in this case we cannot be sure whether the oracle originated with Micah or with Isaiah. This signifies that Micah’s book was recognized as canonical by the time of Jeremiah’s ministry (the nature of the citation suggests that there was consensus by that time that Micah had been a true prophet). We know virtually nothing else about him, although he is one of the few Old Testament prophets to be cited by name in another’s writings ( Jeremiah 26:18, citing Micah 3:12). The author of this book, Micah, tells us that he was from Moresheth ( Micah 1:1), a village in the Shephelah of Judah also known as Moresheth Gath ( 1:14).
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