Eschatology in the Book of Micah

Abstract

the words of the prophet. Certain trends can be discerned in the discussion. In the opinion of fundamentalists and strictly conservative scholars the prophecies of weal may as readily be ascribed to the prophet himself as the rest of the oracles. This point of view met strong opposition from critical scholars in the 19th and 20th centuries, and their general position, as advocated by scholars like WELLHAUSEN 1), MARTI, DUHM, HOLSCHER, MOWINCKEL, ROBINSON, and many others, came to be widely accepted. The analyses given of the Book of Micah have been highly valuable. They have undoubtedly thrown new light on it and have produced lasting results. They are based on strict logic and use categories from Western European thinking. This is the method a scholar has to apply; but Western logic can also be pressed too far, if it does not take account of the actual Oriental background of the words of the Hebrew prophets 2). The chief results of an analysis may be indicated briefly. MOWINCKEL, whose analysis I choose as an example 3), finds the words of Micah himself in chs. i-iii, oracles of doom. Chs. iv and v contain prophecies of weal, all considered as later additions. In chs. vi-vii 6 there are again oracles of doom, but as their character deviates from that of the oracles of chs. i-iii, it is thought likely that they were uttered by another prophet than Micah, though they may come from him. Ch. vii 7-20, a passage with a strong hope of Israel's restoration is