Reviewed by: Micah by Stephen G. Dempster Matthew Seufert stephen g. dempster, Micah (Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017). Pp. vii + 284. Paper $30. A lengthy and learned introduction (pp. 1-56), which discusses, in continual conversation with scholarship on Micah, the prophecy's historical and literary contexts, language, text, structure, and theology, precedes the two main sections of this commentary. The first of the two is the commentary proper; the second deals with Micah and theology. "This commentary … thus stress[es] both exegesis and theology" (p. 37). Following Dempster's view of "the literary plan of the book," the commentary proper divides Micah into three main sections (1:2–2:13; 3:1–5:15; and 6:1–7:20); the plan "organizes judgment and salvation oracles into three sections of escalating intensity in which the negative notes of judgment gradually are drowned out by the positive notes of salvation, and the final chapter dramatically shifts from a lament to a hymn" (p. 18). "Each section that begins with judgment ends with a note of grace" (pp. 24-25). Dempster, discerning several distinct oracles within each of the main sections, further subdivides them (e.g., section 1: 1:2-16; 2:1-11; and 2:12-13) and runs each of these subdivisions through five parts of commentary: Structure; Literary Features; Key Words and Expressions; Interpretation—Micah's Word Then; and Interpretation—Micah's Word Now. He engages the secondary literature in English, French, and German and regularly converses with competing interpretive options. The commentary is thorough and insightful and does a wonderful job of balancing attention to detail with a view of the whole (whole subdivisions, main sections and book). Dempster resolves the well-known grammatical incongruity of some of Micah's pronouns (e.g., Mic 1:11 and 1:13; note his attention to detail) by suggesting that the words may reflect "the uncontrolled grief of a person stunned by shock"; "this cannot help but affect his grammatical precision" (p. 68). It is difficult to reconcile this view with the string of wordplays in chap. 1, helpfully charted and engagingly discussed in detail by D., which would have required the precise thought and articulation of a wordsmith. Positively, D.'s eye for poetic techniques is keen, and he not only notes them but offers interpretation as to their significance (e.g., as structural markers; note his view beyond the details). [End Page 301] The last two of the five parts of commentary (i.e., Interpretation—Micah's Word Then, and Interpretation—Micah's Word Now) were born out of the purpose of this commentary series: "Historical and literary considerations are the focus of the exegesis but with the ultimate intent of connecting the two horizons of the word of God then to the word of God now. That movement from one to the other will be aided by considering how the context of the canon contributes to the understanding of Micah's words today" (p. 37). D. reads and interprets Micah "as a text addressed to all generations" (ibid.). He does this without neglecting or flattening out the importance of the original contexts within which the oracles were spoken and written (i.e., Micah's Word Then). It would be hard to critique the thoughtfulness behind D.'s tentatively proposed historical reconstructions both for the originally spoken oracles (the priority of which he affirms) and the oracles as written down and incorporated into a larger literary whole. Navigating these horizons and their import for interpretation is challenging enough, which makes D.'s work in viewing Micah from multiple other horizons (e.g., that of the Twelve, notably, Jonah and Nahum, the OT, the NT, and of today) all the more admirable. The second of the two main sections deals with theology and Micah in three parts: Theological Themes of Micah, Micah's Contribution to Biblical Theology, and Micah's Relevance to Present-Day Issues. Since the commentary proper includes a good bit of theological discussion, including applications to present-day issues, there is some repetition. I see the usefulness of the second main section in the confinement of this discussion to one spot, along...
Search from 250 M+ research papersSearch from 250 M+ research papers
Open Access
Jun 30, 2021
Bartłomiej Paweł Sobierajski 
