Commentary on the Twelve Prophets, Volume 2

Preface to the Commentary on Micah

PREFACE TO THE COMMENTARY ON MICAH HE SINGLE purpose of all the holy prophets, dear also to God, was to persuade Israel to decide to part company resolutely with deception and instead to opt for serving God, living and true, and glorying in the ornaments of righteousness by removing as far as possible their involvement in wrongdoing. There was a long series of them as God in some fashion gave prior assurance and clearly predicted in a great number of statements that, unless they chose to live an upright life and to set great store by making a change for the better, they would bring punishment upon themselves, and after experiencing self-imposed destruction (600) they would find the reason for their suffering in their own free will. Now, if the discourses of the holy prophets should contain the same content, let no one find fault with them by making allegations of repetitiveness in their case. Instead, let them adopt the following clear line of reasoning: we should focus on no time when there was not anyone capable of reforming sinners. Just as no one in his right mind would quibble if at any one time physicians checked by suitable treatment the same effects of the ailments affecting us, it would in my view be similarly unreasonable to upbraid the prophets if they, too, appeared to proceed with the same actions and words. It is one Lord, after all, who spoke to everyone and brought to light for the deceived at every period those with the ability to return them to the straight and narrow. They all, in fact, foretold wars, captivities, desolation of the cities, hardship, grief, mourning the dead, trials of the neglected, cruelty of raiders ; in short, you would find the contents broaching every form of severity with a view to what is required for the benefit of the deceived. Sometimes, you see, even the unbridled tendency to apostasy and sin is checked by terrifying stories. 181 182 CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA Accordingly, the blessed Micah also prophesies at the time of the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Pekah son of Remaliah and Rezin king of Syria campaigned against Jerusalem during the reign of Jotham; he was succeeded at his death by Ahaz, who paid money to the Assyrian when the war was protracted, and begged him to lend assistance since he was unable to resist the attacking forces. At that time, when the kings in Samaria were Jeroboam son of Jehoash, after him Azariah, and thirdly Menahem, King Pul of Assyria advanced; he accepted a generous bribe to return to his own country. After Pul, Tiglath-pileser the Assyrian advanced on Judea and overthrew a great number of cities in Samaria, and in addition to them the whole of Galilee as far as Naphtali. While this was recounted in detail when we compiled our commentary on the blessed prophet Hosea, we felt the need to remind you of it here as well, with a view to settling the dates of Micah’s prophecy; it was necessary, you see, it was necessary for the earnest scholar not to be ignorant of the reason why the kings of Jerusalem rated a mention—Jotham and Ahaz, that is.1 Now, the period of the prophecy extends to the reign of Hezekiah as well, when Sennacherib also reigned as king of the Assyrians; he took Samaria by force, and ravaged also the cities of the Philistines, that is, Palestine. He then took Lachish, a city of the kingdom of Judah, (602) and from there sent Rabshakeh to besiege Jerusalem; he incurred punishment for arrogance and for cursing God, and in a single night a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrian army died.2 Accordingly , the text says, the word of the Lord came to Micah of Moresheth. 1. Cyril feels that studious readers require at least factual details to appreciate Micah’s message, and so he relays the contents of 2 Kgs 15–16, aware that he did so as well in introducing Hosea. Just as he did there, however, he arrives at the name Azariah for King Zechariah of Israel, unknown to the biblical text, and likewise fails to realize that Pul and Tiglath-pileser refer to the one Assyrian king. 2. 2 Kgs 19.35. ...