Micah 3:12

Hebrew Bible

10 You build Zion through bloody crimes, Jerusalem through unjust violence. 11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the Lord and say, “The Lord is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!” 12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount will become a hill overgrown with brush!

Jeremiah 26:18

Hebrew Bible

16 Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said, “This man should not be condemned to die. For he has spoken to us under the authority of the Lord our God.” 17 Then some of the elders of Judah stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said, 18 “Micah from Moresheth prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “‘Zion will become a plowed field. Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble. The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.”’ 19 “King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the Lord and seek the Lord’s favor? Did not the Lord forgo destroying them as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.” 20 Now there was another man who prophesied as the Lord’s representative against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim.

 Notes and References

"... The first of these is that certain portions of the book of Kings or the history presuppose the Babylonian exile simply because they mention a final disaster in one form or another: Deuteronomy 4:25-28; Joshua 23:16; 1 Kings 8:33-34, 46-51; 9:6-9; 2 Kings 17:19-20; 20:17-18; 21:10-15; 22:16-17, 20; 23:26-27; 24:2-4. Certainly those passages that speak of the fall of Judah as inevitable in spite of repentance (2 Kings 21:10-15; 22:16-17; 23:26-27; 24:2-4) must be exilic, for such an attitude on the part of a pre-exilic historian would eliminate any possible motivation for writing. Although Jeremiah considered this disaster inevitable as well, it was to take place because there was no repentance (Jeremiah 8:4-7; 13:23), not in spite of it. However, the mere mention of exile or disaster is not an automatic sign of exilic composition. The prophets had suggested this as a possibility at least since the time of Micah (Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12). After the conquest and deportation of Israel, thoughtful Judeans would certainly have realized that a similar fate could await them. In fact, Sennacherib's inscriptions speak of a deportation of Judeans from provincial cities after 701 B.C. (ANET, 288). Finally, threats of military disaster and exile were part of the language of contemporary treaty curses. A treaty violation leads to the divine witnesses of the agreement rising up to expel the offenders from their land (ANET, 205-6) ..."

Nelson, Richard D. The Double Redaction of the Deuteronomistic History (p. 23) JSOT Press, 1981

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