26:16 Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said, 1 “This man should not be condemned to die. 2 For he has spoken to us under the authority of the Lord our God.” 3 26:17 Then some of the elders of Judah 4 stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said, 26:18 “Micah from Moresheth 5 prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah. 6 He told all the people of Judah,
‘The Lord who rules over all 7 says,
“Zion 8 will become a plowed field.
Jerusalem 9 will become a pile of rubble.
The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.”’ 10
26:19 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? 11 Did not 12 the Lord forgo destroying them 13 as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.” 14
1 tn Heb “Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets…”
2 sn Contrast v. 11.
3 tn Heb “For in the name of the
sn The priests and false prophets claimed that they were speaking in the
4 tn Heb “elders of the land.”
sn The elders were important land-owning citizens, separate from the “heads” or leaders of the tribes, the officers and the judges. They were very influential in both the judicial, political, and religious proceedings of the cities and the state. (See, e.g., Josh 24:1; 2 Sam 19:11; 2 Kgs 23:1 for elders of Israel/Judah, and Deut 21:1-9; Ruth 4:1-2 for elders of the cities.)
5 sn Micah from Moresheth was a contemporary of Isaiah (compare Mic 1:1 with Isa 1:1) from the country town of Moresheth in the hill country southwest of Jerusalem. The prophecy referred to is found in Mic 3:12. This is the only time in the OT where an OT prophet is quoted verbatim and identified.
6 sn Hezekiah was co-regent with his father Ahaz from 729-715
7 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn For an explanation of this title for God see the study note on 2:19.
8 sn Zion was first of all the citadel that David captured (2 Sam 5:6-10), then the city of David and the enclosed temple area, then the whole city of Jerusalem. It is often in poetic parallelism with Jerusalem as it is here (see, e.g., Ps 76:2; Amos 1:2).
9 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
10 sn There is irony involved in this statement. The text reads literally “high places of a forest/thicket.” The “high places” were the illicit places of worship that Jerusalem was supposed to replace. Because of their sin, Jerusalem would be like one of the pagan places of worship with no place left sacrosanct. It would even be overgrown with trees and bushes. So much for its inviolability!
11 tn This Hebrew idiom (חָלָה פָּנִים, khalah panim) is often explained in terms of “stroking” or “patting the face” of someone, seeking to gain his favor. It is never used in a literal sense and is found in contexts of prayer (Exod 32:11; Ps 119:158), worship (Zech 8:21-22), humble submission (2 Chr 3:12), or amendment of behavior (Dan 9:13). All were true to one extent or another of Hezekiah.
12 tn The he interrogative (הַ)with the negative governs all three of the verbs, the perfect and the two vav (ו) consecutive imperfects that follow it. The next clause has disjunctive word order and introduces a contrast. The question expects a positive answer.
13 tn For the translation of the terms involved here see the translator’s note on 18:8.
14 tn Or “great harm to ourselves.” The word “disaster” (or “harm”) is the same one that has been translated “destroying” in the preceding line and in vv. 3 and 13.