Sharp, Carolyn J. Micah: Introduction and Commentary. Illuminations. Eerdmans, 2025. xxv+466 pp. Hb. $64.99 Link to Eerdmans
Carolyn Sharp is Professor of Homiletics at Yale Divinity School. She has contributed a commentary on Jeremiah 26-52 (Prophecy and Ideology in Jeremiah, T&T Clarck 2003) and Joshua (Smyth & Helwys, 2910), as well as several monographs, such as The Prophetic Literature (2019); Wrestling the Word: The Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Believer (2010); and Irony and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible (2009), and edited volumes. She serves as Preacher in Residence at St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church in New Haven. In this new volume of Eerdmans’s Illuminations commentary series, Sharp provides an excellent exegetical commentary combined with theological interpretation and reception history.
In the extensive 126-page introduction, Sharp begins with an overview of Micah’s historical context, both new-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian. There are many proposals for the composition and editorial process of Micah as it appears in the Masoretic tradition. She surveys the relevant literature, including James Nogalski (NICOT, reviewed here) and Ehud Ben-Zvi (who argues the book represents Scribal memory from the Persian), and recent suggestions that there are canonical links within the book of the Twelve. She does not interact with Michael B. Shepherd’s commentary on the Twelve, which focused on these canonical links (reviewed here). Although she acknowledges it is not comprehensive (but it is thorough), Sharp reviews various theories of composition. She considers this survey “as an invitation to the reader, to observe shifts in tone, addiction, imagery, and the themes as MicahMT unfolds” (18). In its final form, Micah was shaped as a written composition, drawing on the memories of the fall of Samaria and the neo-Assyrian invasion of 701, events that were still meaningful for the postexilic community (19).
Discussing literary dimensions of Micah, Sharp observes a “fascinating combination of artistically crafted language and structural elegance” (25). She discusses this poetic artistry by serving various forms with examples from the book. As a prophet, Micah is highly figurative and elliptical. The book represents a dramatic public performance by Micah, which was “polished up” by later scribes. She is not convinced the book dates entirely to the postexilic or Persian period. But neither is she convinced that the voice of the prophet can be discerned with confidence in the earlier oracles, but not in the later ones (25). She has a three-page sketch of what can be known about the original prophet Micah from the book.
An important part of her introduction is a discussion of political and economic factors in ancient Judah. After serving, she discusses several approaches to this, including feminist interpretations that amplify Micah’s views (46-57). Feminist interpretation engages with power in several ways, is concerned with social justice, and gives a voice to invisible or erased persons. As a Profitt, Feminist interpretation is interested in social justice and economic oppression, and wants to honor all subjects (erased, silenced, and distorted voices). With this in mind, Sharp addresses two sub-topics raised by Feminist interpretation. First, she asks if Micah was a killjoy, who “dares to name sordid and tragic truth of systemic, patriarchal violence” (52), which Micah often does! Second, she describes Micah as representing “fugitivity.” This term refers to covert resistance to oppression. For Sharp, Micah, insights flight from dehumanizing violence. He argues a possible world exists, energized by life-giving mutuality” (55).
Another important theme in both the introduction and the overall commentary is Micah and ecological justice (57-60). She reads Micah in the context of “the present global ecosystem collapse.” In each chapter, there is a brief excursus connecting the chapter of Micah to a discussion of ecological justice.
Like other commentaries in the Illumination series, the majority of the introduction (60-124) is devoted to “history of consequences.” Here, she traces Jewish traditions (midrash interpretation, medieval Jewish interpretation, modern Jewish interpretation). She then focuses on Christian traditions, including early Christian interpreters, medieval, early modern, and contemporary interpreters, including Christian liturgy, and in social justice movements. Unlike Amy Erickson’s Jonah volume (reviewed here), Sharp has far less artistic reception of Micah. This is to be expected, since Micah generated very little art or literature.
The body of the commentary (133-408) is divided by the chapters of canonical Micah. She begins with a new translation, using YHWH rather than masculine pronouns when Micah refers to the deity. This is followed by several brief sections: a theological overview of the chapter, and a “history of consequences” sidebar (briefly summarizing the reception history covered in the introduction), a retrospect (a kind of application of the chapter), and a short essay on Micah and ecological justice. She follows this with an exegetical commentary. She focuses on exegesis of keywords and phrases (with Hebrew transliterated). All secondary sources are cited in text, making for a very readable commentary.
Conclusion. As with other commentaries in the Illuminations series, Sharp’s excellent commentary on Micah is unique in that it attempts to do reception history alongside an exegetical and theological commentary. How does this commentary differ from Stephen G. Dempster’s Micah 2017 commentary in the Two Horizons series (reviewed here)? They are similar, but different. Both commentaries engage in theological readings of Micah and relate the ancient prophecy to contemporary issues. Both address Micah’s social justice and use it as a template for speaking to modern Christians and for how the church ought to address ecological justice (Sharp) or economic injustice (Dempster). Unlike the Two Horizons series, Sharp intentionally focuses her attention on the reception history of Micah. The result of the multi-focused goals of the illuminations series is a different sort of commentary that does indeed “illuminate” the ancient prophet’s text and is a pleasure to read.
NB: Thanks to Eerdmans for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.