Micah
in Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary
Publisher
Eerdmans
Published
8/28/2017
ISBN-13
9780802865137
A distinctively theological take on the book of Micah
Readers of the book of Micah learn a great deal about God: he is a mighty God who controls the nations, yet he is also concerned with everyday matters like equity, poverty, and care for widows and orphans. In presenting this transcendent-yet-immanent God, Micah's message revolves around themes of justice, judgment, and salvation that continue to carry great significance today.
In this theological commentary on the book of Micah, Stephen Dempster places the text in conversation with the larger story of Scripture. After discussing questions of structure and authorship in his introduction, Dempster systematically works through the text, drawing links to the broader biblical story throughout. In the second part of his commentary Dempster offers theological discussion that further explicates the most significant themes in Micah and their applicability to today's Christians.
Readers of the book of Micah learn a great deal about God: he is a mighty God who controls the nations, yet he is also concerned with everyday matters like equity, poverty, and care for widows and orphans. In presenting this transcendent-yet-immanent God, Micah's message revolves around themes of justice, judgment, and salvation that continue to carry great significance today.
In this theological commentary on the book of Micah, Stephen Dempster places the text in conversation with the larger story of Scripture. After discussing questions of structure and authorship in his introduction, Dempster systematically works through the text, drawing links to the broader biblical story throughout. In the second part of his commentary Dempster offers theological discussion that further explicates the most significant themes in Micah and their applicability to today's Christians.
Collections
This book appears in the following featured collections.
- TGC: Preaching Commentaries by The Gospel Coalition
Reviews
DavidH
August 8, 2026
August 8, 2026
Dempster’s Micah is an unusually successful theological commentary because its canonical interpretation grows out of serious attention to the book itself. His distinction between the oracle’s historical setting, its place within Micah and its place within the canon provides a productive framework, while his threefold judgment-and-salvation structure captures the book’s developing movement particularly well. His treatment of Micah within the Twelve—including the Jonah–Micah–Nahum “Assyrian triad”—is stimulating without making corpus-level theories substitute for exegesis. Andersen and Freedman remain much more technically detailed, but Dempster does something they largely do not: carry careful literary exegesis through to biblical and Christian theology. An ideal complementary volume and one of the strongest THOTC contributions.
The Gospel Coalition
June 1, 2024
June 1, 2024
The author’s combination of a careful literary reading of the text with a robust biblical-theological and canonical reading produces an outstanding commentary.
[Full Review]
Ligonier Ministries (Keith A. Mathison)
September 3, 2021
September 3, 2021
I was excited to see this commentary because I had already enjoyed Dempster’s book Dominion & Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible. The strength of Dempster’s commentary is his insight into the biblical theological themes of the work. Highly recommended.
[Full Review]
PastorTimothy72
July 27, 2021
July 27, 2021
I have become a collector of commentaries ever since my seminary days in the 1990s. As such, I am only going to recommend the best overall commentary for each book of the Bible on this site. (Before each minor prophet recommendation, let me first say that every preacher/teacher should have a copy of James Montgomery Boice's two volume set on the Minor Prophets on his/her bookshelf. That's the starting point, in my opinion). For Micah specifically, for the preacher/teacher I would suggest grabbing a copy of Dempster's contribution in the 'Two Horizons' series. The commentary section is not remotely as detailed as Waltke's work (which is definitely noteworthy in itself), but the theological reflection section at the end is remarkably helpful. This commentary will help teachers and preachers to draw out significant points of application for contemporary contexts.
armchairtheologian
April 29, 2019
April 29, 2019
This is an impressive study of Micah. Rich in technical detail, pastoral applications, and theological reflection, this volume might even be one of the strongest in the THOT series. Dempster's essay on "Micah's Relevance to Present-Day Issues" is inspiring. Those who enjoy this commentary might also want to read another book by the same author: "Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible."