About the Book
Discover the historical, literary, and theological significance of the book of Micah Written by Carolyn J. Sharp, a leading scholar of biblical prophetic literature, this commentary provides scholars and preachers with a thorough overview of historical, literary, and theological dimensions of the book of Micah. The commentary also examines Micah's reception history by Jewish and Christian interpreters and considers Micah's witness as valuable for ecological ethics.
The volume is part of the Eerdmans Illuminations series, in which authors employ the full range of biblical scholarship to illumine the text from a wide variety of perspectives, including the engagement and impact of the text through the centuries.
Excerpt from the commentary: "In oracle after beautifully crafted oracle, through diverse and artful rhetorical means, Micah teaches his community to remain resilient through national and regional traumas; he urges them to engage in active resistance of the depredations of the elite and the violence of invading armies; he exhorts them to reform their understanding of YHWH's requirements for ethical life and faithful theological praxis; and he invites them to rejoice in the divine deliverance they had known in days of old and can envision for the future restoration of Zion. As contemporary readers and communities gather around the book of Micah, we too can find in its pages extraordinary resources for resilience, resistance, reformation, and rejoicing."
About the Author :
Carolyn J. Sharp is professor of homiletics at Yale Divinity School. Her research explores the poetics, narrative art, and theology of biblical texts as resources for homiletical theory and practice. Her books include a commentary on Jeremiah 26-52, a commentary on Joshua, The Prophetic Literature, Wrestling the Word: The Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Believer, and Irony and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible. An Episcopal priest, she serves as Preacher in Residence at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut.
Review :
"Comprehensive, expansive, and definitive, Carolyn J. Sharp's commentary on Micah is a masterwork that will be foundational for biblical scholars for generations. Sharp provides staggering historical, textual, and interpretative context that will enrich any reader's understanding of and relationship to one of Bible's most powerful prophetic books."
--Amy Kalmanofsky, The Jewish Theological Seminary "Sharp's brilliant commentary is like a bridge spanning a wide chasm. On one side is the ancient text of Micah, which Sharp interprets in its neo-Assyrian, neo-Babylonian, and Persian contexts. She discusses all relevant scholarship, including literature written in languages other than English. On the other side are modern issues of social justice, gender, and ecological justice, among others. Old texts and current questions enter into a dialogue with each other. The gap between Micah's text and modern issues is bridged by a detailed reception history that is unparalleled in any other commentary on the prophet Micah."
--Rainer Kessler, University of Marburg
"Like her other stellar contributions to biblical studies, Sharp's sparkling commentary on Micah is both rich in scholarship and powerful in voice. Her overview of the book's composition, literary style, and history of interpretation is encyclopedic in scope, and her passionate engagement with queer, feminist, ecological, and postcolonial perspectives movingly underscores Micah's relevance for the existential realities facing modern readers and the planet. A valuable resource for academics, pastors, students, and all who appreciate scholarship grounded in ethical commitment!"
--Julia M. O'Brien, Lancaster Theological Seminary
"This commentary is engaging, accessible, and erudite at the same time. Carolyn Sharp does a masterful job of introducing the general public and undergraduate students to the book, its central themes, the texts in each of its chapters, and contemporary scholarship on all the above, including substantial and timely discussions of the history of interpretation. Scholars will also find much to interest them. In sum, it is a wonderful commentary and fascinating read for anyone interested in the book of Micah."
--Ehud Ben Zvi, University of Alberta
"Carolyn Sharp has given us a commentary on Micah that is both lucid and luminous. This volume of insight on this great prophet is filled with brilliant scholarship expressed in language that is beautiful and clear. This commentary not only discloses the hope that belongs to Daughter Zion but creates that hope for the reader as well."
--Thomas G. Long, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
"Carolyn Sharp's Micah commentary is a tour de force, an example of bringing an ancient book to life in a context where the overreach of empires old and new is disturbingly real. This commentary, which combines astute historical and literary analysis with a distinct focus on contemporary approaches such as feminist interpretation and ecological justice, offers fresh perspectives toward our understanding of the complexity and multiplicity of ancient and contemporary prophets speaking truth to power."
--Juliana Claassens, Stellenbosch University
