You'll see from the sidebar that I've been reading Hans Walter Wolff's far too little known exposition, Micah the Prophet. Published in English translation in 1981 it is a different kind of commentary. The first half is exposition which is a brilliant example of erudition made accessible, and biblical theology made relevant to contemporary cultural realities.
The second half (remember, published 1981) looks at problems faced by the world then - early ecological concerns, injustice and the poverty of the "Third World", European terrosist cells. In this section of the book Wolff looks at terrorism, social responsibility, ecology, the future of the church, and examines the implications for Christian existence through the lens of Micah. It's a fascinating experiment in Bible study that was way ahead of its time and still excites to read.
One of my lightly and undogmatically held theories is that at different times in our own lifetime certain biblical books seem to have a specific relevance to our lived experience, personally, nationally and globally. Micah is a prophet whose time has come yet again. Around the time Wolff was writing, Jimmy Carter began his Presidency hoping he would be remembered for an administration that acted justly, loved mercy and walked humbly. However much he succeeded or failed, he did articulate the fundamental ethical essentials for human flourishing and co-operative existence, and those same meta-values remain required principles of political action and social responsibility. Without them we will have more of the world we presently have, and less of the world God intends where human community grows out of justice, mercy and dethroned pride.
Here's Wolff on Micah's use of wordplay, and I read it the night the news reports on the Iraq inquiry featured the evidence of Tony Blair, when it seems words were played with in a quite different way:
Micah is a master at play on words. They help to make his message unforgettable...I am not interested in inspiring you to construct linguistically more brilliant or substantively more accurate proverbs. Rather my point is this: prophetic language is well honed. It is clear, unambiguous and penetrating. As such, it is therefore language that can be remembered, not readily forgotten; a person has to have heard it only once. In our current crises...the language we use to proclaim our message dare not piddle around with generalities, four fifths of which go in one ear and out the other without any effect. Micah is concerned with every syllable that he employs. (page 40-1)
There it is - clear, unambiguous, penetrating, not piddling around with generalities, concerned with every syllable. That would give preaching a bit more bite, urgency and prophetic edge finely honed.
Meanwhile, here's another kind of wordplay that subverts our cognitive sleepiness.
What did you read first - the colour or the words?
What happens in your head when you read the word orange and it is printed in green?
And what conclusions do we jump to when we read or hear words we think we already understand?
Words like act justly
love mercy
walk humbly.
.
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