John Calvin Commentary Micah 1:7

"And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them, and unto the hire of a harlot shall they return." — Micah 1:7 (ASV)

The Prophet continues with the same subject, and says that the ruin of Samaria was near, so that its idols would be broken, and also, that its wealth would be destroyed—wealth she had gathered by illegitimate means and which she thought to be the reward of her idolatry.

But God specifically mentions idols here through His Prophet, in order to confirm what we noted yesterday—that the cause of vengeance was that Samaria had abandoned itself to ungodly forms of worship and had departed from the Law. So that the Israelites might then understand the reason for which God would so severely punish them, the Prophet here makes specific mention of their graven images and idols.

God is not indeed angry with stones and wood; but He observes their abuse and perversion when people pollute themselves by wickedly worshipping such things. This is the reason God says here that the graven images of Samaria would be broken to pieces, and that its idols would be destroyed.

Regarding the wages, the Prophet no doubt intended to brand all the wealth of Samaria with disgrace. אתנן, atanen, is properly a gift or a present. But as he twice repeats it, saying that what Samaria possessed was the reward of a harlot, and then, that it would return to the reward of a harlot, he, in the first place, I have no doubt, upbraids the Israelites because they, in the manner of harlots and prostitutes, had heaped together their great riches. This was done by Jeroboam, who established a new form of worship in order to secure his own kingdom.

The Israelites then began to flourish. We also know how wealthy that kingdom became and how proud they were because of their riches. Since, then, the Israelites despised the kingdom of Judah, thought themselves in every way happy, and, as we have seen in Hosea, ascribed all this to their superstitions, Micah speaks here according to their perspective when he says, "Idolatry has been profitable for you; this splendor dazzles your eyes. But I have already doomed your rewards to burning: they shall then be burned and thus perish."

Hosea also, as we have seen, used the same comparison: that the children of Israel congratulated themselves in their impiety, like a harlot who, while she gains many presents from those who admire her beauty, seems unconscious of her own depravity and baseness. Such were the Israelites.

The Prophet, therefore, does not say without reason, Behold, your rewards, by burning, shall perish, or be consumed with fire. Why is this? Because, he says, you have gathered them from the reward of a harlot, and all this shall return to the reward of a harlot.

This last clause should be restricted to the gifts or wealth of Samaria, for it cannot properly be applied to idols or graven images. The meaning of the whole, then, is that God would be the avenger of idolatry concerning the city of Samaria and the whole kingdom of Israel.

Besides, as the Israelites boasted that their ungodly forms of worship resulted in their happiness and prosperity, God declares that all of this success would be evanescent, like that of the harlot who amasses great wealth which soon vanishes. We see that this commonly happens.

Some explain the passage this way: that the gifts with which the Israelites adorned their temples would return to be the reward of a harlot—that is, they would be transferred to Chaldea, and the Babylonians would, in turn, adorn their idols with them. But this view does not fit the context, for the Prophet does not say that what Samaria had gathered would be prey or spoil for enemies, but that it would perish by fire.

He speaks, therefore, proverbially when he says that the proceeds from the reward of a harlot would return to be the reward of a harlot—that is, that it would become nothing. For the Lord places a curse on such riches as prostitutes gain by their baseness while they prostitute themselves.

Since, then, all such wealth is under God's curse, it must necessarily soon pass away like smoke. This, in my view, is the Prophet's true meaning.