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Micah 1:8-16 meaning
In these verses, Micah recorded his reaction to the severe judgment the LORD had pronounced upon His people. It was a reaction based on love for his fellow countrymen. Micah stated that because of this I must lament and wail (v. 8). To lament (Heb. "'espəḏāh") means to mourn for someone who was deceased. Micah saw how complete the destruction would be and could only lament and wail (Heb. "wə'êlîlāh," "to cry out" in deep sorrow).
In addition to his inward mourning, Micah would exhibit his distress bodily by going barefoot and naked (v 8), both signs of extreme mourning (2 Samuel 15:30; Isaiah 20:2, 22:12, Jeremiah 25:34). He would express his distress vocally when he would make a lament like the jackals and a mourning like the ostriches (v 8). The word jackals probably refers to animals that were scavengers and wandered around abandoned towns and cities. They became a symbol of judgment and desolation (Ezekiel 32:2).
The word for ostriches (Heb. "ya'ănāh") has been translated "owls" in other versions. It refers to creatures that, like jackals, roamed during the night and made sounds similar to wailing. Together, it is a picture of the prophet who, in his deep grief, began screeching and howling like night creatures, because of the devastation that he saw would come upon his people. It is worth noting that although the prophet did not like the message God gave him to speak to the people, he faithfully pronounced it anyway.
The reason for Micah's mourning was that her wound is incurable (v. 9). The LORD's judgment would be so severe that Samaria could not recover. Judah as a nation would cease to be.
Also, this perpetual suffering has come to Judah and has reached the gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem (v 9). Note that Micah calls the people of Jerusalem (and by extension Judah) my people (a phrase used nine times in the book), indicating that he identified with the people under the LORD's judgment and was deeply saddened. This was another reason that Micah was very upset about the situation. His country will be destroyed.
Presuming Micah ministered between 735 and 700 BC, the Northern Kingdom (Samaria/Israel) was destroyed during the time of his ministry; the Assyrians conquered Samaria in 722 BC. The tribes of Samaria/Israel were dispersed throughout the Assyrian Empire, and did not return. Later, Judah and Jerusalem were threatened by Assyria in 701 BC, but the LORD intervened and they were delivered (2 Chronicles 32:1 - 22).
Judah would exist until the Babylonian captivity, which lasted from 605 BC to around 535 BC. During this time, Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. So it is likely that Micah's prophecy came to pass shortly after his prophetic ministry ended.
In verses 10 - 16, Micah then describes the extent of the LORD's judgment in a poem. In this poem, he uses wordplay, including puns. The puns involve the names of several towns and villages that were near his hometown of Moresheth-gath (see v. 1); Micah used the names of the towns to describe the chaos caused by the LORD's judgment.
The wordplays/puns are as follows:
But there was a problem. Micah declared that She (Lachish) was the beginning of sin To the daughter of Zion. The daughter of Zion is a reference to Jerusalem (Zephaniah 3:13; Lamentations 2:13).
There is no biblical record of what this involved, but one suggestion is that the horses mentioned here had been given to the sun god and thus were offerings to idols (see 2 Kings 23:11). This practice must have spread to other places in Judah, polluting the whole land with pagan worship.
Lachish would not escape God's judgment. Because in you were found The rebellious acts of Israel. Perhaps Lachish trusted in their horses and military strength. But because of their rebellious acts against their Suzerain/ruler Yahweh, violating their covenant/treaty with Him, they will be judged, according to the terms of the treaty.
This is probably the meaning: because Moresheth is somewhat similar to the Hebrew word for "bride" (Heb. "me'orasa"), the picture given here might be that the leaders of Judah were forced to give a "dowry" (i.e., a tribute) and a bride (the town of Moresheth-gath) to the conquering Assyrians.
Here, this could mean that The glory of Israel (the king) would enter very dark days because they were pursued by enemies and would be displaced from ruling the LORD's people. This came to pass for most of Judah during an invasion by Assyria (2 Kings 18:13). It ultimately came to pass when Judah was exiled to Babylon (1 Chronicles 9:1).
Micah then called on the people of Judah to make yourself bald and cut off your hair (v. 16) as a demonstration of their grief. They were to do this because of the children of your delight, referring to their beloved offspring. Micah predicted that something tragic was about to happen to their children.
In parallel to the first phrase, he told them to extend your baldness like the eagle. To extend (Heb. "harḥiḇî," "multiply," or "enlarge") could mean to remain bald for a long time, or it could mean that the baldness was to extend to their whole head, including the beard. Either way, shaving one's head was an expression of deep mourning (Job 1:20; Isaiah 15:2; Ezekiel 27:31; Amos 8:10). Micah exhorts Judah to mourn deeply because of the massive destruction that will come upon the people of Judah.
The reason for this mourning was that the LORD was about to cause the children of your delight to go from you into exile (v 16). The Assyrians already had taken the children of the northern tribes into exile, and they now had conquered some towns in Judah. This was to demonstrate to Judah that, because they were just as wicked as Israel, a conqueror would take their children as well. This would diminish Judah's future population and jeopardize any hope of restoration of the nation. The Assyrians might or might not have taken children from the towns of Judah which they conquered before 701 BC. But we know this did occur beginning in 605 BC when the Babylonians exiled the people of Judah to Babylon (2 Kings 25:21; Daniel 1:3).