Page "Book of Micah" Paragraph 37

It is widely, though not universally, accepted by scholars that only chapters 1-3 contain material from the late 8th century prophet Micah.

The latest material comes from the post-Exilic period after the Temple was rebuilt in 515 BC, so that the early 5th century BC seems to be the period when the book was completed.

The first stage was the collection and arrangement of some spoken sayings of the historical Micah ( the material in chapters 1-3 ), in which the prophet attacks those who build estates through oppression and depicts the Assyrian invasion of Judah as Yahweh's punishment on the kingdom's corrupt rulers, including a prophecy that the Temple will be destroyed.

The prophecy was not fulfilled in Micah's time, but a hundred years later Judah was facing a similar crisis with Babylon, and Micah's prophecies were reworked and expanded to reflect the new situation.

Still later, after Jerusalem did fall to the Babylonians, the book was revised and expanded further to reflect the circumstances of the late exilic and post-exilic community.