= Micah 5 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Micah_4|Previous]] | [[Micah_6|Next]] ] == Micah 5 1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. 5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. 7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah—whence David emanated, as it is stated (I Sam. 17:58): “The son of your bondsman, Jesse the Bethlehemite.” And Bethlehem is called Ephrath, as it is said (Gen. 48: 7): “On the road to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem.” you should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah—You should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah because of the stigma of Ruth the Moabitess in you. from you shall emerge for Me—the Messiah, son of David, and so Scripture says (Ps. 118:22): “The stone the builders had rejected became a cornerstone.” and his origin is from of old—“Before the sun his name is Yinnon” (Ps. 72:17). ==== Verse 2 Therefore, He shall deliver them until the time a woman in confinement gives birth—He shall deliver them into the hands of their enemies until the coming of the time that Zion has felt the pangs of labor and borne her children; Zion, which is now seized by the pangs of labor, is now called a woman in confinement. [I.e., now the labor pains will cease and the redempyion will come about.] But our Sages state that from here we deduce that the son of David will not come until the wicked kingdom spreads over the entire world for nine months (Yoma 10b, Sanh. 98b). But, according to its simple meaning, this is the structure as I explained. and the rest of his brothers—The brothers of the King Messiah; i.e., the rest of the tribe [of Judah]. shall return upon the children of Israel—Judah and Benjamin shall join the other tribes and become one kingdom, and they shall no longer be divided into two kingdoms. ==== Verse 3 and lead Heb. וְרָעָה. And lead (וּפִרְנֵס) Israel. and they shall return Heb. וְיָשָׁבוּ. They shall return now from the exiles. for then he shall become great I.e., their king. until the ends of the earth—And they shall bring tribute to him [the Messiah] with horses and chariots. ==== Verse 4 And this shall be peace—A complete and permanent peace, without interruption, and it will not resemble the other redemptions after which there were troubles. should Assyria come Heb כִּי יָבוֹא. This כִּי serves as “if” - If he comes into our land as he comes now. we will appoint over them seven shepherds and eight—Concerning the seven and eight, our Rabbis enumerated their names in Tractate Sukkah, but I do not know whence they derived them. [referring to Sukkah 52b] ==== Verse 5 And they shall break the land of Assyria Heb. יְרָעוּ. And they shall break, similar to (Ps. 2:9) “You shall break them (תְּרֹעֵם) with an iron rod.” and the land of Nimrod—That is Babylon. at its gates Heb. בִּפְתָחֶיה, at the gates of its provinces. ==== Verse 6 like dew sent by the Lord—which does not come to the world through man, and people do not ask for it, so Israel will not hope for the help of man, but for the Lord. ==== Verse 7 like a lion among the beasts of the forest—So will their king rule over all. which treads down and tears in pieces Heb. רָמַס. This is the lion’s treading down [an animal] when he [the lion] is hungry and eating it in its place. Tearing (טָרַף) is when he carries the prey to his den for his cubs and his lionesses. ==== Verse 9 that I will cut your horses—the Egyptian aid upon which you rely to supply you with horses. ==== Verse 10 And I will destroy your cities—And you will no longer need fortified cities. ==== Verse 13 and I will destroy your enemies Heb. עָרֶיךָ. Jonathan renders: And I will destroy your enemies. Similarly, (Isa. 14:21) “And fill the surface of the earth with enemies (עָרִים),” and (I Sam. 28:16) “And has become your adversary (עָרֶךָ).”