Micah 5

Now gather your troops, city of troops! A siege has been set against us. They will hit the judge of Israel on the cheek with a rod.

1Now 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.

Note"Daughter of troops" is a Hebrew way of naming a city by what characterizes it (here a town full of soldiers, being told to muster. A "judge" in Israel was a ruler with legal and military authority, not only someone who decided court cases. Striking a man on the cheek with a rod was a deliberate public humiliation of someone who could not fight back; doing it to a nation's leader made the shame national. Note also that Hebrew Bibles number this verse as 4:14, so Hebrew 5:1 is verse 2 here) a source may cite "Micah 5:1" and mean the Bethlehem verse.

2But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who is to rule over Israel. His origins are from long ago, from ancient days.

2But 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.

NoteEphratah (Ephrathah) is the older name for Bethlehem and its surrounding district, added here to distinguish this Bethlehem, a few miles south of Jerusalem, from another town of the same name up north in Zebulun. Bethlehem was the hometown of David, so a ruler coming from there means a ruler from David's line and David's obscure village rather than from the capital. The KJV's "thousands" translates a Hebrew word that means both the number and a clan or militia unit of about that size, the point is that Bethlehem was too small to count for much. "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" is deliberately open in Hebrew: the words can mean his family origins go back to ancient times, or that his origin is from eternity, and translators have divided over it for centuries.

3So he will hand them over, until the time when the woman in labor has given birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to join the people of Israel.

3Therefore 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.

Note"Give them up" means abandon or hand over, leave the people to their enemies for a time. Hebrew does not say who "she which travaileth" is, and readers have taken it as the mother of the coming ruler, or as the nation itself pictured as a woman in labor; the text leaves it open.

4He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live in safety, because then he will be great to the ends of the earth.

4And 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.

NoteCalling a ruler a shepherd was standard political language across the ancient Near East, not a comment on his gentleness: kings of Israel, Assyria and Babylon were all called shepherds of their people. "Feed" in the King James English means to pasture a flock, i.e. to rule and provide for.

5And this man will be our peace. When Assyria comes into our land and marches through our palaces, we will raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight leaders of men.

5And 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.

NoteAssyria was the dominant empire of Micah's day, based in what is now northern Iraq; it destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and besieged Jerusalem, and its name here stands for the invading superpower. "Seven... and eight" is a Hebrew numerical figure of speech (a number, then one more) meaning an ample supply, more than enough, not a headcount. "Shepherds" again means rulers or commanders.

6They will lay waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its gates. So he will rescue us from Assyria when it comes into our land and marches inside our borders.

6And 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.

NoteNimrod is the hunter and city-builder of Genesis 10 who founded cities in Mesopotamia; "the land of Nimrod" is a poetic second name for the same Assyrian-Babylonian territory. The phrase the KJV renders "in the entrances thereof" is uncertain in Hebrew: the same consonants can mean the land's gates or entryways, or a drawn blade, hence the differences between translations.

7Then the remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples like dew sent from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on human beings.

7And 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.

NoteIn a country with a long rainless summer, dew was not a decoration but a real source of moisture that kept crops alive. The point of "tarrieth not for man" is that dew and rain arrive without being summoned, worked for, or controlled by anyone.

8Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep. When it passes through, it tramples and tears apart, and no one can rescue.

8And 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.

Note"Gentiles" in the KJV simply translates the Hebrew word for nations or peoples, everyone who is not Israel. It carries no other sense here.

9Your hand will be raised over those who fight you, and all your enemies will be destroyed.

9Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

Note"Cut off" is a stock Hebrew expression running through the rest of this chapter; it means removed, wiped out, put an end to.

10"On that day," says the LORD, "I will take away the horses you have among you, and I will wreck your chariots.

10And 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:

NoteHorses and chariots were the heavy weaponry of the age, the expensive strike force a king relied on, not ordinary transport. Removing them, along with the fortresses in the next verse, strips away the nation's military hardware.

11I will take away the cities of your land and tear down all your fortresses.

11And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:

NoteStrong holds are fortified towns and walled defenses. In this list, cities are named for their walls: they are counted as part of the war machine.

12I will take the sorcery out of your hands, and you will have no more fortune-tellers.

12And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:

Note"Witchcrafts" and "soothsayers" cover the ordinary business of divination in the ancient world: reading omens, casting lots, interpreting dreams and signs to predict events or influence them. "Out of thine hand" pictures these as tools held and used, like anything else being confiscated.

13I will also destroy your carved idols and your sacred stone pillars from among you, and you will no longer bow down to something your own hands have made.

13Thy 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.

NoteA "graven image" is an idol carved from wood or stone. "Standing images" are matzevot, upright stone pillars set up at places of worship to mark the presence of a god; they were a normal fixture of Canaanite shrines and often of Israelite ones too.

14I will pull up the Asherah poles from among you, and I will destroy your cities.

14And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.

NoteThe KJV's "groves" translates asherah, a wooden pole or stylised tree set up beside an altar, representing the goddess Asherah. They were planted upright in the ground, which is why the verb is "pluck up": you uproot them.

15And I will take revenge in anger and fury on the nations, the kind they have not heard of."

15And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

Note"Heathen" is the KJV's word for the same Hebrew term rendered "nations" elsewhere in this chapter. The last phrase is genuinely ambiguous: the Hebrew can mean vengeance of a kind the nations have never heard of, or vengeance on the nations that have not listened: that is, not obeyed. Both readings are defensible and translations split between them.