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Commentaries
4:1 - 5:14
Title.
This section highlights the comfort of the people and the hope for messianic restoration. The original text of Micah appears to have been altered later with annotations referencing the people’s exile in Babylon.
4:1 - 4:5
Restoration: The Temple Mount.
This prophecy closely resembles that in Isa 2:2-5, except for the final verse. Jerusalem, which had been destroyed (Mic 3:12), will be rebuilt, and all nations will make pilgrimages to its restored temple. God establishes a new order where peace and harmony prevail among people who listen to and obey his word spoken from the holy mountain (the temple).
4:6 - 4:8
Remnant and the Lord King.
This image of the shepherd gathering the scattered sheep, a persistent theme in the prophets (cf. Is 40:11; 56:8; Jer 23:3; 29:14; 31:8-10; Ezek 11:17; 34:11-16), is projected and wholly fulfilled in Jesus (Mt 15:24). The Messiah, the good shepherd, unlike the kings of Israel, criticized by the prophet (Mi 3:1-3), will give his life for the sheep (cf. Jn 10:14-15).
4:9 - 5:5
Salvation Through Trial.
The metaphor of a woman giving birth shows that God’s salvation, unlike the nationalist zeal of false prophets (3:11), involves a painful purification process. During the trial, Israel must trust in the Lord. This hardship could refer to the destruction of several Judahite cities and the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 BC (cf. 2 Kgs 18:13-19:37). The reference to the Babylonian exile (10) might be a later addition.
Bethlehem of Ephrathah, the birthplace of King David, will also be the place where the Messiah, the King, will be born, fulfilling the covenant that God made with the house of David (2 Sm 7:1-17). The Gospel of Matthew announces the fulfillment of this prophecy with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (Mt 2:6). It is the power of the Lord that frees Israel from the cruel oppression caused by its own sin (5).
Commentaries
Title.
This section highlights the comfort of the people and the hope for messianic restoration. The original text of Micah appears to have been altered later with annotations referencing the people’s exile in Babylon.
Restoration: The Temple Mount.
This prophecy closely resembles that in Isa 2:2-5, except for the final verse. Jerusalem, which had been destroyed (Mic 3:12), will be rebuilt, and all nations will make pilgrimages to its restored temple. God establishes a new order where peace and harmony prevail among people who listen to and obey his word spoken from the holy mountain (the temple).
Remnant and the Lord King.
This image of the shepherd gathering the scattered sheep, a persistent theme in the prophets (cf. Is 40:11; 56:8; Jer 23:3; 29:14; 31:8-10; Ezek 11:17; 34:11-16), is projected and wholly fulfilled in Jesus (Mt 15:24). The Messiah, the good shepherd, unlike the kings of Israel, criticized by the prophet (Mi 3:1-3), will give his life for the sheep (cf. Jn 10:14-15).
Salvation Through Trial.
The metaphor of a woman giving birth shows that God’s salvation, unlike the nationalist zeal of false prophets (3:11), involves a painful purification process. During the trial, Israel must trust in the Lord. This hardship could refer to the destruction of several Judahite cities and the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 BC (cf. 2 Kgs 18:13-19:37). The reference to the Babylonian exile (10) might be a later addition.
Bethlehem of Ephrathah, the birthplace of King David, will also be the place where the Messiah, the King, will be born, fulfilling the covenant that God made with the house of David (2 Sm 7:1-17). The Gospel of Matthew announces the fulfillment of this prophecy with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (Mt 2:6). It is the power of the Lord that frees Israel from the cruel oppression caused by its own sin (5).