days] i. e. he will belong to one of the oldest families, viz. the
Davidic; cf. Ez. 34^^ ^- 37-" ^- Ho. 3\ The phrase "from ancient
days" (D^iy '^ll'^ll) is of indefinite scope, but is undoubtedly in-
tended to convey the impression of great antiquity; cf. Am. 9"
Mai. 3^* — 2. Therefore will he give them up until the time when
she who is to give birth shall have borne] The connection of this
gloss with the preceding verse is very loose. The thought seems
to be thus:— since Yahweh is going to raise up a mighty kmg for
Israel in his own good time, it is clear that the present oppression
and suffering are only transitory and will come to an end when the
Messiah is bom. The change from the first person of v. ^ ("for
me") to the third person here is awkward; the failure to define the
subject is striking; and the lack of any mention of the antecedents
of the pronoun "them" is confusing. The treatment of v. ^ as a
marginal note best accounts for these facts. The statement con-
cerning the expected birth is evidently an allusion to Is. 7" and
comes from a time when that prophecy was being given Messianic
significance. This would point to an age long after the days of
Isaiah.f — And the rest of his brethren will return unto the sons of
Israel] The only proper antecedent for "his" is the promised
Messiah. The exile is evidently presupposed, but the exact mean-
ing of the phrase "the rest of his brethren" eludes us. Probably
* An interesting analogy is furnished by the " Messianic" passage of Leiden Papyrus, No.
344 [v. A. H. Gardiner, Admonitions oj an Egyptian Sage (1009)], where the "Messiah" is ap-
parently represented as a reincarnation of the god Re and thus can be spoken of as a contempo-
rary of the first generation of mankind; cj. JMPS. on Semitic Prophecy, BW. XXXV (1910),
223-233. , , . , .
t Stk.'s attempt to maintain Micah's authorship of this passage involves a mythological in-
terpretation of the Messiah as the Urmensch, the "days of old " as the age of Paradise, and " the
one who is to bear " as the mother of the gods (both here and in Is. 7)— all of which seems far-
fetched and fanciful. Much more plausible is the interpretation in the form offered by Gress-
mann (Eschatologie, 270 fj.) and Burncy (Journal 0/ Tluol. Studies, X, 580-4), which is to the
effect that this prophecy as well as Isaiah's Immanuel oracle rested upon a popular expectation
of the advent of a Messianic ruler whose birth should be signalised by some remarkable portent.
This passage refers to three phases of the expectation, viz. (i) that the Messiah will be of divine
origin having existed in reality or in the mind of God from time immemorial; (2) that whether
his fatherhood be human or di\-ine he is to be bom of a woman; and (3) that his birth will usher
in a new age of peace and prosperity.
..2. 8
5 I05
We. is right in seeing in it an allusion to the Shear Jashub of Is. 7^.
Perhaps the prophet has in mind the return of all the exiles and
their reunion with those who had not been carried away; or again,
he may look forward to the reunion of Israel and Judah in the
Messianic age; cj. Ho. 3^ Is. 11'^ ^- Ez. i6^- "' Zc. 8'^— 3. And he
will stand and shepherd {his flock) in the strength of Yahweh, in
the majesty of the name of Yahweh, his God] The thought of v. ^
is here continued. "Stand" is probably used in the sense of
"stand firm, steadfast, invincible." His power will emanate, not
from the nation over whom he rules, but from God himself. The
words "his flock" are not expressed in the Hebrew but are im-
plied in the verb used. — And they will endure] This verb, found
in iH, seems to be due to a copyist's error, for it is redundant in the
metre and, as it stands, )delds no satisfactory sense. It is com-
monly explained as meaning "dwell in safety," but the verb alone
never has that meaning. The rendering here adopted is the least
difficult; but it is doubtful, since in Ps. 125' Jo. 4^", the two pas-
sages cited in support of it (BDB.), the meaning "abide," "endure,"
is conveyed rather by the modifying phrase i:h*'';b than by the verb
itself. The ehmination of this word takes away all occasion for
Duhm's transposition of v. ^^ to follow v. - as a continuation of the
gloss. — For now he will be great unto the ends of the earth] Ac-
cording to iH this clause furnishes the reason for the security of
Israel, \'iz. the universal acknowledgment of the power of the
Messiah. According to the text as here presented, it gives a con-
vincing illustration of the effect of Yahweh's strength as revealed
in the Messiah.
1. ^17^??] ^ loc. with old fem. ending, Ges. ^'Oe; cf. np-Mjr , n.-irir%
etc.. 'flN with this spelHng occurs also in Ru. 4" Gn. 35'6- '' 48' Ps. 1326
I Ch. 2^- 50 44 Jos. 1559 (S; but without n _ in Gn. 48' i Ch. 2'9. Hence
it is better to retain n in Mi. 5' and to regard loss of n from before 'yx as
due to haplo.. Fr. Schuhhess, ZAW. XXX, 62 /., following B =
'aphartd, would preserv^e iH intact here, and treat 'sn as epitheton ornans,
related to the Aram. n-;-n and Assy, apparu which mean 'pasture-
land,' 'marsh.' But the character of the region around Bethlehem does
not warrant the application of such an epithet, nor can one clear case of
the use of this word as an appellative be cited from either Heb., Ar., Syr.,
Aram, or .-\ssy.. It is equally true, of course, as Schulthess points out.
io6 MICAH
that nothing is known elsewhere of a Beth-Ephrathah, yet the formation
of names with ' Beth ' is one of the most common. — •riy'x] Position in
sentence is against this being in predicate relation to nnx; better as an
appositive. On the adj. with art. as having superlative force, Ges. ^ i3^«.
The masc. form is no indication that Bethlehem is used as representing
its people and not as designating a place, for town-names with no not in-
frequently take the masc. instead of the fem.; Ko. ^*"«- ^^^'- '. Nor is it
true that 'i applies only to persons (Hal.); cf. Dn. 8' (of a horn), Je.
4920 (of sheep), and the place-name, niiyx, 2 K. S^i. — ^sfm nvnS Ni->] It
is difficult to make 'd 'ns the subj. of nx> (Now., Marti); it is better to
assign an indefinite subj. and treat 'd "? as expressing purpose, i. e. "one
will come forth to become ruler"; on indef. subj., Ges. ^'"<^; on h with
inf. to express purpose, Ges. ^ "* '•«. — rniNSic] dTr. in this sense; butc/.
Assy, musil, used e. g. of the sources of the Tigris. A nominal clause
with relative force; cf. K6. ^^'"p. — 2. Djn''] For meaning "deliver up,"
cf. Ju. 2013 I S. ii'2 and BDB. 679b. — rtihv njj] A noun in cstr, rel.
with a sentence, equivalent to a noun limited by a temporal clause;
cf. Ges. ^""d.iss i,_mS^] Fut. pf.; Dr. ^'^ Ges. ^ ">« <> Ko. ^ "'. — Sj?] =
Sn; cf. BDB. 757a; it is unnecessary to change the text. The meaning
"along with," "together with," which some prefer here {e. g. BDB.), is
usually found only where '"'•; connects closely with a noun (e. g. Sy, DX
D''jn, Gn. 32'2), not where it governs a phrase modifying a vb. as here
(so Now.). — njri,] Not uncommonly used fig. of the activity of a ruler;
but only here without an obj. expressed. Assy, re'u commonly means
"to rule, reign," and 'i here seems to have that force. — nnj?] Used of
fut. time as in 4^.
§ 13. Israel's Protection against Invasion (5*- ^).
A ten-line str., the three closing lines of which are almost identi-
cal with its three opening lines. When the invader sets foot upon
Israelitish soil there will be no lack of valiant leaders to repel him
and to carry the war into his own territory. In contrast with
the present defenceless, helpless condition, the Israel of the com-
ing golden age will be adequately equipped to defend her own
interests.
A ND this will be our protection from Assyria:
When he comes into our land,
And when he treads upon our soil,
Then we will raise up against him seven shepherds —
Yea, eight princes of men,
And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
^*- 2 107
And the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword.
And they will rescue from Assyria,
When he conies into our land,
And when he treads upon our border.
The metre of this str. is irregular; 11. i, 4 and 6 are in tetrameter, the
rest in trimeter, though 2 and 9 might be classified as dimeters. L. 6
may have been originally a trimeter, in«<~nN having come in by error
from the foil, line; cf. (B. Siev.'s attempt to secure four seven-tone
lines here involves the omission of the last three words of 1. i and the
insertion of the subj. after .S3'' in 1. 2.
These verses are assigned to Micah by some modern scholars, e. g.
Volz, GASm., and the specific mention of Assyria seems to settle the
question. But the name Assyria is used by later writers, as the name
of Israel's first great foreign oppressor, to designate typically later peo-
ples, e. g. Babylon (La. 5O, Persia (Ezr. 6^2), Syria (Zc. 10" Is. 27"^'^
Ps. 839 'â– '). The name Assyria clung to the territory long after the fall
of Nineveh; cf. the Talmud's name for the Aram, script employed
throughout the regions formerly controlled by Assyria, viz. mcN a.-o;
and Hdt. VII, 63, where the names Assyria and Syria are declared to be
synonymous; v. Buhl, Kanon u. Text, 201. In some such way Assyria is
used here. For it is hardly conceivable that Micah could have spoken
of the Assyria of his day in the terms employed in v. K Nor is the con-
fident, warlike spirit at all compatible with Micah's attitude toward the
future and to Assyria in chs. 1-3. The verses seem to reflect later times
when the Apocalyptists painted glowing pictures of the future with little
reference to present conditions or to the possibility, from a human stand-
point, of their ever being realised. Until we know more of historical
conditions in Judah during the postexilic period than is now accessible,
we need not follow Marti and Gu. in assigning this passage to the Macca-
baean age, with which it has no necessary connection, even though the
reference of the "seven or eight princes" to Mattathias with his five
sons and grandsons is alluring [so Hpt. Transactions of the Third Inter-
national Congress for the History of Religions, I (1908), 268]. In any
case it is quite clear that vv. *-^ do not belong with vv. '-3; for the Mes-
siah who is the dominant figure there is ignored here. Instead of the
one great leader, there are here seven or eight, and these are not raised
up by the Messiah but by the populace. Moreover, whereas in v. ' the
rule of the Messiah is to extend unbroken to the ends of the earth, here
we find "Assyria" invading the territory of Israel. The point of view
is thus distinctly different from that in w. >-'. Cf. van H., who treats
w. <• 5" as a gloss; and Du. who considers w. ^t. 6a a gloss upon the word
"Assyria" in v. ^b, while w. <»• ^b form a four-line str. belonging to 5»- ».
4. nr] & cm.. — DiSi:-] Schnurrer, oiSr; so Laufer, Gautier. Siev.
Xi-hv. Siev. and Gu. eliminate the phrase 'rx "^z' nt, as a superscription
which has been mistakenly incorporated in the body of the poem. —
Io8 MICAH
•\wn] Rd. -nu'NS, the loss of s from M being due to haplo.. For
tD oi'jb' = protection from, v. Zc. S'" Jb. 21'. Taylor tr. to foil. Na'', re-
garding the position in iJI as due to influence of the order in v. ^; cf.
Siev.'s insertion of na'N in the same place mtr. cs.. — ijsiNa] (6 2d pi.
masc. sf. and in v. ^. — ij'nuaiN^] Rd. •tjrc-iN;), foil. (5 ^7r2 tt/v xwpav
v/tw"; so Ro., Ry., Pont, Elh., Gu., Now., OortF-"'-, Hal., Siev., Hpt..
We., GASm. ijSi3J3, as in v. '". — M':2^r^\ (g iireyepd-qaovTai = -iDpn. — •'^•'D:]
C6 5i}7/iaTa, connecting it with lu'j, to iiVe. — 3^x] Gr. nmx. — 5. ij.'">i] Gr.
•iyni. — -iiB'N Tix nt<] 05 t6v ''Aa-crovp. — rrinnfla] Rd. nn>i7S3; so Taylor,
Pont, Now., van H.,Du., Hpt.. (^ivTyTdipptpavTTjs. IS in lancets ejus; so
Aq. E'. & in his wrath. Ro. n>n\723. Gr. and Marti, n'>nin\npa. Hi.
mnnw; so Elh., Gu., OortE" - , Marti.— S^xm] Rd. iS'sni; so Elh., Gu.,
Now., Siev.. Ro. '^''xni. Oort'^"'- ijS>sn'?. Hal. Sxni. We. •ijiS"':sni (so
Marti), or uSxni. J. Herrmann, in OLZ. XIV (191 1), 203, suggests that
V. ' *>, 'iJi S^sm, was a true correction of v. ^ », which should read oiSc n; n^m
'ui -nu'ND Sixni. The correction was placed on the margin alongside
of the error and finally came into the text in the wrong place. This
is plausible; but the use of a^^z' is difBcult and the Messiah seems su-
perfluous alongside of the "princes of men."
A. And this will be the protection from Assyria] M is usually
rendered, "and such shall be our peace. Assyria, etc"; but the
connection thereby established is very harsh and abrupt. By
some, the first words are connected with w. ^"^ and rendered, "and
such an one shall be our peace." * But the description of the
Messiah as abstract 'peace' is unusual. The translation here
adopted furnishes an admirable sense in this connection and in-
volves only the slightest textual change. This refers to the fol-
lowing, not the preceding context. Assyria stands as representa-
tive of the great world-tyrant of the time, whether Babylon, Persia,
or Syria {v. s.). — When he comes into our land, and when he treads
upon our soil] The invasion is not conceived of as a remote possi-
bility, but rather as an event likely to occur and therefore needing
to be reckoned with. — Seven shepherds, yea — eight princes of men]
This collocation of two numbers, the second being greater than the
first by a unit, is employed to express the idea of indefiniteness; cf.
H.^^, 2 1 .f The supply of leaders will be equal to all demands that
* So Kl., Ro., Or.. The application of nr to the Messiah began with Ki..
t The view of Gressmann, Eschat. 284, that seven and eight are to be added together yield-
ing fifteen, which is the number of Ishtar (KAT.\ 454) the goddess-mother of the Messiah, can
only be counted among the curiosities of tlic history of interpretation.
may be made. Shepherds and princes of men are equivalent terms,
both designating military leaders; cj. Jos. 13^'.— 5. And they unll
shepherd] i. e. in sensu malo, exercise punitive power over her.—
The land 0/ A ssyria and the land of Nimrod] " Nimrod " is chosen
as a synonym for "Assyria," perhaps, because of its suggestion of
the root marad, " to rebel." The only other references to Nimrod
(Gn. 10^-" I Ch. i*^) show that the whole Babylonian- Assyrian em-
pire was classified as the territory of Nimrod, the founder of Baby-
lon.— y4«(/ they will rescue from Assyria] M "he will rescue,"
referring to the Messiah of vv. *-^; but this ignores all the interven-
ing context. Van H.'s solution of the difficulty by dropping this
context as a later addition is too drastic treatment. The whole
progress of thought here requires the plural.
4. ni] Eerdmans, ThT. XLI (1907), 502, would give nr here the
meaning of Ar. dsu, lord of; but this rendering is necessary nowhere else,
not even in Ju. s^; nor does it belong to the Syr., Aram., and Eth. equiv-
alents. — irnuDiN] is hardly appropriate here. The prophet is pictur-
ing a condition when the enemy will never be permitted to do more than
cross the border; entrance of the palaces is out of the question; cf. v. ^
and (S ^.— D-iN -to:] i. e. "princely men"; cf. Pr. 1520 'a S'pp, "a foolish
man"; c/. Ges. ^ '-s>. — 5. n-n:;i?] i. e. "in its entrances," establishing a
blockade; or "in its passes," pursuing the fugitives to their mountain
fastnesses. But the parall. calls for a weapon; hence it is better to
read some form of nn^ns, drawn sword, as suggested by Aq. E' and H.
§ 14. TJie Divine Emergence and Irresistible Might of the
Remnant (5^^).
Two strs. of six lines each, in trimeter movement, set forth the
glory of the remnant, as exhibited in its marvellous rise to power
and in its victorious career, V. Ms a marginal note on v. ^ {v. i.).
Str. I likens the emergence of the renmant, from among the nations
whither Israel has been scattered, to the silently falling dew and to
the showers which enable the grass to grow independently of
human aid. Str. II presents the remnant vmder the figure of a
roaring lion, ravaging defenceless flocks of sheep with none to say
him nay.
no MICAH
A ND the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
In the midst of many peoples.
Like the dew from Yahweh,
Like the showers upon the herbage,
Which waits not for man,
Nor tarries for the children of men.
VEA, the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations.
In the midst of many peoples,
Like the lion among the beasts of the forest.
Like the young lion among the flocks of sheep.
Who, if he pass over.
Tramples and tears, with none to deliver.
This piece is quite generally denied to Micah. In contrast to the
prophecy of the eighth century, its interests are not in the present but
exclusively in the future. The diaspora is a familiar idea and has at-
tained wide extent. The remnant is no longer the weak handful of
Isaiah, but is endowed with invincible might, none can stand before it.
There is no connection between this passage and vv. ■•• 5; there Israel
occupies its own territory whence it repels the invader; here Israel is
scattered among the nations of the world. Nor does it connect with the
following context; for while Israel is the victorious avenger over the
nations here, in vv. ' s. Israel becomes the victim of Yah web's punitive
wrath. This passage thus, like vv. *• =, is a fragment entirely indepen-
dent of the surrounding context. Not only so, but v. ^ is very loosely
connected with w. «■', and is best considered as a marg. n. on v, ' (so
Siev., Gu., Hpt.); v. i.. Cf. Du. who puts 5' between 4'3« and 4"''.
Some also would separate v. ' from v. ^, on the basis that the two verses
present diametrically opposite aspects of Israel's activity; so Ladame,
Hal., Stk.; but this is dependent upon the interpretation given to v. *; v.i..
The symmetry of form between v. « and v. ' is noticeable; the first two
lines of each are identical, the third and fourth contain similes in both
cases, and the fifth and sixth a relative clause. It results from this that
the series of consonants opening the successive lines is the same in both
strs., viz. 3 ,3 , 3 ,« ,1 ,1. Such resemblance may, of course, be due to
identity of authorship, or to imitation, though the latter is less likely than
the former.
It is difficult to fix the time of the origin of this section within any nar-
row limits. The only certain basis for a date is furnished by the extent
of the diaspora herein reflected and the idea of the remnant that dom-
inates the whole passage. The vnde scattering of Israel "among the
nations, in the midst of many peoples" would seem to call for a date after
the fall of Jerusalem in 586; while the conception of the irresistible might
of the remnant as the representative of God among the peoples points to
a time later than Deutero-Isaiah and the return from captivity. The
only terminus ad quern available is furnished by the close of the prophetic
^6-8 II X
canon. But there is nothing in the content of the passage that makes it
necessary to come down so far for the origin of this prophecy. It might
well belong to the middle or latter part of the Persian period.
6. 3?;>] Add nyj?, with (68', cod. Kenn. 154 and v. '; so Ro., Elh.,
Pont, Gu., Now., Siev., van H.. OortE"'- adds dmjh nina.— 'i 'y aip^]
Siev. om. here (so Stk.) and in v. ' mtr. cs., as a gloss.— Doo^a] (& ws
&pves. All Vrss. and many Heb. mss. prefix 1 here and before -^"d^d in
V. '. — ni|-i^] (5 (Tvvaxdv = ^.li^V — oiN ija^] Siev. om. mtr. cs.. — 7. -\t]
S> of the flock. i-'va] &sg..— 8. mn] Rd. a^.n, with(g; so We., Now.,
OortE-"-, Marti, Siev.(?); cf. 35 codd. (Kenn.) ann. Hal. a'^in.
Str. I expresses the conviction that Yahweh himself will bring
Israel to her rightful place of power. — 6. And the remnant of
Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples]
"Jacob" is used as representing the people of Yahweh as a whole,
not those of northern Israel, nor those of Judah merely. The
exile and scattering of the people are presupposed either as an ex-
isting fact, or as conceived of in the prophet's mind; the former is
the more natural interpretation ; v. s.. The use of the term "rem-
nant" is parallel to that in 4', another late passage.— if ^e the dew
from Yahweh, like the showers upon the herbage] Opinions vary
as to the exact point of the comparison here. Is it in the sud-
denness of the fall of the dew? Just so suddenly shall Israel fall
upon its foes and smite them.* This furnishes a sense in harmony
with the unmistakable meaning of v. \ Or is it that Israel in the
Messianic age will be as innumerable as the drops of dew and
rain ? f Or again, is it found in the refreshing influence of the dew
to which Israel's moral and religious influence among the nations
is parallel? J This, however, yields a sense for v. ® entirely at
variance with that of v. '', for Israel which is here a blessing is
clearly there an agent of destruction. Or yet again, is it in the
divine origin of the dew and rain, which are wholly independent
of human aid ? § So vnll be Israel's rise to power over the nations.
Or finally, must we confess our inability to discover the meaning? **
The key to the meaning of the simile seems to be given by the fol-
lowing clause, viz. which waits not for man, nor tarries for the chil-
dren of men] The antecedent of the pronoun is not the dew nor
* So Hi.. t So Now., Hpt.. t So Stk..
§ So e. g. Casp., Ke., Now., Marti, Hpt.. ** So We..
112 MICAH
the rain,* but the herbagef (v. i.). The force of the comparison
thus appears to be that just as the dew and rain falling upon the
grass cause it to grow and render it independent of human irriga-
tion, so through the favour and might of Yahweh the remnant of
Israel among the nations will rise to power, notwithstanding the
absence of all human help. Israel's future depends solely upon
Yahweh.
Str. II goes on to say that this divinely produced remnant will
overthrow all opposition. — 7. Like the lion among the leasts of the
forest, the young lion among the flocks of sheep] Wild beasts and
domestic animals alike are defenceless before the lion ; so will Is-
rael's power be supreme among the nations. — Who, whenever he
passes through, tramples and rends, with none to deliver] A pic-
ture of wanton destruction on the one hand, and utter defenceless-
ness on the other. — The two strs. thus interpreted fit together ex-
cellently, the second taking up the description where the first drops
it. There is not the slightest necessity for segregating v. '. — Fired
by this vision of triumph, some reader added the patriotic and
pious comment constituting v. 8. — Thy hand will be high above
thine enemies and all thy foes will be cut ojf] iH's "may thy hand,
etc." is improbable, since what is declared to be an assured fact
in V. '' would hardly be prayed for in v. *, imless the latter were
wholly unrelated to the former. Interpreters have always differed
as to the person addressed, some holding it to be Yahweh,J others
the remnant. § The biblical usage of such phraseology as "thy
hand is high" may be cited for either interpretation; cf Is. 26"
Ps. 89" Nu. 33^ Dt. 32^^ Ex. 14^. But a closer connection with
V. ' is obtained by taking the words as addressed to the remnant.
For similar sentiments, cf. Is. 49-^ ^- 60^^ Zc. 14^^ ^- Ps. 149^ ^•.
6. nnNtt'] Treated as masc. {cf. si. in v. '), since the term is thought
of as practically identical with nation and people. — nipi nS tj'n] Syn-
tax may be satisfied here in either of four ways, (i) rel. clause with ante-
cedent jrj;; (2) rel. clause with antecedent Ss; , ai^ian being regarded as
subordinate or parenthetical; (3) rel. clause with antecedent D'^o-i, but
* So Ew., Hi., Hd., Ke., Casp., Kl., Or., Now., Marti, el al..
t So Bauer, Theiner, Rosenm., Ro., van H., el al..
t So e. g. Mau., Hd..
§ So e. g. Rosenm., Ew., Ke., Kl., Ro., Or., Now., Marti.
5"" 113
number of vb. is determined by airj; the nearest noun; (4) an explanatory
clause stating the content of the resemblance, viz. "the remnant shall
be, etc. ... in that it shall not wait, etc."; cf. (K. But (i) yields the
smoothest structure. — 7. 'ii nap ox] Regular form for a condition
pointing to "any time in the indefinite or more or less remote future,"
Dr. ^ "«. — 8. Fine chiasm.
§ 15. IsraeVs Purification through Chastisement (5""").
This piece consists of two four-line strs., with an introductory