TEXT [Commentary]

  C.   A Ruler from Bethlehem (5:2-6)

2 [*]But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

are only a small village among all the people of Judah.

Yet a ruler of Israel,

whose origins are in the distant past,

will come from you on my behalf.

3 The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies

until the woman in labor gives birth.

Then at last his fellow countrymen

will return from exile to their own land.

4 And he will stand to lead his flock with the LORD’s strength,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

Then his people will live there undisturbed,

for he will be highly honored around the world.

5 And he will be the source of peace.

When the Assyrians invade our land

and break through our defenses,

we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us,

eight princes to lead us.

6 They will rule Assyria with drawn swords

and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod.

He will rescue us from the Assyrians

when they pour over the borders to invade our land.

NOTES

5:2 [1] Bethlehem. A Judean village located five miles southwest of Jerusalem, notable for its association with King David (1 Sam 16:1). The name Bethlehem means “house of bread” or “house of food” in the sense of storehouse or granary, perhaps explaining, in part, the need for the specification of Bethlehem’s district as that of Ephrathah (since there was a Bethlehem of Zebulun, cf. Josh 19:14-15). The town was home to Naomi, Boaz, and Ruth (Ruth 1:2; 2:1). When King Herod inquired of the Jewish leaders where the Messiah would be born, they indicated Bethlehem, citing 5:2 (cf. Matt 2:3-6).

Ephrathah. The name of the district in which the village of Bethlehem was located (cf. Ps 132:6). The name means “fruitful.” Jesse, the father of David, is described as “an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah” (1 Sam 17:12).

ruler. The word moshel [TH4910A, ZH5440] is a general term for ruler or even tyrant in a negative sense (e.g., Isa 14:5). Theologically, the use of the root mashal in the OT suggests that “God is the beginning and end of all ‘dominion’ in the universe and among human beings” (TDOT 9.71). The use of the word mashal instead of malak [TH4427, ZH4887] may indicate the rule of the Messiah is more than simply the continuation of Hebrew kingship or a copy of pagan kingship (cf. Kaiser 1992:64). Rather, it may signify a kingship “in which a qualitatively different dominion is realized” (TDOT 9.70).

5:4 [3] lead his flock. God tends Israel like a flock (ra‘ah [TH7462, ZH8286]) and his Messiah will do likewise as a shepherd-king (Isa 40:11; Jer 31:10; Ezek 37:24).

majesty of the name of the LORD his God. According to Allen (1976:346), God’s name (Yahweh) stood for authority accepted in 4:5, and here “it stands for authority delegated.” The authority vested in the name Yahweh recalls the revelation of the divine name and the commissioning of Moses as the deliverer of Israel (Exod 3:14-15).

5:5 [4] source of peace. One of the titles for Messiah is “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). Peace will characterize the rule of Messiah (cf. Isa 55:12; 66:12; Jer 33:6; Ezek 34:25; 37:26). Andersen and Freedman (2000:476) take this phrase (zeh shalom [TH2088/7965, ZH2296/8934]) as a title and see an allusion to King Solomon as “the One of Peace.” The word “peace” (shalom) connotes both well-being and prosperity in a physical and material sense, and spiritually in relationship to God and his righteousness (see the discussion in NIDOTTE 4.131-132).

Assyrians. The impending threat of Assyrian imperialism is the historical backdrop for Micah’s preaching (see the Introduction).

seven rulers . . . eight princes. The expression is a literary device indicating that “an indefinite yet adequate number of leaders will arise to overthrow the Assyrians (Prov 30:15, 18, 21, 29; Eccl 11:2)” (R. L. Smith 1984:45). The eventual defeat of Assyria and the ensuing peace “are representative of the Messiah’s yet wider triumph” (Alexander, Baker, and Waltke 1988:185).

princes. The term is an archaic tribal title (nasik [TH5257A, ZH5817]) and is found in two contexts: the heroic age of the judges (cf. Josh 13:21) and the end time (e.g., Ps 2:6; Ezek 32:29; cf. Andersen and Freedman 2000:479).

5:6 [5] Nimrod. A general reference to the land of Babylonia (Gen 10:8-12). The sequence of the names Assyria and Nimrod may indicate that Assyria had conquered Babylonia, thus confirming the eighth-century BC date for Micah’s oracles (cf. Alexander, Baker, and Waltke 1988:185).

rescue. See note on 4:10.

COMMENTARY [Text]

This unit of Micah’s message (5:2-6) is a salvation oracle promising deliverance from the Assyrians and a return from exile. The extent of the pericope is variously understood by commentators (e.g., 5:1-4, so R. L. Smith 1984:42; 5:2-5a, so Simundson 1996:570; 5:1-6, so Limburg 1988:185). The prophet’s promise comes at the end of a series of sharp contrasts between present defeat (e.g., 2:1-11; 3:1-12) and a glorious future (e.g., 2:12-13; 4:1-5), what Simundson (1996:570) calls the “movement from ‘now’ to ‘then.’” The humiliation of Israel’s king (see note on 5:1 for possible identifications of the Hebrew king) will be overturned completely in the cosmic reversal of the day of Yahweh. For Micah, “the present remains a time of suffering, and it may get worse before relief comes, but the people should not lose heart. Again, the movement is from suffering to salvation, from defeat to victory” (Simundson 1996:570).

The prophet Isaiah, a contemporary of Micah, declared that there is “no peace for the wicked” (Isa 57:21). Rather, they are like “the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt” (Isa 57:20). Like Isaiah, Micah understood that ultimately “peace” was a person, not a virtue, concept, or idea (5:5; cf. Isa 9:7). Although the prophet Micah does not use the term “Messiah” (mashiakh [TH4899, ZH5431], “anointed one”), this passage (5:2-6) is usually identified as a “messianic text” by biblical interpreters (especially since later Jewish tradition identified 5:2 with the Messiah, cf. Matt 2:4-6). The Messiah in the Old Testament came to be understood as an eschatological figure “anointed” to a royal office and divinely commissioned for the task of “delivering” the people of Israel from their enemies and establishing a kingdom characterized by righteousness (Limburg 1988:187-188). Thus, “the word ‘messianic’ has come to be used to describe hope for a new leader who will come from the family of David to guide the people from present oppression and suffering to glorious victory” (Simundson 1996:571).

Micah confirmed that the “Messiah” is a person, connected genealogically to the family of David and associated historically with the town of Bethlehem (5:2; cf. Isa 7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1). This person will also be a “ruler” who will deliver Israel from its enemies (5:5-6) and establish a government that promotes peace (5:4-5). Kaiser (1992:64) notes that this one called Ruler is a ruler “to me” (i.e., “to God,” translated “on my behalf” in the NLT) because first and foremost the Messiah was for the benefit of the Lord’s plans, and only secondarily a response to Israel’s predicament. The origins of this Ruler are rooted in the “distant past” (5:2b), or “from eternity on” (connecting Messiah to the eternal God; cf. Pss 2:7; 110:1). This Ruler will earn a global reputation for his leadership of Israel (5:4b). Finally, his rule will result in peace (5:4-5; cf. Isa 11:6-9). Indeed, peace, or “shalom,” is not only the work of this Ruler, but also the very character of the Messiah—“the source of peace” (5:5a, lit., “this one is peace”).

The New Testament identifies the fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy about the ruler who will come from Bethlehem Ephrathah (5:2) with Jesus’ birth to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem (Luke 2). Jesus is the self-proclaimed shepherd who stands with his sheep (John 10:11; cf. Mic 5:4), and he is identified as the shepherd struck down by God (Matt 26:31). As the source of peace (5:5), Jesus granted “peace” to his disciples (John 14:27). Beyond this, the church is commissioned to preach the gospel of the Kingdom to the world—the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ (Acts 10:36). The ultimate realization of this divine peace will be accomplished when Jesus the Messiah returns a second time to rule the earth and restore the created order—the nations living in the light of God’s glory (Rev 21:4-5, 22-27; cf. Mic 5:4).

The biblical vision of “peace” (shalom [TH7965, ZH8934]) is “the outgrowth of a covenant of shalom (cf. Ezek 34:25), in which persons are bound not only to God but to one another in a caring, sharing, rejoicing community with none to make them afraid” (Brueggemann 1982:17). An entire cluster of words is required to express the multiple dimensions of biblical shalom—words like love, loyalty, truth, grace, salvation, justice, blessing, righteousness, and wisdom (Brueggemann 1982:15-16). This shalom is rooted in God (Zech 8:12; Mal 2:5); he dispenses peace to his people, especially those who love and obey his law (Ps 29:11; 119:165; Isa 26:3). This shalom is also connected to the Messiah, the Davidic shepherd-king who brokers the covenant of shalom with the people of God (Ezek 37:24-28; on the Messiah in Micah, see Kaiser 1995:148-154). Limburg (1988:188) aptly announces that “the unanimous testimony of the New Testament is that this Messiah . . . has come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.” Peace, shalom, is truly a person—the person of Jesus. He is our peace (Eph 2:14); he gives the gift of peace to his disciples—peace of mind and heart (John 14:27; cf. 16:33).

The God of peace (Rom 15:33; 1 Thess 5:23; Heb 13:20) expects his people to be people of peace—even peacemakers: “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God” (Matt 5:9). The teaching of Jesus in the Beatitudes is based upon similar Old Testament injunctions to “search for peace, and work to maintain it” (Ps 34:14; “seek peace, and pursue it,” NRSV). The gospel of Jesus the Messiah is the Good News of peace with God through this same Jesus who is Lord of all (Acts 10:36). The Good News of peace not only addresses an individual’s relationship with God (i.e., sinful people reconciled to God, 2 Cor 5:18), but also one’s relationships with family, neighbors (broadly understood), and nations (cf. Matt 5:9; 1 Pet 3:11). Limburg (1988:184) reminds us that the Christian church ought to be concerned with both evangelism and peacemaking because the Kingdom of God is all about “living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). This means working for peace at the interpersonal level, as well as pursuing peace at the international level.