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Micah

About this book
Chapter 4

1 And in future days the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; it will be more prominent than other hills. People will stream to it.⁠ 2 Many nations will come, saying, “Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his ways and we can live by his laws.”⁠ For instruction will proceed from Zion, the Lord’s message from Jerusalem. 3 He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.⁠ 4 Each will sit under his own grapevine or under his own fig tree without any fear.⁠ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has decreed it. 5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, we will follow the Lord our God forever.⁠ 6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. 7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation and those far off into a mighty nation. The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion, from that day forward and forevermore. 8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, fortress of Daughter Zion—your former dominion will be restored, the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.”⁠ 9 Jerusalem, why are you now shouting so loudly? Has your king disappeared? Has your wise leader been destroyed? Is this why pain grips you as if you were a woman in labor?⁠ 10 Twist and strain, Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor! For you will leave the city and live in the open field. You will go to Babylon, but there you will be rescued. There the Lord will deliver you from the power of your enemies. 11 Many nations have now assembled against you. They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated, so we can gloat over Zion!” 12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning; they do not understand his strategy. He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed at the threshing floor. 13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion! For I will give you iron horns; I will give you bronze hooves, and you will crush many nations.” You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler of the whole earth.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Micah 4:2 and LXX Micah 4:2

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Micah describes nations coming to learn from God, saying he will teach them his ways. The Greek Septuagint changes the subject so that the Jewish people, not God, will show the nations his way, avoiding the idea of God teaching foreigners.

Passages

Micah 4:2

Hebrew Bible
1 And in future days the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; it will be more prominent than other hills. People will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come, saying, “Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his ways and we can live by his laws.” For instruction will proceed from Zion, the Lord’s message from Jerusalem. 3 He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Micah

LXX Micah 4:2

Septuagint
1 And at the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, established on the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and the peoples shall hasten to it. 2 And many nations shall go, and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and they shall show us his way, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth a law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many peoples, and shall rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles; and nation shall no more lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Micah

References

"… In Micah 4.2 the Masoretic Text has ‘so that he (God) may teach us (the peoples) his ways’, but the Septuagint renders ‘and they (the Jews) will show us (the peoples) his ways’. There may be a touch of ‘theological correctness’ here, avoiding the possibility that God will teach pagans directly, but perhaps also a celebration of the exalted role promised to Jews, in line with Zechariah 2.11; 8.20-23; 14.16. …"
Jennifer Dines, “The Minor Prophets,” in T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint, ed. James K. Aitken, Bloomsbury Companions (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015), 446.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Micah 4:2 and LXX Micah 4:2

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