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About this book

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 Genesis 35:21 and Micah 4:8

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Micah refers to the Tower of the Flock, a phrase also used in Genesis 35 when Jacob camps near this location after Rachel’s death. Later tradition linked this with future hope, as seen in the Aramaic Targum Jonathan, which interprets it as the Messiah.

Passages

Genesis 35:21

Hebrew Bible
19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Jacob set up a marker over her grave; it is the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day. 21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of the Flock.43 22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben went to bed with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons: 23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Micah 4:8

Hebrew Bible
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.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Micah

References

"... Trito-Isaiah seems to hint at Micah 4:7 and 5:1 in Isaiah 60:22 ... Also, the messianic prophecy Zechariah 9:9-10 may have been partly inspired by Micah 5:4-5. Targum Jonathan interprets ‘tower of the flock’, in Micah 4:8 as the eschatological ‘Messiah of Israel’ who remains hidden because of Israel’s sins. Also Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 35:21 reflects this interpretation .. This eschatological messianic exegesis is set forth in Targum Jonathan’s rendering of Micah 5:1 ..."
Johannes C. de Moor, Historical Commentary on the Old Testament: Micah (Leuven: Peeters, 2020), 218–219.

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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Genesis 35:21 and Micah 4:8

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