Chapter 5

1 But now slash yourself, daughter surrounded by soldiers! We are besieged! With a scepter they strike Israel’s ruler on the side of his face.⁠ 2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah—from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.⁠ 3 So the Lord will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth.⁠ Then the rest of the king’s countrymen will return to be reunited with the people of Israel. 4 He will assume his post and shepherd the people by the Lord’s strength, by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. They will live securely, for at that time he will be honored even in the distant regions of the earth. 5 He will give us peace. Should the Assyrians try to invade our land and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, we will send against them seven shepherd-rulers, make that eight commanders. 6 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with a drawn sword. Our king will rescue us from the Assyrians should they attempt to invade our land and try to set foot in our territory. 7 Those survivors from Jacob will live in the midst of many nations. They will be like the dew the Lord sends, like the rain on the grass, that does not hope for men to come or wait around for humans to arrive. 8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations, in the midst of many peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,⁠ which attacks when it passes through. It rips its prey and there is no one to stop it. 9 Lift your hand triumphantly against your adversaries; may all your enemies be destroyed! 10 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will destroy your horses from your midst and smash your chariots.⁠ 11 I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down all your fortresses. 12 I will remove the sorcery that you practice, and you will no longer have omen readers living among you. 13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst; you will no longer worship what your own hands made.⁠ 14 I will uproot your images of Asherah from your midst and destroy your idols. 15 With furious anger I will carry out vengeance on the nations that do not obey me.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:6

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

Summary

Matthew combines Micah’s prophecy of a ruler from Bethlehem with language from 2 Samuel to describe Jesus’ birth as a fulfillment of royal and messianic expectation. He transforms Bethlehem’s lowly image into a sign of divine honor and fulfillment.

Passages

Micah 5:2

Hebrew Bible

1 But now slash yourself, daughter surrounded by soldiers! We are besieged! With a scepter they strike Israel’s ruler on the side of his face. 2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah—from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past. 3 So the Lord will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth. Then the rest of the king’s countrymen will return to be reunited with the people of Israel. 4 He will assume his post and shepherd the people by the Lord’s strength, by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. They will live securely, for at that time he will be honored even in the distant regions of the earth.

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Micah

Matthew 2:6

New Testament

4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.”

70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... The Jewish leaders and the narrator of the Matthean Jesus story share a profound knowledge of Scripture. When interrogated by King Herod, the Jewish leaders have no reason to hesitate. They know from Scripture what the readers know from the narrative: Bethlehem is the birthplace of the Messiah (compare John 7:41-42). The combination of Micah 5:1 and 2 Samuel 5:2 betrays in its Matthean setting some peculiarities. As a matter of fact, one may ask whether in ancient cultures, people who were used to hear texts would take notice of subtle differences between a text and a verbal model or "master copy". One element, though, may have caught their attention: over against the Scripture reference, the Jewish leaders emphasize that Bethlehem is by no means the most insignificant among the rulers of Judah. The negation attracts attention and functions precisely as an open alternation. As the place of Jesus' birth, Bethlehem can hardly be considered "insignificant". This ironic reference achieves two effects: it uses Jesus to characterize Bethlehem (and not the other way round) and it makes the Jewish leaders the unknowing spokesmen for Matthean theology. The "blind guides", as the Matthean Jesus will later call the Jewish leaders (23:16), give credit to the Matthean Jesus on the basis of Scripture ..."

Moisés Mayordomo, "Matthew 1-2 and the Problem of Intertextuality" in Claire Clivaz, et al. (eds.), Infancy Gospels. Stories and Identities (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 275–276.

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

Micah7 chapters

Compare Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:6

Summary

Passages

Micah 5:2

Matthew 2:6

References

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