Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 5 Jan. 2025. Underlined words in scripture passages are based on the same Hebrew or Greek root word used in the relevant passage of Micah.
This is the last part of the book of Micah. From here we can look back on the whole message which Micah delivered, from the warnings to the Jews that God would come in judgment upon them, to the list of their sins against God – idolatry and oppression of the weak. In chapter 4 he offered a glimpse of the restoration of the Jewish nation after exile, the redemptive mission of Jesus, and the future glories of the kingdom of God in the church, then it was back to the justice of God’s judgment against the disobedient and His case against the Jewish nation for its unfaithfulness in chapter 5. Then in chapters six and seven we saw instructions and examples on getting right with God through honoring Him, repenting of sin, lament and confession of faith, and hoping in God’s restoration after His chastisement.
Verses 14-17 are a prayer for the fulfillment of the promised future reign of the Messiah.
“When God is about to deliver his people he stirs up their friends to pray for them, and pours out a spirit of grace and supplication (Zech. 12:10).” ~M. Henry, 1714 AD
Read
my translation from 7:14
Shepherd Your people – the flock
of Your inheritance – using Your staff. They are residing in a
unique way – rich growth in the midst of fruitful-land. Let them
pasture in Bashan and Gilead like the old days – like the days of
Your going forth from the land of Egypt [saying,] “I will show him
wonders.” The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might.
They will put a hand over the mouth. Their ears will go deaf. They
will lick up the dirt like serpents. Like crawling things from the
earth, they will shake out of their confines. It is toward Yahweh
our God that they will be in dread, and they will be afraid of you.
The command at the beginning of v.14 “Shepherd/feed” is the same root as the verb in the second half of the verse “let them pasture/graze/feed,” so the two halves of the verse can be interpreted as saying the same thing using synonyms. Micah is now asking God – specifically the coming Messianic king1 – to re-engage in the shepherding of His people.
Shepherding involves providing both guidance (to get the sheep to where they need to be) as well as food to sustain them – the Hebrew word contains both ideas of “leading” and “feeding.”
The first time we see God called a “shepherd” in the Bible is in Genesis 49:24, by Jacob, a shepherd and rancher himself.
The next time is in Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd…” by David, who also understood what it meant to lead and feed sheep.
The curious thing is the emphasis on this shepherd’s “rod.” (The Hebrew word can also mean “scepter,” but a shepherd’s “staff “fits the imagery of shepherding a flock better than a king’s “scepter,” although both are images of leadership.) The “rod” is not food for the sheep, the rod is a corrective measure to give a shove in the right direction when sheep are straying or to give an incentivizing sting to the backside to get moving when it would be dangerous for them to stay put. It was also used as weapon to protect the sheep from predators. Can you see how this imagery of the shepherd’s rod plays into the themes of the discipline of God’s people and the punishment of their enemies which Micah has just been expounding on earlier in this chapter?
The imagery that Micah employs about the people in v.14 is also instructive:
He calls God’s people “the flock of Your inheritance/possession” – the Hebrew word nahal carries the connotation that this flock was an “inheritance,” the ownership of which was passed down to him by his Father. I think He’s talking about the same thing that
Jesus spoke of when He prayed in John 17:5-12 “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me... I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them…. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (NKJV)
And the apostles spoke of in Hebrews 1:2 “God... appointed the Son to be the one to inherit all things…” and Ephesians 1:14-23 “...you having believed, were sealed in the Holy Spirit of the promise, Who is a down-payment of the inheritance of us into redemption of His possession into praise of His glory... knowing: what the hope of His call is, what the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in the saints is, and what the hyperbolic greatness of His power into us believers is... to Him He gave headship over everything in the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who is filling all in all.” (NAW)
In other words, Micah was praying for you! You are part of the “people,” the “possession” of which was transferred from God the Father to God the Son, and Micah is praying, “Keep shepherding Your people, Lord!”
The second statement which Micah makes about the people is that “It is dwelling/residing alone/solitarily/by itself in a woodland/forest/thicket in the midst of Carmel/fruitful field/fertile pasture/garden.”
The part about the “dwelling alone” comes from the prophecy by the Moabite prophet Baalam in Numbers 23:9, when he looked out from the top of a mountain over the Israelite camp down in the Jordan valley before they entered the Promised Land and made the observation that they are “A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations.”
In other words, they were in a special relationship with God among all the nations; they were holy; they were not treated like all the other nations. God had claimed them as His people and had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and had covenanted with them to be their God and to bless all the nations through them2.
The next part of Micah’s statement about being a “forest in the midst of Carmel” takes a little more explaining.
The Hebrew word “Carmel” is based on the Hebrew word for a “vineyard,” so it was used in the proper-name of two places that were good for agriculture: Mount Carmel in the northwest of Israel next to Lebanon (famous for its big cedar trees), and the Judean town of Carmel (where Naboth and Abigail lived – and grew the grapes and figs that fed David’s army).
The Hebrew word “Carmel” is also used in the Bible in a more general sense to denote “fruitful land,” and the word “forest/wood/thicket” is also used in a general sense of fruitfulness to denote “lots of plants growing3.”
Micah seems to be borrowing from Isaiah who put the two words together in four passages speaking of Israel as God’s physical and spiritual “greenhouse,” as it were:
Isaiah 10:17-18, when God warned the Northern kingdom of Israel through Isaiah that He was sending the King of Assyria to decimate them: “The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land [carmel] Yahweh will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.” (NAW)
Then God gave this message to the King of Assyria in Isaiah 37:24 “...you have mocked your Master, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I myself have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and cut its tall cedars, its choice cypresses, and I have come to its remotest height, its forest of Carmel… Because you have agitated against me and your complacency has come up to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit within your lips, and I will cause you to turn back by the way which you came into her. (NAW)
Then God promised a return to fruitfulness of the land of Israel under the future reign of the Messiah in Isaiah 29:17 “Will it not be in just a little time from now, and He will turn Lebanon into Carmel? and Carmel will be considered a forest? 32:14-17 “...the palace has been flattened, the crowd of the city has been abandoned... Until the Spirit is emptied upon us from on high and the wilderness becomes like the fruitful field and the fruitful field is considered to be the forest. Then justice will reside in the wilderness, and righteousness will sit in the fruitful field. Then the work of the Righteous One will be peace, and the service of the Righteous One quietness and confidence forever.” (NAW)
This reflects the same future for which Micah is praying in v.14, when the Messiah will return and shepherd His people, and they will experience prosperity and blessing.
Bashan and Gilead are also good farmland in the north of Israel near Mt. Carmel (Josh. 17), extending out to the East side of the Jordan River.
And the “days of old” refer back to Micah 5:1 - the Messianic “Ruler in Israel whose goings-forth were from days of old,” which, in turn, refers back to Deuteronomy 32:7 "Remember the days of old… When the Most High divided their inheritance... According to the number of the children of Israel.” (cf. Isa. 63:9-11)
But during Micah’s lifetime, the Assyrians destroyed all the Israelite settlements around Bashan and Gilead, and they tried to destroy all the Israelite settlements in the south too, so Micah is looking forward to the time when the Messiah brings restoration.
100 years later, the prophet Jeremiah picked up on Micah’s prophecy, writing, “Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his [Israel’s] bones. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, As I have punished the king of Assyria. But I will bring back Israel to his home, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.’” (Jer. 50:17-19, NKJV)
This found an initial fulfillment when the Jews returned from exile under Zerubbabel and Nehemiah,
but reached a greater fulfillment in the New Testament when Jesus established his church in fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy in Micah 5:4 “Then He will stand and shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God... because now He will be great unto the ends of the earth!” (NAW)
“God… will do for them more than they are able to ask or think [Matt. 7:11], will out-do their hopes and expectations; he will show them his marvellous lovingkindness (Ps. 17:7). He will do that for them which shall be the repetition of the wonders and miracles of former ages – according to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt. Their deliverance out of Babylon shall be a work of wonder and grace not inferior to their deliverance out of Egypt, nay, it shall eclipse the lustre of that (Jer. 16:14-15), much more shall the work of redemption by Christ. Note, God's former favours to his church are patterns of future favours, and shall again be copied out as there is occasion.” ~Matthew Henry, 1714 AD
And, of course, we look forward to an even greater eschatological fulfillment of this prophecy when Jesus returns and becomes our leader and provider face-to-face.
I do not think, however, that this applies to the modern secular nation of Israel, as though there were certain boundary lands in Bashan and Gilead which should belong to the Jewish people by divine right. They are to be treated with the civility we could accord any other nation, and even with a certain amount of deference and kindness due to our shared spiritual heritage, but as long as that political nation continues to reject the Messiah God sent, there are no promises for them except perhaps for a spiritual awakening in the future.
So, in the first comparison at the end of v.14, Micah remembers how God shepherded His people through the leadership of Joshua and King David when Israel resided in the Promised Land.
Then in the second comparison in v.15, Micah reaches further back to the earlier time when God Himself shepherded the people of Israel through the desert all the way from Egypt to the Promised Land.
Most commentators interpret v.15 as God speaking to Micah4, but I think the passage makes more sense if God is the “you” to whom Micah is praying. (Unfortunately, the NAS, NLT, and NET Bibles added the word “you” as the object to “show” in the second half of v.15, although it is not there in the original Hebrew, confusing who is speaking to whom.)
God “went forth” from from Egypt, visible as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night, guiding His people to food and water and freedom (Ex. 13:215, Neh. 9:126). And, as we saw in Micah 5:2, which uses the same verb, His “goings-forth” are from “of old.”
And twice in the book of Exodus, God is quoted as saying, “I will do wonders/miracles/ marvelous things,” using the same noun Micah does here, so I believe Micah, in v.15, is quoting these words from God:
First regarding the 10 Plagues “shown to” Pharaoh in Exodus 3:20 “...I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders/miracles/marvelous deeds which I will do in its midst; and after that he [Pharaoh] will let you go.” (NKJV)
Then regarding the miraculous signs in the wilderness “shown to” the Hebrews in Exodus 34:10 God said, “...I will do7 marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” (NKJV)
The divine revelation of the law, speaking audibly from Mt. Sinai, the provision of water from the rock and of manna and quail to eat, the parting of the seas (Josh. 3:5), and protection from being wiped out by enemies were great marvels, but more than all, the making of a people for Himself was truly awesome!
God shepherded His people through Moses, through Joshua, through David, and now Micah is praying, “Do it again, LORD, though Your Anointed One.” And we see in the New Testament that Jesus came as the answer to that prayer!
At Jesus’ incarnation, were there not stupendous miracles? Announcements from angels, signs in the skies, a virgin birth, water turned to wine, demons cast out, sick persons healed, even the dead raised to life.
“God ever continues like himself, and... His power remains as perfect as it was formerly; and there is in Him sufficient support to encourage [us to] hope in [His present] assistance … [T]hough the Church should be assailed on every side and surrounded by innumerable enemies, no doubt ought yet to be entertained respecting the promised aid of God...” ~J. Calvin, 1559 AD
And He has yet more awesome things to show us when He comes again: signs in the skies and plagues on the earth, Jesus and His angels will come down from heaven, the dead will be raised, the world will be judged, the earth destroyed by fire and remade.
What is it that the nations will see in v.16 which will shock them into shame? Micah is not explicit, but the verses before and after describe the coming of the Messianic king to punish the wicked and save His people, and I believe that is what will shock and awe the nations.
V.16 fits with Micah 3:7 “And the seers will experience shame, and the mediums will blush; indeed all of them will put a wrap over their lips, for there will not be any answer from God.” (NAW)
The “hand” that “practiced evil” in Micah 2:1 and the “hand” that did “witchcraft” in Micah 5:11 and that carved “idols” in Micah 5:12 will drop away from its rebellion against God and cover the mouth in astonishment (Job 21:5), wisely silencing themselves from making any objection to what the king of the universe is doing in judgment (Jdg. 18:19, Job 29:9).
“[T]hey will no longer taunt [God] and his people as they did, saying, ‘Where is... your God?’” ~B. Waltke, 2007 AD
In think the basic idea of v.16 is that the Lord’s judgment will cause His enemies in the world to stop using their strength, stop using their words, and even to stop hearing and understanding.
This happened in a way during Jesus’ ministry in the Gospels: Luke 13:14-17 “But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.’ The Lord then answered him and said, ‘Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound – think of it – for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?’ And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things8 that were done by Him.” (NKJV)
“[H]owever strongly armed the unbelieving may think themselves to be to destroy the Church, and that how many obstacles soever they may have in their power to restrain the power of God in its behalf, yet the whole will be in vain, for God will, in fact, prove that the strength of men is mere nothing.” ~J. Calvin, 1559 AD9
And Paul also mentions this in Romans 3:19 when he spoke of God’s judgment upon “both Jews and Greeks” because of their “unrighteousness” and rebellion against God: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (NKJV)
Even so, God, in His mercy, saves some of those whom He has stopped in their tracks:
Paul went on to say, after Romans 3:19, that “the righteousness of God [is revealed] through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe” to “justify” and “redeem” them from their “sin” (Rom. 3:22-26, NKJV). Not only will He stop the whole world and convict all of guilt, He will also redeem and make right the remnant of His inheritance – those who trust Jesus to save them from their sin.
Paul also wrote of this in 1 Corinthians 1:27-30 “But it was the stupid ones of the world God chose for Himself in order that He might put to shame the strength of the wise men, and it was the weak ones of the world God chose for Himself in order that He might put to shame the strength of the strong... Now it is from Him that you have existence in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God and also righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” (NAW)
And
that is just what the prophet Isaiah said back in Micah’s time:
Isaiah 52:15 “so
He will
sprinkle many nations.
Over Him Kings will draw their mouths
shut, for what had not been
recorded for them they see,
and what they had not heard, they understand for themselves.”
(NAW)
So, for some, their shame at their powerlessness will be their final judgment from God, but for those of us who belong to Jesus and live by faith in Him, when we experience shame at our powerlessness, it will be the end of our rebellion against God and the mark of our conversion10.
The “you” at the end of v.17 is still the Messiah, the second person of the Godhead Who will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31), condemning the nations and saving His people11. One reason for this is the clear allusions in v.17 to the Messianic Psalms:
The image of enemies “licking dust” first shows up in the Bible in Solomon’s Messianic Psalm 72, where he says that “He [the Messiah] will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear You As long as the sun and moon endure, Throughout all generations... He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust... all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him.” (Ps. 72:4-11, NKJV)
Isaiah also picked up on that image in Isaiah 49:23 “and it will come about that kings are your supporters and their princesses are your nurses! Faces earthward they will prostrate themselves for you and lick the dust of your feet, and you will know that I am Yahweh. Those who will not be ashamed wait for Me!” (NAW)
It also seems to relate back to the curse on the serpent used by Satan to get Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden: “So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat12 dust All the days of your life.’” (Gen. 3:14, NKJV)
Throughout the Bible, the posture of “face-to-the-ground,13” whether or not it includes literally “licking the dirt,” is one of pride being humbled.
The next phrase about people “crawling out of their confined spaces” is also a quote from a Messianic psalm, this one by David: Psalm 18:43-45 “You deliver me from the accusations of [my] people. You position me at the head of nations – [even of] an ethnic-group I did not know – they serve me. As soon as the sound [reaches their] ear, sons of the foreigner are heedful to me; they are obsequious toward me. Sons of the foreigner wilt, and they shake out14 from their confines.” (NAW)
Micah is echoing what David said about the universal reign of the Messiah, even over those who did not want to acknowledge His sovereignty.
It seems to presuppose that we’ve heard the part of the story in Isaiah 2:19 where it says, “And they shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes15 of the ground, from before the dread of Yahweh, and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to terrify16 the earth.” (NAW)
That also explains why they are so afraid. They are afraid of being condemned in the final judgment for their evil deeds, but they can’t stay hidden from God’s presence or His judgment.
Revelation 6:15-17 describes the same scenario: “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (NKJV)
The only other time in the Bible that these two verbs “fear” and “be in dread” occur are also in a Messianic Psalm – Psalm 27:1 “By David. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Of whom shall I be afraid? Yahweh is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be in dread?” (NAW)
Isaiah 8:13 “Yahweh Commander of armies: Him hallow, He your fear, Him dread17!” (NAW) He is the one to whom is due our utmost respect.
Those who do not fear Him will be terrified by His judgment (as Micah says in v.17), but those who do fear Him have nothing to fear, as Isaiah says in Isaiah 41:10 “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I chose/strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (NAW)
Fear God rather than man.
Pray like Micah did, “Shepherd your people, Lord!” welcoming the kingdom and coming of our Lord Jesus.
And trust that Jesus will put a stop to the evil in this world and will save and care for His people!
DouayB (Vulgate) |
LXXC |
BrentonD
|
KJVE |
NAW |
Masoretic
|
14
Feed
thy people with thy rod,
the flock of thy inheritance, |
14
Ποίμαινε
λαόν σου ἐν ῥάβδῳ
σου, πρόβατα κληρονομίας σου,
κατασκηνοῦντ |
14
Tend
thy people with thy rod,
the sheep of
thine inheritance, |
14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwellX solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. |
14 Shepherd Your people – the flock of Your inheritance – using Your staff. They are residing in a unique way – rich growth in the midst of fruitful-land. Let them pasture in Bashan and Gilead like the old days – |
(יד) רְעֵה עַמְּךָ בְשִׁבְטֶךָ צֹאן נַחֲלָתֶךָ שֹׁכְנִיG לְבָדָד יַעַר בְּתוֹךְ כַּרְמֶלH יִרְעוּ בָשָׁן וְגִלְעָד Iכִּימֵי עוֹלָם. |
15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, I will shew him wonders. |
15
[καὶ]
κατὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐξοδίας σου ἐξ X
X Αἰγύπτου ὄψ |
15
[And] according to
the days of thy departure out of X X Egypt shall |
15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things. |
15 like the days of Your going forth from the land of Egypt [saying,] “I will show him wonders.” |
(טו) כִּימֵי צֵאתְךָK מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אַרְאֶנּוּL נִפְלָאוֹת. |
16 The nations shall see, and shall be confounded at all their strength: they shall put the hand upon the mouth, their ears shall be deaf. |
16
ὄψονται ἔθνη καὶ καταισχυνθήσονται
ἐκ πάσης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτῶν,
ἐπιθήσουσιν χεῖρ |
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed; [and] at all their might they shall lay [their] hand[s] upon [their] mouth, their ears shall be deafened. |
16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. |
16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will put a hand over the mouth. Their ears will go deaf. |
(טז) יִרְאוּ גוֹיִם וְיֵבֹשׁוּ Mמִכֹּל גְּבוּרָתָם יָשִׂימוּ יָד עַל פֶּה אָזְנֵיהֶםN תֶּחֱרַשְׁנָה. |
17
They shall lick the dust like X serpent[s],
as the creeping
things of the earth, they shall
|
17
λείξουσιν χοῦν ὡς X ὄφεις X
σύροντεςP
γῆν, συγχυθήσονται
ἐν συγκλεισμῷ
αὐτῶν· |
17
They shall lick the dust as X serpent[s]
X crawling
on the earth, they shall |
17
They shall lick the dust like |
17 They will lick up the dirt like /\ serpent/s\. Like crawling things from the earth, they will shake out of their confines. It is toward Yahweh our God that they will be in dread, and they will be afraid of you. |
(יז)יְלַחֲכוּR עָפָר כַּנָּחָשׁS כְּזֹחֲלֵיT אֶרֶץ יִרְגְּזוּ U מִמִּסְגְּרֹתֵיהֶם אֶל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יִפְחָדוּ וְיִרְאוּ מִמֶּךָּ. |
1cf. Targums בְעָלְמָא דְהֻוא עֲתִיד לְאִתחַדָתָא “in the world which will be renewed” ~Cathcart’s English version
2Cf. Gen. 12:1-3, Ex. 19:5, 24:8, etc. Daath Soferim and Henderson agreed with my interpretation, but other commentators have made other conjectures not based on this scripture correlation. Gilby said that the solitariness describes the individual Jews returning from exile over Mt. Carmel (which doesn’t fit the accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah which have them entering as a group and from further East). Calvin (followed by Owen and Henry) conjectured that it was prophecying the impending devastation of Israel, reducing it to “solitude,” and making them live in “seclusion” in exile (but again they lived in communities in exile, not in solitude, and his interpretation doesn’t fit with the comforting nature of this prophecy). And Daath Mikra (based on another occurrence of this phrase in Deut. 33:28) understood it as “secure from foes” (but if they are so secure, why do they live in a desolate land with enemies that need to be put to shame?) Keil and Waltke saw both holiness and safety combined.
3Fausset and Keil agreed, but took ya’ar in a different direction in terms of a wall “shutting off the flock from the world without,” but there is nothing else in this passage to suggest that. Henry and some others instead interpreted it as “forest” and therefore a dark, dangerous place, but the context seems to be that of blessing, not of darkness. Waltke saw what I did in the combination of terms, commenting “orchard-like forest… finest orchard imaginable… carpeted with grass… rich provision… security and well-being...”
4Including Kimchi, Gilby, Calvin, Owen, Fausset, Keil, and Waltke. But, since v.14 has to be Micah speaking (“Shepherd your people...”) and vs. 17-20 have to be Micah speaking (“to the Lord Our God they will come… Who is a God like You? ...you will cast all their sins into the depths … you swore to our fathers”), it seems best to expect Micah to be speaking in vs. 15-16 unless there is a good reason not to. Moreover, the parallelism of comparatives at the end of v. 14 and the beginning of v.15 indicate a seamless continuation of Micah’s speech rather than ending Micah’s quote in the middle and starting a quote from God. Furthermore, there is no clear place where a quote from God should end and a quote from Micah should begin in verses 16-17 – it would have to be a matter of arbitrary choice. (Even Keil had to admit that the change of speaker is “imperceptibl[e].”) The only place that we have to interpret God as the speaker is the phrase, “I will show miracles.”
5Which uses the synonym הלך instead of Micah’s יצא.
6Which uses the synonym נחה.
7אֶעֱשֶׂה נִפְלָאֹת – compare to Micah’s אַרְאֶנּוּ נִפְלָאוֹת “I will cause him to see wonders”
8Ἐνδόξοις, a synonym of the LXX θαυμαστά in Micah 7:15
9Cf.
Drusius: “They shall be ashamed of the strength in which they
trusted.”
Grotius: “...of all their strength which had been
so suddenly destroyed.”
Owen: “...of all their strength
when found ineffectual for the purpose of destroying the people of
God.”
10cf. Calvin: “...those who before boasted of their own inventions, begin then to close their mouth, that, being thus silent, they may become his disciples...”
11I only found one commentator who wrote otherwise: Henderson.
12אכל (“eat”), a picturesque synonym to Micah’s לחך (“lick up”).
13Gen. 48:12; Josh. 5:14; 1 Sam. 5:3,4; 17:49; 20:41; 24:8; 25:41; 28:14; 2 Sam. 14:4,33; 18:28; 24:20; 1 Kings 1:23,31; 1 Chron. 21:21; 2 Chron. 20:18; Dan. 8:18; 10:9.
14חרג, a synonym to Micah’s רגז.
15מחלות, a synonym to Micah’s מסְגֶּ֫רֶת
16ערץ, a synonym to Micah’s פחד
17ערץ, a synonym to Micah’s פחד
AMy
original chart includes the following copyrighted English versions:
NASB, NIV, ESV, Bauscher’s version of the Peshitta, and Cathcart’s
version of the Targums, but I remove these columns from my public,
non-copyrighted edition of this chart so as not to infringe on their
copyrights. NAW is my translation. When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics or greyed-out text, I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular. I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scrolls containing Micah 7 are 4Q82 containing parts of verses 2-3 &
20 and dated between 30-1 BC, and the Wadi Muraba’at Scroll,
containing parts of verses 1-20 and dated around 135 AD. Where the
DSS is legible and in agreement with the MT, the MT is colored
purple. Where the DSS supports the
LXX/Vulgate/Peshitta with omissions or text not in the MT, I have
highlighted with yellow the
LXX and its translation into English, and where I have accepted that
into my NAW translation, I have marked it with {pointed brackets}.
BDouay Old Testament first published by the English College at Douay, A.D. 1609, Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner, Published in 1582, 1609, 1752. As published on E-Sword.
C“Septuagint” Greek Old Testament, edited by Alfred Rahlfs. Published in 1935. As published on E-Sword.
DEnglish translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851, “based upon the text of the Vaticanus” but not identical to the Vaticanus. As published electronically by E-Sword.
E1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published electronically by E-Sword.
FFrom
the Wiki Hebrew Bible
https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%94_%D7%91/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA
.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com
GWithout vowel pointing, this participle can be either singular or plural. The MT vowel pointing is singular (followed by NASB and NIV), with “flock” as the subject, but the Vulgate, LXX, Peshitta, and some of the Targums render this in the plural, followed by KJV and ESV. The BHS editor actually suggested reading it as a plural with a sere instead of a hireq as the last vowel. Ultimately, however, it doesn’t change the meaning because the singular “flock” is comprised of a plurality of members.
HMT
only uses this word with this spelling in two other places: Lev.
2:14 (where it describes a head of wheat offered as a grain
offering) and Joshua 15:55 (where it describes a town in the hills
of south-central Judea). Expanding the search to ignore the vowel
pointings yields 44 more matches, some referring to wheat heads
(Lev. 2:14, 23:14, 2 Ki. 4:42), some referring to the Judean town –
where, incidentally, Naboth and Abigail lived (Josh. 12:22, 15:55, 1
Sam. 15:12, 25:2-7 &40, 27:3, 30:5, 2 Sam. 2:2, 3:3, 23:35, 1
Chron. 3:1, 11:37), some referring to the mountain in the NW of
Israel bordering Lebanon (Josh. 19:26, 1 Ki. 18:19, 20, 42, 2 Ki.
2:25, 4:25, 19:23 KJV, Cant. 7:6, Isa 33:9, 35:2, 37:24KJV, Jer.
46:18, 50:19 - which quotes Micah, Amos 1:2, 9:3, Nah. 1:4), and
others more generally of “fruitful/fertile land/garden” (2 Ki.
19:23 NAS/NIV/ESV, 2 Chron. 26:10 NAS/NIV/ESV, Isa. 10:18 – which
has similarity to Micah, 16:10, 29:17, 32:15-16, 37:24 NAS/NIV/ESV,
Jer. 2:7 & 4:26 – referring to the Promised Land in general,
and 48:33 – referring to fertile land in Moab). Calvin suggested
that the dagesh forte in the first letter be interpreted as a
doubling of the coph, rendering the preposition “as,” and
then adding an “as in” before the next phrase as well (although
it does not exist in the Hebrew text), creating three parallel
temporal phrases “Shepherd your flock… [as in] Carmel, [as when]
feeding in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” Although
that doesn’t change the meaning much, it adds too many words, and
Newcome and Owen criticized Calvin for this, but Waltke thought at
least the coph before
“days” had absorbed a beth preposition.
The
next word is a Hebrew Imperfect and of the same root as the
imperative which begins this verse. It seems best to carry over the
imperative force of the main verb into this verb (“Feed… let
them feed”), as most English versions have done. Cf. Owen: “It
is also better to render ‘feed’ as a prayer than in the future
tense, to correspond in tenor with the beginning of the verse.”
Keil and Waltke agreed.
IWaltke believed that the first letter here “absorbs the preposition ‘in’” and translated “as in the days.”
JAquilla corrected to δειξω αυτοις (“I will show them…”) and Symmachus even more accurately corrected to δειξω αυτω (“I will show him…”), although the singular 3rd person pronoun suffix can stand for a plurality in Hebrew.
KBoth the Peshitta and Targums read plural (“they went out”), but the Vulgate and LXX support the MT (“you went out”). Isaiah 11:16 is often cited as a cross-reference, but, despite its similarity in English, its wording is rather different in Hebrew (differences greyed out) בְּיוֹם עֲלֹתוֹ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. Most commentators assume that the 2nd person subject of the infinitive is “Israel,” for instance, Waltke said that the verb would have to have been Hiphil for the “you” to be “God” (“when you caused [us] to go out”) but since it is Qal (“when you went out”) the subject has to be Israel, but this is circular reasoning which starts with the assumption that it is Israel and not God who went forth out of Egypt. Did not Micah just use the same verb with God as the subject at the beginning of ch. 5? Doesn’t the Bible say in multiple places that God “went forth out of Egypt” (e.g. Ex. 13:21, Neh. 9:12)? To get around this Waltke had to come up with an unnecessarily-imaginative explanation for the singular masculine “you” here: “Micah… in corporate solidarity with the ancestors who came out of Egypt.”
LLit. “him” = Pharaoh (Exodus 3:20). Possibly could be re-interpreted as a plural “them” as per Exodus 34:10, but definitely not “you.”
MWaltke noted that this is a “partitive” prefix meaning “without.”
NThis is the only time in the Bible when “ear” is the subject or object of this verb “be silent/plough.” Some commentators (including Calvin and Henry) suggested that this is the nations rebelliously causing themselves to stop hearing God, but that would require the Hithpael form of the verb, whereas what we have here is the Qal form of this verb indicating that, for whatever reason, their ears will hear silence. Some have sought to explain it further (such as Wolff and Hitzig “from the thunder of His mighty acts, Job 26:14, the qōl hâmōn of Isa. 33:8” and Waltke “They will turn a deaf ear (Ps. 28:1) presumably to blasphemers,” and BDB’s judicial deafness referencing Isa. 6:10, but Micah just doesn’t explain.
OThis is just a poor translation into English. The Latin de aedibus suis (“out of their edifices”) is truer to the MT.
POmitted in Sym.’s version.
QAlthough Brenton’s English translation isn’t good (“confinement” is the translation in Liddell & Scott’s lexicon), the Greek word in the LXX is a good translation of the MT.
RVerb only used here, Ps. 72:9, & Isa. 49:23 referring to persons, but used of cattle in Num. 22:4 and of fire in 1 Ki. 18:38.
SAlthough definite in the MT (“the serpent”), all the ancient versions spell it indefinitely and pluralize it (“serpents”). All the English versions accepted the indefiniteness but not the plurality of the Vulgate, LXX, Peshitta, and Targums.
TThis word only occurs in two other places in the Bible: Deut. 32:24, where it is translated “serpents/snakes/vipers/things that crawl/glide,” and Job 32:6, where it is translated “I was afraid/shy/fearful/timid.” Here it gets translated “serpents/worms/creeping/crawling things.”
UThe next word is a quote from Psalm 18:46 (for which reason Keil, Waltke, NASB, and ESV chose to translate it “castles/ fortresses/strongholds”), but it is used nowhere else in the Bible except to describe the “border/edge” of handicrafts in Exodus and Kings. Cf. Calvin: “‘...move themselves from their enclosures;’ for the word סגר, sager, signifies ‘to close up’: and by ‘enclosures’ he means ‘hiding-places’ … though I prefer ‘lurking-places…’” cf. AJV: “close places”