Micah 4:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Micah 4:10
Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
forth
וָגֹ֛חִיva.Go.chi
H1518
to gush forth (as water) · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
daughter
בַּתbat-
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine singular construct
Zion
צִיּ֖וֹןtzi.Yon
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · proper noun, a place name
travail
כַּיּֽוֹלֵדָ֑הkai.yo.le.Dah
H3205
to bear young · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
forth
תֵצְאִ֨יte.tze.'I
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular
city
מִקִּרְיָ֜הmi.kir.Yah
H7151
building · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
dwell
וְשָׁכַ֣נְתְּve.sha.Khant
H7931
to reside or permanently stay (literally or figurativel… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person feminine singular
field
בַּשָּׂדֶ֗הba.sa.Deh
H7704
a field (as flat) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
go
וּבָ֤אתu.Vat
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person feminine singular
Babylon
בָּבֶל֙ba.Vel
H894
Babel (i.e. Babylon) · proper noun, a place name
delivered
תִּנָּצֵ֔לִיti.na.Tze.li
H5337
to snatch away · verb, niphal imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
redeem
יִגְאָלֵ֣ךְyig.'a.Lekh
H1350
to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relati… · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
hand
מִכַּ֖ףmi.Kaf
H3709
the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
enemies
אֹיְבָֽיִךְ'o.ye.Va.yikh
H341
hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 48:20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; sa…
2 Kings 20:18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the kin…
Isaiah 43:14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, an…
Isaiah 45:13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for pric…
Isaiah 52:9-12 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
Hosea 2:14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
Hosea 13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth o…
2 Chronicles 36:20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kin…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Micah 4:8–end
These verses relate to Zion and Jerusalem, here called the tower of the flock or the tower of Edor; we read of such a place (Gen 35:21) near Bethlehem; and some conjecture it is the same place where the shepherds were keeping their flocks when the angels brought them tidings of the birth of Christ, and some think Bethlehem itself is here spoken of, as Mic 5:2. Some think it is a tower at that gate of Jerusalem which is called the sheep-gate (Neh 3:32), and conjecture that through that gate Christ rode in triumph into Jerusalem. However, it seems to be put for Jerusalem itself, or for Zion the tower of David. All the sheep of Israel flocked thither three times a year; it was the stronghold (O…
Be in pain, and labour--carrying on the metaphor of a pregnant woman. Thou shalt be affected with bitter sorrows before thy deliverance shall come. I do not forbid thy grieving, but I bring thee consolation. Though God cares for His children, yet they must not expect to be exempt from trouble, but must prepare for it.
go forth out of the city--on its capture. So "come out" is used Kg2 24:12; Isa 36:16.
dwell in the field--namely, in the open country, defenseless, instead of their fortified city. Beside the Chebar (Psa 137:1; Eze 3:15).
Babylon--Like Isaiah, Micah looks beyond the existing Assyrian dynasty to the Babylonian, and to Judah's captivity under it, and restoration (Isa 39:7;…
There shalt thou be delivered - There God shall meet thee; and by redeeming thee from thy captivity, bringing thee back to thine own land, and finally converting thee unto himself, shall deliver thee from the burden of grief and wo which thou now bearest, and under which thou dost groan.
John Gill on Micah 4:10
Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in travail,.... Bear thy troubles and calamities, sufferings and sorrows, patiently, and expect deliverance from them, as a woman in such circumstances does: or, as some render it in the future, "thou shalt be in pain", &c. (y); and so is a prediction of their distress and captivity, which is expressed in plainer terms in the following clauses:
for now shalt thou go forth out of the city; the city of Jerusalem; either by flight, in a private and secret manner, as Zedekiah and his princes, and part of his army did; or by force, being taken and led out by the enemy:
and thou shalt dwell in the field; being turned out of…
The Church Fathers
"Writhe and groan, O daughter Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go forth from the city and camp in the open country; you shall go to Babylon, and there you shall be rescued." The meaning is that you will go into captivity, people of Zion, to be deported to Babylon, but after years you will come back from there, not with the soldier hastening after you, but with that leader who by ascending into heaven made captivity his own prisoner. You will follow him together with Paul's brothers-in-arms and the princes of our army, who captivate all minds to the respect of Christ.
(Verse 10.) Grieve and take action, daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you will leave the city and dwell in the country, and you will come all the way to Babylon; there you will be saved, there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. LXX: Grieve and act courageously, daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth, for now you will leave the city and dwell in the open field, and you will come all the way to Babylon; from there you will be saved, and from there the Lord your God will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. To whom it is commanded that she should grieve or give birth, and afterwards be brought forth, act courageously, it is not commanded in vain. But let her, enduring the pains patiently, go out of the city, and dwell in the plain or in the region, and come even to Babylon. And when she, sustaining captivity for sin, shall have borne what hath been inflicted on her bravely, then the Lord may deliver her, and her God may redeem her out of the hand of her enemies, that, being set free, she may say unto them that rejoice against her: 'Rejoice not against me, my enemy, because I have fallen; I shall rise again; although I have walked in darkness, the Lord is my light; I will bear the wrath of the Lord, for I have sinned against Him, until He justify my cause, and shall make my judgment, and bring me forth into the light, and I shall see His righteousness, and mine enemy shall behold it, and shame shall cover her.' (infra). And in the Psalms it is sung with a fitting voice: The Lord will not be angry forever, nor will he threaten forever (Psalm 102:9). And it belongs to the salvation of the one who is suffering to grieve and to act bravely, and Jesus, the son of Nun, is also a witness to this, to whom the Lord says: Be strong and act bravely (Joshua 1:1). But the daughter of Zion grieves and acts bravely because she has been cast down and has come out of the city naked, and she is being led captive into the field of Shinar, and she will be in Babylon until Zerubbabel comes and Ezra, whose name means helper, will deliver her from the hand of the Chaldeans. Since it is clear according to the literal meaning, it seems to me that the soul is understood to be expelled from the Church because of sin, and handed over to the enemy and avenger for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved by departing from…
Dictionary and topics
Babylon · Predictions respecting: Captivity of the Jews by — Predictions respecting: Captivity of the Jews by
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Micah 4:9-10
9. Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
9. Nunc quare vociferaris vociferatione? Rex nullus in te? Au conciliarius tuus periit? Quia te occupavit dolor quasi parturientem.
10. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
10. Dole et ignemisce, filia Sion, quasi parturiens; quia [131] exibis e civitate, et habitabis in ergo; et venie…
But before this takes place, the daughter Zion will lose her king, and wander into captivity to Babylon; but there she will be redeemed by the Lord out of the power of her enemies. Mic 4:9. "Now why dost thou cry a cry? Is there no king in thee, or is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have seized thee like the woman in labour? Mic 4:10. Writhe and break forth, O daughter Zion, like a woman in labour! For how wilt thou go out of the city and dwell in the field, and come to Babel? there wilt thou be rescued; there will Jehovah redeem thee out of the hand of thine enemies." From this glorious future the prophet now turns his eye to the immediate future, to proclaim to the people what will pre…
Distant Babylon lay about 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers) from Jerusalem; it could not be reached by cutting across the barren eastern desert. • The Lord’s rescue of his people from sure death in Babylon would surpass his bringing them out of Egypt. They were formed in the womb of suffering and awaited a promising rebirth (Isa 43:1-5; cp. Ezek 37). • For Micah, Babylon represented the concept of exile. In Micah’s time (the late 700s and early 600s BC), there was not even the whisper of a Babylonian empire replacing the Assyrians. But Micah was speaking for God, who knows the future.
Rashi on Micah 4:10
Be in pain Heb. חוּלִי, an expression of pain, as in (verse 9) “that pangs (חִיל) have seized you.” This expression is appropriate for a woman in confinement.
and kneel Heb. וָגֹחִי, kneel and bend down on your belly (גָחוֹן). So it is in the language of the Mishnah (Moed Katan 7a): “A wall that bends over (הַגוֹחֶה) into a public domain.”
you shall go forth from the city—From Jerusalem, to go into exile.
and you shall dwell in the field—Your dwelling shall be plowed up like a field.
