abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine plural absolute
nations
גּוֹיִ֣םgo.Yim
H1471
a foreign nation · noun, common masculine plural absolute
gathered
נֶאֶסְפ֥וּne.'es.Fu
H622
to gather for any purpose · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
say
הָאֹמְרִ֣יםha.'o.me.Rim
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
defiled
תֶּחֱנָ֔ףte.che.Naf
H2610
to soil · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
eye
עֵינֵֽינוּ'ei.Nei.nu
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix
look
וְתַ֥חַזve.Ta.chaz
H2372
to gaze at · conjunction + verb, qal jussive, 3rd person feminine singular
Zion
בְּצִיּ֖וֹןbe.tzi.Yon
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · preposition + proper noun, a place name
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
Obadiah 1:12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over…
Isaiah 5:25-30 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and…
Micah 7:10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold he…
Isaiah 8:7-8 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory:…
Jeremiah 52:4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon c…
Lamentations 2:15-16 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call…
Joel 3:2-15 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and fo…
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…
many nations--the subject peoples composing Babylon's armies: and also Edom, Ammon, &c., who exulted in Judah's fall (Lam 2:16; Oba 1:11-13).
defiled--metaphor from a virgin. Let her be defiled (that is, outraged by violence and bloodshed), and let our eye gaze insultingly on her shame and sorrow (Mic 7:10). Her foes desired to feast their eyes on her calamities.
Adam Clarke on Micah 4:11
Many nations are gathered against thee - The Chaldeans, who were composed of many nations. And, we may add, all the surrounding nations were their enemies; and rejoiced when the Chaldean army had overthrown Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and led the people away captive.
Let her be defiled - This was their cry and their wish: Let Jerusalem be laid as low as she can be, like a thing defiled and cast away with abhorrence; that their eyes might look upon Zion with scorn, contempt, and exultation.
John Gill on Micah 4:11
Now also many nations are gathered against thee,.... Which is to be understood, not of Sennacherib's army invading Judea, and besieging Jerusalem, in Hezekiah's time; for that was not threshed, as the phrase is afterwards used, or destroyed by the daughter of Zion, but by an angel from heaven: nor of the Babylonians or Chaldeans, since they succeeded in their attempt, and were the conquerors, and not conquered: rather this respects the times of the Maccabees, as the series of prophecy and history agreeing together shows; in which times many of the neighbouring nations of the Jews gave them a great deal of trouble, and especially Antiochus king of Syria; and many and mighty armies sent by him…
The Church Fathers
Now many nations are assembled against you. That is, in the meantime a mix of many different nations invades you under the command of Gog. Again there shall be profanation in Zion, and the eye shall gaze upon it, which means the holy places of Zion will be violated and greatly despised by those who did not know that they would have been thrashed by the revenging justice of God like sheaves gathered on the threshing floor.
(Verses 11-13.) And now many nations have gathered against you, saying: Let her be stoned, and let our eyes see her downfall in Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and they do not understand His plan, for He has gathered them like the hay of the threshing floor. Rise up and trample, daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze, and you will crush many peoples. And you will dedicate their plunder to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth. LXX: And now many nations have gathered against you, saying, 'Let us insult and see with our own eyes in Zion.' But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and they do not understand His counsel, for He has gathered them like sheaves into a threshing floor. Arise and trample them, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horns iron and your hooves bronze, and you will crush many peoples. And you will devote their multitude to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth. O Jerusalem, O daughter of Zion, who will come to Babylon, and there you will be set free, and the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. But now many nations have gathered against you, who speak as if of an adulteress, saying: Let her be stoned, and let our eyes look upon her. As it is written in the Septuagint: Let us insult and rejoice, and let our eyes despise Zion; and they did not understand the will and plan of the Lord, for this reason the nations have gathered against you, so that you may crush them like the threshing floor crushes the chaff or straw. Rise up, therefore, daughter of Zion, and with the iron horns that I promise to give you, and with the bronze hooves that you will receive, scatter and crush the peoples, and kill them for the Lord of the whole earth. For He takes pleasure in such a victim and such a sacrifice. The Jews, seeing that these things have not yet been fulfilled, promise themselves the coming of Christ in the future, and they say that all nations will serve the Jewish people, and that the Roman empire, which they interpret as Edom, will be crushed under their hooves and scattered with their horns. It is easy to prove from all the Scriptures how foolish this is, but that is a matter of another time. Therefore, we who follow not the letter that kills, but the life-giving spirit, say that many nations of demons gather…
Micah 4:11-13
11. Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
11. Et nunc congregatae sunt contra se gentes multae (vel, robustae,) dicentes Damnata erit; et aspiciet in Sion oculus noster.
12. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
12. Ipsi vero non noverunt cognitationes Jehovae, et non intellexerunt consilium ejus; quia congregabis eos quasi manipulum in aeream.
13. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will…
The daughter Zion, when rescued from Babel, overcomes all hostile powers in the strength of her God. Mic 4:11. "And now many nations have assembled together against thee, who say, Let her be profaned, and let our eyes look upon Zion. Mic 4:12. But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, and understand not His counsel; for He has gathered them together like sheaves for the threshing-floor. Mic 4:13. Rise up and thresh, O daughter Zion: for I make thy horn iron, and I make thy hoofs brass; and thou wilt crush many nations: and I ban their gain to Jehovah, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth." With ועתּה, corresponding to עתּה in Mic 4:9, there commences a new scene, which opens t…
gathered against you: While closely tied to the historical assault of Babylon against Jerusalem in 588–586 BC, this oracle also bears on a future in which the idealized and restored Jerusalem of 4:1-5 will be attacked (cp. Rev 20:7-9).
Rashi on Micah 4:11
who say, “Let her be guilty”—Let Zion be guilty of her sins, and let her iniquity be visited upon her.
and our eyes shall gaze on Zion And our eyes will see in her what we hoped to see her.
