Micah 5:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Micah 5:6
And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
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
Genesis 10:8-11 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Isaiah 14:25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his bur…
Luke 1:74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and…
2 Kings 17:3-5 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
2 Kings 18:9-15 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser k…
2 Kings 19:32-35 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it…
2 Chronicles 33:11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him wi…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Micah 5:1-6
Here, as before, we have,
I. The abasement and distress of Zion, Mic 5:1. The Jewish nation, for many years before the captivity, dwindled, and fell into disgrace: Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops! It is either a summons to Zion's enemies, that had troops at their service, to come and do their worst against her (God will suffer them to do it), or a challenge to Zion's friends, that had troops too at command, to come and do their best for her; Let them gather in troops, yet it shall be to no purpose; for, says the prophet, in the name of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, He has laid siege against us; the king of Assyria has, the king of Babylon has, and we know not which way to…
waste--literally, "eat up": following up the metaphor of "shepherds" (compare Num 22:4; Jer 6:3).
land of Nimrod--Babylon (Mic 4:10; Gen 10:10); or, including Assyria also, to which he extended his borders (Gen 10:11).
in the entrances--the passes into Assyria (Kg2 3:21). The Margin and JEROME, misled by a needless attention to the parallelism, "with the sword," translate, "with her own naked swords"; as in Psa 55:21 the Hebrew is translated. But "in the entrances" of Assyria, answers to, "within our borders." As the Assyrians invade our borders, so shall their own borders or "entrances" be invaded.
he . . . he--Messiah shall deliver us, when the Assyrian shall come.
Adam Clarke on Micah 5:6
The land of Nimrod - Assyria, and Nineveh its capital; and Babylon, which was also built by Nimrod, who was its first king, Gen 10:11, Gen 10:12, in the margin.
In the entrances thereof - At its posts or watergates; for it was by rendering themselves masters of the Euphrates that the Medes and Persians took the city, according to the prediction of Jeremiah, Jer 51:32, Jer 51:36. Calmet thinks that this refers to the deliverance of the land from Cambyses by his death, and the insurrection of the eight princes mentioned above, who made themselves masters of the whole Babylonian empire, etc. Perhaps it is best to refer it to the invasion of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar; and the final destruction of…
(Verse 6.) And we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight principal men, and they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with their spears; and he will deliver from Assyria when it comes into our land and when it treads within our borders. LXX: And seven shepherds will rise against him, and eight bites of men, and they will shepherd Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with their pitfall; and he will deliver from Assyria, when it comes upon your land, and when it ascends upon your borders. Where we have placed the first human beings, and it is written in Hebrew Nesiche Adam, Symmachus interprets it as Christos hominum; Theodotion and the fifth edition, prinipces hominum; Aquila, heavy, or established men, that is, καθισταμένους. Again, in the place where I and Aquila have translated it, in his spears, so that it is understood, the land of Nimrod, Symmachus renders it as ἐντὸς πυλῶν αὐτῆς, that is, within its gates; Theodotion, within their gates; the fifth edition, ἐν παραξίφησιν αὐτῶν, which we can say, in their marshes: but in Hebrew it is written Baphethee. So then there will be peace, when the remnants of the brothers of Christ are converted to the sons of Israel, and the Assyrian comes into our land, and with the help of the Lord, we will quickly crush him who desired to trample on our houses under our feet. For the Lord himself says: We will raise up seven shepherds against him, and eight leaders of men, or human bites. But I and my Son and the Holy Spirit will raise up, according to what is written in Genesis: Let us make man in our image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). And in the beginning of Abdiel: Rise up and let us ascend against her in battle. I believe the seven shepherds, all the patriarchs and prophets and holy men, served in the week, that is, in the old Instrument. But the eight bites of men, or rather the eight chief men, as Symmachus interpreted, are the Christs, all of the New Testament, who from the apostles to this age have bitten the Assyrian and torn him with their teeth. And it is commanded in Ecclesiastes: Let us give seven parts, let us also give eight (Eccl. XI). And in the temple of Ezekiel, which is interpreted as the Church and the heavenly Jerusalem, one ascends by seven and eight steps (Ezek. XL). And in the Psalter there are fifteen steps by which we ascend through the week…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Nimrod — Firm, a descendant of Cush, the son of Ham. He was the first who claimed to be a “mighty one in the earth.” Babel was the beginning of his kingdom, which he gradually enlarged (Gen. 10:8-10). The…
Nineveh — First mentioned in Gen. 10:11, which is rendered in the Revised Version, “He [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh.” It is not again noticed till the days of Jonah, when it is…
Assyria · An empire foun — An empire foun
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).
John Gill on Micah 5:6
And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword,.... Or "feed (e) upon it" with the sword, destroy the inhabitants of it; either spiritually subdue the nations of the world to the obedience of Christ, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; the preaching of the Gospel, the ministry of the apostles, and others, in the Gentile world; see 2 Corinthians 10:3; or literally, meaning that the angels of the vials, the Christian princes, shall destroy the Ottoman empire with the sword:
and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof; the same with Babylon, the empire of which was first set up by Nimrod, the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel, Genesis 10:11; the same with Nebroda…
Micah 5:6
6. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
6. Et pascent terram Assur (hoc est, vastabunt; nam metaphorice hic pascere accipitur pro perdere quemadmodum dicuntur pecora pascere agrum, hoc est quum denudant herba sua; atque ita pastorum ingluviem notat in vorando populo; et alludit ad nomen illud quo usus fuerat: dixerat enim rvym septem pastores; nunc dicit rh; Videmus ergo Prophetam alludere ad nomen illud quod posuerat: pascent ergo terram Assur) gladio, et terram Nimrod in gladiis suis: et liberabit…
Under His rule Israel will attain to perfect peace. Mic 5:5. "And He will be peace. When Asshur shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, we set up against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men. Mic 5:6. And they feed the land of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in his gates; and He rescues from Asshur when he comes into our land and enters into our border." זה (this man), viz., He who feeds His people in the majesty of God, will be peace, i.e., not merely pacis auctor, but He who carries peace within Himself, and gives it to His people. Compare Eph 2:14, "He is our peace," which points back to this passage. In this relation the Messiah is called t…
the land of Nimrod: Nimrod laid the foundations of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations (Gen 10:8-11).
Rashi on Micah 5:6
like dew sent by the Lord—which does not come to the world through man, and people do not ask for it, so Israel will not hope for the help of man, but for the Lord.
