Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Micah 5:3
Therefore will he give them up, until the time [that] she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
3. Therefore ] i.e. because the deliverance of Israel is to be a work of pure grace, and to proceed from the insignificant Bethlehem. It is assumed that the family of David will have sunk down as low as that of Jesse originally was the same anticipation which we find expressed in Isa 11:1, ‘There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.’
will he give them up ] Jehovah will deliver Israel into the hands of its foes.
she which travaileth ] i.e. she who is to bear. Probably (though this is not quite free from doubt) this is an allusion to Isaiah’s great prophecy of Immanuel (Isa 7:14) a prophecy vague, it is true, and open to various interpretations, but most likely referring to the Messiah (see on Mic 5:5).
then the remnant of his brethren shall return ] Rather, and (until) the remnant of his brethren return. ‘Return’ may be taken either in a physical or in a spiritual sense. If in the former, the ‘remnant’ will mean the exiles of Israel, wherever they might be scattered, including those of the Ten Tribes; if in the latter, it will refer rather to the Judans who had escaped in the Judgment. The return of the long-lost tribes, and the thorough conversion of his own people, were equally upon the heart of the prophet.
unto ] Or (if we explain ‘return’ = ‘be converted’), with.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Therefore – Since God has so appointed both to punish and to redeem, He, God, or the Ruler whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting, who is God with God, shall give them up, that is, withdraw His protection and the nearness of His Presence, giving them up:
(1) into the hands of their enemies. And indeed the far greater part never returned from the captivity, but remained, although willingly, in the enemys land, outwardly shut out from the land of the promise and the hope of their fathers (as in 2Ch 36:17).
(2) But also, all were, more than before, given up Act 7:42; Rom 1:24, Rom 1:26, Rom 1:28, to follow their own ways.
God was less visibly present among them. Prophecy ceased soon after the return from the captivity, and many tokens of the nearness of God and means of His communications with them, the Ark and the Urim and Thummim were gone. It was a time of pause and waiting, wherein the fullness of Gods gifts was withdrawn, that they might look on to Him who was to come. Until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth, that is, until the Virgin who should conceive and bear a Son and call His Name Emmanuel, God with us, shall give birth to Him who shall save them. And then shall be redemption and joy and assured peace. God provides against the fainting of hearts in the long time before our Lord should come.
Then – (And). There is no precise mark of time such as our word then expresses. He speaks generally of what should be after the Birth of the Redeemer. The remnant of His brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. The children of Israel are the true Israel, Israelites indeed Joh 1:47; they who are such, not in name (Rom 9:6, etc.) only, but indeed and in truth. His brethren are plainly the brethren of the Christ; either because Jesus vouchsafed to be born of the seed of David according to the flesh Rom 1:3, and of them as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever Rom 9:5; or as such as He makes and accounts and is not ashamed to call, brethren Heb 2:11, being sons of God by grace, as He is the Son of God by nature. As He says, Whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in Heaven, the same is My brother and sister and mother Mat 12:50; and, My brethren are these who hear the word of God and do it Luk 8:21.
The residue of these, the prophet says, shall return to, so as to be joined with , the children of Israel; as Malachi prophesies, He shall bring back the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers (Mal. 3:24, Hebrew). In the first sense, Micah foretells the continual inflow of the Jews to that true Israel who should first be called. All in each generation, who are the true Israel, shall be converted, made one in Christ, saved. So, whereas, since Solomon, all had been discord, and, at last, the Jews were scattered abroad everywhere, all, in the true Prince of Peace, shall be one (see Hos 1:11; Isa 11:10, etc.). This has been fulfilled in each generation since our Lord came, and shall be yet further in the end, when they shall haste and pour into the Church, and so all Israel shall be saved Rom 11:26.
But the promise of God was not only to Israel after the flesh, but to all also that were afar off, even as many as the Lord our God should call Act 2:39. All these may be called the remnant of His brethren, even those that were, before, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and afar off Eph 2:12-14, but now, in Christ Jesus, made one with them; all, brethren among themselves and to Christ their ruler. : Having taken on Him their nature in the flesh, He is not ashamed to call them so, as the Apostle speaketh, confirming it out of the Psalm, where in the Person of Christ he saith, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren Psa 22:22. There is no reason to take the name, brethren, here in a narrower sense than so to comprehend all the remnant whom the Lord shall call Joe 2:32, whether Jews or Gentiles. The word brethren in its literal sense includes both, and, as to both, the words were fulfilled.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Therefore will he give them up] Jesus Christ shall give up the disobedient and rebellious Jews into the hands of all the nations of the earth, till she who travaileth hath brought forth; that is, till the Christian Church, represented Re 12:1, under the notion of a woman in travail, shall have had the fulness of the Gentiles brought in. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return; the Jews also shall be converted unto the Lord; and thus all Israel shall be saved, according to Ro 11:26.
Unto the children of Israel.] Taking in both families, that of Judah and that of Israel. The remnant of the ten tribes, wherever they are, shall be brought in under Christ; and though now lost among the nations of the earth, they will then not only be brought in among the fulness of the Gentiles, but most probably be distinguished as Jews.
On this verse Abp. Newcome says, “The sense is, God will not fully vindicate and exalt his people, till the virgin mother shall have brought forth her Son; and till Judah and Israel, and all the true sons of Abraham among their brethren the Gentiles, be converted to Christianity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Therefore, or nevertheless, as the particle will bear,
will he, God, the God of Israel,
give them up, to the Chaldeans, to be wasted by them, and to be led into captivity, and to be afflicted there for their sins committed in their own land against God, until the time, until seventy years be expired, the time appointed for the punishing the Jews,
that she which travaileth, the daughter of Zion, compared here to a woman in travail,
hath brought forth; be delivered out of captivity, compared here to a womans bringing forth, as Mic 4:9,10.
Then the remnant of his brethren, i.e. the brethren of the Messiah, those of Judah and Benjamin who were carried captive, shall return unto the children of Israel; being set free by Cyrus, shall return to their own land, and be there established; and they shall return with Israel rather than to: all this referring in the letter to their redemption out of Babylon, (which was the effect of the Messiahs power and mercy towards them, as Mic 4:10; 5:2) hath a further reference to a more glorious redemption, and to intervening afflictions which should fall upon the Jews, from after their restitution and resettling in Canaan. unto the coming of the Messiah in the flesh when born of the Virgin; and that of Isa 7:14 shall be fulfilled, when Messiah, Ben David, shall set up his kingdom, and deliver the whole Israel of God from their captivity under ignorance, sin, and hell, and shall bring in the Gentiles, that remnant of his brethren, and unite them to the true Israel, and make them one church to God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. “Therefore(because of His settled plan) will God give up to theirfoes His people Israel, until,” c.
she which travaileth hathbrought forthnamely, “the virgin” mother, mentionedby Micah’s contemporary, Isa 7:14.Zion “in travail” (Mic 4:9Mic 4:10) answers to the virginin travail of Messiah. Israel’s deliverance from her longtravail-pains of sorrow will synchronize with the appearance oMessiah as her Redeemer (Ro 11:26)in the last days, as the Church’s spiritual deliverance synchronizedwith the virgin’s giving birth to Him at His first advent. Theancient Church’s travail-like waiting for Messiah isrepresented by the virgin’s travail. Hence, both may bemeant. It cannot be restricted to the Virgin Mary: for Israelis still “given up,” though Messiah has been “broughtforth” eighteen and a half centuries ago. But the Church’sthroes are included, which are only to be ended when Christ, havingbeen preached for a witness to all nations, shall at last appear asthe Deliverer of Jacob, and when the times of the Gentiles shall befulfilled, and Israel as a nation shall be born in a day (Isa 66:7-11;Luk 21:24; Rev 12:1;Rev 12:2; Rev 12:4;compare Ro 8:22).
the remnant of his brethrenshall return unto the children of Israel(Compare Mic4:7). The remainder of the Israelites dispersed in foreign landsshall return to join their countrymen in Canaan. The Hebrewfor “unto” is, literally, “upon,” implyingsuperaddition to those already gathered.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore will he give them up,…. Or “notwithstanding”, as this particle signifies; see Ho 2:14; though all this shall be, yet, previous to the birth of this person, the Lord would give up the Jews to trouble and distress, and into the hands of their enemies; and the time from this prophet to the birth of Christ was a time for the most part of great trouble to, the Jews; not only was their country invaded and their city besieged by Sennacherib in Hezekiah’s time, but, some years after that, they were wholly carried captive into Babylon: and when they returned it was troublesome times with them; they met with many enemies that disturbed them while they were rebuilding the city and temple; and after that they endured much tribulation, in the times of Antiochus Epiphanes, or of the Maccabees; nor were they long in any quiet, nor in any settled state, unto the coming of the Messiah. Or else this is to be understood of what should be after his coming; for though Jesus was born at Bethlehem, according to this plain prophecy, and had all the characters of the Messiah in him, yet the Jews rejected him, and would not have him to reign over them: wherefore he, the Messiah, as Japhet interprets it, gave them up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart, and into the hands of their enemies the Romans; by whom they were destroyed or carried captive, and dispersed among the nations; in which condition they still remain, and will, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled; so long will Jerusalem be trodden under foot, or the Jews be given up to their will, according to
Lu 21:24; or, as here expressed,
until the time [that] she which travaileth hath brought forth: that is, according to the first sense until the Virgin Mary travailed in birth with the Messiah, and brought forth him her firstborn, Mt 1:25; or according to the latter, until Zion, or, the church of God, travailed in prayer, in the ministry of the word, and brought forth many children to Christ, both among Jews and Gentiles; and the sense is, that the Jews shall be given up to distress and trouble, till the time of their conversion, see Isa 66:7; The Jews have a tradition in their Talmud, that
“the son of David would not come until the kingdom spreads itself over the whole world for nine months; as it is said, “therefore will he give them up until the time that she that travaileth hath brought” forth; which is the time of a woman’s going with child.”
This both Jarchi and Kimchi take notice of. In one place p it is called the kingdom of Aram or Syria; and in another q a blank is left for Edom, that is, Rome; for by the kingdom is meant the Roman empire, and which did extend all over the world before the coming of the Messiah Jesus, as appears from Lu 2:1; as well as from all profane history;
then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel; that is, the brethren of the Messiah, as Kimchi and Abendana interpret it; who should return with the children of Israel, as both they and Jarchi explain it; to which the Targum agrees. Kimchi’s note is,
“”the remnant of his brethren”; they are the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which remained when the ten tribes were carried captive; and the surnames, his brethren, relate to the Messiah.”
So Abendana r,
“and “the remnant his brethren”; they are the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, they shall return with the children of Israel, who are the ten tribes; as if he should say, these and these shall return to their land, and King Messiah shall reign over them; and the surnames, his brethren, respect the Messiah.”
And to the same purpose R. Isaac s,
“the remnant of the brethren of the Messiah, who are the children of Judah and Benjamin, that are left and remain of the calamities and persecutions of the captivities, shall return to their own land, together with the children of Israel, who are the ten tribes.”
Meaning either the remnant, according to the election of grace, among the Gentiles; who with those among the Jews should be converted to Christ in the first times of the Gospel, those immediately following the birth of Christ; the Gospel being preached both to the Jews and Gentiles, and some of both were called and converted, and whom Christ owned as his brethren, and were not ashamed of; see Mt 12:49 Heb 2:11; or the Lord’s chosen people, and brethren of Christ, those of, he two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and those of the ten tribes of Israel; who shall join and coalesce together in seeking the Messiah, embracing and professing him, and appointing him the one Head over them, when they will turn to the Lord, and all Israel shall be saved; see Jer 50:4.
p T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 10. 1. q T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 2. r Not. in Miclol Yophi in loc. s Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. p. 281.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Therefore will He give them up until the time when a travailing woman hath brought forth, and the remnant of His brethren will return, together with the sons of Israel. Mic 5:4. And He will stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God, and they will dwell, for now will He be great to the ends of the earth.” “Therefore” ( lakhen ): i.e., “because the great divine Ruler of Israel, from whom alone its redemption can proceed, will spring from the little Bethlehem, and therefore from the degraded family of David” (Caspari). This is the correct explanation; for the reason why Israel is to be given up to the power of the nations of the world, and not to be rescued earlier, does not lie in the appearance of the Messiah as such, but in His springing from little Bethlehem. The birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, and not in Jerusalem the city of David, presupposes that the family of David, out of which it is to spring, will have lost the throne, and have fallen into poverty. This could only arise from the giving up of Israel into the power of its enemies. Micah had already stated clearly enough in what precedes, that this fate would fall upon the nation and the royal house of David, on account of its apostasy from the Lord; so that he could overlook this here, and give prominence to the other side alone, namely to the fact that, according to the counsel of God, the future Deliverer and Ruler of Israel would also resemble His royal ancestor David in the fact that He was not to spring from Zion the royal city built on high, but from the insignificant country town of Bethlehem, and that for this very reason Israel was to remain so long under the power of the nations of the world. The suffix attached to points to in Mic 5:1; and is applied, as in 1Ki 14:16, to the surrender of Israel into the power of its enemies as a punishment for its sins. This surrender is not the last of many oppressions, which are to take place in the period before the birth of the Messiah (the Roman oppression), but a calamity lasting from the present time, or the coming of the judgment threatened in ch. 3, until the time of the Messiah’s coming; and points back not merely to Mic 5:1, but also to Mic 4:9-10. The travailing woman ( yoledah ) is not the community of Israel (Theodoret, Calvin, Vitringa, and others), but the mother of the Messiah (Cyril, and most of the Christian expositors, including even Ewald and Hitzig). The supposition that the congregation is personified here, is precluded not only by the fact that in the very same sentence the sons of Israel are spoken of in the plural, but still more by the circumstance that in that case the bringing forth would be only a figurative representation of the joy following the pain, in which the obvious allusion in the words to the Messiah, which is required by the context, and especially by the suffix to , which refers to the Messiah, and presupposes that His birth is referred to in , would entirely fall away. But Micah had all the more ground for speaking of this, inasmuch as Isaiah had already predicted the birth of the Messiah (Isa 7:14). has no article, and the travailing woman is thereby left indefinite, because the thought, “till He is born,” or “till a mother shall bring Him forth,” upon which alone the whole turns, did not require any more precise definition.
In the second clause of the verse there commences the description of the blessing, which the birth of the Messiah will bring to Israel. The first blessing will be the return of those that remain of Israel to the Lord their God. , the brethren of the Ruler born at Bethlehem, are the Judaeans as the members of the Messiah’s own tribe; just as, in 2Sa 19:13, David calls the Judaeans his brethren, his flesh and bone, in contrast with the rest of the Israelites. , the remnant of his brethren, are those who are rescued from the judgment that has fallen upon Judah; yether , as in Zep 2:9 and Zec 14:2, denoting the remnant, in distinction from those who have perished (= , Mic 2:12; Mic 4:7, etc.). , to return, not from exile to Canaan, but to Jehovah, i.e., to be concerted. , not “to the sons of Israel;” for although , construed with , is met with in the sense of outward return (e.g., Pro 26:11) as well as in that of spiritual return to the Lord (2Ch 30:9), the former explanation would not give any suitable meaning here, not only because “the sons of Israel,” as distinguished from the brethren of the Messiah, could not possibly denote the true members of the nation of God, but also because the thought that the Judaeans are to return, or be converted, to the Israelites of the ten tribes, is altogether unheard of, and quite at variance with the idea which runs through all the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament, – namely, that after the division of the kingdom, Judah formed the kernel of the covenant nation, with which the rebellious Israelites were to be united once more. signifies here together with, at the same time as (Hofmann, Caspari), as in Jer 3:18 with the verb , and in Exo 35:22 with ; and “the sons of Israel” are the Israelites of the ten tribes, and, in this connection, those that are left of the ten tribes. There is no ground for the objection offered by Hengstenberg to this explanation, namely, that “it is absurd that the ten tribes should appear to be the principal persons redeemed;” for this is not implied in the words. The meaning “together with,” for , is not derived from the primary meaning, thereupon, in addition to, insuper, as Ewald supposes (217, i), nor from the idea of accompanying, as Ges. and Dietrich maintain. The persons introduced with are never the principal objects, as the two passages quoted sufficiently prove. The women in Exo 35:22 ( ) are not the principal persons, taking precedence of the men; nor is the house of Israel placed above the house of Judah in Jer 3:18. The use of in the sense of together with has been developed rather from the idea of protecting, shielding, as in Gen 32:12, slaying the mothers upon, i.e., together with, the children, the mothers being thought of as screening the children, as Hos 10:14 and other passages clearly show. Consequently the person screening the other is the principal person, and not the one covered or screened. And so here, the brethren of the Messiah, like the sons of Judah in Jer 3:18, which passages is generally so like the one before us that it might be regarded as an exposition of it, are those who first receive the blessing coming from the Messiah; and the sons of Israel are associated with them as those to whom this blessing only comes in fellowship with them. In Mic 5:3 there follows what the Messiah will do for Israel when it has returned to God. He will feed it ( simply belongs to the pictorial description, as in Isa 61:5) in the strength of Jehovah. The feeding, as a frequent figure for governing, reminds of David, whom the Lord had called from the flock to be the shepherd of His people (2Sa 5:2). This is done in the strength of Jehovah, with which He is invested, to defend His flock against wolves and robbers (see Joh 10:11-12).
(Note: The word “feed” expresses what Christ is towards His people, the flock committed to His care. He does not rule over the church like a formidable tyrant, who oppresses his people by fear; but He is a shepherd, and leads His sheep with all the gentleness to be desired. And inasmuch as we are surrounded on all sides by enemies, the prophet adds, “He will feed in the strength,” etc.; i.e., as much power as there is in God, so much protection will there be in Christ, whenever it shall be necessary to defend the church, and guard it against its foes (Calvin).)
This strength is not merely the divine authority with which earthly rulers are usually endowed (1Sa 2:10), but , i.e., the exaltation or majesty of the name of Jehovah, the majesty in which Jehovah manifests His deity on earth. The Messiah is El gibbor (the Mighty God, Isa 9:5), and equipped with the spirit of might ( ruach g e bhurah , Isa 11:2). “Of His God;” for Jehovah is the God of this Shepherd or Ruler, i.e., He manifests Himself as God to Him more than to any other; so that the majesty of Jehovah is revealed in what He does. In consequence of this feeding, they (the sons of Israel) sit ( yashabhu ), without being disturbed (cf. Mic 4:4; Lev 26:5-6; 2Sa 7:10), i.e., will live in perfect undisturbed peace under His pastoral care. For He (the Messiah) will now ( , now, referring to the time when He feeds Israel, in contrast with the former oppression) be great ( auctoritate et potentia valebit : Maurer) to the ends of the earth, i.e., His authority will extend over the whole earth. Compare the expression in Luk 1:32, , which has sprung from the passage before us, and the parallel in Mal 1:14.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verse 3:
Israel Given Up Till She Receives Her Redeemer
Verse 3 concluded that all the nation of Israel, who rejected the Virgin born Son, should be dispersed among all nations, until the remnant should return to receive Him who came, Isa 7:14; Gen 49:10; Luk 21:24. When all prophesied of Israel is fulfilled, those of the nation brought forth in a day, shall receive their Redeemer in repentance and faith, Isa 66:7-11; Rev 12:1-2; Rev 12:4; Mat 24:14; Joh 16:20; Rom 8:22.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet here again so moderates his words, that the Jews might understand, that they were to endure many evils before God relieved their miseries. He wished then here to prepare the minds of the godly to bear evils, that they might not despair in great troubles, nor be depressed by extreme fear. He then states these two things, — that the people, as they deserved, would be heavily afflicted, — and then that God, notwithstanding such severe punishment, would be mindful of his covenant, so as to gather at length some remnants and not to suffer his people to be wholly destroyed. He therefore promises a middle course between a prosperous state and destruction. The people, says the Prophet, shall not continue entire. — How so? For God will cut off the kingdom and the city; and yet he will afford relief to the miserable: When they shall think that they are given up to entire ruin, he will stretch forth his hand to them. This is the sum of the whole.
He then says that they shall be delivered up, that is, forsaken by God, until she who is in travail bringeth forth (144) There are those who apply this to the blessed virgin; as though Micah had said that the Jews were to look forward to the time when the Virgin would bring forth Christ: but all may easily see that this is a forced interpretation. The Prophet, I have no doubt, in using this similitude, compares the body of the people to a woman with child. The similitude of a woman in travail is variously applied. The wicked, when they promise to themselves impunity, are suddenly and violently laid hold on: thus their destruction is like the travail of a woman with child. But the meaning of this passage is different; for the Prophet says that the Jews would be like pregnant women, for this reason, — that though they would have to endure the greatest sorrows, there yet would follow a joyful and happy issue. And Christ himself employs this example for the same purpose,
‘
A woman,’ he says, ‘has sorrow when she brings forth, but immediately rejoices when she sees a man born into the world,’ (Joh 16:21.)
So Micah says in this place, that the chosen people would have a happy deliverance from their miseries, for they would bring forth. There shall indeed be the most grievous sorrows, but their issue will be joy, that is, when they shall know that they and their salvation had been the objects of God’s care, when they shall understand that their chastisements had been useful to them. Until then she who is in travail bringeth forth, God, he says, will forsake them
There are then two clauses in this verse; — the first is, that the Jews were for a time to be forsaken, as though they were no longer under the power and protection of God; — the other is that God would be always their guardian, for a bringing forth would follow their sorrows. The following passage in Isaiah is of an opposite character;
‘
We have been in sorrow, we have been in travail, and we brought forth wind,’ (Isa 26:18.)
The faithful complain there that they had been oppressed with the severest troubles, and had come to the birth, but that they brought forth nothing but wind, that is, that they had been deceived by vain expectation, for the issue did not prove to be what they had hoped. But the Lord promises here by Micah something better, and that is, that the end of all their evils would be the happy restoration of the people, as when a woman receives a compensation for all her sorrows when she sees that a child is born.
And he confirms this sentence by another, when he says, To the children of Israel shall return, or be converted, the residue of his brethren (145) The Prophet then intimates that it could not be otherwise but that God would not only scatter, but tread under foot his people, so that their calamity would threaten an unavoidable destruction. This is one thing; but in the meantime he promises that there would be some saved. But he speaks of a remnant, as we have observed elsewhere, lest hypocrites should think that they could escape unpunished, while they trifled with God. The Prophet then shows that there would come such a calamity as would nearly extinguish the people, but that some would be preserved through God’s mercy and that beyond ordinary expectation. (146) We now perceive the intention of the Prophet. It now follows —
(144) Until the time the begetting shall beget, ( יולדה ילדה) And the remnant of his brethren shall be converted Together with the children of Israel.
Newcome gives this explanation of the verse, — “The sense is: God will not fully vindicate and exalt his people, till the Virgin-mother shall have brought forth her Son; and till Judah and Israel, and all the true sons of Abraham among their brethren, the Gentiles, be converted to Christianity.” — Ed.
(145) By this arrangement of the sentence, Calvin evidently meant, that “his,” before “brethren,” refers to “Israel.” In the original, the latter clause is before the former, but in Hebrew, as well as in other languages, the antecedent sometimes comes after its pronoun. — Ed.
(146) Most commentators differ from Calvin in their view of this verse, regarding it as a distinct prophecy of the Savior’s birth. There are difficulties on both sides: but taking the whole context, especially the following verse, we can hardly resist the conclusion, that Christ, born of a Virgin, is the subject. Indeed, the whole of this chapter, notwithstanding the reference to the Assyrian, is not capable of a satisfactory explanation, without applying what is said to Christ and his Church. Some things, no doubt, in the history of the Jews, may be alluded to, or incidentally mentioned; but the full accomplishment must be looked for in the new dispensation. And it is a splendid prophecy, in words often derived from customs and incidents among the Jews, of the birth of the Savior, and the character and extent, and blessedness of his kingdom, and the destruction of his enemies.
Newcome and Adam Clarke propose to divide the chapter after the first line in verse 5, thinking that a new subject is there introduced: but evidently the same subject, the Gospel dispensation, is continued to the end of the chapter. The Assyrian, the especial enemy of the ancient Church, designates the enemies of the Christian Church in all ages.
“
As Sennacherib’s invasion,” says Scott, “was not repelled by the ruler or chieftains of Israel: nor did the Jews ever invade or waste the Assyrian dominions; it seems evident, that these expressions must be understood as mystically intending other enemies and persecutors of the Church, who should be of the same spirit with Sennacherib and the Assyrians.” Henry, who is much more learned critic and much profounder divine than what is commonly thought, agrees with Scott, and many others, in the interpretation of this chapter. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Therefore will he give them up.There is a suggestion here of a parable, setting forth the smallness of Bethlehem, which gave birth to the mighty Ruler that was to come from it. So the nation was to be brought very low before the nativity of the Virgin-born.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Mic 5:3. Therefore will he give them up Notwithstanding, he will give them up, until the time that she that beareth, &c. The Hebrew word itneim, rendered give up, signifies properly, says Dr. Sharpe, so to give, as to continue or accomplish; and the pronoun them is to be referred to the goings-forth. These proceedings, or goings-forth as of old, he was not to give up, or surrender, but to give, and continue, or accomplish, until he should be born of the virgin; until she which travaileth hath brought forth. Houbigant understands it in nearly the same sense. The Hebrew word ieter, rendered remnant, in the next clause of the verse, is used to signify excellency, Gen 49:3-4 and to excel, Job 4:21. Pro 12:26; Pro 17:7. And that this is the sense of the word here seems evident, because another word is used for remnant in the 7th and 8th verses. The word ieshubun, rendered to return, may without the vau, when different!y pointed, signify to dwell; Psa 23:6 and is translated in that sense by the LXX. Isai. xxl. 12. According to these observations, the prophet may be understood as implying, “After his birth, then shall his excellent brethren,and not the remnant of his brethren,dwell among the children of Israel.” These brethren are the disciples and companions of the Lord, who are spoken of, Psalms 110 as eminent for worth and excellence.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The sense of this verse seems to be, that there shall be great trouble in Israel, until this glorious event of Christ’s birth should take place. And certain it is that Israel was brought very low before Christ was born. Some however make these words wholly spiritual with respect to the new birth, in the heart of Christ’s people, whose awakenings in grace are well known to be called in scripture travailing in soul. Gal 4:19 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mic 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time [that] she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Ver. 3. Therefore will he give them up ] As a little before the day springeth it is darker than ordinary; so before the day spring from on high visited God’s people they were under very hard and heavy pressures and miseries; whereby their desires after him were increased and ineagered. The enemy oppressed them, by God’s permission, yea, by his active providence; that they might pant after a Saviour, and sigh out with old Jacob, their father, Gen 49:18 , “O Lord, I have waited for thy salvation.”
Until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth
Then the remnant of his brethren
Shall return unto the children of Israel
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
until the time: i.e. the end of the “meanwhile” (Mic 5:1).
she which travaileth. Compare Mic 4:9, Mic 4:10 -, above. and note there; also Joh 16:21, Joh 16:22, and Rev 12:1-6.
children = sons.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
remnant
(See Scofield “Jer 15:21”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Therefore: Mic 7:13, Hos 2:9, Hos 2:14
give: Mic 6:14, 1Ki 14:16, 2Ch 30:7, Hos 11:8
she: Mic 4:10, Isa 66:7, Isa 66:8, Mat 1:21, Rev 12:1, Rev 12:2
then: Mic 4:7, Isa 10:20, Isa 10:21, Isa 11:11, Jer 31:1, Jer 31:7-9, Rom 9:27, Rom 9:28, Rom 11:4-6
his: Mat 12:50, Mat 25:40, Rom 8:29, Heb 1:11, Heb 1:12
Reciprocal: Gen 3:15 – her seed Joe 2:32 – and in Amo 5:15 – the remnant Mic 5:7 – the remnant Mic 7:18 – the remnant Zep 2:7 – the remnant Gal 4:4 – of a Rev 12:5 – she
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mic 5:3. After a brief interruption to make a prediction concerning Christ, the prophet returns to the original subject of ancient Israel, Give them up means that God would suffer the foreign nation to have possession of His people. Until . . . travaileth . . , brought forth means when the captivity and its ravages will be ended and the nation of Israel will be given a “new birth of freedom in its own native land. Remnant shall return refers to the surviving number stated in Ezr 2:64.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mic 5:3. Therefore will he give them up The particle rendered therefore, should rather be here rendered, nevertheless. The meaning is, Notwithstanding the promise of so great a blessing, God would give up his people into the hands of their enemies, or leave them to be exercised with troubles and afflictions, till the appointed time of their deliverance should come. Until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth Until the daughter of Zion, compared here to a woman in travail, shall be delivered out of captivity. Or rather, till the church of God, of which the daughter of Zion was a type, shall bring forth spiritual children of Jew and Gentile extraction unto God, by the preaching of the gospel: see Gal 4:27. This prophecy will be more fully completed in the general conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation in the latter days: see Isa 66:7-11. Then the remnant of his brethren The brethren of the Messiah, those of Judah and Benjamin especially, who were carried captive; shall return unto the children of Israel Or, be converted with the children of Israel. Then the remnant of the dispersed Jews, upon their conversion, shall join themselves to the true Israelites, and make one church with them. Both the LXX. and Chaldee read, the remnant of their brethren: but if we follow the present Hebrew, we may understand it of the believers that were to be added to the church; for Christ vouchsafes to call all believers his brethren: see Heb 2:11; Mat 12:50.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time [that] {d} she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
(d) He compares the Jews to women with child, who for a time would have great sorrows, but at length they would have a comfortable deliverance; Joh 16:21 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Yahweh would give the Israelites over to chastening until Israel had ended her painful period of suffering (like a woman in labor, Mic 4:9) and she had brought forth a child. In view of previous revelation about Israel’s continuing discipline by God until her Redeemer appeared (Mic 4:10), this seems to be a reference to the second coming of Messiah, not His first coming. This interpretation gains support from the promise in the last half of this verse. Then the remainder of the Redeemer’s brethren, the Jews, will experience a regathering (cf. Mic 2:12; Mic 4:6-7). They will return to the land and rejoin other Israelites.