Discovery BoxMicah 5:3-4 
Context5:3 So the Lord 1 will hand the people of Israel 2 over to their enemies 3
until the time when the woman in labor 4 gives birth. 5
Then the rest of the king’s 6 countrymen will return
to be reunited with the people of Israel. 7
5:4 He will assume his post 8 and shepherd the people 9 by the Lord’s strength,
by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. 10
They will live securely, 11 for at that time he will be honored 12
even in the distant regions of 13 the earth.
Micah 7:4
Context7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. 14
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, 15
and then you will experience confusion. 16
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
2 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.
5 sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.
6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
sn The rest of the king’s brothers are the coming king’s fellow Judahites, while the sons of Israel are the northern tribes. The verse pictures the reunification of the nation under the Davidic king. See Isa 11:12-13; Jer 31:2-6, 15-20; Ezek 37; Hos 1:11; 3:5.
8 tn Heb “stand up”; NAB “stand firm”; NASB “will arise.”
9 tn The words “the people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
10 tn Heb “by the majesty of the name of the
11 tn The words “in peace” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Perhaps וְיָשָׁבוּ (vÿyashavu, “and they will live”) should be emended to וְשָׁבוּ (vÿshavu, “and they will return”).
12 tn Heb “be great.”
13 tn Or “to the ends of.”
14 tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.
15 tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”
16 tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”
