Text -- Micah 4:1-5 (NET)

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; it will be more prominent than other hills. People will stream to it. 4:2 Many nations will come, saying, “Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his commands and we can live by his laws.” For Zion will be the source of instruction; the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. 4:3 He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war. 4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine or under his own fig tree without any fear. The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. 4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, we will follow the Lord our God forever.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mic 4:1

¹ tn Heb “at the end of days.”

² tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

³ tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

NET Notes: Mic 4:2

¹ tn Heb “house.”

² tn Heb “ways.”

³ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

⁴ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

NET Notes: Mic 4:3

¹ tn Or “judge.”

² tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”

³ tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”

⁴ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

⁵ sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.

⁶ tn Heb “take up the sword.”

NET Notes: Mic 4:4

¹ tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

² tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”

NET Notes: Mic 4:5

¹ tn Heb “walk each in the name of his god.” The term “name” here has the idea of “authority.” To “walk in the name” of a god is to recognize the god’s authority as binding over one’s life.

² tn Heb “walk in the name of.”