33:27 The everlasting God is a refuge,
and underneath you are his eternal arms; 1
he has driven out enemies before you,
and has said, “Destroy!”
90:2 Even before the mountains came into existence, 2
or you brought the world into being, 3
you were the eternal God. 4
93:2 Your throne has been secure from ancient times;
you have always been king. 5
40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth. 6
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom. 7
57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,
the one who rules 8 forever, whose name is holy:
“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,
but also with the discouraged and humiliated, 9
in order to cheer up the humiliated
and to encourage the discouraged. 10
5:19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.
5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 11
seemingly insignificant 12 among the clans of Judah –
from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, 13
one whose origins 14 are in the distant past. 15
5:1 (4:14) 16 But now slash yourself, 17 daughter surrounded by soldiers! 18
We are besieged!
With a scepter 19 they strike Israel’s ruler 20
on the side of his face.
1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to 21 Micah of Moresheth. He delivered this message 22 during the reigns of 23 Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The prophecies pertain to 24 Samaria 25 and Jerusalem. 26
6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; 27
you follow their policies. 28
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, 29
the city’s 30 inhabitants will be taunted derisively, 31
and nations will mock all of you.” 32
1:10 And,
“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, 33
and the heavens are the works of your hands.
1:11 They will perish, but you continue.
And they will all grow old like a garment,
1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up
and like a garment 34 they will be changed,
but you are the same and your years will never run out.” 35
1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” 36 says the Lord God – the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come – the All-Powerful! 37
1 tn Heb “and from under, arms of perpetuity.” The words “you” and “his” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Some have perceived this line to be problematic and have offered alternative translations that differ significantly from the present translation: “He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy” (NAB); “He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old” (NRSV). These are based on alternate meanings or conjectural emendations rather than textual variants in the
2 tn Heb “were born.”
3 tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.
4 tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of אֵל (’el, “God”) the LXX reads אַל (’al, “not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb תָּשֵׁב (tashev) a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking תָּשֵׁב as a jussive is problematic in light of the following following wayyiqtol form וַתֹּאמֶר (vato’mer, “and you said/say”).
5 tn Heb “from antiquity [are] you.” As the context suggests, this refers specifically to God’s royal position, not his personal existence.
6 tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.
7 sn Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31a).
8 tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.
9 tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.
10 tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”
11 sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.
12 tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.
13 tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”
14 tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.
15 tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.
16 sn Beginning with 5:1, the verse numbers through 5:15 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 5:1 ET = 4:14 HT, 5:2 ET = 5:1 HT, 5:3 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:15 ET = 5:14 HT. From 6:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
17 tn The Hebrew verb גָדַד (gadad) can be translated “slash yourself” or “gather in troops.” A number of English translations are based on the latter meaning (e.g., NASB, NIV, NLT).
18 tn Heb “daughter of a troop of warriors.”
19 tn Or “staff”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “rod”; CEV “stick”; NCV “club.”
20 tn Traditionally, “the judge of Israel” (so KJV, NASB).
21 tn Heb “The word of the
22 tn The words “he delivered this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
23 tn Heb “in the days of” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
24 tn Heb “which he saw concerning.”
25 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
26 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
27 tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”
28 tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”
29 tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.
30 tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.
32 tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).
33 sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.
34 tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early
35 sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.
36 tc The shorter reading “Omega” (ὦ, w) has superior ms evidence ({א1 A C 1611}) to the longer reading which includes “the beginning and the end” (ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος or ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος, arch kai telo" or Jh arch kai to telo"), found in א*,2 1854 2050 2329 2351 ÏA lat bo. There is little reason why a scribe would have deleted the words, but their clarifying value and the fact that they harmonize with 21:6 indicate that they are a secondary addition to the text.
37 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
38 map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.
39 tn Grk “and to Smyrna.” For stylistic reasons the conjunction καί (kai) and the preposition εἰς (eis) have not been translated before the remaining elements of the list. In lists with more than two elements contemporary English generally does not repeat the conjunction except between the next to last and last elements.