Discovery BoxMicah 4:2-6
Context4:2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple 1 of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his commands 2
and we can live by his laws.” 3
For Zion will be the source of instruction;
the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. 4
4:3 He will arbitrate 5 between many peoples
and settle disputes between many 6 distant nations. 7
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 8
and their spears into pruning hooks. 9
Nations will not use weapons 10 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. 11
The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. 12
4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, 13
we will follow 14 the Lord our God forever.
4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,
and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. 15
[4:2] 3 tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”
[4:2] 4 tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the
[4:3] 6 tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”
[4:3] 7 tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”
[4:3] 8 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.
[4:3] 9 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.
[4:3] 10 tn Heb “take up the sword.”
[4:4] 11 tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”
[4:4] 12 tn Heb “for the mouth of the
[4:5] 13 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.
[4:5] 14 tn Heb “walk in the name of.”
[4:6] 15 sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.
