Micah 5:6

Mic 5:6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver [us] from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

Ver. 6. And they shall waste the land of Assyria] Heb. They shall eat it down, as shepherds do pastures with their flocks. Pascere to graze is put for perdere, to destroy, saith Calvin; they shall leave nothing there safe or sound, but either bend or break the Church’s enemies, bring them to Christ by the sword of God’s word, or utterly ruin them by temporal slaughters. Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum. Either repent or perish.

Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian] It is Christ that delivereth his, what instruments soever he please to make use of, Luk 1:71 1Co 15:24, and he must have the praise of it. The Grecians thankfully acknowledged to Jupiter their deliverance from the Persians, wrought by Themistocles; and therehence called him ελευθεριος, as the Romans for like cause Sospitator , presenting a palm to him, and sacrificing a white ox (Liv. lib. 6), so acknowledging it was his power whereby the conquest was achieved. Our Edward III, after his victory at Poictiers (where he took the French king, A.D. 1356), took speedy order by Simon, Archbishop of Canterbury, that eight days together should be spent in giving God the thanks and glory. How much more should we praise him for spiritual deliverances from sin, Satan, the world, &c., and consecrate ourselves wholly to his service, since Servati sumus ut serviamus, Luk 1:74, deliverance commands obedience, Ezr 9:14.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mic 5:6. And they — The seven shepherds and eight principal men; or, the rulers and princes of men, mentioned in the preceding clause; those great and successful instruments of God’s revenge, and his church’s deliverance, shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword — Which the Medes and Babylonians did, under the conduct of Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, who, taking advantage of the weakness of the Assyrian kingdom, humbled partly by the great destruction of Sennacherib’s army, and the murder of that mighty monarch, and partly by the civil wars which ensued between the regicides and Esar-haddon, took arms, and succeeded in the attempt of subduing the Assyrian kingdom, with much slaughter and bloodshed. This Merodach-baladan was the person who sent the congratulatory letter and embassy to Hezekiah, lately cured by a miracle of his otherwise mortal disease, and delivered from the Assyrian power, Isa 39:1-2. And the land of Nimrod — The same with the land of Assyria. In the entrances thereof — The fortified frontiers, the garrisons, which kept all the entrances of the kingdom. Or, by the land of Nimrod, the Babylonish empire may be understood, which afterward by Nebuchadnezzar’s hand destroyed the Jews, Jerusalem, and the temple, and was overthrown by the Medes and Persians, whom God raised up to punish Babylon, and release the Jews. Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian — Whether considered literally as the present enemies of God’s people, or as types of all their other and future enemies.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:6 the land of Nimrod: Nimrod laid the foundations of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations (Gen 10:8-11).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

By these governors will God deliver us when the enemy cometh into our land.

These whom God shall raise up for the deliverance of his Church, shall destroy all the enemies thereof, which are meant here by the Assyrians and Babylonians which were the chief at that time.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

waste--literally, "eat up": following up the metaphor of "shepherds" (compare Num 22:4; Jer 6:3).

land of Nimrod--Babylon (Mic 4:10; Gen 10:10); or, including Assyria also, to which he extended his borders (Gen 10:11).

in the entrances--the passes into Assyria (Kg2 3:21). The Margin and JEROME, misled by a needless attention to the parallelism, "with the sword," translate, "with her own naked swords"; as in Psa 55:21 the Hebrew is translated. But "in the entrances" of Assyria, answers to, "within our borders." As the Assyrians invade our borders, so shall their own borders or "entrances" be invaded.

he . . . he--Messiah shall deliver us, when the Assyrian shall come.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. The land of Nimrod] Assyria, and Nineveh its capital; and Babylon, which was also built by Nimrod, who was its first king, Ge 10:11-12, in the margin.

In the entrances thereof] At its posts or watergates; for it was by rendering themselves masters of the Euphrates that the Medes and Persians took the city, according to the prediction of Jeremiah, Jer 51:32; Jer 51:36.

Calmet thinks that this refers to the deliverance of the land from Cambyses by his death, and the insurrection of the eight princes mentioned above, who made themselves masters of the whole Babylonian empire, c. Perhaps it is best to refer it to the invasion of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar and the final destruction of the Babylonish empire by Cyrus, who took Babylon, slew Belshazzar, and possessed himself of the kingdom.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In this verse the Prophet says, that the shepherds, chosen by the Church, after it had been miserably oppressed by the tyranny of its enemies, would have a twofold office. They shall first feed; that is, nourish the Church of God; — and, secondly, they shall feed; that is, destroy the land of Asshur, so that nothing may remain there whole and entire. God will then arm these shepherds with warlike courage; for they must fight boldly and courageously against their enemies: he says, They shall feed on the land of Nimrod with their swords Nimrod, we know, reigned in Chaldea; and we know also that the ten tribes were led away by Shalmanezer, and that the kingdom of Israel was thus demolished: when the Chaldeans obtained the empire, the kingdom of Judah was also laid waste by them. Now the import of the words is, that these shepherds would be sufficiently strong to oppose all the enemies of the Church, whether they were the Babylonians or the Assyrians. And he names the Assyrians and Babylonians, because they had then a contest with the people of God; and this continued to the coming of Christ, though it is certain that they suffered more troubles from Antiochus than from others: but as he was one of the successors of Alexander, the Prophet here, taking a part for the whole, means, by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, all the enemies of the Church, whoever they might be. Waste, he says, shall these shepherds the land of Asshur by the sword, and the land of Nimrod, and that by their swords

But this shall not be until the Chaldeans and the Assyrians shall penetrate into our land, and tread in our borders The Prophet again reminds the faithful, that they stood in need of patience, and that they were to know that God had not made a vain promise. The import of the whole is, that no deliverance was to be expected from God’s hand until the faithful yielded their necks to his yoke, and patiently sustained the evils which were then approaching. The Prophet then mentions the intervening time between that state in which the Jews gloried and their deliverance. Why so? Because they were soon after to be smitten heavily by God’s hand; but this, as we have seen, they did not think would take place. Hence he says, — “Since you cannot yet be made to believe that merited punishment is nigh you, experience shall be your teacher. In the meantime, let the faithful provide themselves with courage and, with a meek heart, patiently to submit to God, the righteous Judge: but, at the same time, let them expect a sure deliverance, when they shall have gone through all their evils; for when the ripened time shall come, the Lord will look on his Church; but she must be first afflicted.”

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(6) They shall waste.—Literally, feed upon, consume, depasture. The Land of Nimrod represents the opposing world-power.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. they shall waste] Lit. ‘feed off.’

the land of Nimrod] Comp. Gen_10:11, ‘Out of that land he [Nimrod] went forth into Assyria.’ There is a special significance in the phrase, for a Hebrew could hardly help connecting Nimrod with mârad, ‘to rebel.’ Assyria was one of those ‘disobedient’ nations spoken of in Mic_5:15.

in the entrances thereof] Lit., ‘in the gates thereof.’ Comp. Nah_3:13, ‘The gates of thy land.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword,.... Or "feed (e) upon it" with the sword, destroy the inhabitants of it; either spiritually subdue the nations of the world to the obedience of Christ, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; the preaching of the Gospel, the ministry of the apostles, and others, in the Gentile world; see Co2 10:3; or literally, meaning that the angels of the vials, the Christian princes, shall destroy the Ottoman empire with the sword:

and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof; the same with Babylon, the empire of which was first set up by Nimrod, the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel, Gen 10:11; the same with Nebrodas, a name of Bacchus, which is no other than Barchus the son of Chus, as Nimrod was the son of Cush, and Bacchus was a mighty hunter, as he was; all which Bochart (f) has observed: now his country was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar, that is, the land of Babylon, as the Targum of Onkelos and Jerusalem in Gen 10:10, render it; though some think Nimrod extended his dominions into Assyria; and translate (g) Mic 5:11 "out of that land, he" (that is, Nimrod) "went forth into Assyria, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah"; and the Targum of Jonathan is very express for it, which paraphrases the words thus,

"out of that land went forth Nimrod, and he reigned in Assyria, because he would not be in the counsel of the generation of the division, and he left these four cities; and the Lord gave him a place (or Assyria), and he built four other cities, Nineveh, &c.''

hence some (h) have thought that the land of Assyria and the land of Nimrod here design one and the same country; but Ashur, in the text in Genesis, seems rather to be the name of a man than of a place, even of the son of Shem so called, from whom the country of Assyria had its name; whereas, if had been so soon in the hands of Nimrod, and so many cities had been built by him in it, it would rather have been called by his name than Ashur's; and it seems most reasonable to conclude that the cities of Nineveh, &c. were built by the latter, and not the former; and the two countries of Assyria and Nimrod, or Babylon, are very plainly in this text distinguished from one another; though they might at the time of this prophecy be united under Esarhaddon, who was both king of Assyria and Babylon; and at this present time they are both in the hands of the Turks, and in all probability will be until this prophecy is fulfilled in the destruction of them by the Christian princes: the same thing is meant as before; and the word rendered "in the entrances thereof" may as well be translated "with its sword" (i); or, as the margin of our Bibles, "with her own naked swords"; so Kimchi and Aben Ezra interpret it:

thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders; that is, the King Messiah shall work this deliverance, as Kimchi and others (k) explain it; Christ delivered his people from all their spiritual enemies when he made peace for them; and he will deliver them in the latter day from both Pope and Turk, when he will destroy the man of sin by the breath of his mouth, and dry up the river Euphrates, and cast both beast and false prophet into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; though all that is said in this verse and Mic 5:5 may have had its accomplishment already, at least in part, in the Saracens and their empire, which begun in the year 623, and who prevailed very much in Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Persia, Egypt, and Africa, and even penetrated into Spain and France, in all which places were Christian churches; and so may be called "our land", as the churches therein "our palaces", which these people entered into, trod upon, profaned, or destroyed; and the seven or eight principal men raised against them may be the Christian princes that fought with them, and drove them back, and destroyed their land; such as Hugh the great, brother to Philip king of France; Robert earl of Flanders; Robert earl of Normandy, brother to William the Conqueror, king of England; Stephen earl of Blois; Raymund earl of Tholouse; Godfrey duke of Lorrain, and his brothers Baldwin and Eustachius, and others. These beginning at Nice, where once a famous Christian council was held, and driving the army of Solyman from thence, in the space off our years subdued many provinces of Asia, Lycaonia, Cilicia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Comagena; and at length having put to flight the Turks, and ejected the Saracens, took Jerusalem, and made Godfrey of Bullein king of it (l). Some (m) have interpreted it of the emperor of Germany, and the seven electors in the empire (for formerly they were no more), happily and with success carrying on a war against the Turks, Tartars, and Saracens, when they broke into Europe; but the former sense seems better; and it is best of all to understand the prophecy of the destruction of the Turk or Ottoman empire in the latter day by the Christian princes.

(e) "et depascent", Montanus, Drusius; "pascent", Piscator, Grotius, Cocceius. (f) Phaleg. l. 1. c. 2. col. 12. (g) Vatablus, Junius and Tremellius, Bochart, Cocceius, and others. (h) Bochart, Phaleg. l. 4. c. 12. c. 229. Bedford's Chronology, p. 773. (i) "gladiis suis", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Tigurine version; so R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 31. 2. (k) R. Isaac, ib. p. 283. Abarbinel, &c. (l) Vid. Witsii Exercitat. 8. de Assyriis in Miscel. Sacr. tom. 2. p. 218, 219, 220. (m) Vid. Gurtler. Voc. Typic. Prophetic. Explicat. p. 18.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And they shall waste - Literally, feed on, and so eat up. They who were shepherds of their own people, should consume their enemies. Jeremiah uses the same image. “The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch tents against her round about; they shall feed, each his space” Jer 6:3. So Joshua and Caleb say, “They, (the inhabitants of Canaan,) are bread for us” Num 14:9. So it was said to Peter, “arise, Peter, kill and eat” Act 10:13; and what once was common, defiled and unclean, shall turn to the nourishment and growth of the Church, and be incorporated into Christ, being made part of His Body.

And the land of Nimrod - Babylon, which should displace Assyria, but should carry on its work of chastising God’s people, is joined by Micah, as by Isaiah Isa. 10:5-34; 13–14:27, as an object of His judgment. In Isaiah, they are the actual Assyria Isa 10:12-15 and Babylon Isa 14:13-15 whose destruction is foretold, yet so as to shadow out rebellion against God in its intensest form, making itself independent of, or measuring itself against, God. Hence, probably, here alone in holy Scripture, Babylon is called “the land of Nimrod,” as indeed he founded it Gen 10:10, but therewith was the author of the tower of Babel also, which was built in rebellion against God, whence his own name was derived . Assyria then, and the world-empire which should succeed it, stand as representing the God-opposed world.

In the entrances thereof - (Literally, in the gates thereof.) The shepherds of Israel shall not act on the defensive only, but shall have victory over the world and Satan, carrying back the battle into his own dominions, and overthrowing him there. Satan’s malice, so far from hurting the Church, shall turn to its good. Wherein he hoped to waste it, he shall be wasted; wherein he seemed to triumph, he shall be foiled. So it has been ever seen, how, under every persecution, the Church grew. : “The more it was pressed down, the more it rose up and flourished;” , “Shivering the assault of the Pagans, and strengthened more and more, not by resisting, but by enduring.” Yet all, by whomsoever done, shall be the work of Christ alone, enduring in martyrs, teaching in pastors, converting through the Apostles of pagan nations. Wherefore he adds:

Thus (And) He shall deliver us from the Assyrian - Not they, the subordinate shepherds, but He, the Chief Shepherd until the last enemy shall be destroyed and death shall be swallowed up in victory, shall deliver, whether by them or by Himself as He often so doth, - not us only (the saying is the larger because unlimited) but - He shall deliver, absolutely. Whosoever shall be delivered, He shall be their deliverer; all, whom He alone knoweth, who alone “knoweth them that are His” 2Ti 2:19. “Neither is there salvation in any other” Act 4:12. “Whoso glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” 2Co 10:17. Every member of Christ has part in this, who, through the grace of God, “has power and strength to have victory and to triumph against the devil, the world, and the flesh” - not he, but the grace of God which is with him; and much more, all, whether Apostles or Apostolic men, or Pastors, or Bishops and Overseers, who, by preaching or teaching or prayer, bring those to the knowledge of the truth, who “sat in darkness and the shadow of death” Psa 107:10, and by whom “God translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son” Col 1:13.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They. Hystaspes first laid a tax of money on the Persians, who hence styled him a merchant. (Herodotus iii. 89.) --- He was severe, and often at war. (Calmet) --- Feed. They shall make spiritual conquests in the lands of their persecutors, with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, Ephesians vi. 17. (Challoner) --- With, &c. Septuagint, "in the ditch." Theodotion, &c., "gates," where sentence was given. --- Borders. Seven or eight princes have taken the place of Cambyses, who had invaded Judea, ver. 5. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And they, the seven shepherds and eight principal men, i.e. those great, wise, and successful instruments of God’s revenge, and of his church’s deliverance,

shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword: this passage seems to point to the Babylonians, who did invade, waste, and subdue the Assyrian kingdom under the conduct of Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, called also Berodach, 2Ki 20:12. He sent the congratulatory embassy to Hezekiah, newly by miracle cured of his mortal disease and delivered from the Assyrian, Isa 39:1,2. This Merodach taking the opportunity of the weakness of the Assyrian kingdom, partly by the great slaughter of Sennacherib’s army, and the murder of that mighty, daring monarch, and partly by the civil wars which ensued between the regicides and Esarhaddon, took arms, and succeeded in the attempt, subduing the Assyrian kingdom with force and bloodshed enough.

The land of Nimrod; the same, say some, with the land of Assyria but others, perhaps with better reason, refer this to Babylon, and the kingdom thereof, which by Nebuchadnezzar’s hand destroyed the Jews, Jerusalem, and temple, and was afterwards destroyed by the Medes and Persians, whom God raised to punish Babylon and release the Jews.

In the entrances: as we read, it denoteth the fortified frontiers, the garrisons which keep all the entrances of the kingdom; it denoteth also their cities, through the gates of which was great entrance, or their courts of judicature, which were kept in the gates: both their military power should be reduced and their civil power also by the prevailing conqueror.

Thus shall he; in this manner shall he, i.e. the Messiah,

deliver us, the Jews his people,

from the Assyrian; both as type of all other enemies, and he an enemy to the people of God.

When he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth in our borders: see this explained Mic 5:1. I add, that what is rendered when might be rendered because, and note the reason why the Lord Messiah doth so deal with Assyria first and Babylon next.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They shall waste. The word rendered "waste" (raah) is capable of two interpretations according as it is derived. It may mean "to break" or "to feed;" and in the latter sense may signify either "to eat up" or "to be shepherd over," as the Septuagint, poimanousi , The addition, with the sword, however, limits the explanation, whichever verb we refer it to. These leaders shall not only defend their own land against the enemy, but shall carry the war into the hostile territory, conquer it, and rule with rigour. (for the phrase, comp. Psa_2:9 Rev_2:27 Rev_12:5) True religion has always a war to wage with error and worldliness, but shall conquer in the power of Christ. The land of Nimrod. This is taken by some commentators to mean Babylon, the other great enemy of the Church of God. But Babylon is nowhere in Scripture called "the land of Nimrod," though Nimrod is connected with Babel in Gen_10:10; and the term is better explained here as a synonym of Assyria, used to recall the "rebel" (so Nimrod is interpreted) who founded the first empire, (Gen_10:8-12) and gives the character to the kingdom of this world. In the entrances thereof; literally, in the gates thereof; i.e. in the cities and fortresses, corresponding to the "palaces" of ver. 5. (comp. Isa_3:26 Nah_3:13) Septuagint, en th tafrw authv , with her trench;" Vulgate, in lanceis ejus, which, if the Hebrew he taken as Jerome reads it, will he in close parallelism with the words in the preceding clause, "with the sword." Thus (and) he shall deliver us. Israel has to undergo much tribulation and many struggles, but Messiah shall save her.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They - The seven shepherds, and eight principal men, those great instruments of God's revenge, and his church's deliverance. Waste the land - So did Merodach Baladan, king of Babylon. The land of Nimrod - The same with the land of Assyria. The entrance - The fortified frontiers. In this manner shall he, the Messiah, deliver the Jews, his people. The Assyrian - The type of all other enemies, to the people of God.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its entrances

The sword is a metonym for killing in war. Here the Israelites ruling over the Assyrians is spoken of ironically as if they were killing sheep instead of herding them. The land of Assyria is a metonym for the people who live there. The entrances to cities were where official business took place. AT: "They will make war against the people of Assyria, and they will rule the cities of the land of Nimrod" (See: Metaphor and Irony and Metonymy)

and the land of Nimrod

The words "they will shepherd" are understood from the beginning of the sentence. They can be repeated. AT: "and they will shepherd the land of Nimrod" (See: Ellipsis)

land of Nimrod

This is another name for the land of Assyria. Nimrod was a hunter and early ruler. Translators may add this footnote: "The name 'Nimrod' means 'rebellion.'" (See: How to Translate Names)

He will rescue

The ruler will rescue

like dew from Yahweh, like showers on the grass

Dew and rain showers refresh the land and cause things to grow. The Israelites will cause the people among whom they live to live will. (See: Simile)

grass, that do not wait for a man, and they do not wait for the children

"grass. It is not for a man that they wait, nor is it for the children." It is Yahweh alone who causes dew and rain showers.

translationWords

Assyria

sword

hand

remnant

Jacob

people group

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

like dew sent by the Lord—which does not come to the world through man, and people do not ask for it, so Israel will not hope for the help of man, but for the Lord.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.