Micah 5:9

Mic 5:9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

Ver. 9. Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine adversaries] q.d. Adversaries thou shalt be sure of, O my Church, but thou shalt have the better of them. Thou shalt keep footing still under the standard of the cross, and prevail, Sub militia crucis (Calv.). The mountain of the house of the Lord shall overtop all other mountains of worldly power, Mic 4:1. It shall be as that mountain not far from Arbela (where the empire of the world was won and lost in one day), called Nicatorium by Alexander the Great, as a constant trophy of that famous victory he there got over Darius, νικατοριον ορος (Strabo). As she is highest in the favour of God, so she shall be highest in herself; and her enemies shall be found liars unto her. Her hand shall be lifted up, and fall very heavily upon her adversaries: if not sooner, yet at utmost at the resurrection. The upright shall have dominion over them in that morning, Psa 49:14, the Church shall shine as the sun in his strength, when her enemies shall be in that place that is fittest for them, even the lowest place, the footstool of Christ. Meanwhile she conquereth then when she is conquered (as Christ overcame as well by patience as by power), and is sure not to be shivered though shaken, not to be drowned though doused over head and ears in the waters of affliction.

“ Niteris incassum Christi submergere navem:

Fluctuat, at nunquam mergitur illa ratis. ”

That ship may be tossed, saith one, not shipwrecked, whereof Christ is the pilot, the Scripture the compass, the promise the tacklings, hope the anchor, faith the cable, the Holy Ghost the winds, and holy affections the sails, filled with heavenly graces. Such a soul sails safely, and will neither fall upon the soft sands of presumption nor hard rocks of despair.

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.

Thine hand shall be lifted up--In Isa 26:11 it is Jehovah's hand that is lifted up; here Israel's as Mic 5:8 implies, just as "Zion" is addressed and directed to "beat in pieces many people" (Mic 4:13; compare Isa 54:15, Isa 54:17). For Israel's foes are Jehovah's foes. When her hand is said to be lifted up, it is Jehovah's hand that strikes the foe by her (compare Exo 13:9, with Exo 14:8).

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 9. All thine enemies shall be cut off.] The Assyrians, who had destroyed Israel; and the Babylonians, who had ruined Judah.

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

He confirms what is said in the last verse, and expresses in other words what he meant, and what we have explained, — that though the Church must contend with many strong and violent enemies, it will not yet fail, for the Lord will supply it with strength from heaven. Exalted, he says, shall be thy hand, that all thine enemies may be cut off He promises not that the Church shall be in a quiet state, but victorious, and declares also that there will never be wanting enemies. This promise, then, ought to arm us for enduring patiently, as we cannot conquer except by fighting. As then there will be always enemies to oppose the Church of God; yea, to attempt its ruin, the Prophet says here, Exalted shall be thy hand above thine enemies.

But it may be asked, When has this promise been fulfilled? For we know that since the people had been led away into the Babylonian exile, they had always been either tributaries, or kept under cruel tyranny, or at least had been unequal to their enemies. But this principle ought ever to be remembered, — that the faithful ought to be satisfied with victory, — that however hard they may be pressed, and however constant may be the contests which they have to carry on, and however wearisome, this one thing ought still to be sufficient for them — that they shall not wholly perish. And it appears evident, that God’s people have always been preserved by his invincible hand, however numerous have been their opposing enemies. We must also keep in mind what we have just heard, — that the promise here is not made to the whole people, but to a residue only. And it surpasses the expectation of the whole world, that even a small member could have survived so many slaughters, by which they might have been swallowed up a hundred times. Now then we see that it had not been without reason promised to the faithful, that they should be made conquerors over all their enemies. But this has not been really fulfilled, except under the conflict of the cross. It now follows —

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.

9. An exulting address to Israel marching forth against his enemies.

Thine hand shall be …] Rather, ‘let thine hand be;’ similarly in the next clause.

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.

Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries,.... O remnant of Jacob or Israel, as the Targum; the church of God; now will be the time that it shall prevail over all the antichristian states; now will the Christian princes pour out the vials of God's wrath upon them; and they shall feel the strength and weight of their hand; which will fall heavy upon them, even to their utter destruction: or thine hand, O Messiah, the ruler in Israel, the man the peace that shall deliver from the Assyrian; and who will be at the head of his church and people, the remnant of Jacob, and destroy their enemies with the sword that proceeds out of his mouth:

and all thine enemies shall be cut off; all the enemies of Christ and his church; all the kings of the earth that shall gather against them, the beast and false prophet, with all their followers; see Rev 19:19.

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

Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries - The might of the Church is the Might of Christ in her, and the glory of the Church is His from whom it comes and to whom it returns. It is all one, whether this be said to Christ or to the “remnant of Jacob, that is, His Church. Her “enemies” are His, and her’s only because they are His, and hate her as belonging to Him. They “shall be cut off,” either ceasing to be His enemies, or ceasing to be, as Julian or Arius or antichrist, “whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His Mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His Coming” 2Th 2:8. And in the end, Satan also, over whom Christ gave the Apostles “power to tread on all the power of the Enemy” Luk 10:19, shall be “bruised under our feet” Rom 16:20.

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

Thine; Messiah, or a people of God, nay both, forasmuch as whatever these can do, they do it, not in their own power, but in Christ’s power.

Thine hand; thy strength and power, for so does the Scripture usually express strength or might.

Shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries; shall be greatly exalted, and shall be wonderfully successful against enemies, who in great multitudes did set upon the people of God; such were those who fought the Maccabees, and were defeated by them.

All thine enemies, who do obstinately hold on in the enmity of their natures, ways, and doings,

shall be cut off; finally, certainly, eternally, and dreadfully perish. This hath a partial fulfilling now, but its full completion will be when Christ will appear the Judge of quick and dead, when all his enemies shall be made his footstool, Psa 110:1.

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

The prophet"s exulting prayer for the success of his people. Thine band shall be, etc.; rather, let thine hand be lifted up; and so in the next clause, "let thine enemies be out off." The phrase, "high be thy hand upon, or over," recalls the expression in Exo_14:8, "The children of Israel went out with a high hand". (comp. Num_33:3 Isa_26:11; and our idiom, "to get the upper hand (For the promise contained in the prayer, see Isa_60:12)

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

Thine hand - Thou people of God.

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

that I will cut your horses—the Egyptian aid upon which you rely to supply you with horses.

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.