Ryan White - Mic. 4.1-8 Exegetical Paper

In the Shadow of Mt. Zion, We Will Walk in His Paths: An Exegesis of Micah 4:1-8

Introduction

The focus of this paper is well-‐known prophecy in Micah 4:1-‐8 which foretells of

future elevation of Mt. Zion and the establishment of YHWH’s universal reign in Jerusalem

over the nations and a regathered Israel. It is a vision of YHWH enthroned as king in Zion.

This paper will take an in-‐depth look at the structure, literary context, genre, form, and

historical context of Micah 4:1-‐8, will offer exegetical commentary, and analyzes the

passage’s theological affirmations and the insights it offers for Christian application.

Translation of Micah 4:1-‐8

1 And it shall be in the days to come1 that the mountain of the house of YHWH will be

established2 over the mountaintops3 and it will be raised higher than4 the hills and the

peoples will stream to5 it. 2 And many nations will come and they will say, “Come and let

1 I chose to translate My#ImÎ¥yAh tyâîrSjAaV;b (literally “in the after-‐part/end of the days”) as “in the days to come” because it maintains the prophetic oracle’s temporal ambiguity. While this oracle is clearly oriented towards the future, it is unclear whether the future in mind is eschatological (as Mays asserts and the translation “end of days” connotes) or merely a “change of the times” (as Wolff argues). Hillers and Ben Zvi agree with Wolff that phrase speaks to an indefinite future. BDB offers that My#ImÎ¥yAh tyâîrSjAaV;b is a “prophetic phrase denoting the final period of the history so far as the speaker’s perspective reaches” and thus the sense varies with context. See James L. Mays, Micah, Old Testament Library (London: SCM Press LTD, 1976), 96; Hans Walter Wolff, Micah: A Commentary, trans. Gary Stansell (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1990), 119; Delbert R. Hillers, Micah, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), 50; Ehud Ben Zvi, Micah, Volume XXIB – The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 95; and F. Brown, S. Driver, and C. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1906), 31. 2 I translate the verbs here combination with each other because hÎyDh in conjunction with the participle ‹NwøkÎn exhibits a broken periphrastic construction. See BDB, 227. 3 While Wolff favors construing b as beth essentiae and translating it “as the peak of the mountains” (see Wolff, 120), Hillers makes the case that vaêør in combination with rDhDh (either singular or plural) seems to always mean “mountain-‐tops” (Gen. 8:5, Ex. 19:20, etc.). See Hillers, 49. 4 This is the comparative use of NIm; see Wolff, 120. 5 Hillers asserts that with the sense of rAhÎn in doubt on account of its rarity, “there is no firm basis for choice of the proper preposition.” Isaiah 2:2, a parallel passage opts for the preposition lRa instead and thus I translate lAo as such.

us go up to the mountain of YHWH and to the house of the God of Jacob that6 he may teach

us of his ways and let us walk in his paths for instruction will go out from Zion and the

word of YHWH from Jerusalem. 3 And he will arbitrate7 between many peoples and he will

settle disputes for mighty nations from afar8 and they will beat their swords into

plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will no longer lift up sword against

nation and they will no longer train for war. 4 But9 each man will sit under his vine and

under his fig tree and none shall terrify him for the mouth of YHWH of hosts has spoken.

5 Though10 all peoples walk each11 in the name of his god but we12 will walk in the name of

YHWH our God forever and ever. 6 On that day, the oracle of YHWH, I will gather the lame

[lit. “the one who limps”]13 and the banished and I will assemble together he whom14 I have

afflicted. 7 And I will make15 the limper into a remnant and the one removed far off into a

mighty nation and YHWH will rule over them in Mount Zion from now and forevermore. 8

6 I translate the w here as voluntative “that he may” since it is paired with a jussive verb. See BDB, 251. 7 I translate yE;b£ f#ApDv◊w as “arbitrate between” instead of the more traditional “judge between” since the imagery here is the “arbitration of warring nations” (Wolff, 122) rather than divine punishment. The parallel verb Ajy¢Ikwøh◊w “to settle disputes” supports this translation. 8 Hillers attests to the adjective use of the prepositional phrase qwóøj∂r_dAo; see Hillers, 50. 9 The w here has a disjunctive sense and this is indicated by the fact that normal syntax is altered with the conjunction prefixed to the subject instead of the verb. I translate it with an adversative sense. 10 Wolff argues that the concessive meaning of yI;k should be employed here, since it stands in contrast with the earlier movement of the oracle. See Wolff, 123. 11 Literally “a man,” but here vy™Ia has a distributive sense. 12 This is another adversative, disjunctive w. 13 This might be properly translated with the substantive “the lame,” but I wanted to in some way preserve the explicit sense of xDlAo as “limp” on account of its historical connection with the patriarch Jacob (Gen. 32:32). 14 The w here functions as a pronominal antecedent rather than a conjunction. See BDB, 81. 15 Wolff contends that MyIc + -l means “to transform” as in Mic. 1:6, thus I render it “make into.” See Wolff, 124.

To you,16 tower of the flock, the fortified hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come

and the former dominion shall arrive, sovereignty for the daughter of Jerusalem.

Structure of Micah 4:1-‐8

I. The Elevation of Zion, the Mountain of the House of YHWH, Over the Mountaintops (vv. 1-‐5) A. Divine promise of Zion’s elevation and YHWH’s redemption of the nations

(vv. 1-‐4) B. Israel’s confession of loyalty (v. 5)

II. The Gathering of the Remnant of Jacob (vv. 6-‐7) A. The oracle of YHWH concerning the end of exile (vv. 6-‐7a) B. YHWH’s kingship over Israel in Zion (v. 7b)

III. Israel’s Sovereignty Restored (v. 8)

Micah 4:1-‐8 is made up of three distinct complexes of prophetic sayings. These

complexes are united as a single literary unit around the issue of Zion’s future. “Zion” is

explicitly mentioned in all three complexes (vv. 2, 7b, and 8). Introductory and

concluding formulae establish the boundaries between the complexes. The first complex

begins in verse 1 with the introductory formula “and it shall be in the days to come” and

ends in verse 5 with the concluding formula “forever and ever.” Likewise the second

complex begins in verse 6 with “on that day, the oracle of YHWH” and concludes in verse

7 with “from now and forevermore.” Each complex has its own thematic unity and

primary voice. The first complex is concerned with the elevation of Zion and YHWH’s

interaction with the nations. In this complex, YHWH is always spoken of in the third

person. The second complex is concerned with gathering together of Israelite exiles and

their reconstitution as the remnant of Jacob. In this complex, YHWH primarily speaks in

16 Hillers argues this is a casus pendens, the emphasis of one component of a clause by putting it first and then repeating it in its proper placement in the clause ( ÔKyâ®dDo).

the first person, what Wolff refers to as “messenger speech.”17 The third complex is the

most difficult. Wolff, Mays, Hillers, and Ben Zvi all recognize verse 8 as an independent

unit despite Wolff’s claim that it exhibits “no stylistic or thematic break.”18 While lacking

a formal introductory formula, Ben Zvi identifies an introduction “made by vocatives,”

the casus pendens translated as “to you.”19 This complex exhibits further coherence by

the fact that all the verbs have a third person, feminine singular subject. Much of this

verse’s complexity can be attributed to its function as a “Janus, double duty unit,” a unit

that both faces the previous pericope, serving to conclude it, while also facing Micah 4:9-‐

5:1, providing textual coherence between the two pericopes.20

Literary Context

In terms of immediate literary context, Micah 4:1-‐8 is set between Micah’s

announcement of the utter destruction of Jerusalem in 3:12 (“Zion shall be plowed as a

field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded

height”)21 and an older22 complex of three “daughter of Zion” prophecies (Micah 4:9-‐5:1)

that alternate between oracles of woe (with their descriptions of a present experience of

conquest and exile) and promises of deliverance.

Micah 3:12 serves as the final word in the prophet’s program of judgment spoken

against Samaria and Jerusalem, which has been the focus of Micah 1-‐3. Micah 4:1-‐8, a

salvation oracle focused on the establishment of Jerusalem as the seat of YHWH’s reign,

17 Wolff, 115. 18 Ibid. 19 Ben Zvi, 109. See also Hillers, 56. 20 Ben Zvi, 108. 21 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations outside of Micah 4:1-‐8 are from the English Standard Version. 22 Wolff, 116.

stands not only in stark contrast, but as an antithetical challenge to what comes before.23

While Micah 3:9-‐12 is concerned with Jerusalem’s imminent future, Micah 4:1-‐8 looks

beyond to a far distant future when the sentence laid upon Jerusalem will be reversed and

YHWH will “change Zion’s status.”24 Ben Zvi (who holds to post-‐exilic setting for the

passage) sees Micah 4:1-‐8 as a hopeful reassurance that “the past destruction of monarchic

Jerusalem … has certainly not abrogated YHWH’s choice of Jerusalem.”25 Thus to Ben Zvi it

functions in its literary setting as the post-‐exilic community’s reaffirmation of order in the

face of chaos.26

The relationship of Micah 4:1-‐8 to the pericope that follows is more difficult to

determine. Mays sees Micah 4:9-‐5:1 as an explication of how the prophecy of Micah 4:8, a

salvation oracle concerning the return of dominion to Jerusalem, will be fulfilled in Israel’s

history.27 Ben Zvi sees the subsequent pericope as providing “a set of future scenarios that

are not logically congruent,” alternative visions of the future that both complement and

contrast with the vision of salvation offered in Micah 4:1-‐8.28 In later visions of the book,

YHWH is placed in a more adversarial relationship with the nations and the center of

salvific hope shifts from Zion/Jerusalem to Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2).

Genre and Form

Micah 4:1-‐8 is a collection of three salvation oracles (vv. 1-‐4, vv. 6-‐7, and v. 8)

that, in words of Ben Zvi, “delineates a horizon of an ideal future by suggesting a kind of

23 Wolff, 117. 24 Rick Byargeon, “The Relationship of Micah 4:1-‐3 and Isaiah 2:2-‐4: Implications For Understanding the Prophetic Message,” Southwestern Journal of Theology 46, no. 1 (2003): 20. 25 Ben Zvi, 96. 26 Ibid., 104. 27 Mays, 7. 28 Ben Zvi, 123.

dialogue among different yet related images of that future.”29 In the midst of these

oracles, verse 5 is inserted as a confessional statement of Israel’s covenant loyalty.

The pericope contains many of the motifs that characterize the salvation oracle

genre. It functions as a counterpoint to the preceding oracles of judgment, moving from

a description of present distress to a promise of its reversal by an event of salvation. It

begins with the introductory formula “and it shall be in the days to come” which signifies

a “change of times,” a temporal turning point that reinforces the motif of reversal.30

Furthermore, much of the passage’s imagery evokes the restoration of a state of well-‐

being as Zion is “established” and the scattered and ravaged flock of exiles is “gathered”

and “gathered together.” Finally the genre of a prophetic oracle is suggested because

certain sections (particularly vv.6-‐7a) are directly associated with the voice of YHWH.

This tripartite structure (with its three announcements of salvation) seems to

reflect the tripartite concerns of a community in exile with verses 1-‐4 emphasizing the

restoration of land and temple as the seat of YHWH’s reign, verses 6-‐7 focusing on the

regathering and reconstitution of the nation, and verse 8 concentrating on the return of

sovereignty and kingship.

Historical Context

The historical context of Micah 4:1-‐8 is much debated. In terms of the passage’s

historical context in the world within the text, the final editor/redactor attributes the oracle

(by virtue of its inclusion in this work) to the prophetic ministry of Micah the Moreshite in

the latter half of the 8th century B.C., “in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of

Judah” (Mic. 1:1), before the Babylonian exile. Scholars like Mays reject Micah’s authorship 29 Ibid., 103. 30 Wolff, 119.

of 4:1-‐8 on the basis that: 1) it lacks stylistic and vocabulary parallels with the “genuine”

oracles in Micah1-‐3; 2) its message stands in sharp contrast with those genuine judgment

oracles and with Micah’s conception of his vocation in Micah 3:8; 3) the oracle contradicts

the prophecy Micah is most famously remembered for in the generation following his death

(see Jeremiah 26:18); and 4) the oracle draws on elements of Zion theology that most

scholars attribute to exilic or post-‐exilic times.31 However Hillers rebuts Mays point for

point, claiming: 1) too small of a sample size to accurately analyze Micah’s “style” and the

discovery of some parallel (albeit, at times, insignificant) vocabulary between our pericope

and the genuine oracles; 2) the possibility that Micah 3:8 was not intended to be an all-‐

encompassing statement of Micah’s mission; 3) the reality that Micah 4:1-‐8 does not

preclude an earlier fulfillment of the devastation of Jerusalem; and 4) that the aspirations

and imagery of Zion theology are not limited to exilic and post-‐exilic periods.32 Hillers

points to the work of J.J.M. Roberts who postulated that many of the elements of Zion

theology were likely formulated in the days of the united monarchy and thus they function

here as an ideal future that contrasts with the present corrupt conditions Micah is speaking

against.33

Moving from the world within the text to the world of the text, one can explore the

historical context of the text by speculating about its uses within the life of ancient Israel.

Some scholars like Wolff regard that Micah 4:1-‐4 (and its parallel in Isaiah 2:2-‐4) as a

liturgy of dedication for the second temple on account of its “joyful character” and its

utilization of motifs common to Mesopotamian temple dedication hymns such as “the

31 Mays, 95. 32 Hillers, 52-‐53. 33 Ibid, 53.

grandeur of the mount of God” and the pilgrimage of the nations.34 Hillers sees Micah 4:5

(Israel’s confession of covenant loyalty) functioning as the liturgical response of a

congregation to the prophetic oracle.35 While intriguing, the text gives no indication of a

particular setting or audience. While the pericope assumes the existence of a temple on Mt.

Zion (the so-‐called “house of YHWH” in verse 1), it gives no indication if this is Solomon’s

temple, a hoped-‐for future temple or a rebuilt second temple. While the text also assumes

the existence of Israelite exiles, it gives no indication whether the exiles are presumed to be

from Sennacherib’s campaign, the Babylonian conquests, or the repatriated Jews who

returned in the Persian period, but considered themselves “still in exile, … still in need of

YHWH’s restoration, and still powerless.”36 It is as if the author made a conscious decision

to leave the text historically ambiguous. Ben Zvi concludes, “The text suggests that the

readers are to contextualize rather than historicize when they approach the text.”37

Exegesis

I. The elevation of Zion, the mountain of the house of YHWH, over the mountaintops (vv. 1-5)

The introductory formula “and it shall be in the days to come” places what follows

in a far distant future. The formula emphasizes that future’s hidden nature.38 The

prophet offers a vision of the future that is currently obscured from his reader’s view by

the pronouncement of Jerusalem’s destruction in the preceding verse. This vision of the

future focuses on Mt. Zion, the city of Jerusalem, and the temple, “the house of YHWH”

and “the house of the God of Jacob.” In this new, idealized future, the geography of the 34 Wolff, 118. 35 Hillers, 51. 36 Ben Zvi, 111. 37 Ibid., 110. 38 Wolff, 119.

land is transformed to better reflect the cosmic economy. Mt. Zion, “the mountain of the

house of YHWH,” will be elevated and “established,” firm, unshakeable, and permanent,

over and above the world’s mountaintops. This elevation is in defiance of Zion’s

topographical insignificance, in defiance of its promised destruction, and in defiance of

all other divine mountains. The phrase “the mountain of the house of YHWH” is actually

quite rare in the Hebrew Bible, appearing only the parallel passage39 Isaiah 2:1 and 2

Chronicles 33:15 in the context of King Manasseh of Judah’s religious reforms in the 7th

century BC. The derivative phrase “the mountain of the house” appears only in the

preceding verse (Mic. 3:12) and in Jeremiah’s quotation of that same oracle (Jer. 26:18).

The term emphasizes the presence of YHWH (notice that the divine name is omitted

when Zion’s devastation is referenced) and attributes the mountain’s pre-‐eminence to its

status as YHWH’s dwelling place. Wolff reads this as a polemic against the other divine

mountains in the ancient Near Eastern world.40 The prophet is claiming that the ancient

Near Eastern mythological motif of a deity ensconced in a palace atop mountain uttering

judgments over the nations finds its reality in the low hill of Zion. Through an act of

prophetic imagination, the prophet is revealing a glimpse of that obscured future reality.

The establishment of Zion as the seat of YHWH’s cosmic reign has implications for

the nations who function as the chief protagonists of this salvation oracle. (In this first

section, various terms for the nations, such as “many peoples” and “mighty nations from

39 There exists a strong, almost verbatim textual parallel between Micah 4:1-‐4 and Isaiah 2:2-‐4. Scholars debate inconclusively as the tradition’s authorship and the textual relationship between the two passages. Byargeon tentatively suggests Micah borrowed from Isaiah while Wolff points to a lively oral tradition and Hillers declares it “fatuous” to suppose the debate can be settled. Byargeon, 25. Hans Walter Wolff, “‘Swords into Plowshares’: Misuse of a Word of Prophecy?”, Currents in Theology and Mission 12, no. 3 (1985): 141. Hillers, 53. 40 Ibid., 120.

afar” are repeated seven times in five verses.) The elevation of Zion initiates of

pilgrimage of the nations to Jerusalem, a motif regularly found in prophetic literature.41

The nations “stream” to “the mountain of YHWH” and “the house of the God of Jacob” as

they previously streamed to Bel in Babylon (Isa. 51:44). Yet they go up to Jerusalem not

to bring tribute (Hag. 2:7) or to return exiles (Isa. 49:22) or even to make a confession of

devotion (Isa. 45:14), but in hope that they might learn “the ways” and “the paths” of

YHWH. They ascend to Zion anticipating YHWH’s instruction and prophetic word going

out to the nations. It is interesting to note that in this vision of an idealized future

neither priests, the practitioners of torah nor prophets, the practitioners of the debar-

yehwah are spoken of. This omission seems to be part of the prophet’s larger critique of

the failure of Israel’s leaders (Mic. 3:9-‐12).42 In elevated Zion, it is YHWH who

adjudicates, YHWH who teaches, and YHWH who divines.

There are significant religious, political, and social implications to the nations’

decision to learn to walk in YHWH’s paths. Walking in the paths of a deity involves

submission to that deity and a delegitimization of all other gods (cf. Mic. 4:5).43 This

submission leads to a dramatic transformation of the international political order as the

nations turn to YHWH for justice and for the arbitration of regional disputes. His justice

ushers in a comprehensive peace; the prophet employs the traditional description of a

change from wartime to peacetime: “and they will beat their swords into plowshares and

their spears into pruning hooks” (v. 3). Yet this is more than change of seasons; this is

the end of cycle of warfare for the nations will “no longer train for war.” The nations will, 41 Mays, 97. Wolff, 121. 42 Hillers, 51. 43 Walter Brueggemann, “‘Vine and Fig Tree’: A Case Study in Imagination and Criticism,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 43, no. 2 (Apr. 1981): 190-‐191.

of their own volition, permanently convert their limited metallic resources (cf. 1 Sam.

13:20-‐21) to serve agrarian rather than military needs or to quote Mays, “to cultivate life

instead of crafting death.”44

The vision then shifts from to the political implications to the social: “but each

man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall terrify him” (v. 4).

Disarmament and the end of the cycle of warfare allows “personal agrarian dream[s] of

well-‐being” to flourish.45 The imagery, often co-‐opted in imperial propaganda (1 Kings

4:25, 2 Kings 18:31, Isa. 36:16), is of someone secure in the possession of their ancestral

land, in good relationship with their neighbors (Zec. 3:10), and free from the fear of

either invasion or the seizures and burdens of the military state.46 This is in line with

Micah’s larger theme of a return to the kin-‐based system that is undisturbed by Israel’s

corrupt leaders. Concluding with the phrase “none shall terrify him,” the prophet

hearkens back to Israel’s oldest hope (Lev. 26:6).

The section ends with Israel’s confession of covenant faithfulness. At the present,

conditions do not reflect the prophetic vision. The nations still walk in the paths of their

gods. The cycle of international warfare continues unabated. Individuals do not rest

secured in their ancestral lands. Yet clinging to this prophetic promise, Israel will walk

in the path that will be the ultimate destiny of all nations. In the interim and in light of

the divine instruction and the prophetic word that has already gone out from Zion, Israel

liturgically resolves to “walk in the name of YHWH our God forever and ever” (v. 5b).

II. The gathering of the remnant of Jacob (vv. 6-7)

44 Mays, 98. 45 Brueggemann, 193. 46 Mays, 98. Brueggemann, 192.

The introductory formula “on that day” places the events of this salvation oracle

in the same indefinite future as the events of Micah 4:1-‐4. The secondary formula, “the

oracle of YHWH,” serves to both draw the reader’s attention and to indicate a change of

voice to the divine first person. 47 Consequently this oracle is concerned not with the

Gentiles nations but with the exiles of Israel, YHWH’s true constituency in Zion. Here the

prophet returns to the vocabulary of the first announcement of salvation in Micah 2:12.

We again see the paired verbs ‘asap (“to gather”) and qabas (“to assemble together”).

The imagery, explicit in Micah 2:12 but implicit in Micah 4:6-‐7a, is of a shepherd

regathering a ravaged, scattered flock, a cultural referent for the regathering of exiles. In

the ancient Near East, there appeared to be a ritual connection between the removal of a

sheep from its fold and the threat of exile. This connection between exiles and scattered

sheep can be seen in the 754 BC treaty between Ashunirari V of Assyria and Mati’ilu of

Arpad. The treaty was sealed with the following curse, “If Mati’ilu sins against (this)

treaty … then, just as this spring lamb, brought from its fold, will not behold its fold again,

also, Mati’ilu, together with his sons, daughters, officials, and the people of his land [will

be ousted] from his country, will not return to his country, and not behold his country

again.”48

The prophet describes the exiles as “banished,” “removed far off,” “afflicted,” and

“lame.” (The prophet uses feminine singular substantive adjectives here to refer to the

flock as a whole, not to different individuals or groups.) This last descriptor (hassole`ah)

literally translates as “the one who limps” and serves to identify the flock with the

47 Ben Zvi, 108. 48 In Hillers, 55.

patriarch Jacob, the only individual in the Old Testament with whom this verb is

predicated (Gen. 32:31). These are explicitly Israelite exiles (cf. Zeph. 3:19).

While YHWH is regarded as the agent responsible for the exiles’ troubles (“he

whom I have afflicted”), he is also agent responsible for their restoration. He will

transform them into “a remnant” and a “mighty nation” over whom he will rule as king

with the latter term clearly echoes the mighty Gentile nations of verse 3. Typically in

classical prophecy, “remnant” (se’erit) speaks to “the status of the people created by

judgment.”49 The remnant is the few who survived disaster. But here the term is clearly

intended to be positive for it is placed in parallel with “a mighty nation.” In the oracle,

“remnant” speaks of the community “created by God’s saving activity” and they are “by

character a mighty nation … a supernatural and invincible reality within world

history.”50 Like Zion, the remnant is established firm and immovable for perpetuity.

III. Israel’s sovereignty restored (v. 8)

In contrast to our previous salvation oracles, which were directed at populations,

this oracle is addressed a personified place, a place referred to alternately as migdal-eder

(“tower of the flock”) and the ophel (“fortified hill”) of the daughter of Zion. Migdal Eder

is mentioned in only twice in the Hebrew Bible: here and in Genesis 35:21 in the context

of the wanderings of the patriarch Jacob. The prophet is consciously locating the people

of Zion’s historic identity in the figure of Jacob. Migdal is a nomen loci et instrumentalis

derived from the verb gadal which means to “make great.” It is the place where a people

are made great, a “fortified tower … around which a small population is grouped.”51 This

49 Mays, 101. 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid., 103.

population is specified as “the flock,” a clear reference to the exilic remnant, the

regathered flock of YHWH, from the previous section. Ophel is placed in parallel with

“tower of the flock” and may be meant as a synonym. The term speaks of a fortified hill

or acropolis and topographically refers to southeast ridge between the Kidron and

Tyropoeon Valleys on whose lower reaches the City of David was built.52 The prophet

here is using “traditional epithets” for the city of Jerusalem “to remind the city of its past

and to assure its inhabitants that they shall again have a future”53

It is to these locations that the prophetic announcement of the return of

memshalah “dominion” and mamlakah “sovereignty” is directed. Memshalah speaks of

the abstract notion of authority and right to rule or by extension the realm in which such

authority is exercised.54 It can be spoken of in the context of individuals (Isa. 22:21, 1

Kings 9:19, 2 Kings 20:13), peoples (Jer. 51:28), heavenly bodies (Gen. 1:16), and YHWH

himself (Ps. 145:13). Mamlakah is roughly equivalent to the English word “kingdom”

and speaks of sovereignty and dominion. It has a broad semantic range and can be used

to refer to a political entity (1 Sam. 10:18, “the kingdoms that were oppressing you,” 1

Sam. 24:20, “the kingdom of Israel”) or the realm of an individual or ruling house (Deut.

3:4, “the kingdom of Og”). Interestingly, 1 Samuel 13:13-‐14 uses mamlakah to speak of

the “kingdom [of Saul] over Israel” that will not endure. Thus the biblical author is

making a distinction here between the status of a dynasty and the political entity of

Israel. Biddle argues that the prophet is utilizing Mesopotamian and Persian concepts of

52 Ibid. In later eras, Ophel refers to the quarter of the city of Jerusalem between the City of David and the Temple Mount (2 Chron. 27:3, 33:14; Neh. 3:26, 11:21). 53 Daniel J. Simundson, “The Book of Micah: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections,” in vol. 7 of The New Interpreter’s Bible (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996), 567. 54 BDB, 606.

dominion. He argues that memshalah and mamlakah should be understood abstractly as

the dominion and sovereignty the gods bestow upon a city, granting it the right to rule

irrespective of the holders of that authority.55 This dominion once bestowed upon a city

can be removed and transferred to another seat of authority (cf. Lamentation over the

Destruction of Sumer and Ur, II. 364-‐369). The Septuagint’s translation of Micah 4:8

affirms this interpretation for it inserts that dominion shall arrive “from Babylon,” the

seat to which’s Zion’s sovereignty had been transferred during the Babylonian exile.56 It

is also interesting to note that while the prophet is promising the return of sovereignty

and dominion to Jerusalem, he does not link this restoration of kingship with the Davidic

dynasty. Indeed the prophet has been consistent to focus on YHWH alone as leader and

king of Israel.

Theological Affirmations and Application

The central theological affirmation of Micah 4:1-‐8 is that the coming destruction

of Jerusalem does not abrogated YHWH’s choice of Zion as the seat of his reign. Yet this

theological affirmation is more nuanced that the imperial claims of the united

monarchy’s Zion theology. Micah’s theological affirmation permits both the death and

rebirth of Zion. In his seminal work The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann

writes that is the task of the prophet to “nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and

perception alternative to the consciousness and perception to the consciousness and

55 Mark E. Biddle, “Dominion Comes to Jerusalem: An Examination of Developments in the Kingship and Zion Traditions as Reflected in the Book of the Twelve with Particular Attention to Micah 4-‐5,” in Rainer Albertz, James Nogalski, and Jakob Wöhrle, eds. Perspectives on the Formation of the Book of the Twelve: Methodological Foundations – Redactional Processes – Historical Insights (Boston: De Gruyter, 2012), 260-‐262. 56 Ibid., 259.

perception of the dominant culture around us.”57 Micah’s oracle criticizes the royal

status quo with its implicit rebukes of Israel’s leaders and their policies of militarism and

usurpation that inhibit Micah’s glorious vision of the future. From Micah’s perspective,

Jerusalem must be destroyed for Zion to be elevated as the place where YHWH is king,

judge, priest, and prophet. But Micah’s oracle also energizes the people to walk in the

ways of YHWH because offers them a vision of the world and the future currently hidden

that is rooted in the new, free activity of God. This future is rooted in YHWH’s character,

both his universalism (as God of the nations) and his covenant faithfulness (his hesed) to

Israel.

So what is our application as Christians? When early church read this passage,

they saw Zion lifted up as a symbol for “the gathering of the nations in Christ”

(Augustine).58 Lactantius identified the instruction that goes out from Zion as the law of

the new covenant and Justin Martyr saw this vision fulfilled when the apostles carried

the gospel to the world from Jerusalem.59 Yet it was Cyril of Alexandria who discerned

the invitation this text presents. He writes in Commentary on Micah,

“They who are eager to go up into the mountain of the Lord and wish to learn thoroughly his ways promise a ready obedience, and they receive in themselves the glories of the life in Christ and undertake with their whole strength to be earnest in all holiness. ‘For let everyone,’ he says, ‘in every country and city go the way he chooses and pass his life as seems good to him, but our care is Christ, and his laws we will make our straight path; we will walk along with him; and that not for this life only, present or past, but yet more for what is beyond.’”60

57 Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination, 2nd ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001), 3. 58 Alberto Ferreiro, ed., The Twelve Prophets, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament, Volume XIV (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2003), 160. 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid., 162.

The imaginative prophetic vision ought to compel us to like the Israelites in verse 5 to

commit to walk in the present in the paths of our God, both anticipating and inaugurating

the future that is promised when Jesus and Zion are lifted up.

Bibliography Ben Zvi, Ehud. Micah. Volume XXIB – The Forms of the Old Testament Literature. Grand

Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000. Biddle, Mark E. “Dominion Comes to Jerusalem: An Examination of Developments in the

Kingship and Zion Traditions as Reflected in the Book of the Twelve with Particular Attention to Micah 4-‐5.” In Albertz, Rainer, James Nogalski, and Jakob Wöhrle, eds. Perspectives on the Formation of the Book of the Twelve: Methodological Foundations – Redactional Processes – Historical Insights. Boston: De Gruyter, 2012.

Brown, F., S. Driver, and C. Briggs. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1906.

Brueggemann, Walter. The Prophetic Imagination. Second edition. Minneapolis:

Fortress Press, 2001. Brueggemann, Walter. “‘Vine and Fig Tree’: A Case Study in Imagination and Criticism.”

Catholic Biblical Quarterly 43, no. 2 (Apr. 1981): 188-‐204.

Byargeon, Rick. “The Relationship of Micah 4:1-‐3 and Isaiah 2:2-‐4: Implications For Understanding the Prophetic Message.” Southwestern Journal of Theology 46, no. 1 (2003): 6-‐26.

Ferreiro, Alberto, ed. The Twelve Prophets. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture:

Old Testament, Volume XIV. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2003. Hillers, Delbert R. Micah. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Mays, James L. Micah. Old Testament Library. London: SCM Press LTD, 1976. Simundson, Daniel J. “The Book of Micah: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections.” In

Volume 7 of The New Interpreter’s Bible. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996. Wolff, Hans Walter. Micah: A Commentary. Translated by Gary Stansell. Minneapolis:

Augsburg Fortress, 1990. Wolff, Hans Walter. “‘Swords into Plowshares’: Misuse of a Word of Prophecy?” Currents in

Theology and Mission 12, no. 3 (1985): 133-‐147.

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