Micah 5:3
in Micah 5Therefore Israel will be abandoned until she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of His brothers will return to the children of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
KJV
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
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This verse in Micah 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 3) Because of this, He will give them until the time when she who is in labor gives birth, and the rest of his brothers shall return to the children of Israel. LXX: Therefore, He will give them until the time of the one giving birth: she shall give birth, and the rest of his brothers shall return to the children of Israel.
This site's exposition
until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth
on Micah 5:3-4
Therefore he will give Israel up for a time, until she that travails brings forth, and the remnant of his brethren returns to join the children of Israel, the interval between the ruler's promised coming and Israel's full restoration named but not measured. The travailing woman is read two ways in the tradition, some hearing Zion herself in the pains of exile before her children are regathered, others hearing the birth the previous verse has just promised; the bench names both without forcing a single referent. He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord and in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and shall be great unto the ends of the earth, a reign the text will not confine to Israel alone.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But now, the same star which led the magi to the place where the infant God was to be found with his virgin mother could of course have led them right to the very city. But it withdrew, and didn't appear at all to them again, until the Jews themselves had been questioned about the city where Christ was to be born. This was to oblige them to name it themselves, on the evidence of divine Scriptures, and to say themselves, "In Bethlehem of Judah. For so it is written, 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah; for from you shall come forth the leader who will rule my people Israel.' " What else can divine Providence have meant by this, but that among the Jews would remain only the divine Scriptures by which the nations would be instructed, they themselves being blind? This evidence they would carry about with them not as an assistance to their own salvation but as evidence of ours. Because today it may happen that when we bring forward prophecies about Christ, uttered long before and now made clear by the events that have fulfilled them, the pagans whom we wish to gain will say that they weren't foretold so long ago but have been composed by us after the event, so that what has later occurred may be thought to have been previously prophesied. Then we can cite the volumes owned by the Jews, to clear the doubts of the pagans, who were already prefigured in those magi, whom the Jews instructed from the divine books about the city in which Christ was born, without themselves either seeking or acknowledging him.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"He shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth." This is what the prophet calls Jerusalem. This means he will abandon them to the afflictions of captivity until the time of the return. This means that these …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Though the out-goings of the Messiah were from everlasting, yet the redemption in Jerusalem, the consolation of Israel, must be waited for ( Luke ii. 25-38 ) until the time that she who should bring forth (so the virgin Mary is called, as Christ is himself called, He that shall come ) shall bring forth; and in the mean time he will give them up.
Give them up - To the Chaldeans. She - The daughter of Zion, compared here to a woman in travail, shall be delivered out of captivity. His brethren -- the brethren of the Messiah.
Therefore will he give them up,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore - Since God has so appointed both to punish and to redeem, He, God, or the Ruler “whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting,” who is God with God, “shall give them up, that is, withdraw His protection and the nearness of His Presence, “giving them up:” (1) into the hands of their enemies. And indeed the far greater part never returned from the captivity, but remained, although willingly, in the enemy’s land, outwardly shut out from the land of the promise and the hope of their fathers (as in 2Ch 36:17).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Israel's deliverance from her long travail-pains of sorrow will synchronize with the appearance o� Messiah as her Redeemer (Ro 11:26) in the last days, as the Church's spiritual deliverance synchronized with the virgin's giving birth to Him at His first advent. The ancient Church's travail-like waiting for Messiah is represented by the virgin's travail.
Therefore wilt he give them up - Jesus Christ shall give up the disobedient and rebellious Jews into the hands of all the nations of the earth, till she who travaileth hath brought forth; that is, till the Christian Church, represented Rev 12:1, under the notion of a woman in travail, shall have had the fullness of the Gentiles brought in. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return; the Jews also shall be converted unto the Lord; and thus all Israel shall be saved according to Rom 11:26. Unto the children of Israel - Taking in both families, that of Judah and that of Israel. The remnant of the ten tribes, wherever they are, shall be brought in under Christ; and though now lost among the nations of the earth, they will then not only be brought in among the fullness of the Gentiles, but most probably be distinguished as Jews. On this verse Abp. Newcome says, “The sense is, God will not fully vindicate and exalt his people, till the virgin mother shall have brought forth her Son; and till Judah and Israel, and all the true sons of Abraham among their brethren the Gentiles, be converted to Christianity.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֣ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יִתְּנֵ֔ם | yitenem | he will deliver up them | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| עֵ֥ת | ʾet | a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| יוֹלֵדָ֖ה | yoledah | [when one who is] about to give birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
| יָלָ֑דָה | yaladah | she has given birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְיֶ֣תֶר | veyeter | and [the] rest of | H3499 → | |
| אֶחָ֔יו | ʾechav | brothers his | H251 → | |
| יְשׁוּב֖וּן | yeshuvun | they will return ! | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | with | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
לָכֵ֣ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
יִתְּנֵ֔םhe will deliver up them
yitenemH5414 →2011 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
עֵ֥תa time
ʾetH6256 →296 times
יוֹלֵדָ֖ה[when one who is] about to give birth
yoledahH3205 →496 times
יָלָ֑דָהshe has given birth
yaladahH3205 →496 times
וְיֶ֣תֶרand [the] rest of
veyeterH3499 →
אֶחָ֔יוbrothers his
ʾechavH251 →
יְשׁוּב֖וּןthey will return !
yeshuvunH7725 →1056 times
עַל־with
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 1:21She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
it leads to
- Acts 13:23
From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.
- Acts 4:12
Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
- John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- 1 John 3:5
But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.
- Colossians 1:20–23
and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
- Acts 13:23
Through
Micah 4:7And I will make the lame into a remnant, and the outcast into a strong nation. Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.
it leads to
- Daniel 7:14
And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is…
- Micah 5:7–8
Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.
- Luke 1:33
and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”
- Daniel 7:14
Where this verse is studied
About Micah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 200:3; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON MICAH; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.