Mikha 4:1

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future ¹  the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; ² 

it will be more prominent than other hills. ³ 

People will stream to it.

Mikha 4:7

4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, ⁴ 

and those far off ⁵  into a mighty nation.

The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,

from that day forward and forevermore.” ⁶ 

Mikha 5:7

5:7 Those survivors from ⁷  Jacob will live ⁸ 

in the midst of many nations. ⁹ 

They will be like the dew the Lord sends,

like the rain on the grass,

that does not hope for men to come

or wait around for humans to arrive. ¹⁰ 

[4:1]  ¹ tn Heb “at the end of days.”

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

[4:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “make the lame into a remnant.”

[4:7]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of this difficult form is uncertain. The present translation assumes the form is a Niphal participle of an otherwise unattested denominative verb הָלָא (hala’, “to be far off”; see BDB 229 s.v.), but attractive emendations include הַנַּחֲלָה (hannakhalah, “the sick one[s]”) from חָלָה (khalah) and הַנִּלְאָה (hannil’ah, “the weary one[s]”) from לָאָה (la’ah).

[4:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “from now until forever.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “the remnant of” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “will be.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn This could mean “(scattered) among the nations” (cf. CEV, NLT) or “surrounded by many nations” (cf. NRSV).

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that does not hope for man, and does not wait for the sons of men.”

[5:7]  sn Men wait eagerly for the dew and the rain, not vice versa. Just as the dew and rain are subject to the Lord, not men, so the remnant of Israel will succeed by the supernatural power of God and not need the support of other nations. There may even be a military metaphor here. Israel will overwhelm their enemies, just as the dew completely covers the grass (see 2 Sam 17:12). This interpretation would be consistent with the image of v. 7.