As we continue in our series about what Hebrew Bible has to say concerning the deity of the Messiah, I was a bit stuck as to what Messianic prophecy I would cover next. However, I eventually settled on Micah 5:2. I will provide the verse with the surrounding context below:
"Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. 2But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men;" (Micah 5:1-5)
Jewish sources portray the figure as the Messiah:
וְאַתְּ בֵּית לֶחֶם אֶפְרָתָה כִּזְעֵיר הֲוֵיתָא לְאִתְמַנָאָה בְּאַלְפַיָא דְבֵית יְהוּדָה מִנָךְ קֳדָמַי יִפּוֹק מְשִׁיחָא לְמֶהֱוֵי עֲבֵיד שׁוּלְטַן עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל דִי שְׁמֵיהּ אָמִיר מִלְקָדְמִין מִיוֹמֵי עָלְמָא: (Targum Jonathan on Micah)
"And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah—whence David emanated, as it is stated (I Sam. 17:58): “The son of your bondsman, Jesse the Bethlehemite.” And Bethlehem is called Ephrath, as it is said (Gen. 48: 7): “On the road to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem.”.....from you shall emerge for Me—the Messiah, son of David, and so Scripture says (Ps. 118:22): 'The stone the builders had rejected became a cornerstone.' and his origin is from of old—“Before the sun his name is Yinnon” (Ps. 72:17)." (Rashi, source)
"Whence we do know that the name of the Messiah (was premundane)? Because it is said, "His name shall endure for ever; before the sun Yinnôn was his name" (Ps. 72:17). "Yinnôn," before the world had been created. Another verse says, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art to be least among the thousands of Judah, from thee shall he come forth unto me who is to be ruler over Israel; whose ancestry belongs to the past, even to the days of old" (Mic. 5:2). "The past," whilst as yet the world had not been created." (Midrash Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 3:4)
“this speaks concerning the business of the King Messiah, who shall reign over them, and shall be the Prince of their army; and it is plain that he shall be of the house of David: and it is said, "O thou, Bethlehem Ephratah", which was a small city, in the midst of the cities of Judah; and "although thou art little in the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto me" a man, a ruler in Israel, "whose goings forth are from the days of old"; the meaning is, the goings forth of the family of that ruler are from the days of old; that is, from the seed of David, and a rod from the stem of Jesse, who was of Bethlehem Judah.” (Abarbanel, Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 62. col. 2. , as cited in John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible)
Matthew 2:5-6 and John 7:41-42 also prove that the Jews of Jesus' time knew that the OT prophesied the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem.
Some have said that "Bethlehem Ephratha" refers to David, who was indeed from Bethlehem and is called an "Ephrathite" (1 Sam. 7:12). This would mean, according to them, that this verse is teaching that the Messiah would merely be descended from David, not actually born in Bethlehem. However, they should note Rashi's commentary above which states explicitly regarding the phrase "Bethlehem Ephratha" that it is referring to the town of Bethlehem. Plus, we as Christians do believe that Jesus was descended from King David (Matthew 1:1), so there wouldn't be a huge issue here. Nonetheless, it is obvious from the text itself that it is referring to the town of Bethlehem more specifically in this context.
The next thing to be examined is the meaning of the phrase "from of old, from ancient days" (וּמֹוצָאֹתָ֥יו מִקֶּ֖דֶם מִימֵ֥י עֹולָֽם). Many Orthodox Jews have interpreted this phrase as simply meaning "a long time ago" without conveying the idea of eternity. Throughout the OT, both meanings are intended in different contexts. Here are examples where the Hebrew word קֶּ֖דֶם can have the idea of "eternal" or "everlasting":
"The eternal [קֶּ֖דֶם] God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.’" (Deuteronomy 33:27, see also the translation from the Jewish website Chabad which translates it with the same meaning)
"Are you not from everlasting [קֶּ֖דֶם], O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof." (Habakkuk 1:12, link to Chabad's translation)
“‘Have you not heard that I determined it long ago [קֶּ֖דֶם]? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins," (Isaiah 37:26)
"The LORD has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago [קֶּ֖דֶם] ; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes." (Lamentations 2:17)
"to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient [קֶּ֖דֶם] heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice." (Psalms 68:33)
“The LORD possessed me at the beginning [קֶּ֖דֶם] of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago [מֵ֭עוֹלָם] I was set up, at the first, before [מִקַּדְמֵי] the beginning of the earth." (Proverbs 8:22-23)
"Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old [מִקֶּ֜דֶם]? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me." (Isaiah 45:21)
As we can see, qedem is used in different ways in different contexts. However, the word olam is also used to describe the Messiah as well. Here are some of its uses throughout the OT:
"Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting [עוֹלָֽם] God." (Genesis 21:33)
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting [עוֹלָ֤ם] God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable." (Isaiah 40:28, link to Jewish translation)
"The LORD is king forever and ever [עוֹלָ֣ם וָעֶ֑ד]; the nations perish from his land." (Psalms 10:16)
"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting [ּֽמֵעֹולָ֥ם עַד־֝עֹולָ֗ם] you are God." (Psalm 90:1-2)
"Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting [מֵֽעוֹלָ֣ם]." (Psalms 93:2)
"But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting [עוֹלָ֑ם] King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation." (Jeremiah 10:10)
Here is a final note from OT scholar Thomas E. McComiskey:
“The terms ‘old’ (qedem) and ‘ancient times’ (yeme ‘olam) may denote ‘great antiquity’ as well as ‘eternity’ in the strictest sense. The context must determine the expanse of time indicated by the expressions. In Micah 7:14, 20, for example, yeme ‘olam is used of Israel’s earliest history. But the word qedem is used of God himself on occasion in the OT (Deut 33:27; Hab 1:12), of God’s purposes (Isa 37:26; Lam 2:17), of God’s declarations (Isa 45:21; 46:10), of the heavens (Ps 68:33 [34 MT]), and of the time before Creation (Prov 8:22-23). At any rate the word qedem can indicate only great antiquity, and its application to a future ruler–one yet to appear on the scene of Israel’s history–is strong evidence that Micah expected a supernatural figure. This is in keeping with the expectations of Isaiah 9:6, where the future King is called el (‘God’), an appellation used only of God by Isaiah. It is also in keeping with the common prophetic tradition of God’s eventual rule over the house of Israel (Isa 24:23; Mic 4:7; et al.). Only in Christ does this prophecy find fulfillment.” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary with the New International Version: Daniel and the Minor Prophets, Volume 7, p. 427)
A further insight on the meaning of miqqedem can be found from the Talmud:
"The Garden of Eden was created before the world was created, as it is written: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden eastward [mikedem]” (Genesis 2:8). “Eastward [mikedem]” is interpreted in the sense of before [mikodem], i.e., before the world was created." (Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim 39b)
Notice that they say mikedem is interpreted in the sense of "before the world was created".
A final note is from Rashi's commentary:
"and his origin is from of old—“Before the sun his name is Yinnon” (Ps. 72:17)." (Rashi, source)
Notice that Rashi quotes from Psalm 72:17 (we deal with that text quite thoroughly in part 1 of this article series). The phrase "before the sun" is an expression of eternity (see Proverbs 8:23 where similar language is used in regards to the earth).
The church father Cyril of Jerusalem also interpreted Micah 5:2 as speaking of the divinity of the Messiah:
"For godliness it suffices you to know, as we have said, that God has One Only Son, One naturally begotten; who began not His being when He was born in Bethlehem, but Before All Ages. For hear the Prophet Micah saying, And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, art little to be among the thousands of Judah. Out of you shall come forth unto Me a Ruler, who shall feed My people Israel: and His goings forth are from the beginning, from days of eternity. Think not then of Him who is now come forth out of Bethlehem, but worship Him who was eternally begotten of the Father. Suffer none to speak of a beginning of the Son in time, but as a timeless Beginning acknowledge the Father. For the Father is the Beginning of the Son, timeless, incomprehensible, without beginning." (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 11)
There are even Islamic sources which agree that our Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem:
"Gibril said: 'Alight and pray here.' He [Muhammad] did so and remounted, then the Buraq continued his lightning flight and Gibril said: 'Do you know where you prayed?' He said no. Gibril said: "You prayed in Bayt Lahm [Bethlehem], where 'Isa ibn Maryam was born." ... (Islamic Doctrines & Beliefs, Volume 1: The Prophets in Barzakh, the Hadith of Isra' and Mi'raj, The Immense Merits of Al-Sham, The Vision of Allah, Al-Sayyid Muhammad Ibn 'Alawi al-Maliki, translation and notes by Dr. Gibril Foaud Haddad [As-Sunna Foundation of America, 1999], pg. 100)
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