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Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” (Micah 5:2)
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Jerusalem was going to muster troops to fight Assyria. Still, Yahuwah took this opportunity to foretell that He would raise up someone from the tribe of Judah to rule on His behalf, that is, the Messiah. The prophecy says that the coming ruler’s goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. Some interpret this statement to mean that Yahushua existed from eternity. But is this a correct interpretation of Micah’s message?
The phrase goings forth is the Hebrew word motsaah. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, it means a family descent.1 Motsaah is the plural form of motsa, which Strong’s says is a place or act of going forth, issue, export, source, spring.2
Some Bibles translate the phrase His goings forth as whose origins. But instead of supporting the preexistence of Christ, this translation undermines it because Yahuwah, as an eternal being, cannot have an origin. Some may argue that the passage refers to the origin of Yahushua’s human nature, not his theorized God nature. If this is the case, according to the text, it would mean that Yahushua’s human nature existed long ago, from the days of eternity, a statement that no Trinitarian would accept.
The context of Micah’s prophecy helps us determine the meaning of motsaah. The prophet announced that the one destined to rule would come from, or originate from, the tribe of Judah, and Bethlehem would be the place of his going forth. There is no mention of heaven as the place from which the Messiah would come, only the small town in Judah.
The phrase days of eternity captures the interest of those who want to prove Yahushua preexisted. For them, it conjures up notions that Yahushua has existed from eternity and is Yahuwah. However, the entire phrase is from long ago, from the days of eternity. This pairing of phrases is called synonymous parallelism, a literary device that involves repeating a phrase using varying words.3 Because the two phrases are “parallel,” they will have the same meaning. Whatever long ago means, days of eternity, as its equivalent, must be translated to mean the same thing in this context. In Hebrew, qedem or long ago (or days of old as translated) means temporal, ancient time. Only two out of the eighty-seven times it is used in Scripture is translated as eternal or everlasting. The only other time qedem is used in Micah (7:20), it is translated as days of old. Comparatively, the word eternity in Hebrew is olam, meaning of long duration, antiquity. It can refer to eternity, but it can also simply refer to an unspecified time in the distant past or future. Thus, long duration or antiquity, not the word eternity, is a better translation. It is no wonder that numerous translators, given the context, reject the phrase days of eternity in favor of from ancient times and other similar phrasing:
English Standard Version
But 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.
New International Version
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Christian Standard Bible
Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.
Contemporary English Version
Bethlehem Ephrath, you are one of the smallest towns in the nation of Judah. But the LORD will choose one of your people to rule the nation–someone whose family goes back to ancient times.
NET Bible
As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah–from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.
Young’s Literal Translation
And thou, Beth-Lehem Ephratah, Little to be among the chiefs of Judah! From thee to Me he cometh forth — to be ruler in Israel, And his comings forth are of old, from the days of antiquity.
Scripture bears witness to the promise of the coming Messiah, which dates back to ancient times.
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This rendering is much better suited to the context and the rest of Scripture that tells us that Yahushua is a man instead of the one that aims to prove Yahushua preexisted as Yahuwah.
Scripture bears witness to the promise of the coming Messiah, which dates back to ancient times. Nine hundred years before Micah arrived on the scene, Jacob prophesied that a ruler from Judah would have an enduring kingdom.5Isaiah and Jeremiah also prophesied that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.6 But when the fullness of time came, as the apostle Paul would later write about Yahushua’s birth in Bethlehem, “Yahuwah sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”7 From where did Yahuwah send the Messiah? From the town of Bethlehem. How long had it been known that Yahuwah would send forth a king from the tribe of Judah? From days of old, from ancient times.
There is additional textual evidence from Micah that explains who the Messiah is. We are told that the Bethlehemite would rule for Yahuwah:
Micah 5:2 [Yahuwah speaking] “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,8 too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”
In other words, the Messiah would not rule on his behalf, as expected if Yahushua is Yahuwah, but as the agent of Yahuwah.
An agent is defined as one who has been “authorized to act for or in the place of another.”9 In Hebraic terms, the agent or the “one sent” is called the shaliah.10 The word comes from the verb shelach, which means to send. Professor and New Testament scholar James McGrath explains:
Agency was an important part of everyday life in the ancient world. Individuals such as prophets and angels mentioned in the Jewish Scriptures were thought of as ‘agents’ of Yahuwah. The key idea regarding agency in the ancient world appears to be summarized in the phrase from rabbinic literature so often quoted in these contexts: “The one sent is like the one who sent him.”11
The principle of agency, also known as the law of agency, is an important concept that helps us better understand Scripture, who Yahushua is, his ministry, and his relationship to Yahuwah.
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The principle of agency, also known as the law of agency, is an important concept that helps us better understand Scripture, who Yahushua is, his ministry, and his relationship to Yahuwah. Instead of being Yahuwah, as orthodoxy claims, Yahushua acts, speaks, and does the will of the Yahuwah who sent him. Those in academia have long known about this principle. Unfortunately, some pastors and Bible teachers have never heard of it or neglected to teach it to their flock.
That Yahushua is not Yahuwah is further emphasized by the remainder of the prophecy’s context:
Micah 5:4 And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of Yahuwah, In the majesty of the name of Yahuwah His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth.
Here, the distinction between the prophesied ruler and Yahuwah is even more precise, for the coming king has a God. This truth precludes Yahushua from being Yahuwah because Yahuwah, the supreme being, cannot have a God. Furthermore, we are told the Messiah will shepherd the flock, not in his strength, as we would expect if Yahushua is Yahuwah, but in the strength and authority provided by his God. Unfortunately, this portion of the text is overshadowed by the misinterpretation of verse 2.
Seven hundred years after Micah’s prophecy, the chief priests and scribes offered it in response to the magi’s question, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?”12 They understood that a human king from the tribe of Judah would be born in Bethlehem and that Yahuwah would equip him to rule on His behalf. They had no understanding that the would-be king preexisted as God, an idea that would not take full shape until the fourth century.
1 Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4163.htm In 2 Kings 10:27, motsaah is also used to speak of a sewer or latrine, with the idea that it is the place from which refuse flows.
2 motsa, #4161 and 4163, https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4161.htm
3 Synonymous Parallelism in Hebrew Literature, Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/synonymous-parallelism
4 Matthew 1:1-25; Luke 3:21-38. See also Deuteronomy 18:15.
5 Genesis 49:10.
6Isaiah 9:7; 16:5; Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15, etc.
7 Galatians 4:4.
8 Ephrathah is an ancient name for Bethlehem in Judah. It is used perhaps as a way to distinguish it from Bethlehem in Zebulun. (See in Judah: Genesis 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11, and 1 Samuel 17:12. In Zebulun: Joshua 19:15.)
9 “agent,” Merriam Webster Dictionary, accessed 06-16-19, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agent
10 Also, shaliach, saliah, and salah.
11 James F. McGrath, The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in its Jewish Context, (University of Illinois Press, 2009) p. 14.
12 Matthew 2:1-12.
This is a non-WLC article. Source: https://oneGodworship.com/did-micah-prophesy-that-Jesus-preexisted/
We have replaced the English titles and names of the Father and the Son with those employed by the apostles. In the scriptural quotations provided, we have restored their original names as used by the inspired writers. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the historical development by which the name Yahushua came to be rendered as “Jesus.” Additionally, we recognize that the English term “God” has been commonly employed as an equivalent for the Hebrew Eloah or Elohim. -WLC Team
