Mikha 5:5

5:5 He will give us peace. ¹ 

Should the Assyrians try to invade our land

and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, ² 

we will send ³  against them seven ⁴  shepherd-rulers, ⁵ 

make that eight commanders. ⁶ 

Mikha 7:12

A Closing Prayer

7:12 In that day people ⁷  will come to you ⁸ 

from Assyria as far as ⁹  Egypt,

from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, ¹⁰ 

from the seacoasts ¹¹  and the mountains. ¹² 

[5:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and this one will be peace”; ASV “and this man shall be our peace” (cf. Eph 2:14).

[5:5]  ² tc Some prefer to read “in our land,” emending the text to בְּאַדְמָתֵנוּ (bÿ’admatenu).

[5:5]  ³ tn Heb “raise up.”

[5:5]  ⁴ sn The numbers seven and eight here symbolize completeness and emphasize that Israel will have more than enough military leadership and strength to withstand the Assyrian advance.

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and eight leaders of men.”

[7:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “they.” The referent has been specified as “people,” referring either to the nations (coming to God with their tribute) or to the exiles of Israel (returning to the Lord).

[7:12]  ⁸ tn The masculine pronominal suffix suggests the Lord is addressed. Some emend to a feminine form and take Jerusalem as the addressee.

[7:12]  ⁹ tc The MT reads וְעָרֵי (vÿ’arey, “and the cities [of Egypt]”), but the parallel line indicates this is a corruption of וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “even to”).

[7:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the River,” referring to the Euphrates River. This has been specified in the translation for clarity (so also NASB, NIV).

[7:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and sea from sea.” Many prefer to emend this to מִיָּם עַד יָם (miyyam ’ad yam, “from sea to sea”).

[7:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and mountain of the mountain.” Many prefer to emend this to וּמֵהַר עַד הַר (umehar ’ad har, “and mountain to mountain”).