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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - Matthew 2:6 - 2:6
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda - the “in” being familiarly left out, as we say, “London, Middlesex.”
art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, etc. - This quotation, though differing verbally, agrees substantially with the Hebrew and the Septuagint. For says the prophet, “Though thou be little, yet out of thee shall come the Ruler” - this honor more than compensating for its natural insignificance; while our Evangelist, by a lively turn, makes him say, “Thou art not the least: for out of thee shall come a Governor” - this distinction lifting it from the lowest to the highest rank. The “thousands of Juda,” in the prophet, mean the subordinate divisions of the tribe: our Evangelist, instead of these, merely names the “princes” or heads of these families, including the districts which they occupied.
that shall rule - or “feed,” as in the Margin.
my people Israel - In the Old Testament, kings are, by a beautiful figure, styled “shepherds” (Eze 34:1-10, etc.). The classical writers use the same figure. The pastoral rule of Jehovah and Messiah over His people is a representation pervading all Scripture, and rich in import. (See Psa 23:1-6; Isa 40:11; Eze 37:24; Joh 10:11; Rev 7:17). That this prophecy of Micah referred to the Messiah, was admitted by the ancient Rabbins.