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Mic_5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.
Ver. 2. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah] Not so called from Ephratah, Caleb’s wife, 1Ch_2:19; 1Ch_2:50-51, but from its fruitfulness; whence also it had the name Bethlehem, that is, the house of bread, where Jesus (that bread of life, that came down from heaven, Joh_6:33) was born in the fulness of time, as is here first foretold by this prophet; that great mystery of godliness being revealed to the world by degrees, in several ages. Here was Christ born by mere accident, in regard of his parents, who were brought hither by a tyrannical edict of Augustus, Luk_2:2, but yet by a sweet providence of God, that this Scripture might be fulfilled, and our faith in Christ settled.
Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah] Or, Art thou little? &c.; q.d. no such matter: and so it agreeth with Mat_2:6. Or thus: And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, it is a small thing to be among the princes of Judah: Out of thee shall come a ruler, q.d. thou hast a dignity above this, and above them all, in that out of thee shall come a ruler. Take tsagnir in the neuter gender (as Scultetus, after Osiander, and Forster doth), and then the seeming difference ( åíáíôéïöáíïò ) between the prophet and evangelist is taken away. Some make St Matthew to relate the words of the Scribes to Herod, as they had varied the text before him. But we find not that they are anywhere taxed for altering or corrupting the text, but for misinterpreting it only, Mat_5:17-48. Besides that, they were by their office text men, to look to the letter of the Scripture, and to keep it pure, 1Co_1:20; where they are distinguished from teachers of traditions and teachers of allegories.
Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me] That is, to God the Father; that we may know that the coming of Christ in the flesh was a plot of God’s own contriving. He came not by chance, but by counsel; him hath God the Father sealed, anointed, and appointed to the work, Joh_6:27. This is comfortable to consider.
That is go be ruler in Israel] Matthew rendereth it, a captain that shall feed my people Israel, Mat_2:6. {See Trapp on "Mat_2:6"}
Whose goings forth have been from of old] This is spoken of Christ’s eternal generation, which none can declare, Isa_53:8. "What is God’s name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?" Pro_30:4. The Scripture usually speaketh of this grand mystery by way of circumlocution. It is here spoken of in the plural number for the excellence of it. In this text, then, we have a description of Christ, in his natures and offices. See the like Rom_1:3-4, and adore the fulness of the Scriptures, Adoro plenitudinem scripturarum (Aug.).