Michah 5 מיכה ה׳

וְאַתָּה בֵּית לֶחֶם אֶפְרָתָה. שֶׁיָּצָא דָוִד מִשָּׁם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר בּוֹ (שמואל א יז:נח) ״עַבְדְּךָ יִשַׁי בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי״ וּבֵית לֶחֶם קָרוּי אֶפְרָת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית מח:ז) ״בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶפְרָת הִיא בֵּית לָחֶם״:

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.”

צָעִיר לִהְיוֹת בְּאַלְפֵי יְהוּדָה. רָאוּי הָיִיתָ לִהְיוֹת צָעִיר בְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹת יְהוּדָה מִפְּנֵי פְּסֹלֶת רוּת הַמּוֹאֲבִיָּה שֶׁבָּךְ:

you should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah—You should have been the lowest of the clans of Judah because of the stigma of Ruth the Moabitess in you.

מִמְּךָ לִי יֵצֵא. מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָּוִד וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (תהלים קיח:כב) ״אֶבֶן מָאֲסוּ הַבּוֹנִים״:

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.”

וּמוֹצָאֹתָיו מִקֶּדֶם. ״לִפְנֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ יִנּוֹן שְׁמוֹ״ (שם):

and his origin is from of old—“Before the sun his name is Yinnon” (Ps. 72:17).

לָכֵן יִתְּנֵם עַד עֵת יוֹלֵדָה. יִתְּנֵם בְּיַד אוֹיְבֵיהֶם עַד בֹּא הָעֵת אֲשֶׁר חָלָה וְיָלְדָה צִיּוֹן אֶת בָּנֶיהָ, צִיּוֹן אֲשֶׁר הֶחֱזִיקָה עַתָּה חִיל כַּיּוֹלֵדָה וְעַכְשָׁיו הִיא קְרוּיָה יוֹלֶדֶת. וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ אָמְרוּ מִכָּאן אֵין בֶּן דָּוִד בָּא עַד שֶׁתִּפְשׁוֹט הַמַּלְכוּת הָרְשָׁעָה תִּשְׁעָה חֳדָשִׁים עַל כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ, אַךְ לְפִי פְשׁוּטוֹ זֶהוּ הַצָּעָה שֶׁפֵּרַשְׁתִּי:

Therefore, He shall deliver them until the time a woman in confinement gives birth—He shall deliver them into the hands of their enemies until the coming of the time that Zion has felt the pangs of labor and borne her children; Zion, which is now seized by the pangs of labor, is now called a woman in confinement. [I.e., now the labor pains will cease and the redemption will come about.] But our Sages state that from here we deduce that the son of David will not come until the wicked kingdom spreads over the entire world for nine months (Yoma 10b, Sanh. 98b). But, according to its simple meaning, this is the structure as I explained.

וְיֶתֶר אֶחָיו. שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה כְּלוֹמַר שְׁאָר שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה:

and the rest of his brothers—The brothers of the King Messiah; i.e., the rest of the tribe [of Judah].

יְשׁוּבוּן עַל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל. יִתְחַבְּרוּ עִם שְׁאָר הַשְּׁבָטִים וְהָיוּ לְמַמְלָכָה אַחַת וְלֹא יֵחָצוּ עוֹד לִשְׁתֵּי מַמְלָכוֹת:

shall return upon the children of Israel—Judah and Benjamin shall join the other tribes and become one kingdom, and they shall no longer be divided into two kingdoms.

וְרָעָה. וּפִרְנֵס אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:

and lead Heb. וְרָעָה. And lead (וּפִרְנֵס) Israel.

וְיָשָׁבוּ. מִן הַגָּלֻיּוֹת:

and they shall return Heb. וְיָשָׁבוּ. They shall return now from the exiles.

כִּי עַתָּה יִגְדַּל. מַלְכָּם:

for then he shall become great I.e., their king.

עַד אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ. וֶהֱבִיאוּם מִנְחָה אֵלָיו בַּסּוּסִים וּבָרֶכֶב:

until the ends of the earth—And they shall bring tribute to him [the Messiah] with horses and chariots.

וְהָיָה זֶה שָׁלוֹם. גָּמוּר וְקָבוּעַ בְּאֵין הֶפְסֵק עוֹד וְלֹא יִדְמֶה לִשְׁאָר הַתְּשׁוּעוֹת שֶׁהָיוּ צָרוֹת אַחֲרֵיהֶן:

And this shall be peace—A complete and permanent peace, without interruption, and it will not resemble the other redemptions after which there were troubles.

אַשּׁוּר כִּי יָבֹא. הֲרֵי כִּי מְשַׁמֵּשׁ בִּלְשׁוֹן ׳אִם׳, אִם יָבֹא בְּאַרְצֵנוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר בָּא עַתָּה:

should Assyria come Heb כִּי יָבוֹא. This כִּי serves as “if” - If he comes into our land as he comes now.

וַהֲקֵמֹנוּ עָלָיו שִׁבְעָה רֹעִים. שִׁבְעָה וּשְׁמוֹנָה, רַבּוֹתֵינוּ פֵּרְשׁוּ שְׁמוֹתֵיהֶן בְּמַסֶּכֶת סֻכָּה וְאֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ מֵהֵיכָן לָמְדוּ:

we will appoint over them seven shepherds and eight—Concerning the seven and eight, our Rabbis enumerated their names in Tractate Sukkah, but I do not know whence they derived them. [referring to Sukkah 52b]

וְרָעוּ אֶת אֶרֶץ אַשּׁוּר. וְיְרוֹצְצוּ כְּמוֹ (שם ב) ״תְּרֹעֵם בְּשֵׁבֶט בַּרְזֶל״:

And they shall break the land of Assyria Heb. יְרָעוּ. And they shall break, similar to (Ps. 2:9) “You shall break them (תְּרֹעֵם) with an iron rod.”

וְאֶת אֶרֶץ נִמְרֹד. הִיא בָּבֶל:

and the land of Nimrod—That is Babylon.

בִּפְתָחֶיהָ. בְּשַׁעֲרֵי מְדִינוֹתֶיהָ:

at its gates Heb. בִּפְתָחֶיה, at the gates of its provinces.

כְּטַל מֵאֵת ה׳. שֶׁאֵין בָּא לָעוֹלָם עַל יְדֵי אָדָם וְלֹא יְבַקְשׁוּ פְּנֵי אָדָם עָלָיו, כָּךְ לֹא יְקַוֶּה יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעֶזְרַת אִישׁ כִּי אִם בַּה׳:

like dew sent by the Lord—which does not come to the world through man, and people do not ask for it, so Israel will not hope for the help of man, but for the Lord.

כְּאַרְיֵה בְּבַהֲמוֹת יַעַר. כָּךְ יְהִי מַלְכָּם שַׁלִּיט בַּכֹּל:

like a lion among the beasts of the forest—So will their king rule over all.

וְרָמַס וְטָרַף. רָמַס הִיא דְרִיסַת הָאֲרִי כְּשֶׁהוּא רָעֵב וְאוֹכְלוֹ בִּמְקוֹמוֹ, וְטָרַף הוּא כְּשֶׁנּוֹשֵׂא אֶת הַטֶּרֶף לִמְעוֹנוֹתָיו בִּשְׁבִיל גּוּרוֹתָיו וּלְבִיאוֹתָיו:

which treads down and tears in pieces Heb. רָמַס. This is the lion’s treading down [an animal] when he [the lion] is hungry and eating it in its place. Tearing (טָרַף) is when he carries the prey to his den for his cubs and his lionesses.

וְהִכְרַתִּי סוּסֶיךָ. הִיא עֶזְרַת מִצְרַיִם שֶׁאַתֶּם נִשְׁעָנִים עֲלֵיהֶם לְהַמְצִיאֲכֶם סוּסִים:

that I will cut your horses—the Egyptian aid upon which you rely to supply you with horses.

וְהִכְרַתִּי עָרֵי אַרְצֶךָ. וְלֹא תִצְטָרֵךְ לְעָרֵי מִבְצָר:

And I will destroy your cities—And you will no longer need fortified cities.

וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּי עָרֶיךָ. ״וַאֲשֵׁיצֵי בַּעֲלֵי דְבָבָךְ״, וְכֵן (ישעיהו יד:כא) ״וּמָלְאוּ פְנֵי תֵבֵל עָרִים״ וְכֵן (שמואל א כח) ״וַיְהִי עָרֶךָ״:

and I will destroy your enemies Heb. עָרֶיךָ. Jonathan renders: And I will destroy your enemies. Similarly, (Isa. 14:21) “And fill the surface of the earth with enemies (עָרִים),” and (I Sam. 28:16) “And has become your adversary (עָרֶךָ).”