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Counter-Missionary Education
Micah 5:1[2 in Christian Bibles] –
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
A Counter-Missionary Education Lesson
by
Uri Yosef, Ph.D., Director of Education
Virtual Yeshiva of the Messiah Truth Project, Inc.
http://virtualyeshiva.com
[The article on this topic is located here - http://thejewishhome.org/counter/Micah5_1.pdf]
Copyright © Uri Yosef 2011 for the Messiah Truth Project, Inc.
All rights reserved
July 7, 2011
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
Page 1 of 9
Introduction
In the opening verse of the second chapter in the Gospel of Matthew,
its author declares that Bethlehem was the birthplace of Jesus:
Matthew 2:1(KJV) – Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, …
The author then claims this event to have been the "fulfillment" of a
prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, stating:
Matthew 2:5-6(KJV) – (5) And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the
prophet, (6) And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for
out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
According to annotated Christian bibles, such as the New American
Standard Bible [NASB] , Matthew 2:6 points to Micah 5:2 in the
Christian "Old Testament", which corresponds to Micah 5:1 in the
Hebrew Scriptures. Hence, Micah 5:1[2] has become a significant
"proof text" in the Christian missionary's portfolio.
A rigorous analysis of the Hebrew text in Micah 5:1 demonstrates that
the attempted application of this verse in the New Testament, and its
subsequent mistranslation in the Christian "Old Testament", are
inconsistent with what the Hebrew Bible teaches.
July 7, 2011
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
Page 2 of 9
Micah 5:1[2] & Matthew 2:6
King James Version
New Testament
King James Version
"Old Testament"
Jewish Translation from the
Hebrew
Matthew 2:6
Micah 5:2
Micah 5:1
And thou Bethlehem, in
the land of Juda, art not
the least among the
princes of Juda: for out
of thee shall come a
Governor, that shall rule
my people Israel. -----------------------------------------------------
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.
And you, [of] Bethlehem
[of] Efrat, who were to be
insignificant among the
thousands of Judah, from
you [he] shall emerge for
Me, to be a ruler over
Israel; and his origin is
from old, from ancient
days.
Hebrew Text
,
The respective passages separated into Segment A & Segment B
King James Version
New Testament
King James Version
"Old Testament"
Jewish Translation from the
Hebrew
Matthew 2:6
Micah 5:2
Micah 5:1
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.
And you, [of] Bethlehem
[of] Efrat, who were to be
insignificant among the
thousands of Judah, from
you [he] shall emerge for
Me, to be a ruler over
Israel;
and his origin is from old,
from ancient days.
And thou Bethlehem, in
the land of Juda, art not
the least among the
A princes of Juda: for out
of thee shall come a
Governor, that shall rule
my people Israel.
------------------B -----------------------------------------------------------------
July 7, 2011
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
Hebrew Text
,
Page 3 of 9
Micah 5:1A[2A] – Preliminary Linguistic Analysis
King James Version
New Testament
King James Version
"Old Testament"
Jewish Translation from the
Hebrew
Matthew 2:6
Micah 5:2A
Micah 5:1A
And thou Bethlehem, in
the land of Juda, art not
the least among the
A princes of Juda: for out
of thee shall come a
Governor, that shall rule
my people Israel.
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;
means ‘and you’, where ‘you’ (
gender pronoun. It is the noun here.
Hebrew Text
A
,
And you, [of] Bethlehem
[of] Efrat, who were to be
insignificant among the
thousands of Judah, from
you [he] shall emerge for
Me, to be a ruler over
Israel;
) is the 2nd-person, singular, masculine
This is an appositive, a sentence element that further identifies the noun –
in
this case; it is masculine since the noun is masculine. In Hebrew, cities and
towns are assigned the feminine gender, which rules out
(BEIT-LEhem) as
a reference to the city. The additional term
can have several meanings: (1)
to (the place called) Efrat, (2) of/from (the place called) Efrat, (3) Efrat, the other
name of Bethlehem, and (4) Efrat, which is a place in (the district of) Bethlehem.
‫ע‬
July 7, 2011
This is an adjective clause, which is a clause that describes the noun. ‫ ע‬,
‘young’, is a masculine adjective (it can also serve as a noun).
is the
infinitive ‘to be’.
, ‘among the thousands of Judah’, is an allusion to
the division of the tribes into clans. [Such divisions remained in Israel through
Solomon’s reign, and in Judah at least through the reign of Amaziah.]
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
Page 4 of 9
Micah 5:1A[2A] – Who Is Being Addressed?
The linguistic analysis of Segment A gives rise to several possible scenarios as
to whom Micah was addressing in this verse:
Scenario 1
The inhabitants of the city
, Bethlehem, who may have comprised one of those
groups of “thousands”, one that had a low status among the other “thousands” in the
Tribe of Judah. Yet, in spite of its insignificance, Micah prophesies that out of this
“thousand”
(maSHI’ah), the promised Jewish Messiah will emerge.
Relative Strength
---
Relative Weakness
The population of
probably was large enough to comprise
more than one such clan of a “thousand”.
Scenario 2
A certain clan from Efrat, i.e., a group of families that trace their lines of decent to a
common ancestor. In Hebrew, the name
literally means [the] House of Lehem,
which may refer to a clan by that name who resides in Efrat, and who may have
comprised one of the groups of “thousands”, one that had a low status among the other
“thousands” in the Tribe of Judah. Here, too, in spite of its insignificance, it is prophesied
that out of this clan
will emerge.
Relative Strength
--July 7, 2011
Relative Weakness
No one named
is found in the Hebrew Bible – anonymous clan.
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
Page 5 of 9
Micah 5:1A[2A] – Who Is Being Addressed? (Continued)
Scenario 3
An unnamed group of people hailing from Bethlehem, one that had a low status among the other
“thousands” in the Tribe of Judah. Once again, it is prophesied that
will emerge out of this
clan even though it was lowly.
Relative Strength
---
Relative Weakness
A clan of a “thousand”, or a group of people within it, destined for future
greatness, is being addressed anonymously.
Scenario 4
A particular individual whose ancestors, and he himself, hail from Bethlehem. This person was
insignificant in his youth, but was the one whom God selected to be the king of Israel and the
progenitor of the royal lineage out of which
would eventually emerge.
Relative Strength
Relative Weakness
Several accounts in the Hebrew Bible fit into the characterization The particular individual is not
provided by Micah and help identify this special individual as
explicitly identified in the
David, who was the one son that Jesse regarded the least when passage itself.
God dispatched Samuel to find and anoint the next king of Israel.
The Prophet Nathan visited the aging King David and conveyed
to him God’s promise of an everlasting dynasty, of which he was
to be the progenitor, a dynasty that will eventually produce
.
July 7, 2011
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
Page 6 of 9
Micah 5:1[2] – Segment B
B
King James Version
New Testament
King James Version
"Old Testament"
Jewish Translation from the
Hebrew
Matthew 2:6
Micah 5:2B
Micah 5:1B
Hebrew Text
B
,
------------------- whose goings forth have been and his origin is from old,
from ancient days.
-------------------------------- from of old, from everlasting.
Why was Segment B left out by the author of Matthew 2:6?
Micah is prophesying that the promised future King of Israel, the Messiah, will
come from a line that originates from Bethlehem, from the long ago past. This
conflicts with Christian theology, since Jesus is considered as having existed
from the beginning of time, from before Creation.
Which is the correct translation of the last phrase in Segment B?
A simple word study provides the clue to the answer.
Hebrew
Pronunciation
y
e
MEI oLAM
kiy’MEI oLAM
Reference
Correct Translation
KJV Rendition
Isaiah 63:9,11
the days of old
the days of old
Amos 9:11; Micah 7:14; as in the days of
Malachi 3:4
old
miy’MEI oLAM Micah 5:1[2]
as in the days of old
from ancient days from everlasting
Since the New Testament preceded the KJV translation of the Hebrew Bible, it
seems that the KJV translators changed the meaning of the phrase in order to
bring it into “harmony” with the accounts in the New Testament and, thereby,
enhance its Christological appeal.
July 7, 2011
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
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What Is Wrong with Matthew 2:6?
Matthew 2:6
(KJV)
Micah 5:2
(KJV)
But thou (different; “But”
replaces “And”)
Bethlehem
Bethlehem
in the land of Juda (different) Ephratah
not the least (different; note little (different; can apply to
reversal of context)
people and places)
art (different; change of
though thou be
context)
And thou
,
And you [of]
[M]
Bethlehem
[of] Efrat
Insignificant
[person(s)]
[F]
[F]
who were to be
[N]
[M]
Judah
yet out of thee
unto me
shall he come forth
that is to be
among the
thousands of
Judah
from you
for Me
[he] shall emerge
to be
[M]
[M]
[N]
[M]
[N]
ruler
a ruler
[M]
in Israel
whose goings forth have been
from of old
from everlasting (different;
note change in timeline)
over Israel
and his origin is
from old
[M]
[M]
[M]
among the princes of
among the thousands of
Juda
for out of thee
(completely left out)
shall come
(completely left out)
a Governor (different; note
the “G”)
that shall rule my people Israel
(completely left out)
(completely left out)
(completely left out)
Micah 5:1
(Jewish)
Legend:
M=Masculine
F=Feminine
N=Neutral
[M]
from ancient days [M]
Several minor edits in Segment A transformed Matthew 2:6 into a passage showing Bethlehem as
the Messiah’s birthplace. The author was unable to do this with Segment B, lest he risked drawing
the reader’s attention to David, who lived 200-300 years before Micah. Therefore, he omitted it.
July 7, 2011
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
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Summary
The aim of this lesson was to determine whether, according to the Christian claim, Micah 5:1[2]
foretells that Bethlehem will be the Messiah’s place of birth. The detailed analysis demonstrated
the following:
• The best “fit” for who is being addressed by the Prophet Micah is King David.
• Bethlehem of Judea was the town from which King David's family originated, and this prophecy
speaks of this city as the place where the messianic royal line originated, though not necessarily
the birthplace of
.
• While this passage does not rule out Bethlehem of Judea from being the birthplace of the
Messiah, as could be any other place, the notion that it is his birthplace was introduced in the
New Testament as an interpretation by the Gospel writers.
• The KJV version of Micah 5:1[2] attempts to “harmonize” the passage with Christian theology and
Matthew 2:6 by changing the meaning of the last phrase in the verse.
It is also worthwhile to note that, relative to the few attributes of
actually spelled out in the
Hebrew Bible, which Jesus did not fulfill in any event, being born in Bethlehem of Judea, even if it
were true, would be inconsequential.
Moreover, the rest of the fifth chapter of Micah proves, beyond a shadow of doubt, that Jesus
cannot be the subject of the prophecy in Micah 5:1[2]. Micah 5:2[3] speaks of the return of the
Jewish people to Israel during the lifetime of the prophesied ruler, and Micah 5:4-5[5-6] is about this
ruler leading Israel in war against its enemies. The historical record testifies to the fact that neither
of these events took place place during the lifetime of Jesus.
July 7, 2011
Bethlehem: The Messiah’s Birthplace?
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