Micah 7:11-13

PROMISE OF A GLORIOUS RESTORATION, Micah 7:11-13.

In Micah 7:11 ff. the speaker is no longer the penitent, expectant remnant, but Jehovah himself, or the prophet as the spokesman of Jehovah. He comforts and encourages the speaker of Micah 7:7-10 with promises of a glorious restoration. Marti, in order to avoid a change in speakers, reads throughout the pronouns of the first person.

It is impossible to accept the text of Micah 7:11-12 as correct in every detail, on the other hand, the text is probably not as corrupt as is assumed by some scholars. Of the present text, A.V. does not offer the best translation. Two or three slight changes, supported in part by LXX., will produce a much better text (compare also R.V.): “A day for the building of thy walls shall that day be; extended shall be thy border on that day; and they shall come unto thee from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.”

In the day that thy walls are to be built Better, R.V., “A day for building thy walls!” The breaking down of the walls is threatened in Micah 3:12; in the day of restoration they will be rebuilt.

Decree This translation gives no good sense, and all attempts at interpretation have proved futile. Hence it is better to follow R.V. margin in translating “boundary” or “border.” In the day of restoration the borders of the promised land will be extended so as to make room for the returning exiles (Obadiah 1:18-21). The word, which is rare in this sense, was used because of the similarity in sound between it and the original of “removed” or “extended.”

That day The day in which the expectations expressed in Micah 7:7-10 will be realized.

Micah 7:12 contains a promise that in “that” day multitudes will flock to Jerusalem from every direction.

He shall come R.V., “shall they come.” A.V. is a literal rendering of the original. Who shall come? Some find the answer in Micah 4:3 (compare Isaiah 19:24). From all parts of the world people will flock to Jehovah to be instructed by him. Others think of the return from exile; the exiles who were scattered in all directions will return to their old home. Perhaps both ideas are included.

Assyria The place of exile of the northern tribes (2 Kings 17:23).

Egypt So far as we know no Hebrews had been carried into exile to Egypt before the time of Micah, but after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. some took refuge there (2 Kings 25:26). Hence many think that this promise presupposes the exile (compare Isaiah 11:11 ff.). There is much to be said in favor of this view, though the mention of Egypt as a place of exile does not absolutely prove a late date, in view of Hosea’s expectation of an Egyptian exile (Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:3; Hosea 9:6). If Micah shared this view of which we have no evidence he would naturally mention Egypt in a description of the restoration. No difficulty exists if the words are interpreted as pointing to a flocking of non-Israelitish worshipers to Jehovah (compare Isaiah 19:24).

The river The Euphrates. The second clause is identical in meaning with the first.

Sea… mountain The prophet may not have in mind any special sea or mountain; the expression may be used simply to indicate all parts of the known world. If he is thinking of definite locations the seas would probably be the Mediterranean in the west and the Persian Gulf in the southeast, the mountains, perhaps Mount Lebanon in the north and Mount Sinai in the south, unless we suppose that he is thinking of the far-away mountains beyond Assyria and Egypt.

The rendering of Micah 7:13 in A.V. and R.V. is a translation plus an interpretation. “Land” is understood as referring to Palestine. Before the glory expected in Micah 7:7-10 and promised in Micah 7:11-12 can be realized the land must be destroyed (Micah 3:12) because of the unrighteous doings of its inhabitants. Another interpretation seems more in harmony with the context. Instead of “land” we should read “earth” (compare Micah 7:2), and Micah 7:13 should be rendered, “But the earth shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.” This is to be understood as a threat of the destruction of the whole earth, exclusive of Palestine, because of the outrages committed by its inhabitants against the people of Jehovah. This judgment upon the nations will make possible the return of the exiles (compare Joel 3:7-8; also Jeremiah 32:20, where “men” is used of the nations outside of Israel).