Micah 5:5

Micah 5:5. This man shall be the peace Christ is our peace as a priest, making atonement for sin, and reconciling us to God: he is our peace as a king, conquering our enemies, protecting us against their attacks, and preserving our minds in peace and tranquillity. In this latter sense the expression seems to be taken here: as if he had said, The Messiah, in all ages, whether before or after his incarnation, secures the peace and welfare of his church and people, against all the attempts of his and their enemies. When the Assyrian, &c. After the illustrious prophecy relating to the Messiah, in the foregoing verses, the prophet passes on to the subversion of the Assyrian empire, and, under the type of that ancient enemy of God’s people, foretels the overthrow of all their enemies, especially of the antichristian powers which should attack his church in the latter days. Shall come into our land As Sennacherib did with an overwhelming army, within a few years after this prophecy was delivered, when, by the power and authority of the Messiah, the Son of God, in his pre-existent state, (see Micah 5:2,) the Assyrian army was defeated, and Judea’s peace secured. When he shall tread in our palaces Which Sennacherib did in all the cities or Judah, except Jerusalem, against which he could not prevail, because Immanuel was with Hezekiah and that city, as foretold Isaiah 8:8-10; Isaiah 37:32-35, where see the notes. Then shall we raise against him Namely, Hezekiah, and with him the prophets and people, by prayer shall prevail with God to send deliverance. This seems primarily to refer to the deliverance of Hezekiah and his kingdom from the Assyrian army who invaded them. Seven shepherds and eight principal men Or, seven rulers and eight princes of men, as Archbishop Newcome renders it, who thinks the prophet means the chiefs of the Medes and Babylonians, the prefects of different provinces, who, some time after the fall of Sennacherib, took Nineveh, overthrew the Assyrian empire, and thereby delivered the Jews from that oppressive power. Their number, he thinks, may have been what is here specified. Or, seven and eight may stand for an indefinite number, as similar expressions often do.