Micah 4:8 - Exposition

And thou, O tower of the flock ( migdal-edar ) . There was a village with a tower so called near Bethlehem ( Genesis 35:21 ), and it is thought that Micah refers to it as the home of David and as destined to be the birthplace of Messiah. But the context compels us to consider the expression as a periphrasis for Jerusalem, which the prophet here addressee, declaring that the royal power shall be restored to her. It is evidently the same place as the stronghold ( ophel , "the hill") of the daughter of Zion. The name "Ophel" is affixed to the southern spur of Moriah, opposite to the Mount Zion, from which it was separated by the Tyropoeon Valley. It was fortified by Jotham ( 2 Chronicles 27:3 ) and Manasseh ( 2 Chronicles 33:14 ), and on it were the king's house, i.e. the old palace of David, and "the tower that lieth out," or the upper tower (see Nehemiah 3:26 , Nehemiah 3:27 ). This is probably the "flock tower" mentioned in the text (comp. Isaiah 32:14 , where Ophel and the watch tower are named together); and it is so called as having been originally a place of refuge for flocks, or of observation for shepherds. Micah uses the two expressions to represent the power and dominion of Jerusalem. The propriety of the usa of the term "flock tower" is seen when we remember that David was a shepherd before he was king, and that the Israelites are the sheep of the Lord's pasture. The reference to a flock in the prceeding verses may also have influenced the prophet's thought. Owing to a slight variation in the reading, the LXX . renders Ophel by αἰχμώδης , "dark;" so Jerome, "nebulosa;" Aquila, σκοτώδης : Symmachus, ἀπόκρυφος . These translators would refer the term to the ruinous condition of the tower. The first dominion shall come, i.e. the former, original empire, such as it was in the days of David and Solomon, and which had been lost in later times. The LXX . adds, ἐκ βαβυλῶνος : and hence the Greek expositors explain the passage as referring to the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. The kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. The verb "shall come" is better taken with "the first dominion," and this clause in apposition to the former, "the kingdom of" or "the reign over the daughter of Jerusalem." Sovereignty over Jerusalem, or, as others take it, that appertains to Jerusalem, represents rule over the whole country. In Messiah the glory and power are restored to the throne of David ( Luke 1:32 , Luke 1:33 ).