Micah's prophecy
Matthew recorded that the wise men told Herod:
“In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”-- Matthew 2:5-6 (NKJV)
They quoted Micah who wrote this about Jesus:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The one to be ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”-- Micah 5:2 (NKJV)
The argument is that if Jesus is "the ruler" as quoted by Matthew, then Micah prophesied that Jesus "whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting", might mean that Jesus could have pre-existed before his birth and since no human exist from everlasting, it could be assumed that Jesus is God.
However, if you continue reading Micah you notice:
Therefore he shall give them up,
Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;
Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the LORD,
In the majesty of the name of the LORD (YHVH) his God;
And they shall abide,
For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;
And this one shall be peace.-- Micah 5:2-5 (NKJV)
This means this ruler, who according to Matthew is Jesus, submits under "the name" (authority) of a greater "LORD" or YHVH who is also "his God" which means, Jesus has a God.
If Micah truly meant to make the statement that this rules existed from eternity like God, then Matthew did a bad job to leave that part out from his quotation.
So what did Micah meant?
There are three phrases at the end of Micah 5:2 that may, or may not refer to eternality, and understanding these three phrases is essential:
- motsa-otav וּמוֹצָאֹתָ֥יו translated “his origin/s” or “his goings forth”.
- miqedem מִקֶּ֖דֶם translated “from before” or “from old” or “from long ago”.
- mimei olam מִימֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם translated “from eternity” or “from ancient days”.
Let us look at some examples of y’mei olam and qedem referring to Israel’s historical past, not to “eternity past”:
Micah 7:14 “Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old (“y’mei olam” same word just with a different prefix).” Micah uses olam combined with > y’mei, not in reference to eternity past, but to a time when the flock grazed.
Micah 7:20 “You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old (מִ֥ימֵי > קֶֽדֶם).” Micah used the word qedem, in construct with mimei “days of”, to refer to patriarchal times.
Psalm 44:1 “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old (b’mei > qedem בִּ֣ימֵי קֶֽדֶם).”
Psalm 77:6 and Psalm 77:12 “I consider the days of old (miqedem יָמִ֣ים מִקֶּ֑דֶם), the years long ago (olamim שְׁ֝נ֗וֹת עוֹלָמִֽים)… I will remember the deeds of Yahweh; yes, I will remember your wonders of old (miqedem מִקֶּ֣דֶם)…. You, with your arm redeemed your people, the > children of Jacob and Joseph…You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron (cf. Psa. 77:15, 20).”
Isaiah 63:11 “Then he remembered the days of old (y’mei olam יְמֵֽי־עוֹלָ֖ם), of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of > the sea with the shepherds of his flock?”
Thus, neither one of these constructions refers to an eternity past.
The word olam עוֹלָֽם “age, eternity” is one of the main reasons for the confusion and supposed “eternality” in the Micah passage. “It (olam) can mean eternity, but it often does not when the context puts limits on its meaning.” -- Allen Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms (Kregel Academic, 2013), pp. 354-355
In Micah 5:2, olam is modified, and therefore limited to human time, by the word “days.”
As an idiom, olam (עוֹלָֽם) combined with “days of ימֵ֥י” means “days of long ago, days of a previous historical era, or “years of (שנים / שנות) an> ancient historical era”. The words “days” and “years” in construct with olam עוֹלָֽם restrict the meaning to historical (human) time. That is, to past times (days and years) when God did wonders among the fathers. The time of the patriarchs, or the Exodus from Egypt and conquest are especially thought of as “days/years of long ago” when Yahweh led his people like a shepherd by the hand of Moses, Aaron and Joshua (Psa. 44:2-3). David’s days are also specifically recalled (Amos 9:11, “as in the days of old,” כִּימֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם).
The NET Bible translation, a conservative evangelical translation, agrees. The NET note on these two phrases says, “Elsewhere (in the Bible) both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel.”
When using mimei olam, Micah had in mind not a nebulous eternity past, but “days of old,” God’s ancient promise to David (2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 17; Psa. 2) who was from Bethlehem. Micah lived in the middle of the 700s BC. David lived around 1000 BC. The promise to David was made some 250 years before Micah lived, מִימֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם מִקֶּ֖דֶם “from before, from days long ago”.