Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Micah 4:1-3

When the prophetic Spirit speaks as prophesying things to come, he says, “For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge in the midst of the nations and rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war anymore.” We can show you that this has really happened. For a band of twelve men went forth from Jerusalem, and they were common men, not trained in speaking. But by the power of God they testified to every race of humankind that they were sent by Christ to teach to all the Word of God. And now we who once killed each other not only do not make war on each other, but in order not to lie or deceive our inquisitors we gladly die for the confession of Christ. For it would be possible for us to follow the saying, “The tongue has sworn, the mind remains unsworn.” But it would be ridiculous if the soldiers whom you6 have recruited and enrolled remain loyal to you instead of to their own life, parents, native land and all their families. For you have nothing incorruptible to offer those who desire incorruption. Rather, endure all things in order to receive what we long for from him who is able to give it.

Source: The First Apology 1:39

[AD 325] Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius on Micah 4:1-3

For Micah announced that the new law would be given in this way: “The law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and he shall vanquish and rebuke nations.” For that prior law that was given through Moses was given not on Mount Zion but on Mount Horeb. And the Sibyl showed that this would be destroyed by the Son of God. “But when all these things have been fulfilled which he spoke, at that time then the whole law is destroyed.”

Source: EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES 4:17

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 4:1-7

(Chapter IV - Verses 1 onwards) And it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; he shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. On that day, says the Lord, I will gather the lame and gather her whom I have driven away, and the one whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the one who was cast off a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever. And in the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; he shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. But we will go in the name of the Lord our God forever and beyond. In that day, says the Lord, I will gather her who was crushed, and her who was cast out, I will receive, and those whom I had rejected: and I will make the crushed into a remnant, and the cast out into a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion, from now and forever. For the leaders of Judah have despised justice, and have perverted all that is right, and have built Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity: and not only have they done these things, but they have also judged for bribes, and the priests of Jerusalem have answered for payment, and her prophets have divined for money, and because of them, Zion was like a plowed field, and Jerusalem had fallen into heaps of stones, and the mountain of the temple of God, desolate among the high forests. Therefore now, their house is abandoned and deserted, when the Son of God, going out of the temple, said: Rise, let us go hence (John 14:31): And: Your house shall be left to you desolate (Luke 13:15). The angels also, with Joseph reporting, said: Let us go forth from our abodes, for the mountain of Zion is exalted, of which it is said to the prince of Tyre. And you were wounded on the mountain of the Lord (Ezek. XXVIII). But this mountain of the Lord was revealed in the last days, when the kingdom of heaven was drawing near. For in the consummation of the ages, for the condemnation of sinners, our Savior appeared through his sacrifice, and he came at the eleventh hour to hire workers. And completing His passion, John says: It is the last hour (1 John 2:18): in six thousand years, if five hundred years are divided by the hours of each day, the last hour will consequently be called the time of the faith of the Gentiles. And it will be made manifest, he says, the mountain of the Lord prepared upon the tops of the mountains. It will be made manifest, which was previously hidden, and prepared not only in the mountains, but upon the tops of the mountains, Moses and the Prophets, who prophesied about Him. For although they have written all things holy, nevertheless, in comparison to the prophecy in which they foretold the coming of the Savior, all other things are humble and do not reach to the top of the mountains. And it is said, 'He will be exalted upon the hills.' (Philippians 2:8-9) Indeed, he appeared as a man and took on the form of a servant; he humbled himself unto death, even death on a cross. But the Father exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, and the whole life of mankind, compared to his way of life, is called fields and valleys. So to this mountain, which is prepared on the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, all people will hasten, or as it is written in Hebrew, all the people will flow, that is, in the manner of rivers, innumerable crowds will gather. But the people will hasten when the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya which are near Cyrene, and Roman visitors, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs will have believed in him together. Do they not seem to you to have hurried to the mountain, to whom it was said: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matt. 4:19-20), and they immediately followed the Savior? And again, the Scripture relates about James and John, that having left the boat and father and the waves of the world, they hurried to the mountain. And when Matthew the tax collector heard: Follow me (Matt. 9), he immediately ran. And that too in the Gospel, when great crowds from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan followed him, and he healed them, he approves the peoples who hurried. But as the people hasten, many nations will also go to the mountain: indeed, the whole world believing in it, and they will say to the standard, mutually challenging themselves to the gallows: Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord. Ascension is necessary in order for anyone to be able to reach Christ, and to the house of God of Jacob, the Church, which is the house of God, the pillar and foundation of truth. Moreover, what Jacob signifies the Savior, as we have said: Jacob, my servant, I will uphold him (Isaiah 2:3). But they will also say to those to whom they had spoken: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and they will add: So that they may show us His way, which we either understand in the Angels who are present in the Churches, or in the holy Scriptures, which show the way of the Lord, and Him who says: I am the way (John 14). And let us walk in His paths, namely in the Apostles, through whom we have believed in Christ. For from Zion a spiritual law has come forth, and the word of God has passed from Jerusalem to the nations, who He will judge among many peoples (John 5:22): For the Father has given all judgment to the Son. And he shall rebuke many nations unto a great distance (Ps. XCIII, 11): For the Lord takes hold of the wise in their craftiness, and he understands the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile. But he shall judge among the peoples who are deserving of salvation, and those who are unworthy, and at his coming all zeal for war shall be directed towards peace (Isai. II, 4). Swords shall be turned into plowshares, and spears into pruning-hooks, and the nation shall cease to wage war against another nation. No one will learn to fight, in the absence of the necessity to fight. And there will be such peace, that not only in cities, but also in villages and fields, everyone will be safe: and this will happen, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And first indeed, according to the letter, before a child was born to us, whose government was upon his shoulder, the whole world was full of blood, nations fought against nations, kings fought against kings, and peoples fought against peoples. Finally, even the Roman Republic itself was torn apart by civil wars, with Cinna and Octavius and Carbo fighting, with Sylla and Marius, Antony and Catiline, Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius, Augustus and Brutus, and with the same Augustus and Antony: in their battles, entire kingdoms shed blood. But after the reign of Christ began, Rome obtained a unique reign; the path of the Apostles became known throughout the world, and the gates of cities were opened to them, and a unique reign of one God was established for preaching. It is also possible to interpret this saying in a tropological sense: that we may say to the faith of Christ, anger and unbridled insults are put aside, so that each person may place their hand on the plow and not look back, and desiring to reap spiritual fruits, breaking the darts of insults and spears of contempt, so that while others labor, we may enter into their labors, and it may be said of us: 'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy, carrying their sheaves.' Now no one fights against another, because we read: Blessed are the peacemakers (Matt. V, 9). No one learns to argue to the downfall of the listeners, but puts silence on his mouth, and is silent; because it is an evil time (Ps. CIII). And each one rests under his vine, to press the wine, which makes glad the heart of man, under that vine, whose farmer is the Father (John XV), and under his fig tree collecting the sweet fruits of the Holy Spirit, charity, joy, peace, and the rest. But all these things happen, according to both interpretations, because the words of the Lord are true, and he said and did them. All the peoples will go, each one on his own way: but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and beyond. They say to all the nations going astray according to their error, we hastened to the mountain of the Lord, and we said: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob (Isaiah 2:3), and we will walk in the name of Christ our Lord, because he is the mountain who is God. In that day, in which the sun of justice will shine, that which was formerly crushed will be gathered together, and that which was expelled will be received, and to this the crushed will be gathered together, so that it may be placed among the remnants, and the forsaken will be made into a strong nation. For unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have been like Sodom, and we would have been similar to Gomorrah (Rom. 9:29). But according to the Hebrew, it is beautiful: I will gather the limping one, and the one who has walked badly and to whom Elijah said: How long will you limp? (1 Kings 18:21). Whose foot had been scandalized was cut off (Mark 9). I will gather the one whom I had cast out, and to whom I had given the bill of divorce. And the one whom I had afflicted with various captivities, or had delivered to the devil and his angels. And so that a diligent reader may not immediately oppose us, saying how can you claim that the limping one has been gathered, and the one that had been cast out has been collected, when the Jews remain in unbelief? Let him hear about the first Church of Christ that believed from the Jews, from which even the Apostles came, about which Luke describes in the Acts of the Apostles: that in one day three thousand believed, and elsewhere five thousand (Acts 2). And about whom James speaks to Paul: You see, brother Paul, how many thousands there are among the Jews who believe, and all of these are zealous for the Law (Ibid., 21). But consider also the prophetic significance: He did not say, 'I will make the whole lame person whole,' but 'I will make the lame person into a remnant, so that the remnant and the chosen ones may be saved, and those who have labored may become a strong nation, namely the Christian people, which neither sword nor fire nor torments will overcome. See the faith and passion of the Martyrs, and you will not doubt the strength of this nation. And the Lord will rule over them, that is, over many nations, and over the lame remnants on Mount Zion, in the Church, in the watchtower, in the contemplation of virtues, from the present world to the future.' But if anyone wants to understand this which is said: 'I will gather that which was broken, and I will receive that which was cast out, etc.,' to refer to the human soul which, before the coming of Christ, was subject to various sufferings and vices, and was like a lost and diseased sheep torn apart by the jaws of wolves, he will not be mistaken, as long as he knows that the one that was broken and afflicted will later be part of the Lord's kingdom, and will live in Zion, and will be carried on the shoulders of the good shepherd to the former mountain. It should also be known, and this chapter which we have now exposed, and a similar one from Isaiah, refers the Jews and the heirs of their errors to the thousand-year reign of Christ and the saints. And that which is said: All peoples will worship, each one in the name of their Lord God, should be interpreted as each nation being tormented with their own idol, and being cast into the fire of eternal punishment. But from the subsequent things, it is argued that this is not said about the end of the ages, but about the first coming of Christ, in which the remnants of the limping are gathered and the nations are saved beforehand. Therefore Isaiah has given this testimony: The word that was spoken to Isaiah son of Amos concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord's house will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.' The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2) It is significant here that it is said that the word of God, coming out from Jerusalem, will judge between many nations and specifically rebuke the people of Judah. For he will judge us as sinners according to the measure of our works: but he will not judge them as wicked and deniers, but will reprove and condemn them.

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on Micah 4:1-3

After the experience of the troubles in which they would find themselves, made captive first by the Assyrians and later by the Babylonians, such a great transformation would occur regarding this place that the mountain on which God was reputed to dwell would become famous and would be shown to be superior to all the mountains and far surpass all mountains and all hills on account of the glory enveloping it as a result of the divine compassion. Large numbers from all quarters, even from foreign peoples, would hasten to assemble to reach this mountain of God, on which God is believed to dwell, and learn how they should regulate their lives and live as they ought.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH 4:1-3

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Micah 4:1-3

The prophet Micah employed the symbol of a high mountain to speak of the gathering of the nations in Christ. He has this to say: “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the top of the mountains and high above the hills; and people shall flow to it. And many nations shall come in haste, and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off.’ ”Further, the same prophet foretold even the place in which Christ was to be born: “But you, O Bethlehem Eph’rathah, who are little among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient days.”

Source: City of God 18.30

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Micah 4:1-3

The evangelical and divine preaching coursed to the ends of the earth, according to the Lord’s prophecy contained in the sacred Gospels: “This good news will be preached to all the nations in witness to them.” And he urged the holy apostles in the words, “Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I commanded you.” This evangelical law and apostolic preaching began with Jerusalem as with a fountain and traveled across the whole world, offering irrigation to those who made their approach with faith. It is also possible to see the divine houses situated in the middle of cities, villages, fields and remote areas, conspicuous for their size and beauty, so that they are illustrious and famous even on the highest mountains.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH 4:1-3

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Micah 4:3

Neither shall they learn: The law of Christ is a law of peace; and all his true subjects, as much as lies in them love and keep peace with all the world.

[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on Micah 4:4

The vine, and that not in a few places, refers to the Lord himself, and the fig tree to the Holy Spirit, as the Lord “makes glad the hearts of men,” and the Spirit heals them. Hezekiah is commanded to make plaster with a lump of figs—that is, the fruit of the Spirit—that he may be healed. According to the apostle this healing begins with love. For he says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” On account of their great pleasantness, the prophet calls these spiritual fruits figs. Of them Micah also says, “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.” Now it is certain that those who have taken refuge and rested under the Spirit and under the shadow of the Word shall not be alarmed or frightened by the one who troubles the hearts of humankind.

Source: BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10:5

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Micah 4:4

The Song of Songs alludes to [the vine and fig of the field] in this way: “I have adjured you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the virtues of the field, that you do not rouse or wake my love until he please.” This is the same peaceful field [of righteousness] of which the Lord also says in the psalm, “All that moves in the field is mine.” In this field the grape is found that was pressed and poured out blood and washed the world clean. In this field is the tree, and beneath it the saints will find rest and be renewed by a good and spiritual grace. In this field is the olive tree fruitful in the overwhelming ointment of the peace of the Lord. In this field flourish the pomegranate trees14 that shelter many fruits with the one bulwark of faith and nurture them with the warm embrace of love, so to speak.

Source: JACOB AND THE HAPPY LIFE 2:1.3

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Micah 4:4

We read in Genesis that God planted a garden to the east and put there the man he had formed. Who had the power to create paradise, if not almighty God, who “spoke and all was made” and who was never in need of that which he wished to bring into being? He planted, therefore, that paradise of which he says is his wisdom: “Every plant which my Father has not planted will be rooted up.” This is a goodly plantation, for angels and saints are said to lie beneath the fig tree and the vine. In this respect they are the type of the angels in that time of peace24 which is to come.

Source: ON PARADISE 1:2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Micah 4:5

They who are eager to go up into the mountain of the Lord and wish to learn thoroughly his ways promise a ready obedience, and they receive in themselves the glories of the life in Christ and undertake with their whole strength to be earnest in all holiness. “For let everyone,” he says, “in every country and city go the way he chooses and pass his life as seems good to him, but our care is Christ, and his laws we will make our straight path; we will walk along with him; and that not for this life only, present or past, but yet more for what is beyond.” It is a faithful saying. “For they who now suffer with him shall walk with him forever, and with him be glorified, and with him reign.” But “they” make Christ their care who prefer nothing to his love, who cease from the vain distractions of the world and seek rather righteousness and what is pleasing to him, and to excel in virtue. Such a one was the divine Paul, for he writes, “I am crucified with Christ; and now no longer I live, but Christ lives in me.” And again: “I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH 2:4.5

[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Micah 4:6

Now it is obvious that no one can frighten or subdue us who believe in Jesus throughout the whole world. Although we are beheaded and crucified, and exposed to wild beasts and chains and flames, and every other means of torture, it is evident that we will not retract our profession of faith. The more we are persecuted, the more do others in ever-increasing numbers embrace the faith and become worshipers of God through the name of Jesus. Just as when one cuts off the fruit-bearing branches of the vine, it grows again and other blossoming and fruitful branches spring forth, so it is with us Christians. For the vine planted by God and Christ the Redeemer is his people. But the rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled at his second coming. The prophet Micah says, “In that day, says the Lord, I will gather her that is bruised, and will receive her that is cast out, and those whom I rejected.” This indicates that you do not have the last word then when you and all other people, having the power, cast out every Christian not only from his own property but even from the whole world, for you allow no Christian to live.

Source: Dialogue with Trypho 110

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Micah 4:8

“And you, O tower, O cloudy shepherd of the daughter of Zion, your time shall come.” These words refer to the impious king Zedekiah, whom the prophet calls “tower” because the people of Judea stayed under his shadow, and “shepherd” because of his administration of the kingdom, and “cloudy” because of the error of idolatry to which he adhered. Again, in the symbolic meaning of his words he calls the devil a cloudy shepherd, because in an allegorical sense he always attacks the daughter of Zion under a cloudy sky. And, after catching her, he drags her away from the light—indeed the one who acts maliciously hates the light. But later, the supreme and legitimate prince of the mystical Jerusalem destroyed this tyranny with his advent and drove the obscure shepherd away.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 4:8-9

(Verse 8, 9.) And you, tower of the flock, cloudy daughter of Zion, there will come to you the first power, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why are you contracted with sorrow? Is there no king for you, or has your counselor perished? For pain has seized you like a woman in labor. LXX: And you, tower of the flock, darkened daughter of Zion, there will come to you the first principality, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem from Babylon. And now, why have you known evil? Was not the king your husband, or has your plan perished, because pains have overtaken you like a woman in childbirth? The cloudy or desolate tower, which is called Ophel in Hebrew, we should not accept any other but that which Isaiah says: And I built a tower in the midst of it, that is, the vineyard. But the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:2). This tower, as long as it has a winepress, that is, an altar, and a wall around it, namely the assistance of the Angels, and the devil, the wild boar, does not enter the vineyard, it is not desolate, it is not dark, but having received its name from the shining Lord, it is called a city, which cannot be hidden on the mountain. Therefore the tower of the flock and the people of God (because the wicked tenants killed the son of the master of the house (Luke 20) is now desolate and forsaken, and under the name Ariel, cries out from the earth in Isaiah. And this tower is the daughter of Zion, or as Symmachus renders it in Greek: She is the daughter of Zion (Isaiah 29): and to her will come God, or the first power, which is the power of the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. And the first power, or the first principality, comes to this tower, the one who said: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13). And he who from the assumed person of man says in Proverbs, 'The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways, before his works' (Prov. VIII, 22), or, as it is written in Hebrew, 'The Lord possessed me: Canaanite did not create me, but possessed me and had me,' signifies. And the first power came, and the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem, that after the first one comes the second, just as he confidently says: 'I am the light of the world' (John VIII, 12): thus he also gives to his disciples that they too may be called the light of the world, and he says to them: 'You are the light of the world' (John VI). But also, calling himself the true vine in the Gospel, he speaks of the believers through Jeremiah: 'Yet I planted you a choice vine, a completely faithful seed.' (Jeremiah 21) And since he is the living bread descending from heaven, he gave it to his disciples so that it might be called bread. Hence, the apostle Paul speaks confidently: 'For we, though many, are one bread.' (1 Corinthians 17) In this manner, the first authority and kingdom enter into Jerusalem, so that it may grant power and kingdom to those who believe in it. But what is read in some books: And the first prince shall enter (Al. shall journey), the kingdom of the daughter of Zion, and from (Al. is from) Babylon, we know that it has been added because it is neither in Hebrew, nor in the other interpreters. And it seems to me that it refers to the captivity of Babylon, that the people who came out from there came to Jerusalem. It follows: And now why do you contract with sorrow? or, as it is written in the Seventy, And now why have you known the evils which the Lord and the first power and kingdom said were coming? Why are you now contracting with sorrow, or why have you known evil? Immediately it is answered and said: Because the king is not for you, and your counselor has perished, because sorrow has seized you like a woman in labor. Or certainly when you have all these things, by your own fault, you do not deserve the help of either the king or the counselor. But when he says: Why have you known evil? it is to be understood in this sense, that everyone who deserves and suffers evil, is said to know evil, and to be ignorant of good. According to what is written in the first book of the Kings: The sons of Eli, sons of wickedness, did not know God (1 Sam. 2:12). And elsewhere: Whoever keeps the commandment will not know evil speech (Eccles. 8:5). And to the sinners: Depart from me, says the Lord, you who work iniquity, for I do not know you (Ps. 6:9). On the other hand, concerning the Lord: He who knew no sin, for us he made sin (2 Cor. 5:21), understood as God the Father. But the king, and the angel of great counsel, is understood to be the Savior, who perished for the unbelieving people, whom pains seized like a woman in labor: for he, thinking that Israel was to obtain the empire, was suddenly devastated. And just as a woman in labor cannot escape the pain: so he could not avoid and delay the impending captivity and the army surrounding the city. Let us read the Scriptures, and we will never find that holy women, except Rachel, gave birth with pain: because she was on the way and in the hippodrome, that is, in the race of horses, which are sold in Egypt, she gave birth to a son of pain, whom later the father called the son of his right hand (Genesis 35). Eve, expelled from paradise and hearing: 'In pain you will bring forth children' (Ibid., III, 16), is said to have given birth in pain. The wife of Phineas, contracted and unable to straighten herself, like the woman whom the devil bound in the Gospel (Luke XIII), gave birth after she learned of the capture of the ark of God and the ruin of the people (2 Samuel IV). But Sarah, because she was holy and had ceased to menstruate, after the birth of Isaac said: 'God has made me laugh; whoever hears will laugh with me' (Genesis XXI, 6). Therefore, those who occupied the tower of the flock, they are pains of the underworld and pains of death, who indeed surrounded and encircled even the Savior; but they were by no means able to obtain him, as he himself speaks in the seventeenth Psalm: Pains of death surrounded me, and rivers of iniquity troubled me, and pains of hell enclosed me. Some think that the squalid tower, or dark tower, and daughter of Jerusalem, are to be understood as the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of the saints, of whom the Apostle also says: You have come to Mount Zion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. XII, 22), which remains squalid as long as her sons are not brought back to her, and a king and counselor are not in her, and pains seize her like a woman in labor, because she has given birth in vain, seeing so many sons killed.

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Micah 4:10

“Writhe and groan, O daughter Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go forth from the city and camp in the open country; you shall go to Babylon, and there you shall be rescued.” The meaning is that you will go into captivity, people of Zion, to be deported to Babylon, but after years you will come back from there, not with the soldier hastening after you, but with that leader who by ascending into heaven made captivity his own prisoner. You will follow him together with Paul’s brothers-in-arms and the princes of our army, who captivate all minds to the respect of Christ.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 4:10

(Verse 10.) Grieve and take action, daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you will leave the city and dwell in the country, and you will come all the way to Babylon; there you will be saved, there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. LXX: Grieve and act courageously, daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth, for now you will leave the city and dwell in the open field, and you will come all the way to Babylon; from there you will be saved, and from there the Lord your God will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. To whom it is commanded that she should grieve or give birth, and afterwards be brought forth, act courageously, it is not commanded in vain. But let her, enduring the pains patiently, go out of the city, and dwell in the plain or in the region, and come even to Babylon. And when she, sustaining captivity for sin, shall have borne what hath been inflicted on her bravely, then the Lord may deliver her, and her God may redeem her out of the hand of her enemies, that, being set free, she may say unto them that rejoice against her: 'Rejoice not against me, my enemy, because I have fallen; I shall rise again; although I have walked in darkness, the Lord is my light; I will bear the wrath of the Lord, for I have sinned against Him, until He justify my cause, and shall make my judgment, and bring me forth into the light, and I shall see His righteousness, and mine enemy shall behold it, and shame shall cover her.' (infra8,9). And in the Psalms it is sung with a fitting voice: The Lord will not be angry forever, nor will he threaten forever (Psalm 102:9). And it belongs to the salvation of the one who is suffering to grieve and to act bravely, and Jesus, the son of Nun, is also a witness to this, to whom the Lord says: Be strong and act bravely (Joshua 1:1). But the daughter of Zion grieves and acts bravely because she has been cast down and has come out of the city naked, and she is being led captive into the field of Shinar, and she will be in Babylon until Zerubbabel comes and Ezra, whose name means helper, will deliver her from the hand of the Chaldeans. Since it is clear according to the literal meaning, it seems to me that the soul is understood to be expelled from the Church because of sin, and handed over to the enemy and avenger for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved by departing from the city which the force of the river delights, and not dwelling on the mountain where it was before, but in the plain, where the army of the Assyrians wanders, and being in the confusion of its vices, and after it has put on shackles, and has drawn the millstone, and has made flour for the Babylonians, to say upon returning to itself: How many hired servants of my father are filled with loaves, and here I perish with hunger! (Luke 15:17) And to welcome him as he returned to his father's house, and to be redeemed from the hand of a most harsh master. Let us take as an example what is commanded to the daughters of Zion, and it is said: Grieve and act manfully as a woman in labor, not for punishment, but for her benefit. Paul speaks to the Galatians: My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). And he grieved for them for so long, and he gave birth to them again through repentance, who had perished through their transgression. If a physician is called to someone with a fever or a wound, they should say: Endure the pain and act courageously, quench your thirst, and bring a cautery, so that you may achieve a more certain recovery.

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Micah 4:11

Now many nations are assembled against you. That is, in the meantime a mix of many different nations invades you under the command of Gog. Again there shall be profanation in Zion, and the eye shall gaze upon it, which means the holy places of Zion will be violated and greatly despised by those who did not know that they would have been thrashed by the revenging justice of God like sheaves gathered on the threshing floor.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH

[AD 420] Jerome on Micah 4:11-13

(Verses 11-13.) And now many nations have gathered against you, saying: Let her be stoned, and let our eyes see her downfall in Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and they do not understand His plan, for He has gathered them like the hay of the threshing floor. Rise up and trample, daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze, and you will crush many peoples. And you will dedicate their plunder to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth. LXX: And now many nations have gathered against you, saying, 'Let us insult and see with our own eyes in Zion.' But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and they do not understand His counsel, for He has gathered them like sheaves into a threshing floor. Arise and trample them, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horns iron and your hooves bronze, and you will crush many peoples. And you will devote their multitude to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth. O Jerusalem, O daughter of Zion, who will come to Babylon, and there you will be set free, and the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. But now many nations have gathered against you, who speak as if of an adulteress, saying: Let her be stoned, and let our eyes look upon her. As it is written in the Septuagint: Let us insult and rejoice, and let our eyes despise Zion; and they did not understand the will and plan of the Lord, for this reason the nations have gathered against you, so that you may crush them like the threshing floor crushes the chaff or straw. Rise up, therefore, daughter of Zion, and with the iron horns that I promise to give you, and with the bronze hooves that you will receive, scatter and crush the peoples, and kill them for the Lord of the whole earth. For He takes pleasure in such a victim and such a sacrifice. The Jews, seeing that these things have not yet been fulfilled, promise themselves the coming of Christ in the future, and they say that all nations will serve the Jewish people, and that the Roman empire, which they interpret as Edom, will be crushed under their hooves and scattered with their horns. It is easy to prove from all the Scriptures how foolish this is, but that is a matter of another time. Therefore, we who follow not the letter that kills, but the life-giving spirit, say that many nations of demons gather against the daughter of Zion, which is translated as the Church, and insult her in the present age, which is under the power of evil, and rejoice in the killing of her children, ignorant of the thoughts of the Lord and not recognizing His plan. For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty (I Cor. II, 8). Therefore, He will gather them as sheaves in the area, so that whatever appeared to have thorns and be scattered, empty and light, may be crushed by their hooves, and winnowed by their horns, and the pure remaining grain may be offered as gifts to the Lord. But what does it mean when he says: You will crush many peoples, and consecrate their multitude to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of the whole earth. We read Numbers, and Jesus on the ship, and the first book of the Kings, and we will see how, concerning the subject peoples, when all things perish by the edge of the sword, both gold and silver, and also how a certain number of people and animals dedicated to the Lord as spoils. Finally, Achor, who stole something from the ban of Jericho, disturbed the people, and the name of the valley was imposed from sin, Emec Achor (), meaning valley of tumult, or disturbances (Joshua 7). But so that you may know, according to the Septuagint interpreters, who said: 'You shall consecrate their multitude to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth,' the word 'consecration' should be understood in a positive sense: Theodotion translated it as 'multitude,' the Fifth Edition as 'benefit,' which means 'advantage,' and Symmachus as 'gain,' which means 'their profit.'

Source: Commentary on Micah

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Micah 4:13

“For I will make your horns, which the Babylonians broke, iron. You shall beat in pieces many people, and shall devote their grain to the Lord.” This will happen when, after taking possession of their land and wealth, you pay the tithe to the Lord of the entire earth. As I have said, God showed a sign of such great prosperity to the Jews who would be coming back from captivity. He also reserved the same thing for his church.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MICAH