the Second Week after Easter
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JPS Old Testament
Micah 4:11
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Many nations have now assembled against you;they say, “Let her be defiled,and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, 'Let her be defiled, And let our eye gloat over Tziyon.'
Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, & let our eye look vpon Zion.
Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, "Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion."
"And now many nations have been assembled against you Who say, 'Let her be defiled, And let our eyes gloat over Zion!'
But now many nations have come to fight against you, saying, "Let's destroy Jerusalem. We will look at her and be glad we have defeated her."
"Now many [conquering] nations are assembled against you, Who say, 'Let her be profaned [through Gentile presence and the temple's destruction], And let our eyes gaze on and gloat over Zion.'
Nowe also many nations are gathered against thee, saying, Zion shalbe condemned and our eye shall looke vpon Zion.
"And now many nations have been assembled against you Who say, 'Let her be polluted, And let our eyes gloat over Zion.'
But now many nations have been assembled against youWho say, ‘Let her be polluted,And let our eyes behold Zion in triumph.'
But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, "Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion."
Zion, because of your sins you are surrounded by many nations who say, "We can hardly wait to see you disgraced."
Now many nations have gathered against you; they say, "Let her be defiled, let's gloat over Tziyon."
And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be profaned, and let our eye look upon Zion.
Many nations have come to fight against you. They say, "Look, there is Zion! Let's attack her!"
Now many nations shall gather against you, who say, Let Zion be defiled, and let our eyes look upon it.
Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, "Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!"
And now, many nations are gathered against you who are saying, ‘Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.'
Now also many nations are gathered against you, saying, Let her be defiled, and let our eyes look on Zion.
And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see our desire upon Zion.
And now a number of nations have come together against you, and they say, Let her be made unclean and let our eyes see the fate of Zion.
Now also are there many people gathered together against thee, saying: Sion shalbe condempned, and our eye shall loke vpon Sion.
And now have many nations gathered against thee, saying, We will rejoice, and our eyes shall look upon Sion.
And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see its desire upon Zion.
Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, 'Let her be defiled, And let our eye gloat over Zion.'
And now many folkis ben gaderid on thee, whiche seien, Be it stonyd, and oure iye biholde in to Sion.
And now many nations are assembled against you, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see [our desire] on Zion.
Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
Many nations have now assembled against you. They say, "Jerusalem must be desecrated, so we can gloat over Zion!"
Now also many nations have gathered against you, Who say, "Let her be defiled, And let our eye look upon Zion."
Now many nations have gathered against you. "Let her be desecrated," they say. "Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem."
"Now many nations are gathered against you. They say, ‘Let her be unclean. Let our eyes look on Zion.'
Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, "Let her be profaned, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion."
Meanwhile, therefore, shall be gathered against thee many nations, - who are saying - Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.
And now many nations are gathered together against thee, and they say: Let her be stoned: and let our eye look upon Sion.
Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, "Let her be profaned, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion."
And now, gathered against thee have been many nations, who are saying: `Let her be defiled, and our eyes look on Zion.'
Now also are there many people gathered together agaynst the, sayenge: what, Sion is cursed, we shall se oure lust vpon her.
But for right now, they're ganged up against you, many godless peoples, saying, "Kick her when she's down! Violate her! We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt." These blasphemers have no idea what God is thinking and doing in this. They don't know that this is the making of God 's people, that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
many: Isaiah 5:25-30, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8, Jeremiah 52:4, Lamentations 2:15, Lamentations 2:16, Joel 3:2-15
let our: Micah 7:10, Obadiah 1:12
Reciprocal: Exodus 15:7 - them that Numbers 35:33 - it defileth 2 Samuel 10:15 - gathered 1 Chronicles 19:16 - and drew Isaiah 8:9 - Associate Isaiah 10:7 - he meaneth Jeremiah 30:16 - General Lamentations 1:7 - the adversaries Ezekiel 26:3 - many Habakkuk 2:8 - the violence Zephaniah 3:8 - to gather Zechariah 2:8 - the nations Zechariah 12:3 - though Zechariah 14:12 - the plague wherewith
Cross-References
And the LORD God said unto the serpent: 'Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.'
And the LORD said unto him: 'Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And the LORD set a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.
And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
And Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle.
And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no resting-place.
For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place to visit upon the inhabitants of the earth their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Now also many nations are gathered against thee,.... Which is to be understood, not of Sennacherib's army invading Judea, and besieging Jerusalem, in Hezekiah's time; for that was not threshed, as the phrase is afterwards used, or destroyed by the daughter of Zion, but by an angel from heaven: nor of the Babylonians or Chaldeans, since they succeeded in their attempt, and were the conquerors, and not conquered: rather this respects the times of the Maccabees, as the series of prophecy and history agreeing together shows; in which times many of the neighbouring nations of the Jews gave them a great deal of trouble, and especially Antiochus king of Syria; and many and mighty armies sent by him. The Jews, as Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and Abarbinel z, interpret this of the armies of Gog and Magog, in the times of their vainly expected Messiah. Some Christian interpreters, with much more probability, understand this passage of the first times of the Gospel, and the opposition made to that and the Christian church, which yet in the issue prevailed; and perhaps it may have reference to the last times, and receive its full accomplishment in the battle at Armageddon,
Revelation 16:14;
that say, let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion; either defiled with sin; so the Targum,
"that say, when will she sin, and our eye shall behold the fall of Zion?''
as the effect of her sin: or, as others, "let her play the hypocrite" a; and be condemned as such: or rather, be defiled with slaughter and bloodshed, that they might be delighted with so pleasing a sight, and their eyes might feed with pleasure on an object so agreeable to their wishes.
z Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 62. 1. a ת×× ×£ "hypocrita fuit", Tigurine version; velut hypocrita damnatur", Tarnovius; "hypocrisi contaminabitur, Cocceius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Now also - (And now.) The prophet had already spoken of the future before them, with this word Now. Then, he distinctly prophesied the captivity to Babylon. Twice more he begins anew; as Holy Scripture, so often, in a mystery, whether speaking of evil or of good, of deliverance or of punishment, uses a threefold form. In these two, no mention is made of the enemy, and so there is some uncertainty. But the course must apparently be either backward or forward. They must either be two nearer futures before the Captivity, or two more distant after it. This second gathering might, in itself, either be that of the Assyrian hosts under Sennacherib out of all the nations subject to him; or that of the many petty nations in the time of the Maccabees, who took advantage of the Syriansâ oppression, to combine to eradicate the Jews (1 Macc. 5:1, 2). If understood of Sennacherib, the prophet, having foretold the entire captivity of the whole people to Babylon, would have prophesied the sudden destruction of a nearer enemy, whose miraculous and instantaneous overthrow should be the earnest of the destruction of Babylon and of their deliverance from it. This would suit well with the description, âHe shall gather them as sheaves to the floor,â and would correspond well with the descriptions in Isaiah. On the other hand, whereas this description would suit any other event, in which man gathered his strength against God and was overthrown, the following words, âArise and thresh, O daughter of Zion,â etc., fit better with the victories of the Maccabees, in which Israel was active, than with the overthrow of Sennacherib, in which they were wholly passive, and God did all for them, as Isaiah and Nahum foretell the same overthrow Isaiah 10:24-34; Isaiah 14:24, Isaiah 14:5; Isaiah 17:12-14; Isaiah 29:7-8; Nahum 1:10-13. Then also, if the course of the description was backward:
1) the captivity in Babylon
2) the destruction of Sennacherib
There is no earlier event to correspond with âthe smiting of the judge of Israel on the cheekâ (Micah 5:1-4 in Hebrew). The malice also of the nations gathered against Zion suits better with the abiding character of the petty nations, and of their hereditary envy against Israel and its high claims. To Nineveh and Babylon, Israel was but one little corner of ground, which rounded their territory and connected them with Egypt. They disdained them, even while they sought to subdue them. Micah describes the exultation of petty gratified rivalry.
That say, let her be defiled - The bad have a keen eye for the haltings and inconsistencies and falls of Godâs people, for which they are ever on the watch. Like Satan, they are first tempters, then the accusers; first desecrators, then sanctimonious justiciaries. God, in His judgment, leaves what has been inwardly defiled to be outwardly profaned. âIf any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple are yeâ 1 Corinthians 3:17. âThe faithful city had become a harlotâ Isaiah 1:21. âThe land had become polluted by its inhabitantsâ Jeremiah 3:9; Psalms 106:38; Isaiah 24:5. Now it was to be polluted by the enemy. Its seducers ask for the judgment of God. âIt has become like us in its deeds; let it no more be distinguished from us by the name of the people of God.â
And let our eye look upon Zion - With pleasure upon its desolation, and feed itself with its misery. : âWhere the eye, there love; where the hand, there pain.â âThey opened their mouth wide against me: they said, Aha, Aha, our eye hath seenâ Psalms 35:21. The world hates the Church; Edom, Israel; it cannot be satisfied with beholding its chastisements Micah 7:10; Obadiah 1:12. The sufferings of the Martyrs were the choice spectacle of the pagan.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Micah 4:11. Many nations are gathered against thee — The Chaldeans, who were composed of many nations. And, we may add, all the surrounding nations were their enemies; and rejoiced when the Chaldean army had overthrown Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and led the people away captive.
Let her be defiled — This was their cry and their wish: Let Jerusalem be laid as low as she can be, like a thing defiled and cast away with abhorrence; that their eyes might look upon Zion with scorn, contempt, and exultation.
