Rachel Weeping

The following notes summarize M. A. Sweeney’s marvelous exegesis of Micah 4-5 (in the Berit Olam) series.

In 4:8 and again in 5:2, Micah addresses particular places. The first, 4:8, is an address to “Daughter Zion” which is also identified as “Migdal-eder,” a phrase that means “tower of the flock.” This reminds Israel of Yahweh’s promise to be the shepherd to His people, replacing the false and oppressive shepherds, the cannibal kings that now rule Israel. But the place is significant for another reason. According to Genesis 35:21, Migdal-eder, the tower of the flock, was the place where Jacob camped after he buried Rachel, who died giving birth to Benjamin near Bethlehem.

This explains the references to childbirth in the following verses (4:9-10). Sweeney says, “the traditions tend to portray the exiled and returning Israel as a woman who has lost or regained her children, i.e., Rachel . . . or Lady Zion . . . . Apparently, the image of the dying Rachel from the Jacob tradition (Genesis 35) and the images of Israel as bride of YHWH (Hosea 1-3; Jeremiah 2) play a role in this construction of Israel’s exile to the wilderness. This would explain the feminine formulation of the terms for ‘lame’ and ‘outcast’ in Mic 4:6, i.e., the ‘lame’ and ‘outcast’ represent YHWH’s cast-off bride who was exiled to the wilderness like Jacob and Rachel and who will now be restored as YHWH establishes the ‘remnant’ of Israel as a ‘strong nation’ . . . in Zion.”

There is multilayered imagery here: Jerusalem is Daughter Zion, who is like a woman in childbirth because of the anguish of her exile. Daughter Zion is like Rachel, who died in childbirth; Jerusalem is also dying because of her sins and the punishment Yahweh is sending. This death, these death-pangs of childbirth, are literally the exile of Jerusalem into Babylon (v. 10).

But these pangs are the pangs of childbirth, not the pangs of death. It feels like death. Jerusalem writhes like she is dying. She cries out in anguish. But this is not death. This is birth. And not just birth. Rachel died in the pangs of childbirth, giving birth to Benjamin, the ancestor of Israel’s first king. She cries aloud because there is no king or counselor, but her cry is the cry of labor for a future king.

And this means that the two addresses are in fact one and the same. Micah addresses Migdal-eder, the tower of the flock, where Jacob camped after the birth of a future kingly tribe. Then he addresses Bethlehem, a town among the clan of Ephrata, the man who founded Bethlehem. Both addresses are addresses to places associated with kingship. The first addresses Migdal-eder as the place where Rachel’s birthpangs were turned to the glory of kingship. He addresses Bethlehem as the birthplace of the younger son who was raised above his brothers.

That’s the force of the phrase in verse 2: “one of the young clans of Judah.” David was a younger son who was chosen in preference to his brothers, but so was Jacob, so was Joseph, so was Israel as a nation, chosen in preference to the Canaanites who populated the land before they did. From this younger clan, from this small down, comes one who will be ruler in Israel.

This ruler is going to be a victor over Israel’s enemies. He will shepherd the flock of Yahweh (5:4), and He will be at the head of the Shepherds who not only repel the Assyrian invasion but shepherd Assyria back to Nineveh with the sword. But that will not happen immediately. Verse 3 indicates that there will be a delay until the bride in labor has given birth: “He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child.” As Sweeney puts it, “the one who shall give them up must be identified as the David ruler who will emerge from Bethlehem Ephrata, and those who are given up must be identified as the clans of Judah. Apparently, this statement points to a period of waiting in which Israel is subjected to the oppression of enemies before the projected monarch is able to act.”

The upshot of all this is that the assaults of Assyria and the other nations that attack Jerusalem are turned inside out. They don’t know “the thoughts of Yahweh, and they do not understand His purpose” (4:12). The nations think they are gathering to thresh Jerusalem, but they are gathering to be threshed. They think they are coming to take over Jerusalem and destroy it forever, but Yahweh’s mysterious cunning plan is to use the birth pangs of Assyrian invasion as the means for restoring His people. His cunning plan is that the Messiah will be born from death. His purpose is the death and resurrection of Israel, the true Israel, the Davidic king, and His people.