Micah 5:2
(KJV)
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting.
(1611 KJV)
But thou Beth-leem Ephratah, though thou bee little among the thousands of
Iudah, yet out of thee shall he come foorth vnto mee, that is to be ruler in
Israel: whose goings foorth haue bene from of old, from
euerlasting.
(Webster's Bible
1833) But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou art little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth to me that is to be
ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting.
(Bishops Bible
1568) And thou Bethlehem Ephrata art little among the thousandes of Iuda,
out of thee shal he come foorth vnto me which shalbe the gouernour in Israel,
whose out going hath ben from the beginning, and from
euerlasting
(Geneva Bible
1560) And thou Beth-leem Ephrathah art litle to bee among the thousandes of
Iudah, yet out of thee shall he come forth vnto me, that shalbe the ruler in
Israel: whose goings forth haue bene from the beginning and from
euerlasting.
(The Great Bible
1539) And thou Bethleem Ephrata, art lytle amonge the thou sandes of Iuda,
Out of the shal come vnto me, which shal be the gouernoure in Israel: whose out
goynge hath bene from the begynning, & from
euerlastynge.
(Matthew's Bible
1537) And thou Bethleem Ephrata, art lytle among the thousandes of Iuda, Out
of the shall come vnto me, whyche shall be the gouernoure in Israell: whose out
goinge hath bene from the begynnyge, and from
euerlastynge.
(Coverdale Bible
1535) And thou Bethleem Ephrata, art litle amonge the thousandes off Iuda,
Out off the shal come one vnto me, which shall be ye gouernoure i Israel: whose
outgoinge hath bene from the begynnynge, and from
euerlastinge.
(Wycliffe Bible
1382) And thou, Bethleem Effrata, art litil in the thousyndis of Juda; he
that is the lordli gouernour in Israel, schal go out of thee to me; and the
goyng out of hym is fro bigynnyng, fro daies of
euerlastyngnesse.
Counterfeit
Versions
(AMP)
“But as for
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah; From you
One shall come forth for Me [who is] to be Ruler in Israel, His goings forth
(appearances) are from long ago, From ancient days.”
(CSB)
Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from
you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient
times.
(CEB) As for
you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, though you are the least significant of Judah’s
forces, one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you.
His origin is from remote times, from ancient days.
(CEV)
Bethlehem Ephrath, you are one of the smallest towns in the nation of Judah. But
the Lord will choose one of your
people to rule the nation— someone whose family goes back to ancient times.
(ERV) But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are the smallest town in Judah. Your family is almost
too small to count, but the “Ruler of Israel” will come from you to rule for me.
His beginnings are from ancient times, from long, long ago.
(ESV) But
you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming
forth is from of old, from ancient days.
(GNB) The Lord says,
“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you
I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.”
(LEB) But
you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you one will go out for me, to be ruler in Israel; and his origins are from
of old, from ancient days.
(THE MESSAGE)
But you, Bethlehem, David’s country, the runt of the litter— From you will come
the leader who will shepherd-rule Israel. He’ll be no upstart, no pretender. His
family tree is ancient and distinguished. Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster
homes until the birth pangs are over and the child is born, And the scattered
brothers come back home to the family of Israel. He will stand tall in his
shepherd-rule by God’s strength,
centered in the majesty of God-Revealed.
And the people will have a good and safe home, for the whole world will hold him
in respect— Peacemaker of the world!
(NCV) “But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are too small to be among the army groups
from Judah, from you will come one who will rule Israel for me. He comes from
very old times, from days long ago.”
(NET) As for
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah— from
you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins
are in the distant past.
(NIRV) The Lord says,
“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you might not be an important town in the nation of Judah.
But out of you will come for me a ruler over Israel. His family line goes back
to the early years of your nation. It goes all the way back to days of long
ago.”
(NIV) “But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of
you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from
of old, from ancient times.”
(NLV)
“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are too little to be among the family groups of Judah.
But from you One will come who will rule for Me in Israel. His coming was
planned long ago, from the beginning.”
(NLT) But
you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of
Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come
from you on my behalf.
(NRSV) But
you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from
you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from
of old, from ancient days.
(NWT) And
you, O Bethʹle·hem Ephʹra·thah, The one too little to be among the thousands of
Judah, From you will come out for me the one to be ruler in Israel, Whose origin
is from ancient times, from the days of long ago.
(RSV) But
you, O Bethlehem Eph′rathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from
you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is
from of old, from ancient days.
(VOICE) But
you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, of the clans of Judah, are no poor relation— From
your people will come a Ruler who will be the shepherd of My people, Israel,
Whose origins date back to the distant past, to the ancient days.
(WEB) But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one
will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of
old, from ancient times.
Corrupted
Manuscripts
None
Affected
Teaching
The word behind “everlasting” in this verse is “ôlãm”
which carries with it the meaning of “forever, everlasting, or eternity.”
This is how it is translated in the majority of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Ezekiel 37:26 (KJV)
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with
them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the
midst of them for evermore.
2 Samuel 22:51 (KJV)
He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his
anointed, unto David, and to his seed for
evermore.
However, the word “ôlãm” has a wider meaning than just
eternity. It can also be translated
“old, ancient, old time, never.”
Deuteronomy 32:7 (KJV)
Remember the days of old,
consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee;
thy elders, and they will tell thee.
Job 22:15 (KJV)
Hast thou marked the old
way which wicked men have trodden?
Isaiah 44:7 (KJV)
And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for
me, since I appointed the ancient
people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
Proverbs 22:28 (KJV)
Remove not the ancient
landmark, which thy fathers have set.
Ezekiel 26:20 (KJV)
When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with
the people of old time, and
shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with
them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory
in the land of the living;
Joel 2:26-27 (KJV)
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the
LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall
never be ashamed.
{27} And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am
the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall
never be ashamed.
As we have seen that “ôlãm” does not always mean
eternity even though that is the primary meaning of the word.
We safely conclude that “ôlãm” is a word that is defined by the context.
If we look at Micah 5:2, we read that it is speaking
about the prophecy of the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the primary meaning of “ôlãm” should have been the way the
modern versions translate it instead they chose to downgrade the Lord Jesus
Christ and attack his deity and eternality.
Remember in Galatians 4:4 that in the fulness of time God sent forth His
Son which means that the Lord Jesus Christ had existence in eternity and not in
time designated by years and days.
Galatians 4:4 (KJV) But when the fulness
of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, The modern version
translators knew Micah 5:2 was about the first coming of the Lord Jesus but
chose a word which attack his eternal nature and pre-existence before this world
was created. Once again we have the
modern versions and their sorry excuse for translators using the wrong word and
causing confusion in the body of Christ.
The translators made the same blunder in Ecclesiastes 3:11 concerning the word “ôlãm” and instead of translating it as world, they reversed the meaning and used eternity. See my study on Ecclesiastes 3:11 and you will see this gross negligence.