Micah 2:12

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee,.... These words are either the words of the false prophet continued, that prophesied of wine and strong drink, as Aben Ezra; promising great plenty and

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make

There are three different interpretations of this verse, of which it is hard to say which is most agreeable to the intent of this scripture; I will propose all three, and leave each reader to choose for himself. First, Some will that these words be a continuation of the false prophet’ s preaching prosperity and good days. So the words are a promise made to them contradictory to the menaces of the Lord by Micah; he foretold all would end in destruction; the false prophet foretells the assembling of all the seed of Jacob into their land and cities, and bringing back the remnant of the captive Israelites carried away by Tiglath-pileser, and their safety in their own fold as the flock of Bozrah, and should make great noise of joy and rejoicing in their multitudes. All which, spoken by the false prophet, Micah refutes in the 13th verse. Secondly, Others make it an evangelical promise of the restitution of Israel by the Messiah, and many Jews agree with Christian expositors herein, though, the Jews refer it to a temporal restitution, not yet fulfilled: the Christians refer it to a spiritual, partly fulfilled, yet more fully to be accomplished hereafter; and suitably to this hypothesis they interpret all the passages of this text and the 13th verse; both which will very fairly bear the sense by these put upon them, and may be the mystical sense of the words, but we, who inquire into the literal meaning, think it advisable not to swell the volume by long digressions. A third opinion ought to be considered ere we can choose which we shall adhere to. Now the third opinion, in expounding the text, makes it a commination or dreadful threat against this people, and thus suits it: I, i.e. God, offended with them. Will surely assemble; by his providence will cause to come together. O Jacob; he calls to the house of Israel to consider it. All of thee; all who were fleeing, upon hope of what their false prophets promise, to return to their own land and cities. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; the same thing in little different words, repeated to assure us the truth of the thing. I will put them together; all that remain of the ten tribes (for some were before carried away by Tiglath-pileser) shall most assuredly be gathered together, that they may all be in one covey covered with the Assyrian net. As the sheep of Bozrah; in multitudes like those flocks. As the flock in the midst of their fold; whence none of the sheep can get out and make their escape: so should this people be enclosed and taken. They shall make great noise of cries and lamentation for their distresses and lost condition. By reason of the multitude of men; such great multitudes cooped up, shall hideously lament. their own condition, like multitudes that suffer shipwreck together: all this God will bring upon them by the multitude of the Assyrian soldiers which come up against them.

Micah 2:12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of [the multitude of] men.Ver. 12. I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee] An evangelical promise (saith Diodati, after others) of gathering together the universal Church, under the kingdom of Christ, contrary to the precedent dispersion, Micah 2:10. Assembling, I will assemble, and gathering, gather them, sc. into the bosom of the Church, called therefore ecclesia (as culled and collected out of the world), and Church, or Kirk, of Kυριακη; because it belongs to the Lord Christ, who gathereth his together as the hen doth her chickens, "and died not for that nation of Jews only, but that also he might gather together into one the children of God that were scattered abroad," John 11:51-52. Here he is called the breaker up, and his apostles likewise those that have broken up, and have passed through the gate, doing great exploits, and subduing souls to the obedience of the faith, as here in Britain, where Caesar himself could not break through, but “ Territa quaesitis ostendit terga Britannis, ” as Pompey in Lucan upbraids him. Hence Tertullian saith, Christ brake into those places of Brittany that the Romans could never come at, Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo patueruut. He is that "king against whom there is no rising up," Proverbs 30:31. He is Jehovah on the head of his people, or in the forefront of them, as their captain general, to lead them on, Quasi antesignanus et ductor (Lapid.), and bring them off safely in all encounters. Habent ista amplissimam promissionem, saith Gualther here; this is an excellent promise, and carrieth in it a most sweet consolation. But I rather think it to be a continuation of the former threatening: "I will surely assemble them," sc. to the slaughter. I will gather them together, sc. that they may be broken in pieces, Isaiah 8:9. I will put them (or pen them up) together as the sheep of Bozrah, that are fat and fit, and appointed for the slaughter. See Isaiah 34:6. Bozrah was a rich pasture country in Edom, from whence most fat sheep and meet for meat were sent to the shambles. As the flock in the midst of their fold] So will God first shut you up by strait sieges, and then number you out to the sword, and ye shall "all bow down to the slaughter," Isaiah 65:12. There is a memorable story of the suffering of certain good people in Calabria, A.D. 1560, by the hands of the bloody Papists there.

(12, 13) I will surely assemble . . .—With a characteristic abruptness Micah turns from the height of sin and punishment to the height of the deliverance—from Ebal to Gerizim. Israel and the remnant shall be gathered together as a goodly flock in the luxuriant pastures of Idumæan Bozrah. The Breaker shall go before them as their Saviour and Deliverer, yea, even Jehovah at their head. The return from captivity symbolised the eventual restoration of the people of God into His everlasting kingdom.

Verse 12. I will surely assemble] This is a promise of the restoration of Israel from captivity. He compares them to a flock of sheep rushing together to their fold, the hoofs of which make a wonderful noise or clatter. So when one hundred sheep run, eight hundred toes or divisions of these bifed animals make a clattering noise. This appears to be the image.

12. I will surely assemble …] Some commentators think that this and the next verse represent one of the flattering oracles of the false prophets; but the style is precisely that of the true prophets, and indeed of Micah himself (see Micah 4:6-7). There is a question, however, whether the verses are not misplaced; whether their present position is not due to a later editor, rather than to Micah himself. There are no doubt very abrupt transitions in prophecy; but this is exceptionally difficult, as the tone and style of Mic 2:12-13 is so entirely different from that which precedes. O Jacob, all of thee] Not merely a part of the nation; not merely the ten tribes, or the others, but the whole of Israel (‘Jacob’ as in Micah 1:5). And yet only ‘the remnant of Israel;’ enough, but only just enough, to form the nucleus of a nobler Israel (comp. Isaiah 10:20-21). The promise is therefore for those who shall come out of the trial repentant and purified. See the parallel passages, Jeremiah 31:8, Ezekiel 34:11-14. as the sheep of Bozrah, &c.] Rather, as sheep into a fold, as a flock in the midst of its pasture.

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel - God’s mercy on the penitent and believing being the end of all His threatenings, the mention of it often bursts in abruptly.

Micah 2:12-13 transpose us abruptly from the present corruption, facing imminent doom, to the distant future, when a remnant of the people carried into exile (3, 4) will be restored.