This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
By Ray Konig
Published: December 2, 2002
Revised: January 10, 2025
Every year, during the Christmas season, Christian churches revisit Micah 5:2, which they view as an Old Testament prophecy that foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
For many Christians, Micah 5:2 is a remarkable prophecy that eliminated all other cities, towns, and villages -- throughout world -- as the place where the promised Messiah would be born. He would be born in Bethlehem, which is a small town on the outskirts of Jerusalem, within the region of Judah, in southern Israel.
This prophecy was recorded by the prophet Micah, about 2,700 years ago, which is about 700 years before Jesus was born:
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. (Micah 5:2, WEB)
Matthew, the apostle who wrote the New Testament's Gospel of Matthew, refers to Micah 5:2 as a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago (Matthew 2:1-6).
But, for many critics, including skeptics, atheists, and other people who do not share the Christian view, Matthew was wrong, the Christians are wrong, and Micah 5:2 is not a prophecy about the Messiah, and it is not a prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and it is not fulfilled by Jesus.
Let's take a look at these views that critics have, explain their shortcomings, and then explain why Micah 5:2 is unmistakably a prophecy about the Messiah, that he would be born in Bethlehem, and that this prophecy is fulfilled by Jesus.
For starters, many critics believe that the reference to Bethlehem Ephrathah does not point to the town of Bethlehem, but rather to a person named Bethlehem, whose mother was named Ephrathah.
The critics have an interesting point here. There was in fact a person named Bethlehem, who did in fact have a mother named Ephrathah (1 Chronicles 4:4).
But this point becomes less interesting when we remember that many cities, towns, and villages -- throughout the land of Israel -- were named after people. In fact, Israel was named after a person, as was Judah, the region in southern Israel that includes the town of Bethlehem.
And it becomes more problematic for critics when it is noted that the town of Bethlehem in Judah was also known as Ephrathah:
All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem. (Ruth 4:11, WEB)
This verse is describing a time of about 3,200 years ago, which would be about 500 years before Micah wrote his prophecy.
As we can see, in the last part of Ruth 4:11, Ephrathah was either another name for the town of Bethlehem in Judah or was the name of an area that included the town of Bethlehem in Judah. Also, the descendants of Ephrathah, and her son Bethlehem, were known as Ephrathites, as in the clan of Ephrathah (Ruth 1:2).
With this background in mind, we have the opportunity to see that Micah's phrase, Bethlehem Ephrathah, is pointing to the town of Bethlehem in Judah, as well as to the clan of Ephrathah, which is uniquely associated with the town of Bethlehem in Judah.
Also, Micah's phrase would make it doubly clear that this prophecy points to the town of Bethlehem in Judah, as opposed to another town named Bethlehem in northern Israel (Joshua 19:15).
At this point, we know for certain that the terms Bethlehem and Ephrathah can refer to people in the Bible, and we know for certain that these terms can refer to places in the Bible.
Is it possible that Micah's prophecy points both to the descendants of Bethlehem and Ephrathah and to the town in Judah that is called Bethlehem and Ephrathah?
The answer is yes. And to more fully appreciate how all of this works, we have to go back to an earlier time, before Micah received this prophecy.
About 3,000 years ago, the very first king of Israel, Saul, had turned away from God. So, God sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to find and anoint a young shepherd named David to become the next King of Israel, a king who would be faithful to God (1 Samuel 16).
During the time of David's reign, the prophets began announcing that the promised Messiah would be an extraordinary son of David, meaning that he would be an extraordinary descendant of David, and that he would be a son born to the House of David.
This son, as we are told in several Old Testament prophecies, would be the king of kings. He would inherit an eternal throne (2 Samuel 7:12-16), and reign eternally (Isaiah 9:6-7), over God's eternal kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14), also known as the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and simply as heaven.
So what does this brief history lesson about David have to do with Micah's prophecy in Micah 5:2? Well, everything. David was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judah. David was born to the clan of Ephrathah. David was ancient Israel's greatest king. And, God had announced, in 1 Samuel 16:1, that this great king would be found in the town of Bethlehem in Judah.
And that is what is happening in Micah 5:2. God is announcing that the greatest of all kings, the Messiah, would also be found in the town of Bethlehem in Judah. And, he would be a descendant of David, as well as a descendant of the people named Bethlehem and Ephrathah.
Just as surely as ancient Israel's greatest king was found in Bethlehem, so too would the greatest king of all.
By considering this fuller context of Micah's prophecy, which includes the history of God choosing David, we can avoid the mistakes made by critics. And, we can arrive at a more correct understanding of Micah 5:2, that it is a prophecy about the Messiah, that it is a prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and that it is fulfilled by Jesus.
Jesus is recorded, in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke, as being a descendant of David and as having been born in the town of Bethlehem in Judah.
In other words, the only person in history to have ever been widely embraced as being the Messiah, who was promised by Micah and other Old Testament prophets, is also on record as having been born in Bethlehem.
© 2002, 2025 Ray Konig.
Ray Konig is the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
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Other articles about the Bethlehem prophecy in Micah 5:2
• The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem
• Bethlehem - Messiah's birthplace: A detailed look at Micah 5:2 and the objections that skeptics have
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