And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
Parallel translations
- WEB You, tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come, yes, the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
- BSB And you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion—the former dominion will be restored to you; sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”
- NKJV And you, O tower of the flock, The stronghold of the daughter of Zion, To you shall it come, Even the former dominion shall come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
- NASB “As for you, tower of the flock, Hill of the daughter of Zion, To you it will come— Yes, the former dominion will come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
- NLT As for you, Jerusalem, the citadel of God’s people, your royal might and power will come back to you again. The kingship will be restored to my precious Jerusalem.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
To Zion, the 'tower of the flock,' the former dominion and kingdom will be restored. It promises the return of royal sovereignty to Jerusalem.
Overview
Addressing Zion as a watchtower over the flock, Micah promises the renewal of the kingship that had been lost. The 'former dominion' recalls the glory of David's throne. This restored kingdom points forward to the everlasting reign of David's greater Son, the Messiah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 1:26And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
- Rev 22:5And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
- Zech 9:10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
- Gen 35:21And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
- Dan 2:44And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
- Zech 9:12Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
- Obad 1:21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.
- 2 Sam 5:7Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
- Eph 1:21Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
- Mark 12:1And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
- Num 24:19Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.
- Ps 48:12–13Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
- Isa 5:2And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
- Matt 21:33Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
- Dan 7:18But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
- Isa 10:32As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
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Christ at the center
Micah names the town — 'But you, Bethlehem... from you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origins are from of old' — the birthplace of the eternal King.
How Micah 4:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.