Micah 4:1

In the last days. Micah 4:1-3 is practically identical with Isaiah 2:2-4 (see comments there). The differences are insignificant, such as the transposition of the terms “people” and “nations” and the addition in Micah of the phrase “afar off” and of the word “strong.” Some of the word order and verbal changes in the KJV represent simply differences of translation, the Hebrew text in these instances being the same. For example, the readings “come” (Micah 4:2) and “go” (Isaiah 2:3) translate the identical Hebrew word, halak.

Halak means both “to come” and “to go,” and the choice of meaning depends upon the translator’s understanding of the context.

It cannot be determined whether Micah quoted Isaiah or Isaiah Micah, whether both quoted an earlier inspired source, or whether each was directly and independently inspired as he wrote this passage. The two were contemporaries (Micah 1:1; Isaiah 1:1).

After the pronouncement of doom upon Zion (Micah 3:12), Micah turns abruptly to promises of restoration. This passage belongs to those Old Testament statements that “contain great encouragement” (Counsels to Teachers 455, 456) for the church today, as they did for the people to whom they were originally addressed.