David and Goliath Redux

Sweeney says that “to little to be among the thousands of Judah” (Micah 5:2) means “too young,” and alludes to the “younger son” theme of the Old Testament. This specifically refers to David, the younger son of Jesse. But why “too young to be among the thousands of Judah”? The allusion is to the David and Goliath story, where David is literally too young to be among the military units, the “thousands” (analogous to a Roman “century”).

This fits the sequel in Micah 5: The younger son, too young to fight among the troops of Judah, emerges to become ruler, and fights against the invading Assyrian.

The problem with this is that it’s “Bethlehem” and not the “ruler” who are described as being too young. That perhaps can be explained by suggesting that Bethlehem has become personified as one bearing the same characteristics as its most famous son.

And this suggests that the specific near fulfillment of the prophecy comes during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem during the days of Hezekiah. Hezekiah is a new David, confronted by the Goliath-bully Assyria with its sneering, boasting Rab-Shakeh (2 Kings 18-19), yet Hezekiah sends Goliath packing, driving Sennacherib back to “the land of Nimrod at its entrances” (Micah 5:6). This also links the ruler of Micah 5 quite directly with the one born of a virgin in Isaiah 7.