Micah 5:2 (KJV)

Passage

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Nearby Context

Micah 5:1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Micah 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

Micah 5:4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "bethlehem", "ephratah", "though", "little", "thousands", and "judah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "bethlehem", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Now gather thyself in troops O daughter..." into verse 3's "Therefore will he give them up until...", so "thou" and "bethlehem" belong inside that flow. In Micah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "bethlehem" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.