Matthew 2:6

“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are in no wise least among the princes of Judah, for out of you will come forth a governor, who will be shepherd of my people Israel.”

We have no evidence elsewhere that this verse was commonly seen as declaring where the Messiah would be born, for it is not cited in such a way anywhere else (but compare John 7:27, although that may simply be a reference to the mysteriousness of the Messiah, not to his birthplace), but it seems unlikely that such a clear reference had never been spotted before, at least as the source from which the Davidic Messiah would come. They would naturally have expected a son of David to be connected with Bethlehem. Certainly, however, to a group of men fearing the worst if they discovered nothing, Micah's reference would have seemed like manna from Heaven. But they did not follow up their words with action. It may be that they were too apathetic to follow the situation up, or it may simply be that they had no confidence in ‘those astrologers'.

We may compare the rendering here with MT (Hebrew text) and LXX (Greek text). There are some differences, although they make little difference to the overall sense.

MT LXX Matthew ‘But you, Bethlehem ‘And you, Bethleem, house, ‘And you, Bethlehem  Ephrathah, which is little of Ephratha are few in in the land of Judah  to be number to be reckoned are in no wise least  among the thousands among the thousands among the princes  (clans) of Judah, out of (clans) of Juda, yet out of of Judah, for out of  you will one come forth you will one come forth you will come forth  to me, to be a ruler of Israel to me, who is to be ruler a governor, who will  in Israel, whose goings in Israel, and his goings forth are from of old, forth were from the   from everlasting. beginning, even from eternity. And he shall stand and And the Lord shall stand, be shepherd of my  shall feed his flock in and see, and feed his flock people Israel.  the strength of the Lord. with power, It will be noted that MT and LXX are very similar to each other, while the ‘Matthaean' version differs, in that in MT and LXX Bethlehem is described as little or few in number among the clans of Judah, whereas in Matthew Bethlehem is described as in no wise least among the princes of Judah. At first it appears to be a contradiction, but it is in fact not so, for Matthew's version does not say ‘is in no wise few in number'. ‘In no wise least' suggests small, but not the smallest, and yet for all that not insignificant. He merely then stresses that its status is not small. It is true that it does at first sight appear, probably deliberately, to give a different impression. But the difference is more apparent than real, for what follows in MT and LXX confirms that while few in number they are not ‘least' in status as a result of what will ensue, the coming forth of a ruler of Israel. That could only indicate a higher status. No town that produced the glorious Davidic house could be called insignificant. Thus in the end they are all three saying the same thing. The alteration simply helps to draw attention to what all are saying, that the One Who is to come forth from Bethlehem gives to Bethlehem a prestige that lifts up its head among the clans/princes of Judah.

The other difference in emphasis is that MT and LXX are assessing Bethlehem's size in contrast with the size of the clans of Judah, while Matthew's version appears to be assessing Bethlehem's status in the eyes of the princes of Judah, the leaders of the clans. (That is unless we assume that by using ‘princes' he is really indicating ‘princedoms', and therefore signifying ‘clans', which is quite possible. The same consonants in Hebrew can in fact mean both). Thus he is saying that while few in number, Bethlehem is high in status, either in contrast with the princedoms of Judah or in the eyes of the Princes of Judah. We may certainly feel that Matthew's version is giving an additional boost to Jesus' Messianic status in that He is thereby being seen as recognised by the princes of Judah, but that is not his major emphasis, nor does it on the whole disagree with the significance of the other renderings. All are in the end saying that Bethlehem is exalted because of the house of David that has sprung from her. Indeed it is unlikely that Matthew, if it had not already been in his text, would have invented this, as the MT would have been more suitable to his purpose, in that the princes of Judah on the whole did not acknowledge Jesus, (although of course some like Joseph of Arimathea did). It may, however, be that Matthew wants to draw out a contrast between Herod and the princes of Judah.

Matthew's version then goes on to add the clause about the shepherd, (possibly making use of 2 Samuel 5:2, but having in mind Amos 5:4), while excluding the reference back to eternity. Certainly the shepherd theme points forward to the coming David (compare Ezekiel 34:23). But then so does the reference to a ruler coming from Bethlehem. This additional phrase immediately brings out the fact that Matthew's is not to be seen as a direct quotation from Amos 5:2 but as an accumulation of ideas. Nor does it actually claim to be an exact rendering of Amos 5:2.

But none of these alterations were in fact needed in order to get over the point, and it therefore seems probable that we are to see Matthew's citation as taken from some paraphrase known either to him, or to the Sanhedrin, with the differences not being seen as important. After all the main point of the quotation in all versions, is that while Bethlehem is small it should not be discounted for that reason, because one day it will produce a great King who will watch over his people. And thus it will be the home of the Messiah. And that was what whoever quoted it was wanting to bring out.

(We should possibly note here the struggles of some scholars to try to prove that the Messiah was not in fact expected from Bethlehem, while others seek to prove that this ‘revised version' was inserted precisely because He was. We might feel justified in thinking sometimes that their efforts simply cancel each other out).