“And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”
King James Version (KJV)
2:6 Thou art in nowise the least among the princes of Judah - That is, among the cities belonging to the princes or heads of thousands in Judah. When this and several other quotations from the Old Testament are compared with the original, it plainly appears, the apostles did not always think it necessary exactly to transcribe the passages they cited, but contented themselves with giving the general sense, though with some diversity of language. The words of Micah, which we render, Though thou be little, may be rendered, Art thou little? And then the difference which seems to be here between the prophet and the evangelist vanishes away. #Micah 5:2|.
Mt 2:6 And thou Bethlehem. The quotation is made freely from the Septuagint version (Greek), which was in common use, and from which the Savior and his apostles constantly quoted. The Hebrew is literally, "But thou Bethlehem Ephrata, too small to be among the thousands of Judah (i.e., the towns where the heads of thousands resided, the chief towns in the distribution of the tribes), out of thee shall come forth one who is to be the ruler of Israel", Mic 5:1,2. Princes of Judah. Put for towns, where the princes or head of thousands lived.
And thou Bethlehem in the land of Iuda, art not the least among the Princes of Iuda: for out of thee shall come a Gouernour, that shall rule my people Israel.
- King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan
'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'"
- New American Standard Version (1995)
And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel.
- American Standard Version (1901)
You Beth-lehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the chiefs of Judah: out of you will come a ruler, who will be the keeper of my people Israel.
- Basic English Bible
And *thou* Bethlehem, land of Juda, art in no wise the least among the governors of Juda; for out of thee shall go forth a leader who shall shepherd my people Israel.
- Darby Bible
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
- Webster's Bible
"`And thou, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, by no means the least honorable art thou among princely places in Judah! For from thee shall come a prince--one who shall be the Shepherd of My People Israel.'"
- Weymouth Bible
'You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come forth a governor, who shall shepherd my people, Israel.'"
- World English Bible
And thou, Bethleem, the lond of Juda, art not the leest among the prynces of Juda; for of thee a duyk schal go out, that schal gouerne my puple of Israel.
- Wycliffe Bible
And thou, Beth-Lehem, the land of Judah, thou art by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for out of thee shall come one leading, who shall feed My people Israel.'
- Youngs Literal Bible