its members usually
consisted of about a thousand; compare Num. i. 16, where it is said of
the twelve princes of the tribes: "Heads of the thousands of Israel are
they;" Num. x. 4; Josh. xxii. 14, 21; Judg. vi. 15; 1 Sam. x. 19. On
the division of Israel into thousands, hundreds, etc.--a division which
existed before the time of Moses--compare what has been advanced in my
Dissertations on the _Genuineness of the Pentateuch_, ii. p. 341 sqq.
It is self-evident that the thought here is, that Bethlehem is too
little to constitute a thousand _by itself_. Communities, however,
which were not sufficiently numerous to constitute, by themselves, a
generation or family, were reckoned with others, and formed with them
an artificial generation, an artificial family; for the divisions of
generations and families were, owing to the great significance which
numbers had in ancient times, connected with numerical relations. An
instance of this kind occurs in 1 Chron. xxiii. 11, 12, where it is
said of four brothers that they had not sons enough, and were, for
that reason, reckoned as one family only. Being merely _part_ of a
generation, Bethlehem had no place among the generations. The sense is
clearly this: Bethlehem occupies a very low rank among the towns of
the Covenant-people,--can scarcely show herself in the company of
her distinguished sisters, who proudly look down upon her.--It is
altogether a matter of course that [Hebrew: ica], "to go out," may be
used also of "being born," of "descent," inasmuch as this belongs to
the general category of going out; compare, _e.g._, 2 Kings xx. 18. We
must, however, confine ourselves to the general idea of "going forth,"
"proceeding," and not consider Bethlehem as the father of the Messiah.
In opposition to _Hofmann_, this is proved by _Caspari_, from Jer. xxx.
21: "And their governor shall proceed from the midst of them;" and from
Zech. x. 4. [Pg 485]--[Hebrew: ica] is without a definite subject. It
is best to supply "one," which is evidently implied in what follows.
The construction, which might otherwise appear somewhat strange, has
been occasioned by the desire of making perceptible, by the very words,
and their position, the contrast between the divine greatness and the
natural littleness of Bethlehem:--

Thou art little to be among the thousands of Judah;--
From thee shall come forth unto me, to be a Ruler in Israel.

From a place which is too little to form a single indepe