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An Intertextuality Pair — one connection between two passages, shown as linked verse cards: the Later text and the Earlier text it quotes, alludes to or echoes. The Significance essay explains why the link matters and where it points in Christ.

Reference Type— how explicit the link is: Quotation, Allusion, or Echo
Connection Method(s)— how it carries meaning: e.g. Typology, Promise-Fulfillment, Analogy, Longitudinal Theme
Found via— where the connection was identified, e.g. the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or an Anchor-Text Network

Graph View — tap the constellation icon in the top bar to see this page's connections as a web of light: gold points are passages, and the coloured threads are the connection types. Click any type in the graph's own legend to filter it in or out, and use the expand control for the full-screen night sky.

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Intertextuality Pair

Micah 5:2 → 1 Samuel 9:21

Echo

Later text

Micah 5:2BSB

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

Earlier text

1 Samuel 9:21BSB

Saul replied, "Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing to me?"

Significance

Micah 5:2 describes Bethlehem as "small among the clans of Judah" (צָעִיר, tsa'ir), echoing Saul's self-description in 1 Samuel 9:21: "Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest (הַקְּטַנָּה, haqqetannah) of the tribes of Israel?" Both texts highlight the pattern of divine election from insignificance -- choosing rulers from the least expected origins. However, the echo also carries an implicit contrast: Saul's humility about his smallness proved superficial and his kingship failed, while Micah's promised ruler from tiny Bethlehem will have "origins of old, from the days of eternity," indicating a permanence and divine origin that Saul's kingship lacked.

Found via: No public domain commentary confirmation available
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): Longitudinal Theme

▸ Bethlehem Ephrathah

Linked Mentions 1

Anchor Texts 1

Micah 5:2 — Bethlehem Ephrathah

Micah 5:2 → 1 Samuel 9:21

Significance

Related Anchor-Text Networks