The Future Messiah: In the previous chapter, 4:6–8 promised the return of a remnant to Zion, Yahweh’s rule over them, and the restoration of the Davidic throne. Then there followed with 4:9 a series of three oracles, each beginning with “now,” and each portraying Judah’s current desperate situation and Yahweh’s salvation yet to come. This passage, the third in the series, deals with the restoration of the Davidic throne in fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7:13.

5:1 The NIV has obscured the connection of this oracle with the two that precede it by omitting “now” at the beginning of verse 1. The word “now” is probably the only word that can be read with certainty from the Hebrew of verse 1a, however. The remainder of the line is obscure and has been variously emended (see the additional note), but the…