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Introduction

This is the Lord’s message that came to Micah of Moresheth during the time of[a] Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

The Judge is Coming

Listen, all you nations![b]
Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth![c]
The Sovereign Lord will act[d] as a witness against you;
the Lord will accuse you[e] from his majestic palace.[f]
Look,[g] the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place!
He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops![h]
The mountains will crumble[i] beneath him,
and the valleys will split apart[j]
like wax before a fire,
like water dumped down a steep slope.

All this is because of Jacob’s[k] rebellion
and[l] the sins of the nation[m] of Israel.
And just what is Jacob’s rebellion?
Isn’t it Samaria’s doings?[n]
And what is Judah’s sin?[o]
Isn’t it Jerusalem’s doings?[p]
“I will turn Samaria into a heap of ruins in an open field,

into a place for planting vineyards.
I will dump the rubble of her walls[q] down into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.[r]
All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;
all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire.[s]
I will make a waste heap[t] of all her images.
Since[u] she gathered the metal[v] as a prostitute collects her wages,
the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.”[w]
For this reason I[x] will mourn and wail;
I will walk around barefoot[y] and without my outer garments.[z]
I will howl[aa] like a wild dog,[ab]
and screech[ac] like an owl.[ad]
For Samaria’s[ae] disease[af] is incurable.
It has infected[ag] Judah;
it has spread to[ah] the leadership[ai] of my people
and even to Jerusalem!
10 Don’t spread the news in Gath.[aj]
Don’t shed even a single tear.[ak]
In Beth Leaphrah roll about in mourning in the dust![al]
11 Residents[am] of Shaphir,[an] pass by in nakedness and humiliation!
The residents of Zaanan have not escaped.[ao]
Beth Ezel[ap] mourns,[aq]
“He takes from you what he desires.”[ar]
12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth[as] hope for something good to happen,[at]
though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem.[au]
13 Residents of Lachish,[av] hitch the horses to the chariots!
You[aw] influenced Daughter Zion[ax] to sin,[ay]
for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back[az] to you!
14 Therefore you[ba] will have to say farewell[bb] to Moresheth Gath.
The residents[bc] of Achzib[bd] will be as disappointing
as a dried up well[be] to the kings of Israel.[bf]
15 Residents of Mareshah,[bg] a conqueror will attack you;[bh]
the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam.[bi]
16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love;[bj]
shave your foreheads as bald[bk] as an eagle,[bl]
for they are taken from you into exile.

Land Robbers Will Lose Their Land

Beware wicked schemers,[bm]
those who devise calamity as they lie in bed.[bn]
As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans,[bo]
because they have the power to do so.
They confiscate the fields they desire
and seize the houses they want.[bp]
They defraud people of their homes[bq]
and deprive people of the land they have inherited.[br]

Therefore the Lord says this:

“Look, I am devising disaster for this nation![bs]
It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck.[bt]
You will no longer[bu] walk proudly,
for it will be a time of catastrophe.
In that day people will sing this taunt song to you—
they will mock you with this lament:[bv]
‘We are completely destroyed;
they sell off[bw] the property of my people.
How they remove it from me![bx]
They assign our fields to the conqueror.’”[by]
Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord’s community.[bz]
“Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,” they say excitedly.[ca]

“These prophets should not preach of such things;
we will not be overtaken by humiliation.”[cb]
Does the family[cc] of Jacob say,[cd]
“The Lord’s patience[ce] can’t be exhausted—
he would never do such things”?[cf]
To be sure, my commands bring a reward
for those who obey them,[cg]
but you rise up as an enemy against my people.[ch]
You steal a robe from a friend,[ci]
from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war.[cj]
You wrongly evict widows[ck] among my people from their cherished homes.
You defraud their children[cl] of their prized inheritance.[cm]
10 But you are the ones who will be forced to leave![cn]
For this land is not secure;[co]
sin will thoroughly destroy it![cp]
11 If a lying windbag should come and say,[cq]
‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’[cr]
he would be just the right preacher for these people![cs]

The Lord Will Restore His People

12 “I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob,
I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain.[ct]
I will bring them together like sheep in a fold,[cu]
like a flock in the middle of a pasture;[cv]
they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise.[cw]
13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out;[cx]
they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave.[cy]
Their king will advance[cz] before them;
the Lord himself will lead them.”[da]

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

I said,
“Listen, you leaders[db] of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation[dc] of Israel!
You ought to know what is just,[dd]
yet you[de] hate what is good[df]
and love what is evil.[dg]
You flay my people’s skin[dh]
and rip the flesh from their bones.[di]
You[dj] devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot[dk]
like meat in a kettle.
Someday these sinful leaders[dl] will cry to the Lord for help,
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have done such wicked deeds.”

This is what the Lord has said about the prophets who mislead my people,[dm]

“If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace.[dn]
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him.[do]
Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions;[dp]
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens.[dq]
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.[dr]
The prophets[ds] will be ashamed;
the omen readers will be humiliated.
All of them will cover their mouths,[dt]
for they will receive no divine oracles.”[du]
But I[dv] am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives

and have a strong commitment to justice.[dw]
This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion
and Israel with its sin.[dx]
Listen to this, you leaders of the family[dy] of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation[dz] of Israel!
You[ea] hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
10 You[eb] build Zion through bloody crimes,[ec]
Jerusalem through unjust violence.
11 Her[ed] leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases,[ee]
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust[ef] the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us.[eg]
Disaster will not overtake[eh] us!”
12 Therefore, because of you,[ei] Zion will be plowed up like[ej] a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
and the Temple Mount[ek] will become a hill overgrown with brush![el]

Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:1 tn Heb “in the days of” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
  2. Micah 1:2 tn Heb “O peoples, all of them.”
  3. Micah 1:2 tn Heb “O earth and that which fills it”; cf. KJV “and all that therein is.”
  4. Micah 1:2 tc The MT has the jussive form verb וִיהִי (vihi, “may he be”), while the Dead Sea Scrolls have the imperfect form יהיה (yihyeh, “he will be”). The LXX uses a future indicative. On the basis of distance from the primary accent, GKC 325-26 §109.k attempts to explain the form as a rhythmical shortening of the imperfect rather than a true jussive. Some of the examples in GKC may now be explained as preterites, while others are text-critical problems. And some may have other modal explanations. But other examples are not readily explained by these considerations. The text-critical decision and the grammatical explanation in GKC would both lead to translating as an imperfect. Some translations render it in a jussive sense, either as request: “And let my Lord God be your accuser” (NJPS), or as dependent purpose/result: “that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you” (NIV).
  5. Micah 1:2 tn Heb “the Lord from his majestic palace.” The verb is supplied from the previous line by the convention of ellipsis and double duty. Cf. CEV “the Lord God accuses you from his holy temple,” TEV “He speaks from his holy temple.”
  6. Micah 1:2 tn Or “his holy temple” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to the Lord’s dwelling in heaven, however, rather than the temple in Jerusalem (note the following verse, which describes a theophany).
  7. Micah 1:3 tn Or “For look.” The expression כִּי־הִנֵּה (ki-hinneh) may function as an explanatory introduction (“For look!”; Isa 26:21; 60:2; 65:17, 18: 66:15; Jer 1:15; 25:29; 30:10; 45:5; 46:27; 50:9; Ezek 30:9; 36:9; Zech 2:10; 3:8), or as an emphatic introduction (“Look!”; Jdgs 3:15; Isa 3:1; Jer 8:17; 30:3; 49:15; Hos 9:6; Joel 3:1 [4:1 HT]; Amos 4:2, 13; 6:11, 14; 9:9; Hab 1:6; Zech 2:9 [2:13 HT]; Zech 3:9; 11:16).
  8. Micah 1:3 tn Or “high places” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
  9. Micah 1:4 tn Or “melt” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This is a figurative description of earthquakes, landslides, and collapse of the mountains, rather than some sort of volcanic activity (note the remainder of the verse).
  10. Micah 1:4 tn Or “rupture.” This may refer to the appearance of a valley after the blockage of a landslide has effectively divided it.
  11. Micah 1:5 sn Jacob is an alternate name for Israel (see Gen 32:28).
  12. Micah 1:5 tn Heb “and because of.”
  13. Micah 1:5 tn Heb “house.”
  14. Micah 1:5 tn Heb “Is it not Samaria?” The capital city, Samaria, represents the policies of the government and trend-setting behaviors of her people. The rhetorical question expects a positive answer, “Yes, it is.”
  15. Micah 1:5 tc The MT reads, “What are Judah’s high places?” while the LXX, Syriac, and Targum read, “What is Judah’s sin?” Whether or not the original text was “sin,” the passage certainly alludes to Judah’s sin as a complement to Samaria’s. “High places” are where people worshiped idols; they could, by metonymy, represent pagan worship. Smith notes, however, that, “Jerusalem was not known for its high places,” and so follows the LXX as representing the original text (R. Smith, Micah [WBC], 16). Given the warning in v. 3 that the Lord will march on the land’s high places (“mountain tops,” based on the same word but a different plural form), this may be a way of referring to that threat while evoking the notion of idolatry.
  16. Micah 1:5 tn Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, represents the nation’s behavior. The rhetorical question expects an affirmative answer.sn In vv. 2-5 Micah narrows the scope of God’s judgment from the nations (vv. 2-4) to his covenant people (v. 5). Universal judgment is coming, but ironically Israel is the focal point of God’s anger. In v. 5c the prophet includes Judah within the scope of divine judgment, for Judah has followed in the pagan steps of the northern kingdom. He accomplishes this with rhetorical skill. In v. 5b he develops the first assertion of v. 5a (“All of this is because of Jacob’s rebellion”). One expects in v. 5c an elaboration of the second assertion in v. 5a (“and the sins of the nation of Israel”), which one assumes, in light of v. 5b, pertains to the northern kingdom. But the prophet makes it clear that “the nation of Israel” includes Judah. Verses 6-7 further develop v. 5b (judgment on the northern kingdom), while vv. 8-16 expand on v. 5c (judgment on Judah).
  17. Micah 1:6 tn Heb “her stones.” The term “stones” is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.
  18. Micah 1:6 tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.
  19. Micah 1:7 tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”sn The precious metal used by Samaria’s pagan worship centers to make idols is compared to a prostitute’s wages because Samaria had been unfaithful to the Lord and prostituted herself to pagan gods such as Baal.
  20. Micah 1:7 tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).
  21. Micah 1:7 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).
  22. Micah 1:7 tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.
  23. Micah 1:7 tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.
  24. Micah 1:8 tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.
  25. Micah 1:8 tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).
  26. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.
  27. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”
  28. Micah 1:8 tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”
  29. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”
  30. Micah 1:8 tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
  31. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “her.”
  32. Micah 1:9 tc The MT reads the plural “wounds/plagues”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.
  33. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “come to.”
  34. Micah 1:9 tn Or “reached.”
  35. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.
  36. Micah 1:10 tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).
  37. Micah 1:10 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.
  38. Micah 1:10 tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bevet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”tn Or “wallow.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about [in dust])” refers to a cultural behavior associated with mourning.sn The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”
  39. Micah 1:11 tn The feminine singular participle is here used in a collective sense for all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.
  40. Micah 1:11 sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.
  41. Micah 1:11 tn Heb “have not gone out.” NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.” sn The place name Zaanan sounds like the verb “go out” in Hebrew.
  42. Micah 1:11 sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.
  43. Micah 1:11 tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).
  44. Micah 1:11 tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (ʿemdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).tn The precise meaning of the line is uncertain. The translation assumes: (a) the subject of the third masculine singular verb יִקַּח (yiqqakh, “he/it takes”) is the conqueror, (b) the second masculine plural suffix (“you”) on the preposition מִן (min, “from”) refers to the residents of Shaphir and Zaanan, (c) the final form עֶמְדָּתוֹ should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ, “his (the conqueror’s) desire.”
  45. Micah 1:12 sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”
  46. Micah 1:12 tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).tn Heb “[the residents of Maroth] writhe [= “anxiously long for”?] good.”
  47. Micah 1:12 tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”
  48. Micah 1:13 sn The place name Lachish sounds like the Hebrew word for “team [of horses].”
  49. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “she”; this has been translated as second person (“you”) in keeping with the direct address to the residents of Lachish in the previous line.
  50. Micah 1:13 sn The epithet Daughter Zion pictures the city of Jerusalem as a young lady.
  51. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “She was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion.”
  52. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “for in you was found the transgressions of Israel.”
  53. Micah 1:14 tn The subject of the feminine singular verb is probably Lachish.
  54. Micah 1:14 tn Heb “you will give a dowry to”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “give parting gifts to.” Lachish is compared to a father who presents wedding gifts to his daughter as she leaves her father’s home to take up residence with her husband. In similar fashion Lachish will bid farewell to Moresheth Gath, for the latter will be taken by the invader.
  55. Micah 1:14 tn Heb “houses.” By metonymy this refers to the people who live in them.
  56. Micah 1:14 sn The place name Achzib (אַכְזִיב, ʾakhziv, “place on the dried up river”; see HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב) creates a word play on the similar sounding term כָּזָב (kazav, “lie, deception”; HALOT 468 s.v. כָּזָב). Like the dried up river upon which its name was based, the city of Achzib would fail to help the kings of Israel in their time of need.
  57. Micah 1:14 tn Or “will be a deception.” The term אַכְזָב (ʾakhzav) is often translated “deception,” derived from the verb I כָּזָב (“to deceive, lie”; HALOT 467-68 s.v. I כזב). However, it probably means “what is dried up,” since (1) the noun elsewhere refers to an empty well or dried river in summer (Jer 15:18; cf. Job 6:15-20) (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); (2) the place-name “Achzib” (אַכְזִיב) literally means “place on the אַכְזָב [dried up river]” (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); and (3) it is derived from the verb II כָּזָב (“to dry up [brook]”; Isa 58:11), which also appears in Mishnaic Hebrew and Arabic. The point of the metaphor is that Achzib will be as disappointing to the kings of Israel as a dried up spring in the summer is to a thirsty traveler in the Jordanian desert.
  58. Micah 1:14 sn Because of the enemy invasion, Achzib would not be able to deliver soldiers for the army and/or services normally rendered to the crown.
  59. Micah 1:15 sn The place name Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew word for “conqueror.”
  60. Micah 1:15 tn Heb “Again a conqueror I will bring to you, residents of Mareshah.” The first person verb is problematic, for the Lord would have to be the subject (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). But the prophet appears to be delivering this lament and the Lord is referred to in the third person in v. 12. Consequently many emend the verb to a third person form (יָבוֹא, yavoʾ) and understand the “conqueror” as subject.
  61. Micah 1:15 tn Heb “to Adullam the glory of Israel will go.” This probably means that the nation’s leadership will run for their lives and, like David of old, hide from their enemy in the caves of Adullam. Cf. NIV’s “He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam,” which sounds as if an individual is in view, and could be understood as a messianic reference.
  62. Micah 1:16 tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”
  63. Micah 1:16 tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”
  64. Micah 1:16 tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.
  65. Micah 2:1 tn Heb “those who think up evil.”
  66. Micah 2:1 tn Heb “upon their beds.”
  67. Micah 2:1 tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”
  68. Micah 2:2 tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”
  69. Micah 2:2 tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”
  70. Micah 2:2 tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (ʿashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
  71. Micah 2:3 tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”
  72. Micah 2:3 tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  73. Micah 2:3 tn Or “you will not.”
  74. Micah 2:4 tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי venahah nehi).tn Heb “one will lament [with] a lamentation [and] say.”
  75. Micah 2:4 tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”
  76. Micah 2:4 tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
  77. Micah 2:4 tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).tn Heb “to the one turning back he assigns our fields.”
  78. Micah 2:5 tn Heb “therefore you will not have one who strings out a measuring line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.”sn No one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. When judgment passes and the people are restored to the land, those greedy ones who disregarded the ancient land allotments will not be allowed to participate in the future redistribution of the land.
  79. Micah 2:6 tn Heb “‘Do not foam at the mouth,’ they foam at the mouth.” The verb נָטַף (nataf) means “to drip.” When used of speech it probably has the nuance “to drivel, to foam at the mouth” (HALOT 694 s.v. נטף). The sinful people tell the Lord’s prophets not to “foam at the mouth,” which probably refers in a derogatory way to their impassioned style of delivery. But the Lord (who is probably still speaking here, see v. 3) sarcastically refers to their impassioned exhortation as “foaming at the mouth.”
  80. Micah 2:6 tc If one follows the MT as it stands, it would appear that the Lord here condemns the people for their “foaming at the mouth” and then announces that judgment is inevitable. The present translation assumes that this is a continuation of the quotation of what the people say. In this case the subject of “foam at the mouth” is the Lord’s prophets. In the second line יִסַּג (yissag, a Niphal imperfect from סוּג, sug, “to remove”) is emended to יַסִּגֵנוּ (yassigenu; a Hiphil imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג, nasag/nasag, “to reach; to overtake”).tn Heb “they should not foam at the mouth concerning these things, humiliation will not be removed.”
  81. Micah 2:7 tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’
  82. Micah 2:7 tc The MT has אָמוּר (ʾamur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (ʾamor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).
  83. Micah 2:7 tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruakh) often means “Spirit” when used of the Lord, but here it seems to have an abstract sense, “patience.” See BDB 925 s.v. 3.d.
  84. Micah 2:7 tn Heb “Has the patience of the Lord run short? Or are these his deeds?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “No, of course not.” The people contest the prophet’s claims that the Lord’s judgment is falling on the nation.
  85. Micah 2:7 tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The Lord begins his response to the claim of the house of Jacob that they are immune to judgment (see v. 7a). He points out that the godly are indeed rewarded, but then he goes on to show that those in the house of Jacob are not godly and can expect divine judgment, not blessing (vv. 8-11). Some emend “my words” to “his words.” In this case, v. 7b is a continuation of the immediately preceding quotation. The people, thinking they are godly, confidently ask, “Do not his [God’s] words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?”
  86. Micah 2:8 tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (veʾetmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ʿayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (veʾattem ʿal, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yeqomem, the Polel imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a Qal participle from the same root).
  87. Micah 2:8 tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term מִמּוּל (mimmul, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in [ם] mem) and subsequent suppression of ע (ʿayin). The translation assumes an emendation to מֵעַל (meʿal, “from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of שַׂלְמָה אֶדֶר (salmah ʾeder, “a garment, glory [or robe]”) to שֹׁלְמִים אֲדֶרֶת (sholemim ʾaderet, “[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s אֶדֶר (ʾeder) is the result of improper division (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).
  88. Micah 2:8 tc The passive participle שׁוּבֵי (shuve) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle שָׁבִים (shavim).tn Heb “from those passing by peacefully, returnees from war.” Actual refugees, however, are probably not in view. The second line compares those who pass by peacefully with individuals returning from war. The battle is over and they do not expect their own countrymen to attack them.
  89. Micah 2:9 tn Heb “women.” This may be a synecdoche of the whole (women) for the part (widows).
  90. Micah 2:9 tn Heb “her little children” or “her infants”; ASV, NRSV “young children.”
  91. Micah 2:9 tn Heb “from their children you take my glory forever.” The yod (י) ending on הֲדָרִי (hadari) is usually taken as a first person common singular suffix (“my glory”). But it may be the archaic genitive ending (“glory of”) in the construct expression “glory of perpetuity,” that is, “perpetual glory.” In either case, this probably refers to the dignity or honor the Lord bestowed on each Israelite family by giving them a share of his land to be inherited perpetually from one generation to another within each family. The term הָדָר (hadar) may refer to possessions that a person prizes (Lam 1:6).
  92. Micah 2:10 tn Heb “Arise and go!” These imperatives are rhetorical. Those who wrongly drove widows and orphans from their homes and land inheritances will themselves be driven out of the land (cf. Isa 5:8-17). This is an example of poetic justice.
  93. Micah 2:10 tn Heb “for this is no resting place.” The Lord speaks to the oppressors.
  94. Micah 2:10 tn Heb “uncleanness will destroy, and destruction will be severe.”
  95. Micah 2:11 tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”
  96. Micah 2:11 tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”
  97. Micah 2:11 tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”
  98. Micah 2:12 tn Heb “the remnant of Israel.”
  99. Micah 2:12 tc The MT reads בָּצְרָה (batsrah, “Bozrah”) but the form should be emended to בַּצִּרָה (batsirah, “into the fold”). See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 38.
  100. Micah 2:12 tc The MT reads “its pasture,” but the final vav (ו) belongs with the following verb. See GKC 413 §127.i.
  101. Micah 2:12 tn Heb “and they will be noisy [or perhaps, “excited”] from men.” The subject of the third feminine plural verb תְּהִימֶנָה (tehimenah, “they will be noisy”) is probably the feminine singular צֹאן (tsoʾn, “flock”). (For another example of this collective singular noun with a feminine plural verb, see Gen 30:38.) In the construction מֵאָדָם (meʾadam, “from men”) the preposition is probably causal. L. C. Allen translates “bleating in fear of men” (Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah [NICOT], 300), but it is possible to take the causal sense as “because of the large quantity of men.” In this case the sheep metaphor and the underlying reality are mixed.
  102. Micah 2:13 tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.
  103. Micah 2:13 tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.sn The “fold” from which the sheep/people break out is probably a reference to their place of exile.
  104. Micah 2:13 tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.
  105. Micah 2:13 tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”
  106. Micah 3:1 tn Heb “heads.”
  107. Micah 3:1 tn Heb “house.”
  108. Micah 3:1 tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”
  109. Micah 3:2 tn Heb “the ones who.”
  110. Micah 3:2 tn Or “good.”
  111. Micah 3:2 tn Or “evil.”
  112. Micah 3:2 tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  113. Micah 3:2 tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.
  114. Micah 3:3 tn Heb “who.”
  115. Micah 3:3 tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kishʾer, “like flesh”).
  116. Micah 3:4 tn Heb “they,” referring to the indicted leaders in vv. 1-3.
  117. Micah 3:5 tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” Some prefer to begin the quotation after “the Lord has said” (cf. NIV). But when the preposition עַל (ʿal, “about”) occurs with this introductory formula it regularly indicates who is being spoken about. (When a person is not the object of the preposition, it may begin the quote, meaning “because.”) Including the first person pronominal suffix (in “my people”) after a third person introduction may sound awkward, but also occurs in Jer 14:15; 23:2 (and perhaps Jer 12:14, a text critical question). Hillers prefers to add הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) at the beginning of the quotation, after the graphically similar יְהוָה (yehvah; see D. R. Hillers, Micah [Hermeneia], 44). The phrase הוֹי עַל (hoy ʿal, “woe upon”) occurs in Jer 50:27 and Ezek 13:3 (with “the prophets” following the preposition in the latter instance).
  118. Micah 3:5 tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.
  119. Micah 3:5 tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”
  120. Micah 3:6 tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”sn The coming of night (and darkness in the following line) symbolizes the cessation of revelation.
  121. Micah 3:6 tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”sn The reading of omens (Heb “divination”) was forbidden in the law (Deut 18:10), so this probably reflects the prophets’ view of how they received divine revelation.
  122. Micah 3:6 tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”
  123. Micah 3:7 tn Or “seers.”
  124. Micah 3:7 tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”
  125. Micah 3:7 tn Heb “no divine response” or “no answer from God.”
  126. Micah 3:8 sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses.
  127. Micah 3:8 tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the Lord, and justice and strength.” The appositional phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” explains the source of the prophet’s power. The phrase “justice and strength” is understood here as a hendiadys, referring to the prophet’s strong sense of justice.
  128. Micah 3:8 tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  129. Micah 3:9 tn Heb “house.”
  130. Micah 3:9 tn Heb “house.”
  131. Micah 3:9 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).
  132. Micah 3:10 tn Heb “who.”
  133. Micah 3:10 tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”
  134. Micah 3:11 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
  135. Micah 3:11 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
  136. Micah 3:11 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
  137. Micah 3:11 tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”
  138. Micah 3:11 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
  139. Micah 3:12 tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.
  140. Micah 3:12 tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).
  141. Micah 3:12 tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).
  142. Micah 3:12 tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”