Yesaya 5:30

5:30 At that time ¹  they will growl over their prey, ² 

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ³ 

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness. ⁴ 

Ayub 30:26

30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;

when I expected light, then darkness came.

Yeremia 8:15

8:15 We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it.

We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror. ⁵ 

Yeremia 14:19

14:19 Then I said,

“Lord, ⁶  have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?

Do you despise ⁷  the city of Zion?

Why have you struck us with such force

that we are beyond recovery? ⁸ 

We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it.

We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror. ⁹ 

Amos 5:18-20

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe ¹⁰  to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ¹¹ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ¹²  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring ¹³  darkness, not light –

gloomy blackness, not bright light?

Mikha 1:12

1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ¹⁴  hope for something good to happen, ¹⁵ 

though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ¹⁶ 

Mikha 1:1

Introduction

1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to ¹⁷  Micah of Moresheth. He delivered this message ¹⁸  during the reigns of ¹⁹  Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The prophecies pertain to ²⁰  Samaria ²¹  and Jerusalem. ²² 

Mikha 5:3

5:3 So the Lord ²³  will hand the people of Israel ²⁴  over to their enemies ²⁵ 

until the time when the woman in labor ²⁶  gives birth. ²⁷ 

Then the rest of the king’s ²⁸  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ²⁹ 

[5:30]  ¹ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[5:30]  ² tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:30]  ³ tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”

[5:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”

[5:30]  sn The motif of light turning to darkness is ironic when compared to v. 20. There the sinners turn light (= moral/ethical good) to darkness (= moral/ethical evil). Now ironically the Lord will turn light (= the sinners’ sphere of existence and life) into darkness (= the judgment and death).

[8:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “[We hoped] for a time of healing but behold terror.”

[14:19]  ⁶ tn The words, “Then I said, ‘Lord” are not in the Hebrew text. It is obvious from the context that the Lord is addressee. The question of the identity of the speaker is the same as that raised in vv. 7-9 and the arguments set forth there are applicable here as well. Jeremiah is here identifying with the people and doing what they refuse to do, i.e., confess their sins and express their trust in him.

[14:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “does your soul despise.” Here as in many places the word “soul” stands as part for whole for the person himself emphasizing emotional and volitional aspects of the person. However, in contemporary English one does not regularly speak of the “soul” in contexts such as this but of the person.

[14:19]  sn There is probably a subtle allusion to the curses called down on the nation for failure to keep their covenant with God. The word used here is somewhat rare (גָּעַל, ga’al). It is used of Israel’s rejection of God’s stipulations and of God’s response to their rejection of him and his stipulations in Lev 26:11, 15, 30, 43-44. That the allusion is intended is probable when account is taken of the last line of v. 21.

[14:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “Why have you struck us and there is no healing for us.” The statement involves poetic exaggeration (hyperbole) for rhetorical effect.

[14:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “[We hope] for a time of healing but behold terror.”

[14:19]  sn The last two lines of this verse are repeated word for word from 8:15. There they are spoken by the people.

[5:18]  ¹⁰ tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.

[5:19]  ¹¹ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ¹² tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[5:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”

[1:12]  ¹⁴ sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”

[1:12]  ¹⁵ tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).

[1:12]  tn Heb “[the residents of Maroth] writhe [= “anxiously long for”?] good.”

[1:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which came to.”

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn The words “he delivered this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the days of” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “which he saw concerning.”

[1:1]  ²¹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[1:1]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:3]  ²³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁵ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ²⁶ sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ²⁷ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  sn The rest of the king’s brothers are the coming king’s fellow Judahites, while the sons of Israel are the northern tribes. The verse pictures the reunification of the nation under the Davidic king. See Isa 11:12-13; Jer 31:2-6, 15-20; Ezek 37; Hos 1:11; 3:5.