Mikha 2:12
Konteks2:12 I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob,
I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. 1
I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, 2
like a flock in the middle of a pasture; 3
they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise. 4
Mikha 2:4
Konteks2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –
they will mock you with this lament: 5
‘We are completely destroyed;
they sell off 6 the property of my people.
How they remove it from me! 7
They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ 8
Mikha 4:1-13
Konteks4:1 In the future 9 the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; 10
it will be more prominent than other hills. 11
People will stream to it.
4:2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple 12 of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his commands 13
and we can live by his laws.” 14
For Zion will be the source of instruction;
the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. 15
4:3 He will arbitrate 16 between many peoples
and settle disputes between many 17 distant nations. 18
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 19
and their spears into pruning hooks. 20
Nations will not use weapons 21 against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine
or under his own fig tree without any fear. 22
The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. 23
4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, 24
we will follow 25 the Lord our God forever.
4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,
and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. 26
4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, 27
and those far off 28 into a mighty nation.
The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,
from that day forward and forevermore.” 29
4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, 30
fortress of Daughter Zion 31 –
your former dominion will be restored, 32
the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.
4:9 Jerusalem, why are you 33 now shouting so loudly? 34
Has your king disappeared? 35
Has your wise leader 36 been destroyed?
Is this why 37 pain grips 38 you as if you were a woman in labor?
4:10 Twist and strain, 39 Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor!
For you will leave the city
and live in the open field.
You will go to Babylon,
but there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will deliver 40 you
from the power 41 of your enemies.
4:11 Many nations have now assembled against you.
They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated, 42
so we can gloat over Zion!” 43
4:12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;
they do not understand his strategy.
He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed 44 at the threshing floor.
4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!
For I will give you iron horns; 45
I will give you bronze hooves,
and you will crush many nations.” 46
You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,
and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler 47 of the whole earth. 48
Mikha 6:1-16
Konteks6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Get up! Defend yourself 49 before the mountains! 50
Present your case before the hills!” 51
6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,
you enduring foundations of the earth!
For the Lord has a case against his people;
he has a dispute with Israel! 52
6:3 “My people, how have I wronged you? 53
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
6:4 In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I delivered you from that place of slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 54
6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, 55
how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.
Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,
so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” 56
6:6 With what should I 57 enter the Lord’s presence?
With what 58 should I bow before the sovereign God? 59
Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,
or ten thousand streams of olive oil?
Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,
my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? 60
6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you: 61
He wants you to 62 promote 63 justice, to be faithful, 64
and to live obediently before 65 your God.
6:9 Listen! The Lord is calling 66 to the city!
It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! 67
Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! 68
6:10 “I will not overlook, 69 O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, 70
or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. 71
6:11 I do not condone the use of rigged scales,
or a bag of deceptive weights. 72
6:12 The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; 73
her inhabitants lie, 74
their tongues speak deceptive words. 75
6:13 I will strike you brutally 76
and destroy you because of your sin.
6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.
Even if you have the strength 77 to overtake some prey, 78
you will not be able to carry it away; 79
if you do happen to carry away something,
I will deliver it over to the sword.
6:15 You will plant crops, but will not harvest them;
you will squeeze oil from the olives, 80 but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies; 81
you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink. 82
6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; 83
you follow their policies. 84
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, 85
the city’s 86 inhabitants will be taunted derisively, 87
and nations will mock all of you.” 88
[2:12] 1 tn Heb “the remnant of Israel.”
[2:12] 2 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.
[2:12] 3 tc The MT reads “its pasture,” but the final vav (ו) belongs with the following verb. See GKC 413 §127.i.
[2:12] 4 tn Heb “and they will be noisy [or perhaps, “excited”] from men.” The subject of the third feminine plural verb תְּהִימֶנָה (tÿhimenah, “they will be noisy”) is probably the feminine singular צֹאן (tso’n, “flock”). (For another example of this collective singular noun with a feminine plural verb, see Gen 30:38.) In the construction מֵאָדָם (me’adam, “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.
[2:4] 5 tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).
[2:4] tn Heb “one will lament [with] a lamentation [and] say.”
[2:4] 6 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].”
[2:4] 7 tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[2:4] 8 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”).
[2:4] tn Heb “to the one turning back he assigns our fields.”
[4:1] 9 tn Heb “at the end of days.”
[4:1] 10 tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”
[4:1] 11 tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”
[4:2] 14 tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”
[4:2] 15 tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the
[4:2] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[4:3] 17 tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”
[4:3] 18 tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”
[4:3] 19 sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.
[4:3] 20 sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.
[4:3] 21 tn Heb “take up the sword.”
[4:4] 22 tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”
[4:4] 23 tn Heb “for the mouth of the
[4:5] 24 tn Heb “walk each in the name of his god.” The term “name” here has the idea of “authority.” To “walk in the name” of a god is to recognize the god’s authority as binding over one’s life.
[4:5] 25 tn Heb “walk in the name of.”
[4:6] 26 sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.
[4:7] 27 tn Heb “make the lame into a remnant.”
[4:7] 28 tn The precise meaning of this difficult form is uncertain. The present translation assumes the form is a Niphal participle of an otherwise unattested denominative verb הָלָא (hala’, “to be far off”; see BDB 229 s.v.), but attractive emendations include הַנַּחֲלָה (hannakhalah, “the sick one[s]”) from חָלָה (khalah) and הַנִּלְאָה (hannil’ah, “the weary one[s]”) from לָאָה (la’ah).
[4:7] 29 tn Heb “from now until forever.”
[4:8] 30 tn Heb “Migdal-eder.” Some English versions transliterate this phrase, apparently because they view it as a place name (cf. NAB).
[4:8] 31 sn The city of David, located within Jerusalem, is addressed as Daughter Zion. As the home of the Davidic king, who was Israel’s shepherd (Ps 78:70-72), the royal citadel could be viewed metaphorically as the watchtower of the flock.
[4:8] 32 tn Heb “to you it will come, the former dominion will arrive.”
[4:9] 33 tn The Hebrew form is feminine singular, indicating that Jerusalem, personified as a young woman, is now addressed (see v. 10). In v. 8 the tower/fortress was addressed with masculine forms, so there is clearly a shift in addressee here. “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation at the beginning of v. 9 to make this shift apparent.
[4:9] 34 tn Heb “Now why are you shouting [with] a shout.”
[4:9] 35 tn Heb “Is there no king over you?”
[4:9] 36 tn Traditionally, “counselor” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the king mentioned in the previous line; the title points to the king’s roles as chief strategist and policy maker, both of which required extraordinary wisdom.
[4:9] 37 tn Heb “that.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is used here in a resultative sense; for this use see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.
[4:9] 38 tn Heb “grabs hold of, seizes.”
[4:10] 39 tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”
[4:10] 40 tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[4:10] 41 tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.
[4:11] 42 tn Heb “let her be desecrated.” the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:11] 43 tn Heb “and let our eye look upon Zion.”
[4:12] 44 tn The words “to be threshed” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the
[4:13] 45 tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”
[4:13] 46 sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.
[4:13] 47 tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”
[4:13] 48 tn Heb “and their wealth to the master of all the earth.” The verb “devote” does double duty in the parallelism and is supplied in the second line for clarification.
[4:13] sn In vv. 11-13 the prophet jumps from the present crisis (which will result in exile, v. 10) to a time beyond the restoration of the exiles when God will protect his city from invaders. The
[6:1] 49 tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”
[6:1] sn Defend yourself. The
[6:1] 50 sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.
[6:1] 51 tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”
[6:2] 52 tn This verse briefly interrupts the
[6:3] 53 tn Heb “My people, what have I done to you?”
[6:5] 55 tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”
[6:5] 56 tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the
[6:6] 57 sn With what should I enter the
[6:6] 58 tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.
[6:6] 59 tn Or “the exalted God.”
[6:7] 60 tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”
[6:8] 61 sn What the
[6:8] 62 tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”
[6:8] 63 tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”
[6:8] 64 tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”
[6:8] 65 tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”
[6:9] 66 tn Or “the voice of the
[6:9] 67 tn Heb “one who sees your name is wisdom.” It is probably better to emend יִרְאֶה (yir’eh, “he sees”) to יִרְאָה (yir’ah, “fearing”). One may then translate, “fearing your name is wisdom.” The
[6:9] 68 tn Heb (apparently) “Listen [to] the staff and the one who appointed it.” Verse 10 then begins with עוֹד (yod, “still” or “again”). The translation assumes an emendation to שִׁמְעוּ מַטֶּה וּמוֹעֵד הָעִיר (shim’u matteh umo’ed ha’ir, “listen, O tribe and the assembly of the city”).
[6:10] 69 tn The meaning of the first Hebrew word in the line is unclear. Possibly it is a combination of the interrogative particle and אִשׁ (’ish), an alternate form of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is/are”). One could then translate literally, “Are there treasures of sin [in] the house of the sinful?” The translation assumes an emendation to הַאֶשֶּׁה (ha’esheh, from נָשָׁא, nasha’, “to forget”), “Will I forget?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I will not forget.”
[6:10] 70 tn Heb “the treasures of sin”; NASB “treasures of wickedness”; NIV “ill-gotten treasures.”
[6:10] 71 tn Heb “the accursed scant measure.”
[6:10] sn Merchants would use a smaller than standard measure so they could give the customer less than he thought he was paying for.
[6:11] 72 tn Heb “Do I acquit sinful scales, and a bag of deceptive weights?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I do not,” and has been translated as a declarative statement for clarity and emphasis.
[6:11] sn Merchants also used rigged scales and deceptive weights to cheat their customers. See the note at Amos 8:5.
[6:12] 73 tn Heb “because her rich are full of violence.”
[6:12] 74 tn Heb “speak lies.”
[6:12] 75 tn Heb “and their tongue is deceptive in their mouth.”
[6:13] 76 tn Heb “and also I, I will make you sick, striking you.”
[6:14] 77 tc The first Hebrew term in the line (וְיֶשְׁחֲךָ, vÿyeshkhakha) is obscure. HALOT 446 s.v. יֶשַׁח understands a noun meaning “filth,” which would yield the translation, “and your filth is inside you.” The translation assumes an emendation to כֹּחַ-וְיֶשׁ (vÿyesh-koakh, “and [if] there is strength inside you”).
[6:14] 78 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term וְתַסֵּג (vÿtasseg) is unclear. The translation assumes it is a Hiphal imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג (nasag/nasag, “reach; overtake”) and that hunting imagery is employed. (Note the reference to hunger in the first line of the verse.) See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 80.
[6:14] 79 tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.
[6:15] 80 tn Heb “you will tread olives.” Literally treading on olives with one’s feet could be harmful and would not supply the necessary pressure to release the oil. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 119. The Hebrew term דָּרַךְ (darakh) may have an idiomatic sense of “press” here, or perhaps the imagery of the following parallel line (referring to treading grapes) has dictated the word choice.
[6:15] 81 tn Heb “but you will not rub yourselves with oil.”
[6:15] 82 tn Heb “and juice, but you will not drink wine.” The verb תִדְרֹךְ (tidrokh, “you will tread”) must be supplied from the preceding line.
[6:16] 83 tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”
[6:16] 84 tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”
[6:16] sn The Omride dynasty, of which Ahab was the most infamous king, had a reputation for implementing unjust and oppressive measures. See 1 Kgs 21.
[6:16] 85 tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.
[6:16] 86 tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:16] 87 tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.
[6:16] 88 tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).
[6:16] tn Heb “and the reproach of my people you will bear.” The second person verb is plural here, in contrast to the singular forms used in vv. 13-15.
