Mikha 1:10
Konteks1:10 Don’t spread the news in Gath! 1
Don’t shed even a single tear! 2
In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust! 3
Mikha 4:9
Konteks4:9 Jerusalem, why are you 4 now shouting so loudly? 5
Has your king disappeared? 6
Has your wise leader 7 been destroyed?
Is this why 8 pain grips 9 you as if you were a woman in labor?
[1:10] 1 tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).
[1:10] 2 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.
[1:10] 3 tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bÿvet) 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.”
[1:10] tn Heb “roll about in mourning in the dust”; or “wallow about in mourning in the dust.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about in mourning [in dust]”; HALOT 935 s.v. פלשׁ) is figurative (metonymy) for sitting as an outward sign of mourning.
[1:10] sn To sit in the dust was an outward sign of mourning. The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”
[4:9] 4 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] 5 tn Heb “Now why are you shouting [with] a shout.”
[4:9] 6 tn Heb “Is there no king over you?”
[4:9] 7 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] 8 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.
