Mikha 1:16

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ¹ 

shave your foreheads as bald ²  as an eagle, ³ 

for they are taken from you into exile.

Mikha 3:5

3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people

are as good as dead. ⁴ 

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace. ⁵ 

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him. ⁶ 

Mikha 5:6

5:6 They will rule ⁷  the land of Assyria with the sword,

the land of Nimrod ⁸  with a drawn sword. ⁹ 

Our king ¹⁰  will rescue us from the Assyrians

should they attempt to invade our land

and try to set foot in our territory.

Mikha 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ¹¹ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ¹² 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ¹³ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

[1:16]  ³ tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the Lord. For this reason some prefer to begin the quotation after “the Lord says” (cf. NIV), but this leaves “concerning the prophets” hanging very awkwardly at the beginning of the quotation. It is preferable to add הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) at the beginning of the quotation, right after the graphically similar יְהוָה (yÿhvah; see D. R. Hillers, Micah [Hermeneia], 44). The phrase הוֹי עַל (hoy ’al, “woe upon”) occurs in Jer 50:27 and Ezek 13:3 (with “the prophets” following the preposition in the latter instance).

[3:5]  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.

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”

[5:6]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “break”; or “defeat.”

[5:6]  ⁸ sn According to Gen 10:8-12, Nimrod, who was famous as a warrior and hunter, founded Assyria.

[5:6]  ⁹ tc The MT reads “in her gates,” but the text should be emended to בַּפְּתִיחָה (baptikhah, “with a drawn sword”).

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the coming king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ¹² tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ¹³ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.