Mikha 1:4

1:4 The mountains will disintegrate ¹  beneath him,

and the valleys will be split in two. ² 

The mountains will melt ³  like wax in a fire,

the rocks will slide down like water cascading down a steep slope. ⁴ 

Mikha 1:7

1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ⁵ 

I will make a waste heap ⁶  of all her images.

Since ⁷  she gathered the metal ⁸  as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ⁹ 

[1:4]  ¹ 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).

[1:4]  ² sn The mountains will disintegrate…the valleys will be split in two. This imagery pictures an earthquake and accompanying landslide.

[1:4]  ³ tn The words “the mountains will melt” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The simile extends back to the first line of the verse.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn The words “the rocks will slide down” are supplied in the translation for clarification. This simile elaborates on the prior one and further develops the imagery of the verse’s first line.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7]  sn The precious metal used by Samaria’s pagan worship centers to make idols are here compared to a prostitute’s wages because Samaria had been unfaithful to the Lord and prostituted herself to pagan gods, such as Baal.

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7]  ⁸ tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7]  ⁹ 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.