Mikha 7:7

7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;

I will wait for the God who delivers me.

My God will hear my lament. ¹ 

Mikha 5:7

5:7 Those survivors from ²  Jacob will live ³ 

in the midst of many nations. ⁴ 

They will be like the dew the Lord sends,

like the rain on the grass,

that does not hope for men to come

or wait around for humans to arrive. ⁵ 

Mikha 5:5

5:5 He will give us peace. ⁶ 

Should the Assyrians try to invade our land

and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, ⁷ 

we will send ⁸  against them seven ⁹  shepherd-rulers, ¹⁰ 

make that eight commanders. ¹¹ 

Mikha 1:12

1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ¹²  hope for something good to happen, ¹³ 

though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ¹⁴ 

Mikha 3:4

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ¹⁵ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

[7:7]  ¹ tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.

[5:7]  ² tn Heb “the remnant of” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “will be.”

[5:7]  ⁴ tn This could mean “(scattered) among the nations” (cf. CEV, NLT) or “surrounded by many nations” (cf. NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “that does not hope for man, and does not wait for the sons of men.”

[5:7]  sn Men wait eagerly for the dew and the rain, not vice versa. Just as the dew and rain are subject to the Lord, not men, so the remnant of Israel will succeed by the supernatural power of God and not need the support of other nations. There may even be a military metaphor here. Israel will overwhelm their enemies, just as the dew completely covers the grass (see 2 Sam 17:12). This interpretation would be consistent with the image of v. 7.

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and this one will be peace”; ASV “and this man shall be our peace” (cf. Eph 2:14).

[5:5]  ⁷ tc Some prefer to read “in our land,” emending the text to בְּאַדְמָתֵנוּ (bÿ’admatenu).

[5:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “raise up.”

[5:5]  ⁹ sn The numbers seven and eight here symbolize completeness and emphasize that Israel will have more than enough military leadership and strength to withstand the Assyrian advance.

[5:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[5:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and eight leaders of men.”

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

[1:12]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”

[3:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.