Mikha 2:9-10

2:9 You wrongly evict widows ¹  among my people from their cherished homes.

You defraud their children ²  of their prized inheritance. ³ 

2:10 But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! ⁴ 

For this land is not secure! ⁵ 

Sin will thoroughly destroy it! ⁶ 

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “women.” This may be a synecdoche of the whole (women) for the part (widows).

[2:9]  ² tn Heb “her little children” or “her infants”; ASV, NRSV “young children.”

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “from their children you take my glory forever.” The yod (י) ending on הֲדָרִי (hadariy) is usually taken as a first person common singular suffix (“my glory”). But it may be the archaic genitive ending (“glory of”) in the construct expression “glory of perpetuity,” that is, “perpetual glory.” In either case, this probably refers to the dignity or honor the Lord bestowed on each Israelite family by giving them a share of his land to be inherited perpetually from one generation to another within each family. The term הָדָר (hadar) may refer to possessions that a person prizes (Lam 1:6).

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “Arise and go!” These imperatives are rhetorical. Those who wrongly drove widows and orphans from their homes and land inheritances will themselves be driven out of the land (cf. Isa 5:8-17). This is an example of poetic justice.

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “for this is no resting place.” The Lord speaks to the oppressors.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “uncleanness will destroy, and destruction will be severe.”