Mikha 1:9-10

1:9 For Samaria’s ¹  disease ²  is incurable.

It has infected ³  Judah;

it has spread to ⁴  the leadership ⁵  of my people

and has even contaminated Jerusalem! ⁶ 

1:10 Don’t spread the news in Gath! ⁷ 

Don’t shed even a single tear! ⁸ 

In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust! ⁹ 

Mikha 1:15

1:15 Residents of Mareshah, ¹⁰  a conqueror will attack you, ¹¹ 

the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. ¹² 

Mikha 4:11

4:11 Many nations have now assembled against you.

They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated, ¹³ 

so we can gloat over Zion!” ¹⁴ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Samaria) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ² tc The MT reads the plural “wounds”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.

[1:9]  tn Or “wound.”

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “come to.”

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Or “reached.”

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.

[1:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “to Jerusalem.” The expression “it has contaminated” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to fill out the parallelism with the preceding line.

[1:9]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:10]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.

[1:10]  ⁹ 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.”

[1:15]  ¹⁰ sn The place name Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew word for “conqueror.”

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Again a conqueror I will bring to you, residents of Mareshah.” The first person verb is problematic, for the Lord would have to be the subject (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). But the prophet appears to be delivering this lament and the Lord is referred to in the third person in v. 12. Consequently many emend the verb to a third person form (יָבוֹא, yavo’) and understand the “conqueror” as subject.

[1:15]  ¹² tn Heb “to Adullam the glory of Israel will go.” This probably means that the nation’s leadership will run for their lives and, like David of old, hide from their enemy in the caves of Adullam. Cf. NIV’s “He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam,” which sounds as if an individual is in view, and could be understood as a messianic reference.

[4:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “let her be desecrated.” the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and let our eye look upon Zion.”