Mikha 2:1-2
Konteks2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, 1
those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. 2
As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, 3
because they have the power to do so.
2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,
and seize the houses they want. 4
They defraud people of their homes, 5
and deprive people of the land they have inherited. 6
Mikha 2:8-9
Konteks2:8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. 7
You steal a robe from a friend, 8
from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. 9
2:9 You wrongly evict widows 10 among my people from their cherished homes.
You defraud their children 11 of their prized inheritance. 12
Mikha 3:1-4
Konteks3:1 I said,
“Listen, you leaders 13 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 14 of Israel!
You ought to know what is just, 15
3:2 yet you 16 hate what is good, 17
and love what is evil. 18
You flay my people’s skin 19
and rip the flesh from their bones. 20
3:3 You 21 devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot 22 –
like meat in a kettle.
3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, 23
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have done such wicked deeds.”
Mikha 3:9-11
Konteks3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family 24 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 25 of Israel!
You 26 hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
3:10 You 27 build Zion through bloody crimes, 28
Jerusalem 29 through unjust violence.
3:11 Her 30 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, 31
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust 32 the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us. 33
Disaster will not overtake 34 us!”
Mikha 6:9-14
Konteks6:9 Listen! The Lord is calling 35 to the city!
It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! 36
Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! 37
6:10 “I will not overlook, 38 O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, 39
or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. 40
6:11 I do not condone the use of rigged scales,
or a bag of deceptive weights. 41
6:12 The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; 42
her inhabitants lie, 43
their tongues speak deceptive words. 44
6:13 I will strike you brutally 45
and destroy you because of your sin.
6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.
Even if you have the strength 46 to overtake some prey, 47
you will not be able to carry it away; 48
if you do happen to carry away something,
I will deliver it over to the sword.
Mikha 7:1-6
KonteksIndeed, 50 it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,
and the grapes have been harvested. 51
There is no grape cluster to eat,
no fresh figs that I crave so much. 52
7:2 Faithful men have disappeared 53 from the land;
there are no godly men left. 54
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; 55
they hunt their own brother with a net. 56
7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; 57
government officials and judges take bribes, 58
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. 59
7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. 60
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, 61
and then you will experience confusion. 62
7:5 Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! 63
7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges 64 her mother,
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own servants. 65
[2:1] 1 tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.
[2:1] 2 tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”
[2:1] 3 tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”
[2:2] 4 tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”
[2:2] 5 tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”
[2:2] 6 tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
[2:8] 7 tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (vÿ’etmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (vÿ’attem ’al, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yÿqomem, the imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a participle from the same root).
[2:8] 8 tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term מִמּוּל (mimmul, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in [ם] mem) and subsequent suppression of ע (ayin). The translation assumes an emendation to מֵעַל (me’al, “from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of שַׂלְמָה אֶדֶר (salmah ’eder, “a garment, glory [or robe]”) to שֹׁלְמִים אֲדֶרֶת (sholÿmim ’aderet, “[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s אֶדֶר (’eder) is the result of misdivision (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).
[2:8] 9 tc The passive participle שׁוּבֵי (shuvey) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle שָׁבִים (shavim).
[2:8] tn Heb “from those passing by peacefully, returnees from war.” Actual refugees, however, are probably not in view. The second line compares those who pass by peacefully with individuals returning from war. The battle is over and they do not expect their own countrymen to attack them.
[2:9] 10 tn Heb “women.” This may be a synecdoche of the whole (women) for the part (widows).
[2:9] 11 tn Heb “her little children” or “her infants”; ASV, NRSV “young children.”
[2:9] 12 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
[3:1] 15 tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”
[3:2] 16 tn Heb “the ones who.”
[3:2] 19 tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the
[3:2] 20 tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”
[3:2] sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.
[3:3] 22 tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).
[3:4] 23 tn Heb “then they will cry out to the
[3:9] 26 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).
[3:10] 28 tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”
[3:10] 29 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[3:11] 30 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
[3:11] 31 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
[3:11] 32 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
[3:11] 33 tn Heb “Is not the
[3:11] 34 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
[6:9] 35 tn Or “the voice of the
[6:9] 36 tn Heb “one who sees your name is wisdom.” It is probably better to emend יִרְאֶה (yir’eh, “he sees”) to יִרְאָה (yir’ah, “fearing”). One may then translate, “fearing your name is wisdom.” The
[6:9] 37 tn Heb (apparently) “Listen [to] the staff and the one who appointed it.” Verse 10 then begins with עוֹד (yod, “still” or “again”). The translation assumes an emendation to שִׁמְעוּ מַטֶּה וּמוֹעֵד הָעִיר (shim’u matteh umo’ed ha’ir, “listen, O tribe and the assembly of the city”).
[6:10] 38 tn The meaning of the first Hebrew word in the line is unclear. Possibly it is a combination of the interrogative particle and אִשׁ (’ish), an alternate form of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is/are”). One could then translate literally, “Are there treasures of sin [in] the house of the sinful?” The translation assumes an emendation to הַאֶשֶּׁה (ha’esheh, from נָשָׁא, nasha’, “to forget”), “Will I forget?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I will not forget.”
[6:10] 39 tn Heb “the treasures of sin”; NASB “treasures of wickedness”; NIV “ill-gotten treasures.”
[6:10] 40 tn Heb “the accursed scant measure.”
[6:10] sn Merchants would use a smaller than standard measure so they could give the customer less than he thought he was paying for.
[6:11] 41 tn Heb “Do I acquit sinful scales, and a bag of deceptive weights?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I do not,” and has been translated as a declarative statement for clarity and emphasis.
[6:11] sn Merchants also used rigged scales and deceptive weights to cheat their customers. See the note at Amos 8:5.
[6:12] 42 tn Heb “because her rich are full of violence.”
[6:12] 43 tn Heb “speak lies.”
[6:12] 44 tn Heb “and their tongue is deceptive in their mouth.”
[6:13] 45 tn Heb “and also I, I will make you sick, striking you.”
[6:14] 46 tc The first Hebrew term in the line (וְיֶשְׁחֲךָ, vÿyeshkhakha) is obscure. HALOT 446 s.v. יֶשַׁח understands a noun meaning “filth,” which would yield the translation, “and your filth is inside you.” The translation assumes an emendation to כֹּחַ-וְיֶשׁ (vÿyesh-koakh, “and [if] there is strength inside you”).
[6:14] 47 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term וְתַסֵּג (vÿtasseg) is unclear. The translation assumes it is a Hiphal imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג (nasag/nasag, “reach; overtake”) and that hunting imagery is employed. (Note the reference to hunger in the first line of the verse.) See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 80.
[6:14] 48 tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.
[7:1] 49 tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”
[7:1] 51 tn Heb “I am like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the harvest.” Micah is not comparing himself to the harvested fruit. There is an ellipsis here, as the second half of the verse makes clear. The idea is, “I am like [one at the time] the summer fruit is gathered and the grapes are harvested.”
[7:1] 52 tn Heb “my appetite craves.”
[7:2] 53 tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”
[7:2] 54 tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”
[7:2] 55 tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”
[7:2] 56 sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.
[7:3] 57 tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”
[7:3] 58 tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”
[7:3] 59 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.
[7:4] 60 tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.
[7:4] 61 tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”
[7:4] 62 tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”
[7:5] 63 tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”
[7:6] 64 tn Heb “rises up against.”
[7:6] 65 tn Heb “the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”
