Mikha 1:11

1:11 Residents ¹  of Shaphir, ²  pass by in nakedness and humiliation! ³ 

The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. ⁴ 

Beth Ezel ⁵  mourns, ⁶ 

“He takes from you what he desires.” ⁷ 

Mikha 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ⁸ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ⁹ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ¹⁰ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn The Hebrew participial form, which is feminine singular, is here used in a collective sense for the all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.

[1:11]  ² sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ³ tn The imperatival form is used rhetorically, emphasizing that the inhabitants of Shaphir will pass by into exile.

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “have not come out”; NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”

[1:11]  sn The expression can’t leave their city alludes to a siege of the town. The place name Zaanan sounds like the verb “come out” (i.e., “can’t leave”) in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ⁵ sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).

[1:11]  ⁷ tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (’emdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).

[1:11]  tn The precise meaning of the line is uncertain. The translation assumes: (a) the subject of the third masculine singular verb יִקַּח (yiqqakh, “he/it takes”) is the conqueror, (b) the second masculine plural suffix (“you”) on the preposition מִן (min, “from”) refers to the residents of Shaphir and Zaanan, (c) the final form עֶמְדָּתוֹ should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ, “his (the conqueror’s) desire.”

[7:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ¹⁰ 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.