Mikha 1:4

1:4 The mountains will disintegrate ¹  beneath him,

and the valleys will be split in two. ² 

The mountains will melt ³  like wax in a fire,

the rocks will slide down like water cascading down a steep slope. ⁴ 

Mikha 1:16

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ⁵ 

shave your foreheads as bald ⁶  as an eagle, ⁷ 

for they are taken from you into exile.

Mikha 2:13

2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out ⁸ 

they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. ⁹ 

Their king will advance ¹⁰  before them,

The Lord himself will lead them. ¹¹ 

Mikha 7:1

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

7:1 I am depressed! ¹² 

Indeed, ¹³  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,

and the grapes have been harvested. ¹⁴ 

There is no grape cluster to eat,

no fresh figs that I crave so much. ¹⁵ 

[1:4]  ¹ tn Or “melt” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This is a figurative description of earthquakes, landslides, and collapse of the mountains, rather than some sort of volcanic activity (note the remainder of the verse).

[1:4]  ² sn The mountains will disintegrate…the valleys will be split in two. This imagery pictures an earthquake and accompanying landslide.

[1:4]  ³ tn The words “the mountains will melt” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The simile extends back to the first line of the verse.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn The words “the rocks will slide down” are supplied in the translation for clarification. This simile elaborates on the prior one and further develops the imagery of the verse’s first line.

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

[1:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

[1:16]  ⁷ tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.

[2:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.

[2:13]  ⁹ tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.

[2:13]  sn The “fold” from which the sheep/people break out is probably a reference to their place of exile.

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”

[7:1]  ¹² tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”

[7:1]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[7:1]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my appetite craves.”