Mikha 2:1-7

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 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 

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ⁷ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ⁸ 

You will no longer ⁹  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –

they will mock you with this lament: ¹⁰ 

‘We are completely destroyed;

they sell off ¹¹  the property of my people.

How they remove it from me! ¹² 

They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ¹³ 

2:5 Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. ¹⁴ 

2:6 ‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. ¹⁵ 

‘These prophets should not preach of such things;

we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’ ¹⁶ 

2:7 Does the family ¹⁷  of Jacob say, ¹⁸ 

‘The Lord’s patience ¹⁹  can’t be exhausted –

he would never do such things’? ²⁰ 

To be sure, my commands bring a reward

for those who obey them, ²¹ 

[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.

[2:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Or “you will not.”

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).

[2:4]  tn Heb “one will lament [with] a lamentation [and] say.”

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”

[2:4]  ¹² tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[2:4]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).

[2:4]  tn Heb “to the one turning back he assigns our fields.”

[2:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “therefore you will not have one who strings out a measuring line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.”

[2:5]  sn No one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. When judgment passes and the people are restored to the land, those greedy ones who disregarded the ancient land allotments will not be allowed to participate in the future redistribution of the land.

[2:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “‘Do not foam at the mouth,’ they foam at the mouth.” The verb נָטַף (nataf) means “to drip.” When used of speech it probably has the nuance “to drivel, to foam at the mouth” (HALOT 694 s.v. נטף). The sinful people tell the Lord’s prophets not to “foam at the mouth,” which probably refers in a derogatory way to their impassioned style of delivery. But the Lord (who is probably still speaking here, see v. 3) sarcastically refers to their impassioned exhortation as “foaming at the mouth.”

[2:6]  ¹⁶ tc If one follows the MT as it stands, it would appear that the Lord here condemns the people for their “foaming at the mouth” and then announces that judgment is inevitable. The present translation assumes that this is a continuation of the quotation of what the people say. In this case the subject of “foam at the mouth” is the Lord’s prophets. In the second line יִסַּג (yissag, a Niphal imperfect from סוּג, sug, “to remove”) is emended to יַסִּגֵנוּ (yassigenu; a Hiphil imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג, nasag/nasag, “to reach; to overtake”).

[2:6]  tn Heb “they should not foam at the mouth concerning these things, humiliation will not be removed.”

[2:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the Lord, but here it seems to have an abstract sense, “patience.” See BDB 925 s.v. 3.d.

[2:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Has the patience of the Lord run short? Or are these his deeds?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “No, of course not.” The people contest the prophet’s claims that the Lord’s judgment is falling on the nation.

[2:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The Lord begins his response to the claim of the house of Jacob that they are immune to judgment (see v. 7a). He points out that the godly are indeed rewarded, but then he goes on to show that those in the house of Jacob are not godly and can expect divine judgment, not blessing (vv. 8-11). Some emend “my words” to “his words.” In this case, v. 7b is a continuation of the immediately preceding quotation. The people, thinking they are godly, confidently ask, “Do not his [God’s] words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?”