Mikha 4:11
Konteks4:11 Many nations have now assembled against you.
They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated, 1
so we can gloat over Zion!” 2
Mikha 3:1
Konteks3:1 I said,
“Listen, you leaders 3 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 4 of Israel!
You ought to know what is just, 5
Mikha 7:10
Konteks7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.
They say 6 to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”
I will gloat over them. 7
Then they will be trampled down 8
like mud in the streets.
Mikha 3:11
Konteks3:11 Her 9 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, 10
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust 11 the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us. 12
Disaster will not overtake 13 us!”
Mikha 4:2
Konteks4:2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple 14 of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his commands 15
and we can live by his laws.” 16
For Zion will be the source of instruction;
the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. 17
Mikha 2:4
Konteks2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –
they will mock you with this lament: 18
‘We are completely destroyed;
they sell off 19 the property of my people.
How they remove it from me! 20
They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ 21
Mikha 2:6
Konteks2:6 ‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. 22
‘These prophets should not preach of such things;
we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’ 23
Mikha 6:12
Konteks6:12 The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; 24
her inhabitants lie, 25
their tongues speak deceptive words. 26
Mikha 2:7
Konteks2:7 Does the family 27 of Jacob say, 28
‘The Lord’s patience 29 can’t be exhausted –
he would never do such things’? 30
To be sure, my commands bring a reward
for those who obey them, 31
Mikha 2:11
Konteks2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, 32
‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ 33
he would be just the right preacher for these people! 34
Mikha 6:3
Konteks6:3 “My people, how have I wronged you? 35
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
Mikha 3:9
Konteks3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family 36 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 37 of Israel!
You 38 hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
Mikha 4:6
Konteks4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,
and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. 39
Mikha 5:10
Konteks5:10 “In that day,” says the Lord,
“I will destroy 40 your horses from your midst,
and smash your chariots.
Mikha 6:1
Konteks6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Get up! Defend yourself 41 before the mountains! 42
Present your case before the hills!” 43
Mikha 7:5
Konteks7:5 Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! 44
Mikha 1:6
Konteks1:6 “I will turn Samaria 45 into a heap of ruins in an open field –
vineyards will be planted there! 46
I will tumble 47 the rubble of her stone walls 48 down into the valley,
and tear down her fortifications to their foundations. 49
Mikha 3:5-6
Konteks3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people
are as good as dead. 50
If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace. 51
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him. 52
3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; 53
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. 54
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. 55
Mikha 4:4
Konteks4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine
or under his own fig tree without any fear. 56
The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. 57
Mikha 2:3
Konteks2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! 58
It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. 59
You will no longer 60 walk proudly,
for it will be a time of catastrophe.
Mikha 2:12
Konteks2:12 I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob,
I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. 61
I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, 62
like a flock in the middle of a pasture; 63
they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise. 64
Mikha 4:13
Konteks4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!
For I will give you iron horns; 65
I will give you bronze hooves,
and you will crush many nations.” 66
You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,
and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler 67 of the whole earth. 68
Mikha 5:2
Konteks5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 69
seemingly insignificant 70 among the clans of Judah –
from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, 71
one whose origins 72 are in the distant past. 73
Mikha 7:4
Konteks7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. 74
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, 75
and then you will experience confusion. 76
[4:11] 1 tn Heb “let her be desecrated.” the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:11] 2 tn Heb “and let our eye look upon Zion.”
[3:1] 5 tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”
[7:10] 6 tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:10] 7 tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”
[7:10] 8 tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”
[3:11] 9 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
[3:11] 10 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
[3:11] 11 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
[3:11] 12 tn Heb “Is not the
[3:11] 13 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
[4:2] 16 tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”
[4:2] 17 tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the
[4:2] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[2:4] 18 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] 19 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] 20 tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[2:4] 21 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.”
[2:6] 22 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
[2:6] 23 tc If one follows the MT as it stands, it would appear that the
[2:6] tn Heb “they should not foam at the mouth concerning these things, humiliation will not be removed.”
[6:12] 24 tn Heb “because her rich are full of violence.”
[6:12] 25 tn Heb “speak lies.”
[6:12] 26 tn Heb “and their tongue is deceptive in their mouth.”
[2:7] 27 tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’
[2:7] 28 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] 29 tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the
[2:7] 30 tn Heb “Has the patience of the
[2:7] 31 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
[2:11] 32 tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”
[2:11] 33 tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”
[2:11] 34 tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”
[6:3] 35 tn Heb “My people, what have I done to you?”
[3:9] 38 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).
[4:6] 39 sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.
[5:10] 40 tn Heb “cut off” (also in the following verse).
[6:1] 41 tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”
[6:1] sn Defend yourself. The
[6:1] 42 sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.
[6:1] 43 tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”
[7:5] 44 tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”
[1:6] 45 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[1:6] 46 tn Heb “into a planting place for vineyards.”
[1:6] 47 tn Heb “pour” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, NRSV “pour down”; NAB “throw down”; NLT “roll.”
[1:6] 48 tn Heb “her stones.” The term stones is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.
[1:6] 49 tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.
[3:5] 50 tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the
[3:5] 51 tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.
[3:5] 52 tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”
[3:6] 53 tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”
[3:6] sn The coming of night (and darkness in the following line) symbolizes the cessation of revelation.
[3:6] 54 tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”
[3:6] sn The reading of omens (Heb “divination”) was forbidden in the law (Deut 18:10), so this probably reflects the prophets’ view of how they received divine revelation.
[3:6] 55 tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”
[4:4] 56 tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”
[4:4] 57 tn Heb “for the mouth of the
[2:3] 58 tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”
[2:3] 59 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] 60 tn Or “you will not.”
[2:12] 61 tn Heb “the remnant of Israel.”
[2:12] 62 tc The MT reads בָּצְרָה (batsrah, “Bozrah”) but the form should be emended to בַּצִּרָה (batsirah, “into the fold”). See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 38.
[2:12] 63 tc The MT reads “its pasture,” but the final vav (ו) belongs with the following verb. See GKC 413 §127.i.
[2:12] 64 tn Heb “and they will be noisy [or perhaps, “excited”] from men.” The subject of the third feminine plural verb תְּהִימֶנָה (tÿhimenah, “they will be noisy”) is probably the feminine singular צֹאן (tso’n, “flock”). (For another example of this collective singular noun with a feminine plural verb, see Gen 30:38.) In the construction מֵאָדָם (me’adam, “from men”) the preposition is probably causal. L. C. Allen translates “bleating in fear of men” (Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah [NICOT], 300), but it is possible to take the causal sense as “because of the large quantity of men.” In this case the sheep metaphor and the underlying reality are mixed.
[4:13] 65 tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”
[4:13] 66 sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.
[4:13] 67 tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”
[4:13] 68 tn Heb “and their wealth to the master of all the earth.” The verb “devote” does double duty in the parallelism and is supplied in the second line for clarification.
[4:13] sn In vv. 11-13 the prophet jumps from the present crisis (which will result in exile, v. 10) to a time beyond the restoration of the exiles when God will protect his city from invaders. The
[5:2] 69 sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.
[5:2] map For location of Bethlehem see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
[5:2] 70 tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.
[5:2] 71 tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”
[5:2] 72 tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.
[5:2] 73 tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.
[5:2] sn In riddle-like fashion this verse alludes to David, as the references to Bethlehem and to his ancient origins/activities indicate. The passage anticipates the second coming of the great king to usher in a new era of national glory for Israel. Other prophets are more direct and name this coming ideal ruler “David” (Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos 3:5). Of course, this prophecy of “David’s” second coming is actually fulfilled through his descendant, the Messiah, who will rule in the spirit and power of his famous ancestor and bring to realization the Davidic royal ideal in an even greater way than the historical David (see Isa 11:1, 10; Jer 33:15).
[7:4] 74 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] 75 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.”
