Mikha 4:12

4:12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;

they do not understand his strategy.

He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed ¹  at the threshing floor.

Mikha 4:6

Restoration Will Follow Crisis

4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,

and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. ² 

Mikha 2:12

The Lord Will Restore His People

2:12 I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob,

I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. ³ 

I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, ⁴ 

like a flock in the middle of a pasture; ⁵ 

they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise. ⁶ 

Mikha 6:9

6:9 Listen! The Lord is calling ⁷  to the city!

It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! ⁸ 

Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! ⁹ 

Mikha 4:11

4:11 Many nations have now assembled against you.

They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated, ¹⁰ 

so we can gloat over Zion!” ¹¹ 

Mikha 2:5

2:5 Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. ¹² 

Mikha 1:7

1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ¹³ 

I will make a waste heap ¹⁴  of all her images.

Since ¹⁵  she gathered the metal ¹⁶  as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ¹⁷ 

Mikha 5:1

5:1 (4:14) ¹⁸  But now slash yourself, ¹⁹  daughter surrounded by soldiers! ²⁰ 

We are besieged!

With a scepter ²¹  they strike Israel’s ruler ²² 

on the side of his face.

[4:12]  ¹ tn The words “to be threshed” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the Lord is planning to enable “Daughter Zion” to “thresh” her enemies.

[4:6]  ² sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “the remnant of Israel.”

[2:12]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “its pasture,” but the final vav (ו) belongs with the following verb. See GKC 413 §127.i.

[2:12]  ⁶ 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.

[6:9]  ⁷ tn Or “the voice of the Lord is calling.” The translation understands קוֹל (qol, “voice”) as equivalent to an imperative.

[6:9]  ⁸ 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 Lord’s “name” here stands by metonymy for his authority.

[6:9]  ⁹ 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”).

[4:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “let her be desecrated.” the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and let our eye look upon Zion.”

[2:5]  ¹² 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.

[1:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7]  sn The precious metal used by Samaria’s pagan worship centers to make idols are here compared to a prostitute’s wages because Samaria had been unfaithful to the Lord and prostituted herself to pagan gods, such as Baal.

[1:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7]  ¹⁶ tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.

[5:1]  ¹⁸ sn Beginning with 5:1, the verse numbers through 5:15 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 5:1 ET = 4:14 HT, 5:2 ET = 5:1 HT, 5:3 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:15 ET = 5:14 HT. From 6:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[5:1]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew verb גָדַד (gadad) can be translated “slash yourself” or “gather in troops.” A number of English translations are based on the latter meaning (e.g., NASB, NIV, NLT).

[5:1]  sn Slash yourself. Slashing one’s body was a form of mourning. See Deut 14:1; 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5.

[5:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “daughter of a troop of warriors.”

[5:1]  sn The daughter surrounded by soldiers is an image of the city of Jerusalem under siege (note the address “Daughter Jerusalem” in 4:8).

[5:1]  ²¹ tn Or “staff”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “rod”; CEV “stick”; NCV “club.”

[5:1]  sn Striking a king with a scepter, a symbol of rulership, would be especially ironic and humiliating.

[5:1]  ²² tn Traditionally, “the judge of Israel” (so KJV, NASB).