Mikha 4:9
Konteks4:9 Jerusalem, why are you 1 now shouting so loudly? 2
Has your king disappeared? 3
Has your wise leader 4 been destroyed?
Is this why 5 pain grips 6 you as if you were a woman in labor?
Mikha 3:6
Konteks3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; 7
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. 8
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. 9
[4:9] 1 tn The Hebrew form is feminine singular, indicating that Jerusalem, personified as a young woman, is now addressed (see v. 10). In v. 8 the tower/fortress was addressed with masculine forms, so there is clearly a shift in addressee here. “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation at the beginning of v. 9 to make this shift apparent.
[4:9] 2 tn Heb “Now why are you shouting [with] a shout.”
[4:9] 3 tn Heb “Is there no king over you?”
[4:9] 4 tn Traditionally, “counselor” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the king mentioned in the previous line; the title points to the king’s roles as chief strategist and policy maker, both of which required extraordinary wisdom.
[4:9] 5 tn Heb “that.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is used here in a resultative sense; for this use see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.
[4:9] 6 tn Heb “grabs hold of, seizes.”
[3:6] 7 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] 8 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.