Mikha 5:3

5:3 So the Lord ¹  will hand the people of Israel ²  over to their enemies ³ 

until the time when the woman in labor ⁴  gives birth. ⁵ 

Then the rest of the king’s ⁶  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ⁷ 

Mikha 6:7

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ⁸ 

Mikha 6:14

6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.

Even if you have the strength ⁹  to overtake some prey, ¹⁰ 

you will not be able to carry it away; ¹¹ 

if you do happen to carry away something,

I will deliver it over to the sword.

Mikha 6:16

6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,

and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; ¹² 

you follow their policies. ¹³ 

Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, ¹⁴ 

the city’s ¹⁵  inhabitants will be taunted derisively, ¹⁶ 

and nations will mock all of you.” ¹⁷ 

[5:3]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ² tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ³ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ⁴ sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ⁵ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  sn The rest of the king’s brothers are the coming king’s fellow Judahites, while the sons of Israel are the northern tribes. The verse pictures the reunification of the nation under the Davidic king. See Isa 11:12-13; Jer 31:2-6, 15-20; Ezek 37; Hos 1:11; 3:5.

[6:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”

[6:14]  ⁹ tc The first Hebrew term in the line (וְיֶשְׁחֲךָ, vÿyeshkhakha) is obscure. HALOT 446 s.v. יֶשַׁח understands a noun meaning “filth,” which would yield the translation, “and your filth is inside you.” The translation assumes an emendation to כֹּחַ-וְיֶשׁ (vÿyesh-koakh, “and [if] there is strength inside you”).

[6:14]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term וְתַסֵּג (vÿtasseg) is unclear. The translation assumes it is a Hiphal imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג (nasag/nasag, “reach; overtake”) and that hunting imagery is employed. (Note the reference to hunger in the first line of the verse.) See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 80.

[6:14]  ¹¹ tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.

[6:16]  ¹² tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”

[6:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”

[6:16]  sn The Omride dynasty, of which Ahab was the most infamous king, had a reputation for implementing unjust and oppressive measures. See 1 Kgs 21.

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.

[6:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.

[6:16]  ¹⁷ tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).

[6:16]  tn Heb “and the reproach of my people you will bear.” The second person verb is plural here, in contrast to the singular forms used in vv. 13-15.