Mikha 6:11

6:11 I do not condone the use of rigged scales,

or a bag of deceptive weights. ¹ 

Mikha 1:12

1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ²  hope for something good to happen, ³ 

though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Mikha 2:6

2:6 ‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. ⁵ 

‘These prophets should not preach of such things;

we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’ ⁶ 

[6:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Do I acquit sinful scales, and a bag of deceptive weights?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I do not,” and has been translated as a declarative statement for clarity and emphasis.

[6:11]  sn Merchants also used rigged scales and deceptive weights to cheat their customers. See the note at Amos 8:5.

[1:12]  ² sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”

[1:12]  ³ tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).

[1:12]  tn Heb “[the residents of Maroth] writhe [= “anxiously long for”?] good.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”

[2:6]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.”