Mikha 7:5

7:5 Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust a companion!

Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! ¹ 

Mikha 1:9

1:9 For Samaria’s ²  disease ³  is incurable.

It has infected ⁴  Judah;

it has spread to ⁵  the leadership ⁶  of my people

and has even contaminated Jerusalem! ⁷ 

Mikha 1:12

1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ⁸  hope for something good to happen, ⁹ 

though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ 

Mikha 2:13

2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out ¹¹ 

they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. ¹² 

Their king will advance ¹³  before them,

The Lord himself will lead them. ¹⁴ 

Mikha 5:6

5:6 They will rule ¹⁵  the land of Assyria with the sword,

the land of Nimrod ¹⁶  with a drawn sword. ¹⁷ 

Our king ¹⁸  will rescue us from the Assyrians

should they attempt to invade our land

and try to set foot in our territory.

[7:5]  ¹ tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”

[1:9]  ² tn Heb “her”; the referent (Samaria) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³ tc The MT reads the plural “wounds”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.

[1:9]  tn Or “wound.”

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “come to.”

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Or “reached.”

[1:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “to Jerusalem.” The expression “it has contaminated” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to fill out the parallelism with the preceding line.

[1:9]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:12]  ⁸ sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”

[1:12]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.

[2:13]  ¹² tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.

[2:13]  sn The “fold” from which the sheep/people break out is probably a reference to their place of exile.

[2:13]  ¹³ tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.

[2:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”

[5:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps “break”; or “defeat.”

[5:6]  ¹⁶ sn According to Gen 10:8-12, Nimrod, who was famous as a warrior and hunter, founded Assyria.

[5:6]  ¹⁷ tc The MT reads “in her gates,” but the text should be emended to בַּפְּתִיחָה (baptikhah, “with a drawn sword”).

[5:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the coming king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.