Micah 1:11

1:11 Residents of Shaphir, pass by in nakedness and humiliation!

The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city.

Beth Ezel mourns,

“He takes from you what he desires.”


tn The Hebrew participial form, which is feminine singular, is here used in a collective sense for the all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.

sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.

tn The imperatival form is used rhetorically, emphasizing that the inhabitants of Shaphir will pass by into exile.

tn Heb “have not come out”; NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”

sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.

tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).

tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (’emdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).