2:12 I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob,
I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. 1
I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, 2
like a flock in the middle of a pasture; 3
they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise. 4
2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out 5
they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. 6
Their king will advance 7 before them,
The Lord himself will lead them. 8
1 tn Heb “the remnant of Israel.”
2 tc The MT reads בָּצְרָה (batsrah, “Bozrah”) but the form should be emended to בַּצִּרָה (batsirah, “into the fold”). See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 38.
3 tc The MT reads “its pasture,” but the final vav (ו) belongs with the following verb. See GKC 413 §127.i.
4 tn Heb “and they will be noisy [or perhaps, “excited”] from men.” The subject of the third feminine plural verb תְּהִימֶנָה (tÿhimenah, “they will be noisy”) is probably the feminine singular צֹאן (tso’n, “flock”). (For another example of this collective singular noun with a feminine plural verb, see Gen 30:38.) In the construction מֵאָדָם (me’adam, “from men”) the preposition is probably causal. L. C. Allen translates “bleating in fear of men” (Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah [NICOT], 300), but it is possible to take the causal sense as “because of the large quantity of men.” In this case the sheep metaphor and the underlying reality are mixed.
5 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.
6 tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.
7 tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.
8 tn Heb “the