2 Samuel 23:6-7

23:6 But evil people are like thorns –

all of them are tossed away,

for they cannot be held in the hand.

23:7 The one who touches them

must use an iron instrument

or the wooden shaft of a spear.

They are completely burned up right where they lie!” ¹ 

Micah 7:4

7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. ² 

The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –

your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ³ 

and then you will experience confusion. ⁴ 

Micah 7:1

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

7:1 I am depressed! ⁵ 

Indeed, ⁶  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,

and the grapes have been harvested. ⁷ 

There is no grape cluster to eat,

no fresh figs that I crave so much. ⁸ 

Micah 5:2-3

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ⁹ 

seemingly insignificant ¹⁰  among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ¹¹ 

one whose origins ¹²  are in the distant past. ¹³ 

5:3 So the Lord ¹⁴  will hand the people of Israel ¹⁵  over to their enemies ¹⁶ 

until the time when the woman in labor ¹⁷  gives birth. ¹⁸ 

Then the rest of the king’s ¹⁹  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ²⁰ 

[23:7]  ¹ tn Heb “and with fire they are completely burned up in [the place where they] remain.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize that they are completely consumed by the fire.

[7:4]  ² tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.

[7:4]  ³ tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”

[7:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”

[7:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”

[7:1]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[7:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “I am like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the harvest.” Micah is not comparing himself to the harvested fruit. There is an ellipsis here, as the second half of the verse makes clear. The idea is, “I am like [one at the time] the summer fruit is gathered and the grapes are harvested.”

[7:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “my appetite craves.”

[5:2]  ⁹ sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.

[5:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.

[5:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”

[5:2]  ¹² tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.

[5:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ¹⁶ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ¹⁷ sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ¹⁸ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.