Micah 1:10-12

1:10 Don’t spread the news in Gath! ¹ 

Don’t shed even a single tear! ² 

In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust! ³ 

1:11 Residents ⁴  of Shaphir, ⁵  pass by in nakedness and humiliation! ⁶ 

The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. ⁷ 

Beth Ezel ⁸  mourns, ⁹ 

“He takes from you what he desires.” ¹⁰ 

1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ¹¹  hope for something good to happen, ¹² 

though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ¹³ 

[1:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).

[1:10]  ² tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.

[1:10]  ³ tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bÿvet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”

[1:11]  ⁴ 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.

[1:11]  ⁵ sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ⁶ tn The imperatival form is used rhetorically, emphasizing that the inhabitants of Shaphir will pass by into exile.

[1:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “have not come out”; NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”

[1:11]  ⁸ sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ⁹ 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).

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (’emdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).

[1:12]  ⁷ sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”

[1:12]  ⁸ tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).

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