Micah 1:11-16

1:11 Residents ¹  of Shaphir, ²  pass by in nakedness and humiliation! ³ 

The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. ⁴ 

Beth Ezel ⁵  mourns, ⁶ 

“He takes from you what he desires.” ⁷ 

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 

1:13 Residents of Lachish, ¹¹  hitch the horses to the chariots!

You ¹²  influenced Daughter Zion ¹³  to sin, ¹⁴ 

for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back ¹⁵  to you!

1:14 Therefore you ¹⁶  will have to say farewell ¹⁷  to Moresheth Gath.

The residents ¹⁸  of Achzib ¹⁹  will be as disappointing

as a dried up well ²⁰  to the kings of Israel. ²¹ 

1:15 Residents of Mareshah, ²²  a conqueror will attack you, ²³ 

the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. ²⁴ 

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ²⁵ 

shave your foreheads as bald ²⁶  as an eagle, ²⁷ 

for they are taken from you into exile.

[1:11]  ¹ 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]  ² sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ³ tn The imperatival form is used rhetorically, emphasizing that the inhabitants of Shaphir will pass by into exile.

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “have not come out”; NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”

[1:11]  ⁵ sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (’emdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).

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

[1:13]  ¹¹ sn The place name Lachish sounds like the Hebrew word for “team [of horses].”

[1:13]  ¹² tn Heb “she”; this has been translated as second person (“you”) in keeping with the direct address to the residents of Lachish in the previous line.

[1:13]  ¹³ sn The epithet Daughter Zion pictures the city of Jerusalem as a young lady.

[1:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “She was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion.”

[1:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for in you was found the transgressions of Israel.”

[1:14]  ¹⁶ tn The subject of the feminine singular verb is probably Lachish.

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you will give a dowry to”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “give parting gifts to.” Lachish is compared to a father who presents wedding gifts to his daughter as she leaves her father’s home to take up residence with her husband. In similar fashion Lachish will bid farewell to Moresheth Gath, for the latter will be taken by the invader.

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “houses.” By metonymy this refers to the people who live in them.

[1:14]  ¹⁹ sn The place name Achzib (אַכְזִיב, ’akhziv, “place on the dried up river”; see HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב) creates a word play on the similar sounding term כָּזָב (kazav, “lie, deception”; HALOT 468 s.v. כָּזָב). Like the dried up river upon which its name was based, the city of Achzib would fail to help the kings of Israel in their time of need.

[1:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “will be a deception.” The term אַכְזָב (’akhzav) is often translated “deception,” as derived from the verb I כָּזָב (“to deceive, lie”; HALOT 467-68 s.v. I כזב). However, it probably means “what is dried up,” since (1) the noun elsewhere refers to an empty well or dried river in summer (Jer 15:18; cf. Job 6:15-20) (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); (2) the place-name “Achzib” (אַכְזִיב) literally means “place on the אַכְזָב [dried up river]” (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); and (3) it is derived from the verb II כָּזָב (“to dry up [brook]”; Isa 58:11), which also appears in Mishnaic Hebrew and Arabic. The point of the metaphor is that Achzib will be as disappointing to the kings of Israel as a dried up spring in the summer is to a thirsty traveler in the Jordanian desert.

[1:14]  ²¹ sn Because of the enemy invasion, Achzib would not be able to deliver soldiers for the army and/or services normally rendered to the crown.

[1:15]  ²² sn The place name Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew word for “conqueror.”

[1:15]  ²³ tn Heb “Again a conqueror I will bring to you, residents of Mareshah.” The first person verb is problematic, for the Lord would have to be the subject (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). But the prophet appears to be delivering this lament and the Lord is referred to in the third person in v. 12. Consequently many emend the verb to a third person form (יָבוֹא, yavo’) and understand the “conqueror” as subject.

[1:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to Adullam the glory of Israel will go.” This probably means that the nation’s leadership will run for their lives and, like David of old, hide from their enemy in the caves of Adullam. Cf. NIV’s “He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam,” which sounds as if an individual is in view, and could be understood as a messianic reference.

[1:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

[1:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

[1:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.