Micah 1:12

1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ¹  hope for something good to happen, ² 

though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ³ 

Micah 1:5

1:5 All this is because of Jacob’s rebellion

and ⁴  the sins of the nation ⁵  of Israel.

How has Jacob rebelled, you ask? ⁶ 

Samaria epitomizes their rebellion! ⁷ 

Where are Judah’s pagan worship centers, you ask? ⁸ 

They are right in Jerusalem! ⁹ 

Micah 1:9

1:9 For Samaria’s ¹⁰  disease ¹¹  is incurable.

It has infected ¹²  Judah;

it has spread to ¹³  the leadership ¹⁴  of my people

and has even contaminated Jerusalem! ¹⁵ 

Micah 4:8

4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, ¹⁶ 

fortress of Daughter Zion ¹⁷  –

your former dominion will be restored, ¹⁸ 

the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.

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

[1:12]  ² tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).

[1:12]  ³ tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and because of.” This was simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[1:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “What is the rebellion of Jacob?”

[1:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “Is it not Samaria?” The negated rhetorical question expects the answer, “It certainly is!” To make this clear the question has been translated as a strong affirmative statement.

[1:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “What are Judah’s high places?”

[1:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Is it not Jerusalem?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “It certainly is!”

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Samaria) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁸ tc The MT reads the plural “wounds”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.

[1:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “come to.”

[1:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “reached.”

[1:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.

[1:9]  ¹² tn Heb “to Jerusalem.” The expression “it has contaminated” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to fill out the parallelism with the preceding line.

[4:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Migdal-eder.” Some English versions transliterate this phrase, apparently because they view it as a place name (cf. NAB).

[4:8]  ¹¹ sn The city of David, located within Jerusalem, is addressed as Daughter Zion. As the home of the Davidic king, who was Israel’s shepherd (Ps 78:70-72), the royal citadel could be viewed metaphorically as the watchtower of the flock.

[4:8]  ¹² tn Heb “to you it will come, the former dominion will arrive.”