Discovery BoxMicah 1:14
Context1:14 Therefore you 1 will have to say farewell 2 to Moresheth Gath.
The residents 3 of Achzib 4 will be as disappointing
as a dried up well 5 to the kings of Israel. 6
Micah 7:20
Context7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham, 7
which you promised on oath to our ancestors 8
in ancient times. 9
Micah 5:3
Context5:3 So the Lord 10 will hand the people of Israel 11 over to their enemies 12
until the time when the woman in labor 13 gives birth. 14
Then the rest of the king’s 15 countrymen will return
to be reunited with the people of Israel. 16
Micah 6:7
Context6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,
or ten thousand streams of olive oil?
Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,
my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? 17
Micah 6:14
Context6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.
Even if you have the strength 18 to overtake some prey, 19
you will not be able to carry it away; 20
if you do happen to carry away something,
I will deliver it over to the sword.
Micah 6:16
Context6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; 21
you follow their policies. 22
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, 23
the city’s 24 inhabitants will be taunted derisively, 25
and nations will mock all of you.” 26
Micah 3:5
Context3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people
are as good as dead. 27
If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace. 28
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him. 29
[1:14] 1 tn The subject of the feminine singular verb is probably Lachish.
[1:14] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “houses.” By metonymy this refers to the people who live in them.
[1:14] 4 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] 5 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] 6 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.
[7:20] 7 tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.
[7:20] 8 tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.
[7:20] 9 tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”
[5:3] 13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[5:3] 14 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:3] 15 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:3] 16 sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.
[5:3] 17 sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.
[5:3] 18 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:3] 19 tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:7] 19 tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”
[6:14] 25 tc The first Hebrew term in the line (וְיֶשְׁחֲךָ, vÿyeshkhakha) is obscure. HALOT 446 s.v. יֶשַׁח understands a noun meaning “filth,” which would yield the translation, “and your filth is inside you.” The translation assumes an emendation to כֹּחַ-וְיֶשׁ (vÿyesh-koakh, “and [if] there is strength inside you”).
[6:14] 26 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term וְתַסֵּג (vÿtasseg) is unclear. The translation assumes it is a Hiphal imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג (nasag/nasag, “reach; overtake”) and that hunting imagery is employed. (Note the reference to hunger in the first line of the verse.) See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 80.
[6:14] 27 tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.
[6:16] 31 tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”
[6:16] 32 tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”
[6:16] 33 tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.
[6:16] 34 tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:16] 35 tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.
[6:16] 36 tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).
[3:5] 37 tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the
[3:5] 38 tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.
[3:5] 39 tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”
