Micah 1:15-16

1:15 Residents of Mareshah, ¹  a conqueror will attack you, ² 

the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. ³ 

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ⁴ 

shave your foreheads as bald ⁵  as an eagle, ⁶ 

for they are taken from you into exile.

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

[1:15]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

[1:16]  ⁶ tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.