Micah 1:6-9

Context

1:6 “I will turn Samaria¹ into a heap of ruins in an open field –

vineyards will be planted there!²

I will tumble³ the rubble of her stone walls⁴ down into the valley,

and tear down her fortifications to their foundations.⁵

1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire.⁶

I will make a waste heap⁷ of all her images.

Since⁸ she gathered the metal⁹ as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.”¹⁰

1:8 For this reason I¹¹ will mourn and wail;

I will walk around barefoot¹² and without my outer garments.¹³

I will howl¹⁴ like a wild dog,¹⁵

and screech¹⁶ like an owl.¹⁷

1:9 For Samaria’s¹⁸ disease¹⁹ is incurable.

It has infected²⁰ Judah;

it has spread to²¹ the leadership²² of my people

and has even contaminated Jerusalem!²³

[1:6] ¹map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[1:6] ²tn Heb “into a planting place for vineyards.”

[1:6] ³tn Heb “pour” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, NRSV “pour down”; NAB “throw down”; NLT “roll.”

[1:6] ⁴tn Heb “her stones.” The term stones is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.

[1:6] ⁵tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.

[1:7] ⁶tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7] ⁷tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7] ⁸tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7] ⁹tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7] ¹⁰tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.

[1:8] ¹¹tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.

[1:8] ¹²tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).

[1:8] ¹³tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.

[1:8] ¹⁴tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”

[1:8] ¹⁵tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”

[1:8] ¹⁶tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”

[1:8] ¹⁷tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[1:9] ¹⁸tn Heb “her”; the referent (Samaria) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:9] ¹⁹tc The MT reads the plural “wounds”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.

[1:9] ²⁰tn Heb “come to.”

[1:9] ²¹tn Or “reached.”

[1:9] ²²tn 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] ²³tn 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.