Micah 4:8

4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, ¹ 

fortress of Daughter Zion ²  –

your former dominion will be restored, ³ 

the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.

Micah 6:14

6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.

Even if you have the strength ⁴  to overtake some prey, ⁵ 

you will not be able to carry it away; ⁶ 

if you do happen to carry away something,

I will deliver it over to the sword.

[4:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Migdal-eder.” Some English versions transliterate this phrase, apparently because they view it as a place name (cf. NAB).

[4:8]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “to you it will come, the former dominion will arrive.”

[6:14]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.