Discovery BoxMicah 7:1-14
ContextIndeed, 2 it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,
and the grapes have been harvested. 3
There is no grape cluster to eat,
no fresh figs that I crave so much. 4
7:2 Faithful men have disappeared 5 from the land;
there are no godly men left. 6
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; 7
they hunt their own brother with a net. 8
7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; 9
government officials and judges take bribes, 10
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. 11
7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. 12
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, 13
and then you will experience confusion. 14
7:5 Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! 15
7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges 16 her mother,
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own servants. 17
7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;
I will wait for the God who delivers me.
My God will hear my lament. 18
7:8 My enemies, 19 do not gloat 20 over me!
Though I have fallen, I will get up.
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. 21
7:9 I must endure 22 the Lord’s anger,
for I have sinned against him.
But then 23 he will defend my cause, 24
and accomplish justice on my behalf.
He will lead me out into the light;
I will experience firsthand 25 his deliverance. 26
7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.
They say 27 to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”
I will gloat over them. 28
Then they will be trampled down 29
like mud in the streets.
7:11 It will be a day for rebuilding your walls;
in that day your boundary will be extended. 30
7:12 In that day people 31 will come to you 32
from Assyria as far as 33 Egypt,
from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, 34
from the seacoasts 35 and the mountains. 36
7:13 The earth will become desolate 37
because of what its inhabitants have done. 38
7:14 Shepherd your people with your shepherd’s rod, 39
the flock that belongs to you, 40
the one that lives alone in a thicket,
in the midst of a pastureland. 41
Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead, 42
as they did in the old days. 43
[7:1] 1 tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”
[7:1] 3 tn Heb “I am like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the harvest.” Micah is not comparing himself to the harvested fruit. There is an ellipsis here, as the second half of the verse makes clear. The idea is, “I am like [one at the time] the summer fruit is gathered and the grapes are harvested.”
[7:1] 4 tn Heb “my appetite craves.”
[7:2] 5 tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”
[7:2] 6 tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”
[7:2] 7 tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”
[7:2] 8 sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.
[7:3] 9 tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”
[7:3] 10 tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”
[7:3] 11 tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.
[7:4] 12 tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.
[7:4] 13 tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”
[7:4] 14 tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”
[7:5] 15 tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”
[7:6] 16 tn Heb “rises up against.”
[7:6] 17 tn Heb “the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”
[7:7] 18 tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.
[7:8] 19 tn The singular form is understood as collective.
[7:8] 20 tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”
[7:8] 21 sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The
[7:9] 24 tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”
[7:9] 26 tn Or “justice, vindication.”
[7:10] 27 tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:10] 28 tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”
[7:10] 29 tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”
[7:11] 30 sn Personified Jerusalem declares her confidence in vv. 8-10; in this verse she is assured that she will indeed be vindicated.
[7:12] 31 tn Heb “they.” The referent has been specified as “people,” referring either to the nations (coming to God with their tribute) or to the exiles of Israel (returning to the
[7:12] 32 tn The masculine pronominal suffix suggests the
[7:12] 33 tc The MT reads וְעָרֵי (vÿ’arey, “and the cities [of Egypt]”), but the parallel line indicates this is a corruption of וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “even to”).
[7:12] 34 tn Heb “the River,” referring to the Euphrates River. This has been specified in the translation for clarity (so also NASB, NIV).
[7:12] 35 tn Heb “and sea from sea.” Many prefer to emend this to מִיָּם עַד יָם (miyyam ’ad yam, “from sea to sea”).
[7:12] 36 tn Heb “and mountain of the mountain.” Many prefer to emend this to וּמֵהַר עַד הַר (umehar ’ad har, “and mountain to mountain”).
[7:13] 37 tn Or “will be ruined.”
[7:13] 38 tn Heb “on account of its inhabitants, because of the fruit of their deeds.”
[7:14] 39 tn Or “with your scepter” (the Hebrew term can mean either “rod” or “scepter”).
[7:14] 40 tn Heb “the flock of your inheritance.”
[7:14] 41 tn Or “in the midst of Carmel.” The Hebrew term translated “pastureland” may be a place name.
[7:14] 42 sn The regions of Bashan and Gilead, located in Transjordan, were noted for their rich grazing lands.
