Discovery BoxMicah 7:1-4
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
[7:1] 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.”
