Micah 7:17

7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake,

like serpents crawling on the ground. ¹ 

They will come trembling from their strongholds

to the Lord our God; ² 

they will be terrified ³  of you. ⁴ 

Micah 6:9

6:9 Listen! The Lord is calling ⁵  to the city!

It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! ⁶ 

Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! ⁷ 

Micah 4:4

4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine

or under his own fig tree without any fear. ⁸ 

The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. ⁹ 

Micah 2:8

2:8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. ¹⁰ 

You steal a robe from a friend, ¹¹ 

from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. ¹² 

[7:17]  ¹ tn Heb “like crawling things on the ground.” The parallelism suggests snakes are in view.

[7:17]  ² tn Thetranslationassumesthatthe phrase אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ (’el-yÿhvah ’elohenu, “to the Lord our God”) goes with what precedes. Another option is to take the phrase with the following verb, in which case one could translate, “to the Lord our God they will turn in dread.”

[7:17]  ³ tn Heb “they will be in dread and afraid.”

[7:17]  ⁴ tn The Lord is addressed directly using the second person.

[6:9]  ⁵ tn Or “the voice of the Lord is calling.” The translation understands קוֹל (qol, “voice”) as equivalent to an imperative.

[6:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “one who sees your name is wisdom.” It is probably better to emend יִרְאֶה (yir’eh, “he sees”) to יִרְאָה (yir’ah, “fearing”). One may then translate, “fearing your name is wisdom.” The Lord’s “name” here stands by metonymy for his authority.

[6:9]  ⁷ tn Heb (apparently) “Listen [to] the staff and the one who appointed it.” Verse 10 then begins with עוֹד (yod, “still” or “again”). The translation assumes an emendation to שִׁמְעוּ מַטֶּה וּמוֹעֵד הָעִיר (shim’u matteh umo’ed ha’ir, “listen, O tribe and the assembly of the city”).

[4:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

[4:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”

[2:8]  ¹³ tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (vÿ’etmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (vÿ’attem ’al, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yÿqomem, the imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a participle from the same root).

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term מִמּוּל (mimmul, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in [ם] mem) and subsequent suppression of ע (ayin). The translation assumes an emendation to מֵעַל (me’al, “from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of שַׂלְמָה אֶדֶר (salmah ’eder, “a garment, glory [or robe]”) to שֹׁלְמִים אֲדֶרֶת (sholÿmim ’aderet, “[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s אֶדֶר (’eder) is the result of misdivision (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).

[2:8]  ¹⁵ tc The passive participle שׁוּבֵי (shuvey) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle שָׁבִים (shavim).