1:11 Residents 1 of Shaphir, 2 pass by in nakedness and humiliation! 3
The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. 4
Beth Ezel 5 mourns, 6
“He takes from you what he desires.” 7
2:7 Does the family 8 of Jacob say, 9
‘The Lord’s patience 10 can’t be exhausted –
he would never do such things’? 11
To be sure, my commands bring a reward
for those who obey them, 12
2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out 13
they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. 14
Their king will advance 15 before them,
The Lord himself will lead them. 16
7:2 Faithful men have disappeared 17 from the land;
there are no godly men left. 18
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; 19
they hunt their own brother with a net. 20
1 tn The Hebrew participial form, which is feminine singular, is here used in a collective sense for the all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.
2 sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.
3 tn The imperatival form is used rhetorically, emphasizing that the inhabitants of Shaphir will pass by into exile.
4 tn Heb “have not come out”; NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”
sn The expression can’t leave their city alludes to a siege of the town. The place name Zaanan sounds like the verb “come out” (i.e., “can’t leave”) in Hebrew.
5 sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.
6 tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).
7 tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (’emdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).
tn The precise meaning of the line is uncertain. The translation assumes: (a) the subject of the third masculine singular verb יִקַּח (yiqqakh, “he/it takes”) is the conqueror, (b) the second masculine plural suffix (“you”) on the preposition מִן (min, “from”) refers to the residents of Shaphir and Zaanan, (c) the final form עֶמְדָּתוֹ should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ, “his (the conqueror’s) desire.”
8 tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’
9 tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).
10 tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the
11 tn Heb “Has the patience of the
12 tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The
13 tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.
14 tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.
sn The “fold” from which the sheep/people break out is probably a reference to their place of exile.
15 tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.
16 tn Heb “the
17 tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”
18 tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”
19 tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”
20 sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.