1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth 1 hope for something good to happen, 2
though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. 3
3:2 yet you 4 hate what is good, 5
and love what is evil. 6
You flay my people’s skin 7
and rip the flesh from their bones. 8
1 sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”
2 tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).
tn Heb “[the residents of Maroth] writhe [= “anxiously long for”?] good.”
3 tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the
4 tn Heb “the ones who.”
5 tn Or “good.”
6 tn Or “evil.”
7 tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the
8 tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”
sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.