Discovery BoxMicah 1:6-7 
Context1:6 “I will turn Samaria 1 into a heap of ruins in an open field –
vineyards will be planted there! 2
I will tumble 3 the rubble of her stone walls 4 down into the valley,
and tear down her fortifications to their foundations. 5
1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;
all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. 6
I will make a waste heap 7 of all her images.
Since 8 she gathered the metal 9 as a prostitute collects her wages,
the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” 10
1 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
2 tn Heb “into a planting place for vineyards.”
3 tn Heb “pour” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, NRSV “pour down”; NAB “throw down”; NLT “roll.”
4 tn Heb “her stones.” The term stones is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.
5 tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.
6 tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”
sn The precious metal used by Samaria’s pagan worship centers to make idols are here compared to a prostitute’s wages because Samaria had been unfaithful to the
7 tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).
8 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).
9 tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.
10 tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the
