Discovery BoxMicah 1:6-8 
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
1:8 For this reason I 11 will mourn and wail;
I will walk around barefoot 12 and without my outer garments. 13
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
11 tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.
12 tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).
13 tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.
14 tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”
15 tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”
16 tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”
17 tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
