Micah 1:7
Context1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;
all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. 1
I will make a waste heap 2 of all her images.
Since 3 she gathered the metal 4 as a prostitute collects her wages,
the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” 5
Micah 2:4
Context2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –
they will mock you with this lament: 6
‘We are completely destroyed;
they sell off 7 the property of my people.
How they remove it from me! 8
They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ 9
1 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
2 tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).
3 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).
4 tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.
5 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
6 tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).
tn Heb “one will lament [with] a lamentation [and] say.”
7 tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”
8 tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
9 tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).
tn Heb “to the one turning back he assigns our fields.”