Discovery BoxMicah 1:9-10 
Context1:9 For Samaria’s 1 disease 2 is incurable.
It has infected 3 Judah;
it has spread to 4 the leadership 5 of my people
and has even contaminated Jerusalem! 6
1:10 Don’t spread the news in Gath! 7
Don’t shed even a single tear! 8
In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust! 9
Micah 7:5
Context7:5 Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! 10
1 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Samaria) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tc The MT reads the plural “wounds”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.
tn Or “wound.”
3 tn Heb “come to.”
4 tn Or “reached.”
5 tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.
6 tn Heb “to Jerusalem.” The expression “it has contaminated” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to fill out the parallelism with the preceding line.
map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
7 tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).
8 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.
9 tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bÿvet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”
tn Heb “roll about in mourning in the dust”; or “wallow about in mourning in the dust.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about in mourning [in dust]”; HALOT 935 s.v. פלשׁ) is figurative (metonymy) for sitting as an outward sign of mourning.
sn To sit in the dust was an outward sign of mourning. The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”
10 tn Heb “from the one who lies in your arms, guard the doors of your mouth.”
