Micah 5:1

(4:14) ¹  But now slash yourself, ²  daughter surrounded by soldiers! ³  We are besieged! With a scepter ⁴  they strike Israel’s ruler ⁵  on the side of his face.

De 28:49; De 28:51-57; 1Sa 8:5,6; 2Ki 24:2; 2Ki 25:1-3; Job 16:10; Isa 8:9; Isa 10:6; Isa 33:22; Jer 4:7; Jer 25:9; La 3:30; Eze 21:21,22; Eze 24:2; Joe 3:9; Am 2:3; Hab 1:6; Hab 3:16; Mt 5:39; Mt 26:67; Mt 27:30; Lu 19:43,44; Joh 18:22; Joh 19:3; Ac 23:2; 2Co 11:20

¹ sn Beginning with 5:1, the verse numbers through 5:15 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 5:1 ET = 4:14 HT, 5:2 ET = 5:1 HT, 5:3 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:15 ET = 5:14 HT. From 6:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

² tn The Hebrew verb גָדַד (gadad) can be translated “slash yourself” or “gather in troops.” A number of English translations are based on the latter meaning (e.g., NASB, NIV, NLT).

sn Slash yourself. Slashing one’s body was a form of mourning. See Deut 14:1; 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5.

³ tn Heb “daughter of a troop of warriors.”

sn The daughter surrounded by soldiers is an image of the city of Jerusalem under siege (note the address “Daughter Jerusalem” in 4:8).

⁴ tn Or “staff”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “rod”; CEV “stick”; NCV “club.”

sn Striking a king with a scepter, a symbol of rulership, would be especially ironic and humiliating.

⁵ tn Traditionally, “the judge of Israel” (so KJV, NASB).