Here the prophet addresses the witnesses directly and calls them to listen to the LORD’s case. The mountains are repeated from verse 1, but in place of the hills, the everlasting foundations of the earth are summoned as witnesses. These parts of the natural world were also witnesses to the original covenant that the Lord made with his people, as mentioned above. Therefore they are called now as witnesses in this court case, because they will be in a position to confirm the strength of the Lord’s complaint against his people. This complaint is essentially that they have broken the covenant. The everlasting foundations were pictured by the people of Israel as pillars upon which the earth was supported (see New English Bible), just as people might build a house supported on wooden posts. These pillars were thus the foundations of the earth. This idea is of course quite different from our modern understanding of the way the world actually is, and some translators may feel that there is no need to translate so as to show old views that are no longer accepted. But on the other hand, we should not translate so as to suggest that the ancient people believed things about the world that have only been discovered more recently.

There are at least three possible approaches to translation in situations like this. First, one can try to use an expression that gives modern readers some idea of what the people of Israel actually believed. This is what New English Bible has done with its “you everlasting pillars that bear up the earth.” Second, one can use a term that fits both the modern ideas and the ancient ones. This does not draw attention to the old ideas but at least does not deny them. This seems to be what Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version have done with the word foundations, which is accurate but is also a possible way of describing modern ideas of the world. Third, it is possible to add a footnote to explain in more detail what was originally meant by this expression.

Good News Translation can be understood to suggest that the mountains and the foundations are the same things described in two different ways. However, it seems better to assume that two different parts of the natural world are being spoken to here.

These foundations or pillars were the oldest and most unchanging part of the world, and it is in this sense that they are called “enduring” (Revised Standard Version) or everlasting. This may be translated as “very strong” or “firmly in place.”

The meaning of the rest of the verse is quite clear. It basically summarizes the position already outlined: The LORD has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel. Has a case against means basically the same thing as bring an accusation against, and it may be necessary in some languages to combine these two parallel lines into one line. If this is done, the translator should be sure to include both Israel and his people in this line. The use of the term his people suggests that the accusation will be about breaking the covenant with Israel that made them his people.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .