1:14a

Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath: In this verse part, Micah talked about Moresheth-gath, another small town in Judah.

Therefore: There are two ways to interpret the connection of the word Therefore :

(1) What Micah said about Moresheth-gath is the result of what he said in the previous verse. For example:

And so (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) What Micah said about Moresheth-gath is the next thing he said in his list of comments to cities in Judah.

And now (Good News Translation)

(Contemporary English Version, Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most English versions. The people in Jerusalem and Judah had begun to sin just like the northern kingdom. Therefore they must say good-bye to the people in Moresheth-gath. Here is another way to translate this connection:

That is why (God’s Word)

Translate this connection in a natural way in your language.

send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath: Micah made a pun here. The name “Moresheth” sounds like the Hebrew word for fiancée. In the Jewish culture, parents gave their engaged daughter a special gift at the time she left their home to go live with her husband.

Micah’s pun means that an enemy army will capture the city of Moresheth-gath and take the people away as captives. The people are like a daughter that will soon leave home. The other people in Judah will soon no longer see them. It is not recommended that you make this pun explicit in the translation itself.

If you use footnotes in your translation, here are some sample footnotes:

1.14a Moresheth sounds like the Hebrew term for “gift” or “dowry.” (New Living Translation (2004) footnote)
-or-

1.14 farewell gift : The gift (dowry) that a bride’s father gave her when she left the home of her parents to live with the family of her husband. In Hebrew the word for “bride” or “fiancée” sounds like “Moresheth.” (Contemporary English Version footnote)

Here are some ways to translate 1:14a without a figure of speech:

And so, people of Judah, you will say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath. (based on Good News Translation)
-or-
So wave good-bye to the people of Moresheth-gath, ⌊for they must soon go away.⌋

If you prefer not to refer to the pun in a footnote, you may translate without a figure of speech (as in the two preceding examples), but supply a footnote that explains the reason the people will have to leave. For example:

Micah told the people of Judah to say good-bye to the people of Moresheth-gath, because an enemy army would capture that city and take the people away as captives.

send: It is not clear to whom this command is given. Here are the main interpretations:

(1) It is given to the people in Judah.

people of Judah, say good-bye to the town of Moresheth Gath (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation)

(2) It is given to the people in Lachish (see 1:13a–c).

(3) It is given to the people in Jerusalem (“daughter of Zion,” see 1:13b).

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most commentaries. The Good News Translation explicitly follows this interpretation. Other versions leave the reference implicit (ambiguous). For many readers, an ambiguous command will incorrectly refer back to Israel or Lachish. So it is recommended that you translate in a way that refers clearly to Judah.

In Hebrew, this command is singular. Micah used Hebrew poetry here, so he spoke to the nation as if it were one person. You may use either singular or plural, depending on whether you refer here to the nation or the people of the nation.

Moresheth-gath: In 1:1a, Micah called the name of his home town Moresheth, but here he called it Moresheth-gath.

Some English versions spell the name of this town differently. For example:

Moresheth Gath (New International Version)

Moreshethgath (King James Version)

Moresheth in Gath (New Century Version)

You may want to use a spelling that fits the phonetic rules of your language or a spelling that is used in a language of wider communication in your country.

1:14b

the houses of Achzib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel: Micah used a pun in this sentence. The name Achzib sounds like the Hebrew word for deceptive (achzab).

The kings of Israel hoped that the town of Achzib would be their ally. They hoped that the people in Achzib would send soldiers to help them fight the enemy. But the kings of Israel would soon feel deceived or disappointed, because Achzib would not send any help. Here are some other ways to translate this idea:

The kings of Israel will get no help from the town of Achzib. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Israel’s kings will discover that they cannot trust the town of Achzib. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
The town of Achzib has deceived the kings of Israel, for it promised help it could not give. (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
The kings in Israel trusted the Achzib people to help them. But they will send no help.

the houses of Achzib: This phrase is a poetic way to refer to the town of Achzib or to the people who live there. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the town of Achzib (Good News Translation)
-or-
the residents of Achzib (NET Bible)
-or-
Beth-Achzib (New Jerusalem Bible)

kings of Israel: This phrase may refer to kings of the northern kingdom in contrast to kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. It may also refer to kings of Judah with the assumption that Judah is considered to be part of the kingdom of Israel as a whole. All English versions identify the country as Israel. It is recommended that you do the same thing. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

rulers/leaders of Israel
-or-
the person who sits on the throne in Israel

If you feel it will be helpful for your readers, it is suggested that you supply a footnote that gives some of this background material. For example:

The phrase “kings of Israel” might refer to a king or kings who ruled in Judah (Jerusalem). Sometimes Judah was considered to be part of the nation of Israel as a whole.

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.