Division 1:2–2:13
First message: The LORD will punish his people, but later he will gather them together again.
See “Overall structure of the book” in the Introduction for more details about the three divisions.
Section 1:2–7
The LORD will punish the people in Samaria
In the first paragraph of this section (1:2–5), Micah is the speaker. He began by telling the entire earth, with all its inhabitants, (1:2) to listen because the LORD would soon come down from heaven to accuse them. In 1:3–4, he continued to use vivid, figurative language to describe the LORD’s coming. In 1:5, he warned the whole nation of Israel, naming both Samaria and Jerusalem, that the LORD would judge them because of their idolatry and other sins. In the second paragraph (1:6–7), the speaker is the LORD. The LORD warned Samaria that he would completely destroy the city.
The Notes have separate section headings for 1:2–7 and 1:8–16. Here are some other examples of section headings for 1:2–7:
Judgment on Samaria (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Judgment pronounced against Samaria (New Revised Standard Version)
Several other English versions use a section heading for 1:2–16. You may follow either pattern. Here are some other examples of section headings for 1:2–16:
The Coming Destruction (English Standard Version)
-or-
Grief over Samaria and Jerusalem (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The capital cities of Israel and Judah destroyed (God’s Word)
Paragraph 1:2–5
1:2
Verses 1:2a and 1:2b are parallel commands. Verse 1:2c gives the reason for the commands in 1:2a–b.
1:2a–b
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
a
Hear, O peoples, all of you ;
b
listen, O earth, and everyone in it !
Hear…listen: These parallel commands both mean “listen carefully” or “pay attention.” Micah used the same Hebrew word for Hear in 3:1, 3:9, 6:1, and 6:2.
all of you…and everyone in it!: These phrases emphasize and/or clarify the commands to “Hear” and “listen.”
1:2a
Hear, O peoples, all of you: In Hebrew, the first phrase is literally “Hear, peoples.” The second phrase, all of you, adds emphasis. It refers here to all the people groups or nations of the world. In some cases, these “people groups” may be described in terms of different languages. For example:
groups of people who speak mutually different languages
Many English versions supply a word such as “you” (New International Version) or O to indicate that Micah is addressing the peoples directly and wants them to start listening to his words.
In some languages, it may not be natural to address people groups in this way. Here are some ways to address the people directly as well as to emphasize all of them:
All of you people must listen!
-or-
Listen, everybody!
In some languages, it may be necessary for a verb like “hear” to have an object. If that is true in your language, here are some ways to make an object explicit:
Hear this message …
-or-
Listen to what God says …
1:2b
listen, O earth, and everyone in it: The phrase and everyone in it is literally “and its fullness” or “and what fills it.” There are two main ways to interpret this verse part:
(1) Micah is using a poetic way to address all the people on the earth. For example:
…listen, earth and all who live in it. (New International Version (2011))
-or-
…earth and everyone on it (New Jerusalem Bible)
(2) Micah is addressing the earth and all created things on it, including people, animals, mountains, trees, rivers, etc. For example:
listen, O earth, and all it contains (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
Earth and everything on it, pay close attention. (Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). There are at least two reasons:
(a) The parallel line (1:2a) clearly refers to the people groups or nations of the world rather than to the earth or other created things. With interpretation (1), the parallel parts in 1:2b have the same reference.
(b) The context that follows these parallel commands deals primarily with Israel and Judah and with other nations. It assumes that Micah’s audience will be able to pay attention and respond to this first message.
General Comment on 1:2a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these two parallel lines. For example:
All you people on earth, you from all the nations, listen carefully.
1:2c
May the Lord GOD bear witness against you: In this verse part, Micah implied that the people should listen to the testimony that the Lord was about to give. Some of these words are found in 1:6–7.
There are textual and interpretation issues that affect the function of this verse part and its relationship to Micah’s commands in 1:2a–b to listen carefully. The Notes will discuss these issues together. Here are the main interpretations:
(1) This verse part is a statement that the Lord GOD will testify against the people. For example:
The Lord GOD will be a witness against you (New Century Version)
(2) This verse part is an indirect, third-person request. It expresses Micah’s prayer or desire that the Lord GOD will testify against the people. For example:
and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you (English Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. In this context, this kind of jussive constructive (“and let…”) normally functions like an imperfect (non-past) verb. With both interpretations, it is implied from 2:1a–b that the people should listen carefully to the Lord’s testimony against them.
There is more than one way to interpret the relationship between Micah’s commands in 1:2a–b that the people listen and the statement in 1:2c that the Lord GOD would testify against them:
(1) The connection is not explicit. It should be left implied. For example:
Yahweh intends to give evidence against you (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The Sovereign Lord will testify against you. (Good News Translation)
(2) The statement in 1:2c gives the reason why Micah told the people to listen in 1:2a–b. For example:
for I AM will become a witness against you
(3) The statement in 1:2c gives the purpose why the people should heed the commands in 1:2a–b. For example:
that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you (New International Version)
The Display will follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. It will leave the relationship unspecified. You may follow either interpretation (1) or (2). In many languages, a reason will be implied whether or not 1:2c is introduced with a word such as “for” or “because.”
One reason not to follow interpretation (3) is that a purpose word or phrase like “that” or “so that” may wrongly imply that if the people did not listen, the LORD would not testify.
Lord GOD: In Hebrew, this double name, ʿadonay yhwh, is used over 280 times in the Old Testament to refer to God. The word ʿadonay means “lord/master.” The word yhwh is God’s personal name.
Most English versions follow the tradition of using “LORD” instead of “Yahweh” (yhwh). Since it is awkward to have an expression such as Lord LORD, most English versions use one expression to indicate God’s authority and another one to translate his own name. For example:
Sovereign Lord (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Lord GOD (New Century Version)
-or-
Almighty Lord (God’s Word)
See the note on “Yahweh, the LORD” in the Introduction.
bear witness against you: This phrase is usually used in a courtroom. It figuratively describes God as a lawyer who is presenting a case in a trial. Micah told all people to listen to the evidence that God will present. This evidence will prove that all people were guilty of doing evil.
In some languages, this courtroom language may be confusing, because God is the judge as well as the lawyer. If this is true in your language, you may want to use a more general expression. For example:
The Almighty LORD accuses/judges you
-or-
The Lord Yahweh will declare that what you have done wrong
the Lord from His holy temple: The word Lord here is ʿadonay, the same as in the first part of 1:2c. The Lord was in His holy temple when he spoke as a witness against the people. He would speak from that location.
This phrase contains implied information from the first part of 1:2c. In some languages, it may be more natural to make this information explicit. For example:
The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple. (God’s Word)
-or-
Listen! He speaks from his holy temple. (adapted from Good News Translation)
His holy temple: This phrase refers here to heaven, the LORD’s dwelling place, not to the temple in Jerusalem. In 1:3, Micah described God leaving “his place” (“his home” in the New Jerusalem Bible) and coming down to the earth. So it is logical that the phrase His holy temple in 1:2c also refers to heaven, the place where God lives. If possible, do not specify in your translation that the temple is in heaven or in Jerusalem.
holy: God’s temple is called holy because it is special, set apart to be his dwelling place. In most languages, you will be able to use the same term for holy that you used for “holy temple” or “holy place” elsewhere in Scripture.
temple: The Hebrew word that is translated here as temple refers to a large magnificent building. In some OT passages, it refers to a palace, the home of a king. In this verse, where it refers to the home of the great king, God, there is little practical difference between “palace” and temple. Almost all English versions translate it as temple. Here are some other ways to translate “his holy temple”:
his holy house/home
-or-
the holy place where he lives
-or-
the special place that is set apart as his own home
General Comment on 1:2c
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the first and last phrases of this verse part. For example:
The Lord Yahweh accuses you from his holy temple. (adapted from the Contemporary English Version).
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