The opening words of verse 10, Don’t tell our enemies in Gath, are an allusion to David’s lament for Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam 1.17-27), who were killed in battle against the Philistines. Gath is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament, perhaps because it was the Philistine city nearest to the territory of Judah. Its name is similar in sound to the Hebrew word for “tell,” which is used in this sentence.
The prophet here is speaking to the other people of Judah. It may be helpful in some languages to put in at this point the actual words “People of Judah” to show this, as Good News Translation has done in verses 14 and 16. What the prophet says to these people is that they should not tell the people of Gath what is happening to them, because the people of Gath are enemies of the people of Judah. Whether the people of Gath would simply enjoy hearing about the bad things that are happening to Judah, or whether they might try to take advantage of them to cause even more trouble, we do not know. Good News Translation has added our enemies to help to bring out part of this meaning. Since the prophet is speaking to his own people, this our would have to be the inclusive “our” used to mean “yours and mine,” if a language has more than one word for “our.” The people of Gath are the enemies, so in some languages it may be better to say “our enemies, the people of Gath.”
In many languages it will be necessary to say what you are not to tell the people of Gath about, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the Hebrew. What is referred to is all of the bad things that are happening to Judah as the attacking army gets nearer to Jerusalem. Good News Translation has said about our defeat, but since Jerusalem itself has not yet been taken, this could be misleading. It may be better to say “about what is happening to us,” or “that we are having such a terrible time,” or “that God is punishing us.”
Don’t let them see you weeping does not mean “weep in private, not in public” but rather “weep not at all,” as in Revised Standard Version. If we connect this idea with the first line, then the meaning must be that the people of Judah should not weep at all, because if they do the Philistines will find out what has happened to them. It may be better to say that the Philistines will find out by hearing them weep rather than by seeing, especially since the next line says it is all right to roll in the dust. One way to translate this line may be “do not weep at all, or they may hear you.” Weeping can be the term for crying for the dead or for some terrible thing that has happened, if a language has such a word.
The location of Beth Leaphrah is not known. The Hebrew word for “dust” is ʿaphar, which sounds like the last part of Leaphrah.
People of Beth Leaphrah is a term of address, to show these people that they are the ones the prophet is talking to. In some languages there will be a special word or some other way of showing that he is addressing a particular group of people that he wants to listen to him.
If it is helpful to give the reason why these people should roll in the dust, the translator may want to do something similar to Good News Translation and say show your despair or “… sorrow.” In some languages this would have to be expressed as “roll in the dust to show that terrible things are happening to you” or “… to show how sad you are.”
One sign of sorrow or despair was to put dust on one’s head or body (see Josh 7.6 and Job 2.12). Rolling in the dust, then, would be a way of covering the body with the dust, to show great sorrow. Rolling probably means turning over one way and then another to try to be sure that the whole body is covered. The Hebrew word for “roll yourselves” (Revised Standard Version) sounds like the word for “Philistines”; such a pun is possible, as it fits with the mention of the Philistine city of Gath.
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 .