Since idolatry was the cause of this punishment, the precious idols will be singled out for particular attention and smashed to pieces. Gifts given to the temple prostitutes by their clients will be destroyed by fire. It is not certain what these gifts were, whether they were objects for use in religious ceremonies, or gifts that were sold to pay for the making of more idols.
The first and third poetic lines of verse 7 in Hebrew are very similar in meaning (see Revised Standard Version), and the translator may prefer to combine them into one sentence. Idols and images are the carved statues of gods, made of wood of stone and sometimes covered with metal such as gold, silver, or bronze. They will be broken into small pieces by these enemies that are coming. The verb used should be one that fits with breaking up stone, as this seems to be the main idea here. When the smashing is finished, they will just be a desolate heap of rubble.
As well as destroying the idols, the enemies will burn up everything given to Samaria’s temple prostitutes. Since we do not know just what these items were, this is rather difficult to translate. They are called “hires” in Revised Standard Version, and similar terms are used in other translations (New American Bible [New American Bible] “wages”; Jerusalem Bible “earnings”). This word simply means that they were the pay that the women received from the men who came to sleep with them. From the context it sounds as though this pay still had some importance in the false worship. The “hires” do not refer to coins, however, since they will be burned, and in any case coins were not in common use at that time.
The basic idea seems to be that “the enemies will burn all the things that the worship place has received from the men who came to sleep with the sacred prostitutes.” Not all of this needs to be said, of course, if it can be made shorter in any way. If there is no expression for prostitutes in a language, they are “women who let men sleep with them as part of their false worship.”
Some scholars interpret the “hires” in this second line (Revised Standard Version) as just another way of referring to the idols (compare New English Bible). If this interpretation is followed, then all of the first three lines of verse 7 say basically the same thing and may be combined in one sentence: “The enemies will smash the stone idols and burn the wooden ones, and only a heap of rubble will be left.”
The second half of verse 7 contains a figurative expression whose precise meaning is not clear. A literal translation is given in Revised Standard Version. The “hire of a harlot” refers to the false worship of which prostitution is frequently a picture in the Old Testament (see Ezek 16; Hos 1.2). Most likely literal prostitution was part of the false worship. This is the understanding that Good News Translation has expressed plainly with its mention of fertility rites and temple prostitutes. Whatever the details may mean, it is clear that the Lord’s intention is to make the punishment fit the crime. Thus the idols and images on which Samaria had spent its wealth will be taken away by its invaders to be used for temple prostitutes elsewhere.
The picture of the people of Israel being unfaithful to God as a woman may be unfaithful to her husband is used a number of times in the Old Testament. However, it is often difficult to translate without going into more detail than would fit the emphasis in some passages. It is because of the difficulty of keeping this picture that Good News Translation has left it out and simply given what it understands to be the meaning here.
Samaria is of course “the people of Samaria.” These things refer to the idols and other things used in worship that are mentioned in the first part of verse 7.
Fertility rites are the various ceremonies and other acts (including sacred prostitution) that were done as part of the false worship. Their purpose was to ensure that the gods would make the land fertile and make the women bear children. It may be difficult to try to give all of this meaning in translation, and if that is the case, it is probably enough here just to say “false worship.”
If the translator wants to try to keep the picture of the people of Israel being like a prostitute, there are several possibilities. A language may have a word meaning “unfaithful” that is usually used of a woman being sexually unfaithful, but which can also be used of people in relation to God. Then one can say “The people of Samaria have been unfaithful to me, and have acquired all of these things for worshiping other gods.” If there is no one word that can help to give this idea by itself, then it will be necessary to go into more detail, saying something like “the people of Samaria have gone after other gods just as a prostitute goes after many men, and that is how they have acquired all these things.”
Her enemies will carry them off for temple prostitutes elsewhere gives the probable meaning of the last line in verse 7. Elsewhere refers to the other country or countries that the enemies come from. The meaning is that they will take the idols and other things home with them to use in the immoral worship of their own false gods.
A translator must decide just what the prostitutes in this last line refers to. There seem to be at least two possibilities. One is that the enemy soldiers will take these things that they have captured, and use them as payment when they themselves go to the temple prostitutes. If this is the meaning, then these things really do become the “hire of a harlot” or “the pay for a prostitute.”
The second possibility is that the enemy people are being compared to prostitutes, just as the people of Israel were, because they worship false gods. If this is the meaning, it is better not to take it too literally, because it is not likely that Micah is suggesting that these enemy soldiers really ought to be worshiping the God of Israel. This meaning may be translated “but now these things will be carried off by people who are just as bad as the people of Samaria are, to use in the immoral worship of their own false gods.”
Moffatt has a particularly good rendering of these last two lines of verse 7, which seems to take this second meaning: “once the prize of faithless living, now the prey of faithless foes.” This is a good rendering for English because of the alliteration of “prize” and “prey,” and because “faithless” has two meanings that fit will here. We would not expect other translators to be able to follow this wording exactly, but it will be excellent if they can find a way to get the same effect in their own language.
If we say that the enemies will carry these things off, for whatever purpose, this sets up a logical clash with the earlier part of the verse if taken too literally; how could the idols and images once smashed or burnt be carried off for use somewhere else? These two statements are to be seen as alternative poetic ways of speaking of the ending of the false worship, together with the destruction of the city where it was carried out. There is no real contradiction. Such paradoxical statements occur elsewhere in Scripture and serve to emphasize a point. See, for instance, Micah 6.14 “You will carry things off, but you will not be able to save them; anything you do save…”; Mark 4.25 (Revised Standard Version) “from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away”; John 3.32-33 (Revised Standard Version) “… no one receives his testimony; he who receives his testimony….”
If possible a translator should simply allow the translation to follow the original, and not be worried about the seeming contradiction here. It may be that the prophet is simply predicting alternative possibilities. However, if it seems to create a serious problem in the language, it is possible to say that some idols will be smashed and burned and others will be carried off.
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 .