Verses 6 and 7 give a description of the people returning from exile. The prophet uses the picture of a flock of sheep being brought together after being attacked and scattered. It is thus somewhat similar to 2.12. There is no direct mention here of sheep, but the Hebrew terms for “lame” and “cast off” (Revised Standard Version) certainly carry overtones that would have reminded the Hebrew of sheep. The figure of speech is not used in Good News Translation, but its meaning is conveyed directly by speaking of the people. The whole of these two verses is the utterance of the Lord and is given as direct speech. In translation it will generally be more vivid if this direct speech can be retained.
The time is coming (literally “In that day,” Revised Standard Version) is a common expression in the prophetic books (see, for instance, Isa 4.1; Hos 2.18; Amos 8.9, although Good News Translation has slightly different translations of the same Hebrew words in each of these passages). It carries overtones of reference to the last days but does not indicate whether they are viewed as in the near future or in the distant future.
The content of the Lord’s statement is given in Revised Standard Version in the same order as the Hebrew; but in Good News Translation it has been reordered so as to give a more general statement first and then develop it. The more general statement is I will gather together the people I punished. The Hebrew uses two verbs (translated “assemble” and “gather” in Revised Standard Version) that are both commonly used of the people returning from exile. These verbs mean the same thing, so Good News Translation uses the single term gather together to translate them both. The reference to the exile is only implicit in Revised Standard Version, “those who have been driven away,” but is made explicit in Good News Translation, those who have suffered in exile. Theologically it is important to retain in translation the prophet’s insight that the same Lord is responsible both for punishing the people with exile and for bringing them back together to their own land.
Some translators may need to restructure verse 6 even further to follow the actual order of the events referred to. For example, this might become “I punished the people and sent them away as prisoners to other countries, where they have suffered. But the time is coming when I will gather them together again.” The emphasis in this verse is on the Lord gathering the people, so if it is necessary to restructure the verse and mention the punishment first, this may give the wrong emphasis. If it does, a translator should see if he can find some other way in the language to show where the real emphasis is. Some translators may also want to keep the image of the sheep. This can be mentioned in connection with the thought about the people being sent away: “I sent them away to other countries, just as a flock of sheep are scattered when they are attacked.”
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 .