Verse 11 continues on the same theme, with a further threat to destroy the cities in your land and tear down all your defenses. It may be that this verse is really using a double expression to speak of a single object: cities and defenses together may simply mean “fortified cities.” The word translated defenses means any place that has been fortified or strengthened to make it easy to defend against an enemy army. It can refer both to places in the mountains that have been fortified, and to fortified cities.

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 .

This verse gives something of a contrast with the two previous verses. Whereas they spoke of the restoration of Jerusalem and its people, this one speaks of the punishment of the enemy nations. They may have been used as God’s instruments for disciplining his people in the past, but they did this work in such a way as to increase their own sins. Therefore the earth, that is, those parts of it outside the territory of the Lord’s people, will become a desert.

To make clear what is meant here by the earth, many translators may want to say something like “the rest of the earth.”

Desert is literally “desolate” (Revised Standard Version). This means an area that has been destroyed, as if by an invading army. If translators cannot find a suitable term, it is possible to say “The earth will become barren” or “The earth will be spoiled.”

The reason why this will happen is clearly given: because of the wickedness of those who live on it. However, it may be clearer in some languages to say “as punishment for the wickedness of those who live on it.” If it is necessary to say who punishes, the Lord can be mentioned here. In 6.16 Jerusalem was an island of ruin amidst a sea of scornful enemies. Here the picture is reversed, and it is an island of blessing amidst a sea of desolation.

Wickedness is literally “the fruit of their doings” (Revised Standard Version). This metaphor is unnatural in English, and Good News Translation has expressed its meaning in plain language. Many translators will need to do the same.

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 .

In verse 9 the punishment of the people of Samaria is pictured as wounds that cannot be healed. A similar picture is used in Isa 1.5-6. In the expression “her wound” at the beginning of verse 9 (Revised Standard Version), “her” is taken by some commentators to refer to Jerusalem. However, the picture of spreading infection is more clear if the “her” refers to Samaria. This is the way Good News Translation understands it. The wound is the punishment sent by the Lord as described in the preceding verses. In some versions it is translated as a “blow” struck by the Lord (Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible).

This wound cannot be healed. The picture means that the destruction of Samaria is complete, as described in verse 6, and there is no hope for it to be built again or for the people to recover from their punishment.

The “it has come to Judah” of Revised Standard Version continues the metaphor, but in Good News Translation it is expressed in plain language as Judah is about to suffer in the same way. The expression “come to” may be intended to bring to mind the idea of a flood spreading over the land. Compare the use of the same expression in Psa 69.1.

About to suffer in the same way means that the terrible things that have happened to Samaria are about to happen to the southern kingdom of Judah. It may be expressed as “the same punishment is about to happen to Judah.” In fact it sounds as though the enemies are already in Judah, because they have reached the gates of Jerusalem itself. Jerusalem was not geographically in the center of the country. In fact it was near the northern border. However, it was the main town of the country, and if it were captured by the enemy, the whole country would be defeated.

The gates of the city are not only the place of entrance but also the center of business, legal, and social life. See for instance Ruth 4.1, 11; Psa 127.5; Amos 5.10, 12, 15. When Jerusalem is spoken of as “the gate of my people” (Revised Standard Version), this is a picture of the capital city as the center and focus of national life. Gates can be translated as “doors in the wall that surrounds the city.” They were of course strong doors that could be closed to keep the enemy out. When the enemy reached the gates, Jerusalem was in great danger of being conquered. In many languages the word “gate” would not convey the idea of the center of social life, and in such languages it may be necessary to translate as “destruction has reached Jerusalem itself, the main center where my people live.”

Jerusalem was not Micah’s own home town, so his reference to my people does not mean his immediate relatives. It is used in a broader sense, including all of his countrymen, but especially those who were suffering because of all the evil that was being done by the leaders (see 3.3, 5).

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 .

As the people of the nations travel, they speak to each other and give the reason for their journey. This is recorded as direct speech and is formed with pairs of parallel clauses. The first two clauses are not exactly parallel, however. The second clause is an expansion of the latter part of the first, and the verb is left implicit in the second clause. The first clause says Let us go up the hill of the LORD, giving the general direction of the journey. The second makes the destination more precise by adding to the Temple of Israel’s God. For translators who want to have two clauses, such a structure is not usually difficult to translate, though it may sound better in some languages to repeat the verb in the second clause. Other translators may prefer to combine all this information into one clause. The final phrase is literally “the God of Jacob” as in Revised Standard Version. “Jacob” here stands for the whole nation, not just the northern kingdom (which had ended before the time of this passage); it is thus translated Israel in Good News Translation. Note in Revised Standard Version that this speech literally begins “Come, let us go.” This sort of wording may sound very natural in some languages.

The third and fourth clauses of the people’s words are more closely parallel with each other than the first two clauses are. They are complementary, or reciprocal, in meaning. The Lord, on the one hand, will teach us what he wants us to do. The people, on the other hand, will walk in the paths he has chosen, responding completely to what the Lord has taught them. Revised Standard Version shows the literal wording of the Hebrew: “that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths.” In many languages the use of words like “way” and “path” to mean “customs” or “teachings” is quite natural. In such cases there may be no need to express the meaning in plain language, as Good News Translation does when it says what he wants us to do for “his ways.” The paths he has chosen could also be understood as “the paths he has shown us.” If the figurative language of “paths” is not possible in a language, these two clauses may become simply “he will teach us what he wants us to do, and we will do it.”

The last two clauses of verse 2 are also parallel to each other. It is not certain whether they continue the words of the people who are going up to Jerusalem, or are the beginning of a further comment by the prophet. Good News Translation and Jerusalem Bible regard them as part of the direct quotation, while Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, New American Bible, New English Bible, and New International Version do not. The meaning is the same no matter which form of punctuation is chosen. However, the words seem to fit the context better if they are regarded as the last part of the direct quotation, for they then give the reason for the journey to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the center and source of the LORD’s teaching, and this is why people from other nations go there. The Hebrew word translated teaching is the general word for law. It came to mean in particular the Law or Moses, which was the central and most important part of the LORD’s teaching for the Jews.

The parallel clause (“the word of the LORD from Jerusalem,” as in Revised Standard Version) is expressed in Good News Translation in a verbal rather than a nominal form, and thus it becomes from Zion he speaks to his people. Note that Good News Translation has added the words to his people, to show whom the Lord is speaking to. It may be necessary in some languages to say whom he is speaking to, but some readers might understand his people to refer primarily to the people of Israel. The people referred to in these verses are mainly people of other nations, so it may be clearer to say something like “he speaks to those who want to follow him (or, obey him).”

In the Hebrew the term Zion appears in the first clause and Jerusalem in the second. Other English versions retain this order, but Good News Translation reverses the order of the terms, presumably so as to put the more familiar term Jerusalem first. The translator may or may not wish to follow this example. These two clauses, too, can be combined if for any reason the parallel expression will be awkward, or if a translator prefers not to refer to Jerusalem by two names. They may then become “From Jerusalem the Lord speaks and teaches his law.”

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 .

When that time comes: as so often in the Old Testament, “day” (Revised Standard Version) stands for a period longer than 24 hours, and thus Good News Translation has When that time comes…. When it does come, the rich will find themselves in the position they had so often put the poor, namely, they will have their land taken away. In this way their fate will be such a clear example of disaster, of the punishment fitting the crime, that it will become the subject of a song of despair.

The Hebrew does not make it clear who will sing this song, and most English versions retain this vagueness with the word “they” (Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible). Good News Translation is somewhat more explicit with people, that is, people in general. They will at that time mock the rich people who are suffering the same indignities they had once inflicted on others. Another view is that the song is sung by the enemy invaders against the rich people whose property they are plundering. Other scholars believe that the song will be sung by the rich themselves, since it is in the first person. If that is so, it would be a “lament” (New English Bible) rather than a “satire” (New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible) or “taunt” (Revised Standard Version).

In order to translate clearly, each translator will have to decide which of these possibilities seems most convincing in the context, and make his translation according to the meaning he has chosen. Alternative possibilities can be put in footnotes if translators feel they are important enough. It will probably not be necessary to decide exactly who is singing the song, apart from deciding whether it is sung by the people being punished or by some other group that is mocking them. Most English translations take it to be some other group.

Use the story about you as an example of disaster means “tell what has happened to you as an example of the disaster that comes to people who do evil.” Good News Translation can be wrongly understood to mean that telling the story and singing the song are two separate things that will be done; but what is meant is that by singing the song the story is told. If we assume that the song is not sung by the people being punished but by other people, then the singers are pretending that they are the people who have been punished, and they are singing this song in mock despair. Translators may find it somewhat difficult to connect the ideas of mockery and despair. The words of the song show despair, but the whole action of singing the song is intended to mock the people who have been punished.

The song itself has four lines in Revised Standard Version but only three in Good News Translation. This is because the second and third lines have been combined into one in Good News Translation, avoiding a repetition that is somewhat obscure. The general sense of the passage is clear enough, however, and is adequately conveyed by Good News Translation. The people speaking in the song (We) are the rich people whom the Lord is speaking to in verses 3 and 4. This is true whether we understand that they really sing it, or whether it is others who only pretend to be the rich people. Once more, Good News Translation makes the actor explicit (The LORD has taken our land away) and avoids pronouns that have no clear antecedent.

The Hebrew varies in the song between first person plural (Revised Standard Version “We are … ruined” and “our captors”) and first person singular (Revised Standard Version “my people” and “from me”). Since this change sounds unnatural in English, Good News Translation has consistently used the first person plural.

The LORD has taken our land away means of course that the Lord no longer allows these rich evildoers to own the land that had been theirs; instead he has given it to others. This is one point where translators should be careful not to be too literal, or they may imply that the land itself has been moved from one place to another.

The rich people not only suffer the loss of the land they had wrongfully acquired but even see it given … to those who took us captive, that is, to foreign conquerors who have no claim at all to be among the Lord’s people. There is a play on words in Hebrew between “portion” and “divide,” which are both forms of the same root, and perhaps another wordplay between “utterly ruined” and “fields,” which have similar sounds.

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 .

Verse 13 is direct quotation of words addressed by the Lord to his people. Good News Translation has added The LORD says to make this clear.

As elsewhere, the literal “daughter of Zion” (Revised Standard Version) means People of Jerusalem.

The metaphor of threshing grain is continued in the Hebrew, where the people are told to “Arise and thresh” (Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation drops the metaphor here and gives the plain meaning, go and punish your enemies!

The Lord promises to give his people strength for this task. This promise is expressed in a further metaphor that is turned into a simile in Good News Translation, I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. The reference to a bull is probably a continuation of the picture of threshing, since animals were used to tread on the grain in order to separate the ears, or heads, from the stalks (see Deut 25.4; Hos 10.11). In cultures where this practice is still known, it may be possible to retain the image of threshing with an animal in both verse 12 and verse 13. However, in many situations this will not be the case, and where the image would not be understood, it should be dropped, and the meaning should be expressed in plain language.

But even where threshing with animals is not known, it may be possible to retain the reference to the bull simply as a symbol of strength, as Good News Translation has done. The reference to iron horns and bronze hoofs may need to be expanded so as to say “I will make you as strong as a bull, as if it had horns made of iron and hoofs made of bronze.” Iron and bronze were the strongest metals available in the period of the Old Testament prophets. Even when it seems possible to keep the image, it may be helpful to make certain points a little clearer. For example, one could begin the verse with “Jerusalem (or, People of Jerusalem), you are like a threshing bull, so start the threshing now.” Some commentators say that bulls will poke the grain with their horns while threshing, but it seems more likely that the horns are mentioned only to show how strong the bull is.

With the strength that the Lord gives them, the people of Jerusalem will crush many nations, those very nations who had gathered against them. The word crush means to grind into dust. Translators who are keeping the threshing image should use a word that fits the action of threshing.

The wealth that the victorious people of Israel take from their enemies they will present to me, the Lord of the whole world. That is to say, the people are to treat the things they capture just as Joshua and his army treated the things they captured at Jericho (Josh 6.17-19, 24). They were to burn everything that could be burned, and metal objects that would not burn were broken and put into the Lord’s treasury. The word translated wealth in Good News Translation includes two Hebrew words (“gain” and “wealth” in Revised Standard Version). These words seem to cover both the wealth that the enemy rightfully owned and the plunder that they had taken from others by violence in the course of battle. All this would pass into the hands of the victorious people of Israel, and they would present it to the Lord.

The Lord is here described as the Lord of the whole world. This is an appropriate description in a setting in which he gives his people victory over many nations. This shows that he is the real Lord even of these nations. The nations, however, do not recognize or accept him as their ruler, so the term used for Lord here should not imply that they do.

In some languages it may be necessary to say that the people of Jerusalem will first take the wealth from their enemies and then present it to the Lord. It is probably not necessary to put into the translation the details of what will be done with the things that are captured. The important fact is that the people will not keep these things for themselves, but they will bring all of them to present or dedicate to the Lord.

The last part of verse 13 may have to be restructured in many languages, because so many ideas are combined in one sentence. One possibility may be “You will crush many nations and take away all of the valuable things that they have obtained by violence. You will bring all of these things and present them to me, the Lord of the whole world.”

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 .

This verse has certain textual difficulties in the Hebrew. Some scholars feel it is incomplete as it stands (see Jerusalem Bible). But even if this is true, the general sense is fairly clear. Revised Standard Version understands this verse in essentially the same way as Good News Translation. The people are all experts at doing evil. Evil actions are the kind that they like to do, and that they do well. Those in the positions of authority, the officials and judges, do not do their work normally but ask for bribes. (Compare 3.9-11. Translation of “bribes” is discussed in 3.11.)

Justice is ignored, because the influential man tells those in authority what he wants, and so they scheme together to get it done. The phrase scheme together is literally “weave … together” (Revised Standard Version), and some translators may be able to retain this figurative use of “weave.” The influential man means “the important man” or “the man with power.” He would usually be a rich man, and in some languages it may be necessary to translate this way.

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 .

This verse concludes the first unit by announcing the punishment coming to the nation’s leaders because of their cruel and selfish behavior. It may be helpful to identify the you here as “you rulers,” to make it clear that the same people are being addressed as in verse 1. Their punishment is that they will cut themselves off from God by their sins. The rulers will cry out to the LORD in prayer for him to help, but he will not answer you.

“Then” (Revised Standard Version) refers to the time when God will punish these leaders. Good News Translation translates this as The time is coming, which implies that this will happen soon. Many translators may prefer to use an expression meaning “soon.”

Micah refers to the leaders in the third person in this verse, as can be seen in Revised Standard Version and most other translations. But this sounds to many readers as though the verse is continuing to talk about the leaders’ victims rather than about the leaders themselves. So Good News Translation has made the meaning clear by using you instead of “them.” Another way of solving this problem is to make clear who is being talked about here; for example, “Soon these leaders will cry out….”

Something will happen (Micah does not say exactly what) that will force these unjust leaders to cry out to the LORD for help. It may be necessary in some languages to make clear why they are crying out. Also, if there is no good expression for cry out, an expression like “praying strongly” may be easier.

He will not listen to your prayers: the third clause in the verse says essentially the same thing again, but in Hebrew it does so by means of a figure of speech that pictures God with human features. This is retained in the literal rendering of Revised Standard Version, “he will hide his face from them,” and this may be natural and vivid in many receptor languages.

Other languages may have equivalent figures of speech such as “he will turn his back on you.” Some translators may prefer to follow the example of Good News Translation in dropping the figure of speech and expressing its meaning in plain language, He will not listen to your prayers. The reason for this punishment and rejection by God is restated in summary form at the end of the verse, for you have done evil. Or, because these are people in authority, “for you have misused your power.”

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 .