The Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that is typically translated as “prostitute” in English (in some, mostly earlier translation also as “harlot” or “whore”) is translated in the 2024 revision of the inter-confessional LatvianJauna Pārstrādāta latviešu Bībele as netikle or “hussy.” This replaced the previous translation mauka or “whore.” Nikita Andrejevs, editor of the Bible explains the previous and current translations: “The translators at the time felt that this strong word best described the thought contained in the main text. Many had objections, as it seemed that this word would not be the most appropriate for public reading in church.” (Source: Updated Bible published in Latvia ).
Other translations include:
Bariai: “a woman of the road” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “a woman who sells her body” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Uma: “a woman whose behavior is not appropriate” or “a loose woman” (source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “a bad woman” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a woman who make money through their reputation” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “a woman who makes money with her body” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “a woman whose womanhood is repeatedly-bought” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
In Gbaya, the notion of being “torn apart” is emphasized with mútú-mútú, an ideophone used to describes the act of being torn apart, destroyed.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “idol(s)” in English is translated in Central Subanen as ledawan or “images” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. ) and in Cherokee “imaginary gods” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).
In German, typically the term Götze is used. Originally this was used as a term of endearment for Gott (“God” — see here ), later for “icon” and “image, likeness.” Luther started to use it in the 16th century in the meaning of “false god, idol.” Other terms that are used in German include Götzenbild(er) (“image[s] of idols”) or Bildnis (“image” — Protestant) / Kultbild (“cultish image” — Catholic) (used for instance in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8). The latest revision of the Catholic Einheitsübersetzung (publ. 2016) also uses the neologism Nichtse (“nothings”) in 1 Chron. 16:26 and Psalm 96:5. (Source: Zetzsche)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Micah 1:7:
Kupsabiny: “I shall smash to pieces the idols that those people are kneeling to and they shall be burned up completely! Those idols that are being worshipped shall be scattered and destroyed so that not even one is left. That city received wealth through worshipping of idols, and that wealth shall be given to idols of other communities.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “All its idols will be broken to pieces. All its temple gifts will be burned with fire and I will destroy all its idols. Those gifts were collected from their prostitution and they will again be used as wages for prostitutes."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “All the images of the little-gods/false-gods of Samaria are-to-be-smashed-to-pieces, and all that their men paid for having-sex with the women who sell their bodies in the temple are-to-be-burned. Samaria has-gathered-together images/statues through payments to the women who sell their bodies in the temple, so now her enemies will-take-(away) the silver and the gold which overlaid her images/statues in-order to-be-used also by her enemies as payment for having-sex with the women in their temple.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
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 .
Here is some background information that may be useful in translating this verse. The Jews were the LORD’s special people. In many Old Testament passages, when the Jews worshiped idols or other gods, the LORD compared them to prostitutes. A prostitute sleeps with other men, so she is unfaithful to her husband. In the same way, if the LORD’s people worshiped other gods, they were unfaithful to God.
During the time of Micah, the people who lived in some of the nations near Israel worshiped idols. In some of these nations, there were prostitutes who worked at the idol temples. People who came to worship the idols had sex with the prostitutes as part of their worship. The worshipers gave money and gifts to these prostitutes.
In the city of Samaria, the Jews also had built temples to worship idols. Temple prostitutes were probably part of their idol worship.
1:7a–c
7a All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
7b all her wages will be burned in the fire,
7c and I will destroy all her idols.
The three parallel lines in 1:7a–c have similar meanings. Each statement begins with the word “all” to give extra emphasis. The LORD would destroy all the idols that the people in Samaria worshiped.
All her carved images…all her wages…all her idols: The pronoun her used in these three phrases refers to the city of Samaria. Actually, these idols and images belonged to the people who lived in Samaria, not to the city itself. Refer to the city here in a natural way in your language. For example:
all its idols, -or-
all the idols in the city -or-
all of the idols that the people in Samaria worship
carved images…idols: In Hebrew, the words carved images in 1:7a and idols 1:7c both refer to objects that people made to worship. These idols could be carved out of rock or wood, or they could be made of metal. Some of them were overlaid with gold or silver. English versions translate these two words in various ways. For example:
idols…images (New International Version) -or-
precious idols…images (Good News Translation) -or-
carved figures…idols (Revised English Bible) -or-
idols…statues (God’s Word)
In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the sentences about carved images (1:7a) and idols (1:7c) into one or two sentences. See the General Comment on 1:7a–c at the end of 1:7c.
will be smashed to pieces…will be burned…I will destroy: In Hebrew, the passive verbs in the first two lines do not specify the one who beats and burns. Historically, it was the invading Assyrian army that did this. The third line specifies I as the one who lays waste. The LORD is the one who causes all three things to be done. In some languages, it may be more natural to translate all three verbs with the LORD (I) as the subject. For example:
I will smash into pieces…I will burn…I will destroy… -or-
I will ⌊cause⌋ to be smashed into pieces…I will ⌊cause⌋ to be burned…I will ⌊cause⌋ to be destroyed…
1:7a
smashed to pieces: The Hebrew word for smashed to pieces means “to smash something,” “to hit it so that it breaks into pieces.” This word probably implies using a tool like a club.
1:7b
wages: In this context, the word wages may have both literal and figurative meanings. It may refer literally to the wages and expensive gifts that were paid to prostitutes. These earnings enriched the city of Samaria and its inhabitants. At the same time, it may refer figuratively to the city’s idols and the wealth that came from idolatry.
If possible, translate 1:7b, d, and e in a way that allows the word wages to be understood either literally or figuratively.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
Samaria earned her money by being unfaithful to me -or-
all the gifts to her idols (New Century Version)
burned in the fire: In Hebrew, this phrase means “completely burned up.” In some languages, it may be redundant to specify in the fire. In other languages, it may not be necessary to specify “completely.” Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
will be burned (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
destroyed by fire (NET Bible) -or-
burned until it is gone
Use an expression that is natural in your language.
1:7c
I will destroy all her idols: In Hebrew, the phrase I will destroy means that the LORD will totally destroy all the idols in Samaria. Here are some other ways to translate this line:
I will destroy all her images. (New International Version) -or-
All its statues will be turned into a pile of rubble. (God’s Word)
General Comment on 1:7a–c
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these three poetic lines. For example, in the Contemporary English Version, lines a and c have been combined, and line b is given last:
Samaria’s idols will be smashed, and the wages of temple prostitutes will be destroyed by fire. (Contemporary English Version)
1:7d–e
The two parallel lines in 1:7d–e have similar meanings:
7d Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
7e they will be used again on a prostitute.
The first line refers to the source of Samaria’s earnings. These earnings may be compared to the literal wages paid to prostitutes who worked in idol temples. At the same time, these earnings were figuratively gained by unfaithfulness to the LORD.
The second line refers to the future use of these earnings in idol worship elsewhere. The invading army will take the loot to their own country and use it for the similar purpose of idol worship involving prostitutes.
1:7d
Verse 1:7d begins with a Hebrew conjunction that is often translated as “for.” It indicates that 1:7d–e gives the reason for 1:7a–c. The Lord will destroy the idols and valuable things in Samaria because the people had gathered them as a result of their worship of idols involving temple prostitutes. Some versions make a conjunction such as “for” explicit. For example:
for she collected them from a harlot’s earnings… (New American Standard Bible)
Other versions, such as the Berean Standard Bible, do not translate the conjunction. They leave the connection implicit. For example:
They were amassed out of prostitutes’ earnings (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
Samaria acquired these things for its fertility rites (Good News Translation)
Translate this in a natural way in your language to make the connection clear.
Since: In the Hebrew, the conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Since is at the beginning of 7e. This conjunction gives the result of 1:7d. The people gathered valuable things in their worship of idols, and so the LORD will cause those things to be taken away. Other people will use them to worship idols.
The Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions show the relationship between 1:7d and 1:7e by using a conjunction at the beginning of 1:7d. For example:
7d Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, 7e as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used. (New International Version)
The emphasized word in the above translation is the conjunction that makes 1:7d the reason and 1:7e the result.
In some languages, it may be better to use a conjunction at the beginning of 1:7e. For example:
7d Samaria acquired these things for its fertility rites, 7eand now her enemies will carry them off for temple prostitutes elsewhere. (Good News Translation)
she collected: The pronoun she refers to the city of Samaria. And Samaria represents the people who live in it. People brought money and other gifts to the idol temples in Samaria. The people in Samaria collected all these valuable things.
the wages of a prostitute: See the earlier note on 1:7d–e (first line) regarding the literal and figurative meanings of wages.
1:7e
they will be used again on a prostitute: By these words, Micah implied that an enemy army would carry away the expensive things in the city that were used for idol worship and use them again for the same purpose.
Verses 1:7a–c have just described the smashing and burning of all idols and other expensive things, so it may be hard to understand how these things can be used again. One explanation is that the enemy soldiers stripped off the gold and silver coating before they smashed or burned the stone or wooden items. In some languages, it may be helpful to supply a footnote that gives this explanation.
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