faithful

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The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is rendered as “faithful” in English is (back-) translated in various ways:

See also faith / believe.

complete verse (Micah 7:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Micah 7:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “There is no one in the land who can be trusted
    or even one person who is straight.
    Every person wants to commit murder,
    one (person) lies in wait for another wanting to kill/spear (him).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Faithful men have been swept from the earth
    There is not a single upright man.
    Everyone is waiting to kill,
    All men lay nets to hunt their own brothers” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “What I meant, I have not found any man in Israel who is faithful to God. There is none righteous man left. Everyone is looking for an opportunity to kill his fellowman, like a man waiting to trap his someone-to-be-caught.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Micah 7:2

This verse and those that follow give the explanation of the figurative language in verse 1. The fruit that the prophet was looking for is identified as people who are honest and loyal to God. The word translated loyal to God (“godly” in Revised Standard Version) is a form of the same Hebrew root translated as “constant love” in 6.8 and 7.18. Honest can be translated as “someone who does what is right.” Loyal here means “always obedient to God,” or “always doing what God wants,” and it includes the idea of acting right toward others, which is one of the main things God wants (6.8). The prophet says that there is no such person left in the land. Land is better than the “earth” of Revised Standard Version, since the prophet is concerned with his own nation in particular rather than the whole world.

The people are pictured as being so bad that everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. This is the plain meaning of “lie in wait for blood” (Revised Standard Version). Commit murder may be simply “kill other people” in many languages.

Everyone hunts down his fellow countryman is an expansion of the same idea. The word translated “brother” in Revised Standard Version has a sense here that is wider than “member of the same family,” and so Good News Translation says fellow countryman. The Hebrew, followed by Revised Standard Version, mentions the method of hunting as “with a net.” In areas where this method is known and used, translators may wish to include a reference to it, but where it is not known, translators may prefer to use a general term, such as hunts down in Good News Translation. This is of course only a figurative expression, and it should not be used at all if readers will think it literally describes the way the murder was done. It is a picture of how each person was eagerly searching for ways to take advantage of other people, and how everyone was eager to harm others if he thought he could help himself by doing so.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Micah 7:2

7:2a–b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

2a
The godly man has perished from the earth ;

2b
there is no one upright among men.

These parallel lines explain why Micah was in despair. The lack of fruit he described in the similes of 7:1 represented the lack of faithful people in the land.

Here are some other ways to translate these phrases:

The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains. (New International Version)
-or-
The faithful are gone from the earth, among men the upright are no more! (New American Bible)
-or-
The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. (New Living Translation (2004))

The godly…upright: In Hebrew, the words godly and upright are two ways to describe a person who followed the standards of Yahweh’s covenant.

The word godly means “a person who obeys God and shows mercy toward others.” The phrase the godly means “faithful people.”

The word upright means “a person who is morally straight and deals fairly with others.”

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

faithful…honest (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
godly people…fair-minded (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
loyal to God…does right (Contemporary English Version)

has perished from the earth…there is no one upright among men: Both phrases mean that there are no faithful, upright people. These phrases do not specify the way that the people disappeared, only that there are none.

7:2a

from the earth: There are two main interpretations of the referent of earth in this phrase:

(1) The referent of the word earth is left implied. Here it probably refers to the land of Israel. For example:

the faithful have vanished from the land (Revised English Bible)

(2) The referent of the word earth is the earth. For example:

The godly has perished from the earth (English Standard Version)

Either interpretation is acceptable. Interpretation (1) fits well with the similes in 7:1 that depict a local, agricultural setting of fig and grape harvests, and with the description of Micah’s contemporaries in 7:3–6. However, interpretation (2) fits well with the parallel line that may have an application beyond Israel. (See the next note).

7:2b

there is no one upright among men: In Hebrew, this phrase is more literally “and an upright [person] among humankind there [is] not.” The phrase may refer to the absence of upright people among humans. Or, it may be a figure of speech (hyperbole) that refers to the people of Israel. It is acceptable to translate the phrase either way.

Here are some examples:

• Translate the phrase more literally. For example:

there is no one upright among mankind (English Standard Version)

• Leave implied the words “among humankind.” For example:

no one does right (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
not one honest person is to be found (Revised English Bible)

7:2c–d

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

2c
They all lie in wait for blood ;

2d
they hunt one other with a net.

In these parallel lines Micah gives examples of the people’s evil behavior to show that the people in the land are not faithful or upright.

They all…they: The phrase They all and the word they refer to the same people. The reference is probably to every person in the land. Micah highlights especially the officials, judges and powerful people in 7:3. It may be that the corruption began in these groups and spread to the entire population.

Here are some other ways to translate these pronouns:

Everyone…everyone (New Century Version)
-or-
All people…They (God’s Word)
-or-
All of them…every man (New Jerusalem Bible)

lie in wait for blood…hunt one another with a net: These parallel expressions are both figures of speech. The expression lie in wait for blood means “to attack and kill someone.” The expression hunt one another with a net is more literally “each hunts his brother [with] a net.” It compares how a person captured a fellow Israelite to the way a hunter trapped and killed animals.

These expressions describe the behavior of the people of Israel at that time. The expressions may refer to people who killed others for personal gain. It is also possible that they are hyperboles (exaggerations) that refer to people who took advantage of others to benefit themselves in various ways.

Here are some ways to translate these expressions:

• Keep the figures of speech. For example:

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood…they hunt their own brother with a net (NET Bible)

• Translate the meaning of the expressions more directly. The first example shows that the meaning is evil behavior, but not necessarily murder. The second example regards the meaning to be actual murder. For example:

Everyone is brutal and eager to deceive everyone else. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people. (Good News Translation)

blood: In Hebrew, this word means “blood that is shed through violence.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

shed blood (New International Version)
-or-
commit murder (Good News Translation)

net: In Hebrew, this word means “a device with holes that is used to capture fish or other animals.”

Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Translate as net or something similar. For example:

net (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
-or-
trap (New Century Version)

• Translate as behavior associated with the use of a net. For example:

hunts down (Good News Translation)
-or-
ensnares (New American Bible)

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