complete verse (Micah 7:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Micah 7:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Even the famous/well-known people are useless like thorns
    even those who are very upright are useless/nothing.
    The day that they will be punished is near
    and they do not know what to do.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The best men among them are like thorns.
    The upright is more dangerous than a thickets of thorns.
    The day of your punishment has come,
    the day your watchmen warned you about
    Now they will soon be confused.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The most-righteous among them as-if like just a thorny grass without use. Time has-arrived now that God will-punish these people as what he warned them through the prophets who were like guards at the tower. Therefore now they will-be-in-confusion.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Micah 7:4

There is a break in sense in the middle of this verse. The first half continues and completes the description of the evil of the time, while the second half begins an announcement of punishment. Good News Translation marks this change of topic by beginning a new paragraph in the middle of the verse, and many translators will wish to do the same.

The first half of the verse is expressed in Hebrew in two parallel clauses, as Revised Standard Version shows. As in many other places, Good News Translation combines the two parallel clauses into one and says Even the best and most honest people are as worthless as weeds. In Hebrew two specific plants, “briers” and “thorns,” are mentioned (compare Revised Standard Version). These may be retained if they are well known as a nuisance to farmers. If they are not known, or if they are considered useful for some purpose, it may be better to translate with a more general expression like Good News Translation‘s as worthless as weeds. Weeds are not particular types of plant but rather any plant that is not wanted. In some languages, particular plants may be commonly referred to as symbols of uselessness, and an expression of this kind will probably fit well in this context. However, translators should not introduce the names of plants significantly different from plants known in Judah in the eighth century B.C.

In some languages it may be difficult to compare good, honest people with something worthless. This is irony, or sarcasm, and when the prophet says they are good and honest, he does not really mean it.

The point is that if the best of the people are worthless, then all the others are really terrible. Many languages may be able to find a way to make this point with sarcasm, but it may be necessary to change the wording slightly. If it seems impossible to use sarcasm, then a translator can just say something like “some of them are as worthless as briers and thorns, and the rest of them are even worse.”

In the second half of the verse the Hebrew has second person singular possessives (“your,” New American Bible, New International Version; “thy, thine,” New English Bible). Since it is not clear to whom these possessives refer, a number of modern versions and commentators have changed them to third person plural to match the context (Revised Standard Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, Moffatt, Smith, Mays). But even then the Hebrew text is very condensed, as Revised Standard Version shows. Therefore Good News Translation fills it out by making explicit the relationships that are to be understood between the different clauses. “The day … of their punishment has come” (Revised Standard Version) is taken as the main statement, and Good News Translation makes explicit who will do the punishing: The day has come when God will punish the people. Day can be translated more generally as “time” if this sounds better. The people refers if course to the people just mentioned in the preceding lines, and a translator may need to say “these people.”

The “watchmen” of Revised Standard Version are further identified as the prophets in Good News Translation, and Good News Translation also tells what the prophets did: as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. (The British edition of Good News Translation omits the words their watchmen, but they should be included.) The punishment will be as foretold and not something unexpected. The prophets are called watchmen because they are supposed to see trouble coming on the people and to warn them about it so that they can change their evil ways and be saved (see Jer 6.17; Ezek 3.17; Hos 9.8). Another way of expressing this idea may be “The prophets warned them that God would do this, just as watchmen warn people that their enemy is coming.”

As a result of this punishment, the people will be in confusion. This probably suggests the confusion arising from a military defeat (compare Isa 22.5, the only other place where the same word occurs). A translator should use a word that suggests that the people have no idea what they should do.

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 7:4

7:4a–b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

4a
The best of them is like a brier ;

4b
the most upright ⌊is sharper than⌋ a hedge of thorns.

In Hebrew, there is an ellipsis (a deliberately omitted phrase) in 7:4b (bracketed in the Berean Standard Bible above). In some languages, you may not need to do this, or it may be more natural to supply missing words that match 7:4a more closely. For example:

4b
the most upright ⌊is like⌋ a hedge of thorns.

In these parallel lines Micah continues to describe the widespread evil among the people of that time. Each line is a figure of speech that compares the best of the people to undesirable weeds.

The best of them…the most upright: In Hebrew, these phrases are more literally “their good person” and “an upright [person].” In Hebrew, the word “good” means “ethical.” In Hebrew, the word upright means “morally straight” or “just.” However, in this context these words are meant as sarcasm. The people are not truly good and upright. The similes indicate that the level/standard of moral goodness and responsibility among the people is very low.

Here are some ways to translate these phrases:

• Use sarcasm. Rely on the comparison of the people to weeds to indicate that the words for “good” and upright are meant negatively here.

This example uses superlatives, best and most. It gives attention to the most responsible people among them.

The best of them is like a briar. The most decent person is sharper than thornbushes. (God’s Word)

This example uses normal words for “good” and upright. It gives attention to the people as a group.

Their goodness is twisted like rank weeds and their honesty like briars. (Revised English Bible)

• Translate the negative meaning of the words “good” and upright in this context. For example:

The so called good person is really as bad as a brier. The one they say is upright is dangerous like a thorn bush that pricks and scratches.
-or-
Some of them are as bad as briars and thorns, and the rest of them are even worse.

brier…hedge of thorns: In Hebrew, the words brier and hedge of thorns refer to plants with thorns. Here the similes compare the people to these thorny plants. The way they are similar is that they are both harmful.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

thornbush…prickly plant (New Century Version)
-or-
rank weeds…briars (New English Bible)

sharper than a hedge of thorns: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “more than a thorn hedge.” A hedge is a row of plants that may line the boundary of a property. The phrase probably means that the upright person of this simile causes even more harm/injury to other people than a thorn hedge would cause. Some versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, make this meaning clear. For example:

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes (NET Bible)
-or-
The [most] upright, worse than a barrier of thorns (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)

General Comment on 7:4a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel lines. For example:

The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Even the best and most honest of them are as worthless as weeds. (Good News Translation)

7:4c

The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation: The phrases The day for your watchmen and the day of your visitation, are two ways to refer to the same event. The word day does not refer to a literal 24–hour day. Here it refers to the time when the LORD would punish the people of Israel. The phrase has come indicates that the time had arrived.

The day for your watchmen: There is a textual issue about the word watchmen :

(1) The Masoretic Text has watchmen. For example:

The day of your watchmen (English Standard Version)

(2) Some scholars say that the original word was “judgment.” For example:

But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. (New Living Translation (2004))

(New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible)

(3) Some scholars say that the original word was “from the north.” For example:

Now from the north their punishment approaches! (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions and commentaries.

At the time of Micah, a “watchman” or “sentinel” was a person who gave a warning to the residents of a town or city when he saw potential danger. In this verse the word watchmen referred to the prophets. In the past the prophets had warned the people that this time of punishment was coming.

Here are some ways to translate the phrase The day for your watchmen :

• Make some aspects of meaning more explicit. Both examples below make explicit that the people were previously warned. The second example also makes explicit the identity of the sentinels/watchmen:

The day that your watchmen warned you about has come. (New Century Version)
-or-
The day has come when God will punish the people, as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. (Good News Translation)

• Translate the phrase literally and leave the aspects of meaning implied. For example:

The day of their watchmen, of their punishment, has come. (Revised Standard Version)

• Leave the entire phrase The day for your watchmen implied. Allow the reference to punishment to provide the meaning. For example:

The day of their punishment has come (Revised English Bible)
-or-
But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your time of punishment is here (New Living Translation (2004))

your: In 7:4a–b and 7:4d Micah uses the pronouns “them” and “their” to talk about the people. He used the pronoun your in this line and in 7:5 to address the people directly. In Hebrew poetry, it is common for an author to alternate pronouns in this way, even though the pronoun referent remains the same.

One way that versions reduce the potential confusion to readers is to reduce the number of times the pronouns alternate. For example, the New Revised Standard Version has “their” in this line to match the other pronouns in 7:4. The New International Version does it differently. It has “you/your” in this line and in 7:4d:

4c The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. 4d Now is the time of your confusion. (New International Version)

Use the most natural and least confusing way in your language to translate the pronouns in this verse.

the day of your visitation: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “your visitation.” Here the phrase means “the LORD’s judgment of the people.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

your doom (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
-or-
your judgment day…Your time of punishment (New Living Translation (2004))

7:4d

Now is the time of their confusion: This line means that the punishment from the LORD will cause confusion among the people.

Now: This word indicates “at that time.” Here are some other ways to translate it:

Then (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
That will be when (New Jerusalem Bible)

is the time: This phrase is not in the Hebrew text. It is an expression in English that the Berean Standard Bible and some other versions supply. It reinforces that the time of punishment would happen at that time. If this expression is not natural in your language, it is best to leave it untranslated.

confusion: This word refers to chaos or disorder or panic that results from an attack by an enemy. The LORD probably allowed this kind of attack as his means of punishment.

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