¹tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term yoh (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.
²tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”
³tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”
⁴tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”
⁵tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his house, and a man and his inheritance.” The verb qv^u* (u*v^q, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
⁶tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”
⁷tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁸tn Or “you will not.”
⁹tc The form hy`h=n] (n]hy`h) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding yh!n+ hh*n`w+ [w+n`h*h n+h!y]).
tn Heb “one will lament [with] a lamentation [and] say.”
¹⁰tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading dmy, from dd~m* (m*d^d, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”
¹¹tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here.
¹²tc The Hebrew term bb@ov (vob@b, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to hbv (“captor”).
tn Heb “to the one turning back he assigns our fields.”
¹³tn Heb “therefore you will not have one who strings out a measuring line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.”
sn No one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. When judgment passes and the people are restored to the land, those greedy ones who disregarded the ancient land allotments will not be allowed to participate in the future redistribution of the land.
¹⁴tn Heb “‘Do not foam at the mouth,’ they foam at the mouth.” The verb [f^n` means “to drip.” When used of speech it probably has the nuance “to drivel, to foam at the mouth” (see HALOT 694). The sinful people tell the Lord’s prophets not to “foam at the mouth,” which probably refers in a derogatory way to their impassioned style of delivery. But the Lord (who is probably still speaking here, see v. 3) sarcastically refers to their impassioned exhortation as “foaming at the mouth.”
<sup>15</sup>tc If one follows the MT as it stands, it would appear that the Lord here condemns the people for their “foaming at the mouth” and then announces that judgment is inevitable. The present translation assumes that this is a continuation of the quotation of what the people say. In this case the subject of “foam at the mouth” is the Lord’s prophets. In the second line gS^y] (y]S^g, a Niphal imperfect from gWs [sWg, “to remove”]) is emended to gysy (a Hiphil imperfect from gsn/gcn [“to reach; to overtake”]).
tn Heb “they should not foam at the mouth concerning these things, humiliation will not be removed.”
<sup>16</sup>tn Heb “house.”
<sup>17</sup>tc The MT has rWma* (a*mWr), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to roma* (a*mor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55).
<sup>18</sup>tn The Hebrew word j^Wr (rW^j) often means “Spirit” when used of the Lord, but here it seems to have an abstract sense, “patience.” See BDB 925 (3d).
<sup>19</sup>tn Heb “Has the patience of the Lord run short? Or are these his deeds?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “No, of course not.” The people contest the prophet’s claims that the Lord’s judgment is falling on the nation.
<sup>20</sup>tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The Lord begins his response to the claim of the house of Jacob that they are immune to judgment (see v. 7a). He points out that the godly are indeed rewarded, but then he goes on to show that those in the house of Jacob are not godly and can expect divine judgment, not blessing (vv. 8-11). Some emend “my words” to “his words.” In this case, v. 7b is a continuation of the immediately preceding quotation. The people, thinking they are godly, confidently ask, “Do not his [God’s] words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?”
<sup>21</sup>tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form lWmt=a#w+ (w+a#tmWl, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to lu <taw, “and you against [my people].” The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then <m@oqy+ (y+qom@<, the imperfect of <Wq [qW<]) should be emended to <ymq (a participle from the same root).
<sup>22</sup>tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term lWMm! (m!mWl, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in mem) and subsequent suppression of ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to lum (“from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of rd\a# hm*l=c^ (c^lm*h a#d#r, “a garment, glory [or, “robe”],” to trdah <lv (“[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s rd\a# (a#d#r) is the result of misdivision (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).
<sup>23</sup>tc The passive participle yb@Wv (vWb@y) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle <ybv.
tn Heb “from those passing by peacefully, returnees from war.” Actual refugees, however, are probably not in view. The second line compares those who pass by peacefully with individuals returning from war. The battle is over and they do not expect their own countrymen to attack them.
<sup>24</sup>tn Heb “from their children you take my glory forever.” The expression “my glory” probably refers to the dignity or honor the Lord bestowed on each Israelite family by giving them a share of his land.
<sup>25</sup>tn Heb “Arise, go, for this is no resting place.” The Lord speaks to the oppressors.
<sup>26</sup>tn Heb “uncleanness will destroy, and destruction will be severe.”
<sup>27</sup>tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie.”
<sup>28</sup>tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”
<sup>29</sup>tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”
<sup>30</sup>tn Heb “the remnant of Israel.”
<sup>31</sup>tc The MT reads hr`x=B* (B*xr*h, “Bozrah”) but the form should be emended to hr`X!B^ (B^X!r*h, “into the fold”). See D. Hillers, Micah, 38.
<sup>32</sup>tc The MT reads “its pasture,” but the final vav belongs with the following verb. See GKC §127.i.
<sup>33</sup>tn Heb “and they will be noisy [or perhaps, “excited”] from men.” The subject of the third feminine plural verb hn`m#yh!T= (T=h!m#n`h, “they will be noisy”) is probably the feminine singular /ax) (x{a/, “flock”). (For another example of this collective singular noun with a feminine plural verb, see Gen 30:38.) In the construction <d`a*m@ (m@a*d*<, “from men”) the preposition is probably causal. L. Allen translates, “bleating in fear of men” (Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah, 300), but it is possible to take the causal sense as “because of the large quantity of men.” In this case the sheep metaphor and the underlying reality are mixed.
³⁴tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.
³⁵tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav consecutive) indicate certitude.
sn The “fold” from which the sheep/people break out is probably a reference to their place of exile.
³⁶tn The verb form (a preterite with vav consecutive) indicates certitude.
³⁷tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”