Micah 1:12-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Micah 1:12 sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”
2. Micah 1:12 tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).tn Heb “[the residents of Maroth] writhe [= “anxiously long for”?] good.”
3. Micah 1:12 tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”
4. Micah 1:13 sn The place name Lachish sounds like the Hebrew word for “team [of horses].”
5. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “she”; this has been translated as second person (“you”) in keeping with the direct address to the residents of Lachish in the previous line.
6. Micah 1:13 sn The epithet Daughter Zion pictures the city of Jerusalem as a young lady.
7. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “She was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion.”
8. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “for in you was found the transgressions of Israel.”
9. Micah 1:14 tn The subject of the feminine singular verb is probably Lachish.
10. Micah 1:14 tn Heb “you will give a dowry to”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “give parting gifts to.” Lachish is compared to a father who presents wedding gifts to his daughter as she leaves her father’s home to take up residence with her husband. In similar fashion Lachish will bid farewell to Moresheth Gath, for the latter will be taken by the invader.
11. Micah 1:14 tn Heb “houses.” By metonymy this refers to the people who live in them.
12. Micah 1:14 sn The place name Achzib (אַכְזִיב, ʾakhziv, “place on the dried up river”; see HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב) creates a word play on the similar sounding term כָּזָב (kazav, “lie, deception”; HALOT 468 s.v. כָּזָב). Like the dried up river upon which its name was based, the city of Achzib would fail to help the kings of Israel in their time of need.
13. Micah 1:14 tn Or “will be a deception.” The term אַכְזָב (ʾakhzav) is often translated “deception,” derived from the verb I כָּזָב (“to deceive, lie”; HALOT 467-68 s.v. I כזב). However, it probably means “what is dried up,” since (1) the noun elsewhere refers to an empty well or dried river in summer (Jer 15:18; cf. Job 6:15-20) (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); (2) the place-name “Achzib” (אַכְזִיב) literally means “place on the אַכְזָב [dried up river]” (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); and (3) it is derived from the verb II כָּזָב (“to dry up [brook]”; Isa 58:11), which also appears in Mishnaic Hebrew and Arabic. The point of the metaphor is that Achzib will be as disappointing to the kings of Israel as a dried up spring in the summer is to a thirsty traveler in the Jordanian desert.
14. Micah 1:14 sn Because of the enemy invasion, Achzib would not be able to deliver soldiers for the army and/or services normally rendered to the crown.