Micah 1:8-10

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Micah 1:8 tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.
2. Micah 1:8 tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).
3. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.
4. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”
5. Micah 1:8 tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”
6. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”
7. Micah 1:8 tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
8. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “her.”
9. Micah 1:9 tc The MT reads the plural “wounds/plagues”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.
10. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “come to.”
11. Micah 1:9 tn Or “reached.”
12. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.
13. Micah 1:10 tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).
14. Micah 1:10 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.
15. Micah 1:10 tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (b^evet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”tn Or “wallow.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about [in dust])” refers to a cultural behavior associated with mourning.sn The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”