Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 29 Dec. 2024
We saw in the beginning of chapter 7 Micah’s lament over the devastation of God’s judgment. But we also saw that God’s people repent and go to God when they experience His discipline and mourn over their sins and put their faith in Him.
The middle of chapter 7 continues to show us how a godly man or woman thinks when in the midst of God’s discipline. It is hard; it is dark, all seems lost, yet, by faith we believe that vindication will come, that God’s light will shine, and that there will be renewal of relationship with God in His mercies.
Read my translation of the passage: 8 You, my enemy, are not going to be happy about me; although I have fallen, I have gotten up; although I reside in the darkness, Yahweh shines toward me. Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the wrath of Yahweh until whenever he shall plead my case, then He will execute my judgment; He will cause me to go forth into the light; I will see into His righteousness. My enemy will also see, and shame will cover her who has been saying to me, “Where is Yahweh your God?” My eyes will see into her; now she will become a trampled place, like mud on the streets. There will come a time to build your defensive-walls; at that time, the edict will be far away. At that time, he who is from Assyria will come even to you and the fortified cities, then from the fort even to the River [Euphrates] and sea to sea, and mountain to mountain. For now, the land will become desolate because of its residents from the fruit of their deeds.
The “enemies” at the beginning of chapter 7 have been plural, but now in v.8, Micah switches to a singular feminine1 “enemy,” as though there is one enemy in particular which is “gloating/rejoicing” in the downfall of the speaker. Because the subject is feminine, it seems likely that this enemy is a particular nation, such as Assyria2, Babylon, or Edom3, all of which bore animosity toward Micah’s country of Judea.
Verse 8 has an interesting translation challenge regarding the tenses of the verbs:
The first and last verbs (“rejoice” and “sit”) are in what is equivalent to our English Present tense, whereas the two verbs in the middle of v.8 (“fell” and “rose”) are in what is equivalent or our English Past tense4. So, in a strict grammar interpretation, the “fall” and “rise” of the speaker happened in the past, but the speaker’s “sitting in darkness” and the temptation of his enemy to “gloat” are in the present (or Future).
However, Hebrew verb tenses can be re-interpreted according to the tense of the main verb in the sentence if the tense of the main verb in the sentence is different, which is the case here, so Bible translations are divided on which way to interpret the verb tenses in v.8. The ancient Latin, Greek, and Aramaic versions, and the NIV and NET Bible interpret the “fall” as being in the past whereas the KJV, NASB, and ESV interpret the “fall” as being in the present or future5. Strangely, although the verb “rise” is in the exact same “past” tense in Hebrew as “fall,” most English Bibles translate “rise” in the Future tense.
Also, some translations, including most of the oldest ones, translate “light” as a verb (“the LORD shines”) while other translations, including most of the English ones, translate the word as a noun (“the LORD is a light”). Either way, God is providing light to this person who is sitting/living in a place of darkness. God is the only source of light that can pierce through the darkness around us6.
John Calvin commented, “Here the Prophet assumes the character of the Church and repels a temptation, which proves very severe to us in adversities; for there is not so much bitterness in the evil itself, as in the mockery of the wicked, when they petulantly insult us and deride our faith… And when men vomit forth their poison against us, we ought to be furnished with... ‘There is now no reason for you to triumph over me when I fall; for it is God’s will that I should fall, but it is for this end — that I may soon rise again…’ [so let us] boldly repel all the taunts of Satan and of wicked men.”
When you have fallen into sin and are under God’s discipline, and darkness is all around, this is not the end; God’s light is still to be seen if we look in the right direction. The resurrection (Hosea 6:2) and the lifting-up (James 4:10) will yet come.
2 Corinthians 4:6-18 “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body... we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you... Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory...” (NKJV, cf. Prov. 24:16, Isa. 41:11-12, Jn. 16:20)
“The church is... praying... when the judgment has fallen upon it for its sins, and the power of the world is triumphing over it... In this darkness the Lord is light to the faithful, i.e., He is their salvation, as He who does indeed chasten His own people, but who even in wrath does not violate His grace, or break the promises which He has given to His people…. ” ~C.F. Keil, 1891 AD
Jesus said, “...I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” (John 8:12, NKJV)
But at the same time that this light is shining from God toward His people that are in darkness, v.9 tells us that there is also indignation coming from God toward His people!
In v.9, Micah speaks for the faithful remnant of the people of God, recognizing that the LORD Himself was entering into judgment against the nation of Israel (cf. Isa. 30:27-30) and that He had a reasonable case that the nation of Israel as a whole had worshiped false gods instead of Yahweh and had violated His righteous and gracious character by oppressing the poor. It was only fair that disciplinary judgment should come upon the nation7.
What a contrast between Micah’s meek acceptance of God’s discipline8 and the character of Cain in Genesis 4:13 who, when disciplined by God, pouted, “My punishment is too great to bear!” as though God were being too mean for banishing him because he had murdered his brother!
Instead, like a child who knows he’s done wrong and is sorry – who knows he deserves a spanking and wants to get back to normal with his parents, it’s time to grit your teeth and take the spanking and cry and get it over with, so you can get back to the hugs and prayers of restoration on the other side of that spanking.
Gilby: “So fyrmelye perswaded of God hys fauoure in the middes of the trouble are the elect of God, that they saye alwaye with Paule, who shall separate vs from the fauoure of God? shal affliccyon? shal anguishe? shal persecucion, shall hunger? shall nakednesse? shall peryl? daunger or swearde? Naye thou haste thus appointed, ordeyned, and therefore warned vs longe before. That we shoulde bee slayne euerye daye for thy sake and counted like shepe readye to the slaughter, but in al this we do ouercome, by him whiche hathe loued vs. And as Paul saith in another place, we do glorye in oure afflyccion, knoweinge that affliccion bringinge pacience, pacience bringeth trial and hoope in the ende whiche is neuer shamed. This lesson of comforte maye euerye pryuate personne fealinge him selfe smitten for hys synne, learn of our Prophet.”
“Confidence in the help of the Lord flows from the consciousness that the wretchedness and sufferings are a merited punishment for the sins. This consciousness and feeling generate patience and hope: patience to bear the wrath of God manifesting itself in the sufferings; hope that the sufferings, as inflicted by the righteous God, will cease as soon as the divine justice has been satisfied.” ~Keil
It is important to note, however, that the Assyrian and Chaldean invasions, the Babylonian exile, and other chastisements placed by God upon His covenant people were not imposed as penance to earn God’s forgiveness after their sin and unfaithfulness. The wages of sin is death, not exile or economic depression, and only their blood could atone for their sin. So, enduring His chastisement does not appease His wrath or earn His favor, it is just His way of getting our attention and drawing us closer to Him.
“The enemy’s military… is merely [the LORD’s] agent [of] fury… God’s wrath… is temporary and restorative… not penal and final as in the case of the non-elect.” ~Bruce Waltke, 2007 AD
“Thus repentance does ever of itself lead to the bearing of the cross; so that he who sets himself before God’s tribunal allows himself to be at the same time chastised, and bears punishment with a submissive mind… These two things then ought not to be separated, and cannot be, — the acknowledgment of our sins, which will humble us before God, — and the knowledge of his goodness, and a firm assurance as to our salvation; for God has testified that he will be ever propitious to us, how much soever he may punish us for our sins, and that he will remember mercy, as Habakkuk says, in the midst of his wrath, (Habakkuk 3:2.) It would not then be sufficient for us to feel our evils, except the consolation, which proceeds from the promises of grace, be added.” ~J. Calvin, 1559 AD
Promises of grace like “He will bring me/cause me to go forth into the light; I will see into his righteousness/vindication.9” (cf. Isa. 56:1, 42:7&16, 64:5, Jer. 50:34, 1 Pet. 2:9, & 2 Tim. 4:8)
“I shall see the equity of his proceedings concerning me and the performance of his promises to me.” ~M. Henry, 1714 AD
“[T]he enemy, trusting its pagan powers, both religious and military, sought social honor and prominence in a daring venture against I AM and his city… Nineveh’s unprovoked attack against Zion must be righted. I AM’ s punishment on Assyria/Babylon is just[,] because Assyria’s imperial ambition to gobble up her world is motivated by insatiable lust for wealth and power and is accompanied by joyful gloating over Zion’s misfortune and hubris against her God… God’s moral sensibility against cruelty, coldness, smug arrogance, faithlessness, and cynicism toward him and his image, especially his elect people, demands that he punish the greedy gloater and blasphemer... He ‘executes’ justice, punishing the oppressor and delivering the oppressed, not just giving a verdict in Zion’s favor… Zion’s rival [is] overthrown and... must endure dishonor and shame…” ~Bruce Waltke, 2007 AD
Psalm 37:1-6 “...don't be jealous about those who commit injustice, because, quick as grass, they will wither, and like sprouts of greenery they will wilt. Believe Yahweh and do what is good. Settle down on the land and associate with faithfulness, and delight yourself over Yahweh. Then He will give to you the things your heart asks for. Commit your way to Yahweh and believe on him, so it is He who will operate, and He will bring forth your righteousness like the daylight and your justice like the noonday.” (NAW)
But God’s people aren’t the only ones who will “see” God bring justice; the “enemies” of God’s people will also “see.” The Hebrew verb for “see” is repeated in v.10:
And not only will my enemy see God’s justice, I will see that my enemy sees God’s justice!
Earlier, Micah 4:11 said, “many nations have been assembled against you, who are saying, ‘Let her be breached, then let our eyes look into Zion!’” (NAW)
And this may refer to the historical event – that Micah lived through – of the Assyrian army’s siege of Jerusalem. Isaiah 36:13-20 records the Assyrian army general proclaiming before the gates of Jerusalem, “...Have any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Or did they thus deliver Samaria from my hand? Which are they among all the gods of these lands that delivered their land from my hand, that Yahweh will deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (NAW) “Where is your God” may be a paraphrase.
Of course, believers in all ages have heard similar taunts to their faith, for instance, David, in Psalm 42:3 “My tears were a daily and nightly meal to me while they were saying to me all the day, ‘Where is your God?’” (NAW, cf. 115:2, Joel 2:17)
But “God so appears as the deliverer of his Church, as not to leave its enemies unpunished.” ~J. Calvin
There is a certain satisfaction for God’s people who have been persecuted or despised, when we see God’s blessing on us and God’s judgment on those who hate God and us10.
Perhaps 100 years before Micah, Obadiah 1:9-15 provides another example in his prophecy against Moab: “Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau May be cut off by slaughter. For violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, And you shall be cut off forever…. In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem—Even you were as one of them. But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother In the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day of distress. You should not have entered the gate of My people In the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction In the day of their calamity, Nor laid hands on their substance In the day of their calamity. You should not have stood at the crossroads To cut off those among them who escaped; Nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained In the day of distress. For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.” (NKJV)
To walk into the next chapter of life justified – rather than shamed – is a good feeling which God allows His people to have from time to time, just like the tax collector who humbly confessed his sin and prayed for God’s mercy, in Jesus’ parable of the Two Men in the Temple (Luke 18:10-14).
The “day of building walls” in v.11 seems to be referring to the time when Nehemiah, after enduring God’s chastisement of 70 years in exile, traveled from Babylon to Jerusalem and led his fellow citizens in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 44:24-28 “Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer... He will complete the counsel of His messengers, confirming the word of His servant, saying to Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and to cities of Judah, ‘They will be built’ ... The one who says to Cyrus, ‘My shepherd!’ and he shall complete all my purpose, and say to Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built, and a temple will be founded.’”
A major component of the Book of Nehemiah was the re-building of the protective wall11 around Jerusalem. That wall was needed because they still had enemies, despite the fact that they had the Persian emperor’s approval.
The second half of verse 11 gets interpreted in two different ways:
All the translations I could find from before the year 1950 interpreted it in terms of the decree of law being distant12, (either from the king of Persia or from God13, but there are theological problems if God’s “statutes” “are far” from His people!)
whereas all the translations since the year 1950 have interpreted it in terms of the nation’s property boundary being extended.
The verbal idea of “growing distance” is the same in both interpretations; the difference is in whether to translate the noun literally as a “legal statute” or figuratively as a “prescribed limit.”
Since that noun khoq is never used elsewhere in the Bible to mean a physical property boundary14, I favor the traditional translation that Nehemiah and the reconstruction Jews in Jerusalem were living far away from the Persian capitol, so decrees from the Persian emperor took a long time to reach Jerusalem, as indeed the history of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Bible bears out.
But if you want to interpret it in terms of a growing expansion of the people of God, I’ll concede that it fits with the Biblical concept of the expanding kingdom of God’s Anointed One even into the present day.
The details of verse 12 are difficult to translate because Micah is so concise with his words and doesn’t explain everything, but the overall meaning of the verse is easy to see:
Micah carries on the idea of “the day” which he introduced in v.11, as the day in the future when God will bring judgment against the foreign nation that humbled His people (through conquest and exile) – the day in the future when His people will experience political freedom again and will rebuild their cities in Judea and experience increase in population.
That much is clear. Now, here is my take on three of the finer details of v.12 which are less-clear:
One is the question of exactly who it is that is coming from these nations into Israel.
The Aramaic Targums15, and Anthony Gilby, Matthew Henry and Bruce Waltke (among the commentators) explained the returnees as the former “exiles,” as I do,
but John Calvin and C.F. Keil16, in their commentaries, saw the incomers as visitors from other nations coming to pay tribute and do business with Israel.
Micah 4 does indeed speak of foreign nations “streaming in” to Jerusalem to learn how to worship God, but that presupposes a rebuilt Jerusalem,
so whether it is presupposed by other nations visiting or whether it is prophesied as something the returning exiles would do, the rebuilding of Jerusalem is in view either way.
A second uncertainty in translating verse 12 is the meaning of the Hebrew word mitzor which occurs twice in the middle of v.12.
The same word occurs three other places in the O.T.
2 Kings 19:24 & Isaiah 37:25, where English versions translate it “shut up/beseiged/fortified” (but some translate it “Egypt”)
and Jeremiah 10:17 – where English versions translate it “siege/fortress.”
The root meaning of this word is “enclosed,” so all the old English versions translated it “fortified/strong… fortress/stronghold,17” and, historically, the “fortress” has been considered to be Babylon, the main city the exiles went to and the main city from which they returned.
Ancient Greek and Aramaic versions also translated it “strong/mighty,” although some of them inconsistently translated it “from Tyre” in the second instance.
However, beginning in the year 1901, English versions started interpreting this word as though it were the Hebrew word for “Egypt” with the last two Hebrew letters somehow chopped off. (The book of Jeremiah tells us that some of the Jews were scattered down to Egypt as a result of the Chaldean campaign against Jerusalem, so, although I am skeptical of that translation, “Egypt” still fits acceptably within Biblical history.)
A third translation issue in v.12 has to do with which geographical locations are points of departure and which are points of arrival:
The Hebrew preposition “from” occurs before “Assyria,” before the word translated “fortress/Tyre/Egypt,” and before the word “sea,”
and the Hebrew preposition “unto” occurs before the word “you” and before the word “River” (which was the standard label for the Euphrates River which marked a boundary between the Persian empire and Israel and other countries18).
But, whether they are coming to the “fortified cities” of Judea (as Jerome and I interpreted it) or from the “fortified cities” of Egypt is a matter of interpretation, because there is no preposition before that location in the Hebrew, nor are there prepositions before the other “sea” or the “mountains.”
The phrase “from the sea” or “to the sea” is consistently used in the Bible to indicate a geographical span of political control, for instance:
Joshua 12:2-3 “...Sihon king of the Amorites... dwelt in Heshbon and ruled half of Gilead...from the Sea of Chinneroth as far as the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea)... and southward below the slopes of [Mt.] Pisgah.” and
Zechariah 9:10b “...He [God’s Anointed One] shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be `from sea to sea19, And from the River to the ends of the earth.'” (NKJV)20
Likewise, the 8 other times21 that Micah uses the word “mountain” in his book, he is referring either to Mount Zion (the hill that Jerusalem was built on) or to some other prominent city.
Now, some Bible interpreters say that this is speaking of the nations coming to join themselves to the people of God, and, since that interpretation does fit with other Bible passages, I don’t want to pick a fight with it. They say that the geographical references describe places outside of Israel that foreigners will be coming from and that the phrase “from mountain to mountain” means “from everywhere.22”
However, I think the context of Micah 7 is speaking of another Biblical event, the reorganization and repopulation of the land of Israel by the exiles who returned from Babylon (and from other places).
And I think that the geographical references make more sense in terms of the parameters of the land of Israel: West to East: from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea, and South to North: from the Mount of Jerusalem to some other mountain – perhaps Carmel to the North23.
This regathering event was also emphasized by Micah’s fellow prophets:
Hosea 11:11 “‘They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, Like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses,’ Says the LORD.” (NKJV)
Isaiah 11:11 “In that day it will come about that the Lord will extend His hand a second time to acquire the remnant that remains of His people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Ethiopia, from Persia, from Babylonia, from Hamath Syria, and from the coastlands of the sea… 16 And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of His people that remains, like that which was for Israel in the day of its going up from the land of Egypt... 27:13 And it will come about in that day that a great shofar will be blown, and those perishing in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship Yahweh on the holy mountain in Jerusalem… 43:5-6 Fear not, for I am with you. From the East I will bring your seed, and from the West I will gather you. I will say to the North, ‘Give,’ and to the South, ‘Don't quit; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth...’” (NAW, cf. 60:9)
There is some debate as to whether the “land/earth” in v.13 is Israel or the enemy nation. The Hebrew word eretz can mean both “planet earth” as well as the “land” of a particular country, so we have to use context and logic to distinguish which it means.
I think that Micah is referring to the “land” of Israel. In the previous verses, Micah has peered far out into the future and has given God’s people a glimpse of hope, but now he is returning to the present, and he is saying, “but first my wicked nation must be desolated by God’s wrath.”24
One reason I think this is because Micah uses the word “desolation” – a key word in God’s covenant with Israel back in Leviticus 26:27&33 “...if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me... I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.” (cf. Dt. 28:20)
This key word also showed up in Micah’s warning to the Jewish people in the previous chapter: Micah 6:12-16 “Because her rich men have been full of violence and her residents have spoken falsehood so also I Myself will begin to cause strikes against you – to cause desolation because of your sins...” (cf. Jer. 25:11)
And Micah has already mentioned the evil “deeds”25 being done by his fellow Jews precipitating God’s wrath: Micah 3:1-4 “...Listen now, heads of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel... Y'all are hating what is good and loving what is evil, stealing their hide from off of them and their flesh from off their bones! ... At that time... He will hide his face from them then, because they have made their deeds evil.” (NAW)
John Calvin commented, “[I]t was almost an ordinary practice with the Prophets, to denounce at one time God’s vengeance on all the Jews, and then immediately to turn to the faithful, who were small in number, and to raise up their minds with the hope of deliverance… Our Prophet then does, on the one hand, as here, announce God’s vengeance on a people past remedy; and, on the other he speaks of the redemption of the Church, that by this support the faithful might be sustained in their adversities… But the Prophet, seeing that hypocrites would greedily lay hold on what he had said, and, by taking this handle become more audacious, says now, ‘The land shall be for desolation,’ that is, ‘Be ye gone; for when God testifies that he will be the deliverer of his Church, he does not address you…’”
This principle applies not only to the Jews of Micah’s day; it applies to any people at any time because the whole earth is accountable to God, and God is just.26
The nations which ganged up on Israel and Judah and took them into exile ended up being overthrown and turned into wasteland later in history. Witness the magnificent edifices of the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian empires now buried in the desert sand (or sitting in museums).27
“[T]hys sentence... is... generallye true in all landes and cōtryes. The Canan[it]es were waysted and destroied therefore. The Iewes thēmselfe had theyr lande flowinge wyth mylcke and honye, so longe before promysed to theyre fathers, made so desolate for the fruyte of theyr owne imaginacions that no manne wente thorowe it. The Chaldees wer miserably wasted and brought to desolacyon by the Macedonians for the fruite of their labours. What shall I name the desolations of Sodom, Gomor and the other cyties, or the destruccion of the hoole worlde in the time of Noah. Do we not reade (Genesis vi) That God did se that the malice of man was greate vppon earthe and all the imaginacion of his heart was only euil? and therefore he saythe he wyll destroye from the face of the earthe bothe manne and beaste, and Birde of the ayre. Shall we then walcke styll in the fruyte of our imaginacions?” ~Anthony Gilby, AD 1551
Galatians 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (NKJV)
Micah speaks ultimately “of the hole church chosen of God... whiche shall by the conqueste of Christe theyr heade make all theyr enemies as theyr foote stole, to treade vpon theym lyke the myre of the streate as is here prophecied. Therfore must we bear pacientli a litle while, and we shal satisfye our eyes with the sight of theyr fall by the iuste iudgmente of God…” ~Gilby
“We are surrounded by so many miseries these days, wherever we turn our eyes, innumerable evils meet us everywhere, which are so many evidences of God’s displeasure. God grant, that we being truly humbled before Him, may be enabled at the same time to raise up our eyes to the promises of His free goodness and paternal favor, which He has made to us in His own Son, that we may not doubt that He will be propitious to us, inasmuch as He hast adopted us as His people…” ~Adapted from John Calvin’s prayer after his commentary on this verse.
DouayB (Vulgate) |
LXXC |
BrentonD (Vaticanus) |
KJVE |
NAW |
Masoretic HebrewF |
8 Rejoice not, thou my enemy, over me, because I am fallen: I shall arise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord is X my light. |
8 μὴ ἐπίχαιρέ μοι, ἡ ἐχθρά μου, ὅτι πέπτωκα· καὶ ἀναστήσομαι, διότι [ἐὰν] καθίσω ἐν τῷ σκότει, κύριος φωτιεῖ μοι. |
8 Rejoice not against me, mine enemy; for I have fallen yet shall arise; for [though] I should sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me. |
8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. |
8 You, my enemy, are not going to be happy about me; although I have fallen, I have gotten up; although I reside in the darkness, Yahweh /shines\ toward me. |
(ח) אַל תִּשְׂמְחִי אֹיַבְתִּי לִי כִּיG נָפַלְתִּי קָמְתִּי כִּי אֵשֵׁב בַּחֹשֶׁךְ יְהוָה אוֹרH לִי. |
9
I will bear the wrath
of the Lord, because I have sinned
against him: until he |
9 ὀργὴν κυρίου ὑποίσω, ὅτι ἥμαρτον αὐτῷ, ἕως τοῦ δικαιῶσαι αὐτὸν τὴν δίκην μου· καὶ ποιήσει τὸ κρίμα μου [καὶ] ἐξάξει με εἰς τὸ φῶς, ὄψομαι τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ. |
9
I will bear the indignation
of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he |
9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. |
9 Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the wrath of Yahweh until whenever he shall plead my case, then He will execute my judgment; He will cause me to go forth into the light; I will see into His righteousness. |
(ט) זַעַףI יְהוָה אֶשָּׂא כִּי חָטָאתִי לוֹ עַד אֲשֶׁר יָרִיב רִיבִי Jוְעָשָׂה מִשְׁפָּטִי Kיוֹצִיאֵנִי לָאוֹר אֶרְאֶה בְּצִדְקָתוֹ. |
10 And my enemy shall behold, and she shall be covered with shame, who saith to me: Where is the Lord thy God? my eyes shall look down upon her: now shall she be trodden under foot as the mire of the streets. |
10
καὶ ὄψεται ἡ
ἐχθρά μου καὶ περιβαλεῖται
αἰσχύν |
10
And she that is mine enemy shall see
it, and shall |
10
Then she that
is mine enemy shall see
it,
and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD
thy God? mine eyes shall behold
her: now shall she be trodden |
10 My enemy will also see, and shame will cover her who has been saying to me, “Where is Yahweh your God?” My eyes will see into her; now she will become a trampled place, like mud on the streets. |
(י) וְתֵרֶאL אֹיַבְתִּי וּתְכַסֶּהָ בוּשָׁהM הָאֹמְרָה אֵלַי אַיּוֹN יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיִךְ עֵינַי תִּרְאֶינָּה Oבָּהּ עַתָּה תִּהְיֶה לְמִרְמָסP כְּטִיטQ חוּצוֹת. |
11
The day [shall
come, that]
thy walls may |
11
ἡμέρας |
11
It is the day of |
11
In
the day that thy walls are to |
11 There will come a time to build your defensive-walls; at that time, the edict will be far away. |
|
12
In that day |
12
ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη· καὶ αἱ |
12
X XAB
And thy |
12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. |
12 At that time, he who is from Assyria will come even to you and the fortified cities, then from the fort even to the River [Euphrates] and sea to sea, and mountain to mountain. |
(יב) יוֹםAE הוּא וְעָדֶיךָ יָבוֹא לְמִנִּי אַשּׁוּר AFוְעָרֵי מָצוֹרAG AHוּלְמִנִּי מָצוֹר וְעַד נָהָרAI AJוְיָם מִיָּם וְהַר הָהָר. |
13 And the land shall be made desolate because of the inhabitants thereof, [and] for the fruit of their devices. |
13
καὶ ἔσται ἡ γῆ εἰς ἀφανισμὸν |
13
And the land shall be utterly desolate |
13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. |
13 For now, the land will become desolate because of its residents from the fruit of their deeds. |
(יג)AKוְהָיְתָה הָאָרֶץ לִשְׁמָמָה עַל יֹשְׁבֶיהָ מִפְּרִי מַעַלְלֵיהֶם |
1Actually it’s the 2nd person singular prohibitive verb which is feminine, but the vocative “my enemy” is the addressee.
2“enemy,
i.e., the heathen power of the world, represented in Micah's time by
Asshur” ~Keil
Waltke named it by Assyria’s capitol city,
“Nineveh.”
3There seems to be a consensus among Jewish commentators that Edom is the referent, perhaps based on Psalm 137 and Obadiah. The Targums, however, identified the enemy anachronistically as “Rome”!
4Waltke considered the first perfect (“I fell”) as historical and the second (“I [will] rise”) as a prophetic perfect, but this is not due to any difference in their spelling; it is an imposed interpretation. Cf. Owen of Thrussington’s footnote in Calvin’s commentary: “The verb for rising, as well as that for falling, is in the past tense… ‘Though I have fallen, I have risen…’ Newcome follows the Septuagint, and thinks that a conversive -ו is left out. It ought rather perhaps to be considered as the language of faith, realizing the event before it arrived. The fall and ‘the darkness’ refer no doubt to the outward calamities of the Church, its troubles and afflictions.”
5Keil took the interesting position that both were subjunctive (“I might fall, but I might rise”), but I don’t see that this really solves the problem, since it makes the rising uncertain and therefore undercuts our optimism. I also don’t think it is consistent with the use of the Hebrew perfect tense, but rather is something one might see in an Imperfect verb.
6“...lighte signifieth knowledge and comfort. Isa. 2, 9, 42, 49, 60, 61, Mat. 4, Luke 2. Darkenes the contrary, persecution, blyndenesse, sorowe. Isa. 13, Lam. 5, Mic. 3, Psa. 69.” ~A. Gilby, 1551 AD (see also 2 Sam. 22:29, Psalm 27:1, 112:4, Isa. 9:2, 60:19-20, Rev. 22:5)
7Calvin suggested that the Lord taking up the case meant that, since Israel was innocent of offenses against the enemy nation which God had used to discipline Israel, therefore, God would eventually bring that other nation under judgment too.
8Consider also the humble attitude of Job (2:10 “...Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”), Jeremiah (Lam. 3:39 “Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?”), and Nehemiah (9:33 “However You are just in all that has befallen us; For You have dealt faithfully, But we have done wickedly.”). (NKJV)
9“Tsedâqâh is the righteousness of God revealing itself in the forgiveness and restoration of Israel to favour. (cf. Mic. 6:5)” ~C. F. Keil, 1891 AD
10 Cf. Zech. 10:5 , Ps. 18:42, 35:26, Isa. 10:6
11Admittedly, Nehemiah didn’t use the same Hebrew word Micah did for “wall” [גדר]; he used the synonym חוֹמָה, but Ezra did use Micah’s word to describe Nehemiah’s wall in Ezra 9:9, proving that it is a synonym. This “re-building” was also in fulfillment of the prophecy of Amos 9:11 “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old” (NKJV).
12cf. Calvin: “The Prophet, therefore, under the name of edict, includes that cruel and tyrannical dominion which the Babylonians for a time exercised. We know what God denounces on the Jews by Ezekiel [24:25 ‘because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes… Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live’ (NKJV)] Those ‘statutes’ which were ‘not good’ were the ‘statutes’ of which the Prophet now speaks... the Babylonians no doubt forbade, under the severest punishment, any one from building even a single house in the place where Jerusalem formerly was… ‘That day then shall put afar off; or drive to a distance, the edict;’ for liberty shall be given to the Jews to build their city… Some draw the Prophet’s words to another meaning: they first think that he speaks only of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, and then they take רחך, rechek, in the sense of extending or propagating, and consider this to be the Gospel which Christ, by the command of the Father, promulgated through the whole world. It is indeed true that David uses the word ‘decree’ in Psalm 2, while speaking of the preaching of the Gospel; and it is also true, that the promulgation of that decree is promised in Psalm 110... But this passage ought not to be thus violently perverted; for the Prophet no doubt means, that the Jews would be freed from all dread of tyranny when God restored them to liberty; and רחך, rechek, does not mean to extend or propagate, but to drive far away.” Ibn Ezra expounded this same view before Calvin. Rashi and Kimchi, however, interpreted it as a continuation of the enemy’s taunt.
13M. Henry: “God's decree concerning their captivity, and Nebuchadnezzar's decree concerning the perpetuity of it, his resolution never to release them, ‘these shall be set aside and revoked, and you shall hear no more of them; they shall no more lie as a yoke upon thy neck.’” The problem with this position is that rahoq doesn’t mean set aside/revoked, it means ‘far away.’ Keil agreed basically with Henry: “The explanation of chōq, as signifying the law imposed upon Israel by the heathen oppressors (Chald., Hengstenberg, etc.), cannot be sustained, as this meaning cannot be established from Psalm 104:20 [sic Perhaps Keil meant 94:20? I beg to differ because the meaning of ‘statute’ is the same whether it is from a local or a foreign ruler. ~NAW], and is not suggested by the context [I beg to differ! ~NAW]. So, again, the explanation, ‘On that day will the goal set (for Israel), or the boundary fixed (for it), be a far distant one (i.e., then will the boundaries of the land of Israel lie in the far distance, or be advanced to the remotest distance:’ Hitzig, Caspari, and others), introduces a meaning into the words which they do not possess. Even if chōq does denote a fixed point or a limit of either space or time, it never signifies the boundary of a nation; and râchaq, to be far off, is not equivalent to being advanced to a great distance. Chōq is apparently used here for the ‘ordinance’ or ‘limit’ which God has appointed to separate Israel from the nations; not a land-boundary, but the law of Israel's separation from the nations.” [This position falsely equivocates “far away” with “be separate,” which are different words in Hebrew. ~NAW]
14Micah’s word is חק, whereas the word for a property boundary is גּבוּל (or perhaps גּלילה or קצוה or תּאוה). Nevertheless, this was Waltke’s interpretation, and he even advocated turning the Hebrew singular into a plural (“borders”)!
15Cf. also Cohen’s Soncino commentary: “This is a prophecy of world-wide restoration from exile… ‘the River’ [is] The Euphrates [and] ‘from sea to sea… mountain to mountain’ [is] a poetic way of saying ‘from all over the world’…”
16Keil reasonably noted that Micah would more likely have used יָשׁוּב (“return”) instead of יָבוֹא (“enter”) if he were referring to returning exiles, but I don’t think the context calls for Keil’s interpretation. Note that יָבוֹא (“enter”) here in v.12 is in sequence with יוֹצִיאֵנִי (“exit”) in v.9, so it is perfectly expected that the exiles would “exit” Babylon and “enter” Israel. Waltke noted in contrapoint that the context here is of nations being defeated, not of them being welcomed and saved at this time. I would add that the further context of having “enemies,” having “fallen” and not being out “in the light” yet, having “sinned” and “bearing wrath” and “going out” and “building a wall” all point to the Reconstruction under Ezra and Nehemiah, not the future Golden Age.
17Cf. Calvin: “[T]hey who take מצור... for Tyre are mistaken; for... metsur is mentioned twice, and it means ‘citadels’ and ‘strongholds.’” His English editor, John Owen, agreed, and was critical of Newcome and Henderson who had advocated for translating one or both of the occurrences of the word as “Egypt.” Keil, however, advocated for “Egypt,” calling it “the poetical name for Egypt” and claiming that “fortified cities” were mentioned because Egypt had more of them than most other countries [neither of which do I find to be compelling arguments]. Waltke, curiously, translated it “Affliction Place,” claiming that it was a purposeful deforming of the spelling of “Egypt” to “lampoon” it.
18Gilby, nevertheless, suggested it could be the Jordan River, which is geographically, if not linguistically, plausible.
19מִיָּם עַד־יָם compare to Micah’s וְיָם מִיָּם
20See also 2 Ki. 14:25; Psa. 72:8; 80:12; Jer. 48:32; Amos 8:12 for “from/to the sea” as a political boundary phrase. Keil agreed that it refers to “boundaries of lands and nations.”
21Mic. 1:4; 3:12; 4:1-2, 7; 6:1-2
22Calvin’s English editor, John Owen, suggested it meant “every mountain.” Keil agreed, explaining that it meant “from every land situated between seas and mountains, that is to say, from all the lands and provinces of the earth. The coming out of all lands is not to be understood as denoting simply passing visits to Canaan or Zion, but as coming to connect themselves with the people of God, to be received into fellowship with them... [cf.] Isa. 19:18-25...”
23Gilby agreed that the other “mountain” might be Carmel. Cf. Calvin: “[S]ome think הר, [ha]r, to be a proper name [for Mt. Sinai, as Gilby did], and render the last clause, ‘And from mount Hor:’ and we know that Aaron was buried on this mount. But the Prophet, no doubt, alludes here to some other place; and to render it ‘mount Hor’ is a strained version.” Cf. Waltke: “...south… north constitute a geographical merism… The Mountain [the definite article “the” is there in Hebrew] is the well-known mountain, Mount Zion...”
24“Its salvation shall not come till after it has been desolate...” ~M. Henry (Keil cited Hitzig in favor of this position.)
25More passages on “fruit of their deeds”: Isaiah 3:8-11, Job 4:8, Proverbs 1:31, 5:22, Jeremiah 21:14.
26Waltke suggested that this might be the reason Micah never names his “enemy” explicitly.
27“‘[T]he land’ ...cannot be that of Israel, but must refer to the heathen world in general” ~Cohen, citing Rashi and Ibn Ezra (Keil also took this position. But I don’t see why Israel “cannot” be the “land.”) “After the elect find salvation within Zion, the rest of the earth will become a… desolation.” ~Waltke (But to defend this position, he had to appeal to the second coming of Christ, an event which is not clearly in view in Micah’s prophecy.)
AMy
original chart includes the following copyrighted English versions:
NASB, NIV, ESV, Bauscher’s version of the Peshitta, and Cathcart’s
version of the Targums, but I remove these columns from my public,
non-copyrighted edition of this chart so as not to infringe on their
copyrights. NAW is my translation. When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics or greyed-out text, I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular. I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scrolls containing Micah 7 are 4Q82 containing parts of verses 2-3 &
20 and dated between 30-1 BC, and the Wadi Muraba’at Scroll,
containing parts of verses 1-20 and dated around 135 AD. Where the
DSS is legible and in agreement with the MT, the MT is colored
purple. Where the DSS supports the
LXX/Vulgate/Peshitta with omissions or text not in the MT, I have
highlighted with
yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and where I
have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it with
{pointed brackets}.
BDouay Old Testament first published by the English College at Douay, A.D. 1609, Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner, Published in 1582, 1609, 1752. As published on E-Sword.
C“Septuagint” Greek Old Testament, edited by Alfred Rahlfs. Published in 1935. As published on E-Sword.
DEnglish translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851, “based upon the text of the Vaticanus” but not identical to the Vaticanus. As published electronically by E-Sword.
E1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published electronically by E-Sword.
FFrom
the Wiki Hebrew Bible
https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%94_%D7%91/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA
.
DSS text comes from https://downloads.thewaytoyahuweh.com
GVulgate and LXX rendered this conjunction causally (“for/because”), KJV & ESV rendered it temporally (“when”), and NASB, NIV & Waltke interpreted it consessively (“although”).
HLXX, Theodotian, Peshitta, and one of the Targums translated this word as a verb (“shines”) instead of as a noun (“light) – both of which are legitimate possibilities in the unpointed ancient text. The Vulgate and English versions follow the MT making it a predicate nominative. Targums go both ways, underscoring the fact that the meaning is basically the same either way.
IRare word found only here and 2 Chr. 16:10; 28:9; Prov. 19:12; and Isa. 30:30.
JWaltke considered this a “sequential” conjunction.
KLXX & Peshitta add a conjunction here, and Peshitta adds a conjunction before the next phrase; it doesn’t change the meaning, though.
LKeil labeled this as optative (“I wish for the enemy to see…”) and Waltke took it a step further, calling it a “Jussive” (“Let my enemy see…”) and an “imprecatory prayer.” But this is not based on spelling; it is based on their own intuitions, and no standard English version reflects those intuitions.
MRare noun only here and Ps. 89:46; Ezek. 7:18; Obad. 1:10. The verbal form is found over 100 times in the HOT.
NAn unusual form of the interrogative found also in Ex. 2:20, Jer. 37:19, 2 Ki. 19:13; and Job 20:7.
OThe preposition “into” is omitted by most English versions. Keil commented: “רָאָה with בְ, to look at, so that one penetrates, as it were, into an object, seeing with feasting of the eyes (so also in Micah 7:10).”
PThis word is only found here and in Isa. 5:5; 7:25; 10:6; 28:18; Ezek. 34:19; and Dan. 8:13 – always as a judgment from God.
Q“like mud on the streets” is a saying perhaps coined by David, as it is only found in 2 Sam. 22:43 and the parallel Ps. 18:43, before Micah’s time in the Bible. Zech. 9:3 is the only author to employ the phrase after Micah.
RThe Hebrew is more general (“build a wall”), whereas the LXX is more specific: “mortar bricks.” Sym. corrected to οικοδομησαι τους φραγμους σου (“to build your walls”).
SSym. rendered with επιταγη (“command” cf. Theod. προσταγμα), and he (μακραν εσται) and Aquilla (μακρυνθησεται) and Theodotian (μακρυνει) corrected the verb to match the MT tradition of “to be far.”
T“The word גדר, gidar, means either a mound or a wall; so it ought to be distinguished from a wall, that is, a strong fortress.” ~J. Calvin (Waltke asserted that it denoted specifically an unmortared stone wall.)
UWaltke was among the more recent commentators who advocated for this to mean an expansion of national territory. He commented that it denoted “ample space for all… the returning remnant’ ...in restored Zion.”
VLXX, Coptic and Armenian translations (followed by the NASB & NIV) add “your,” although later Greek versions added no such possessive pronoun. Targum added “of the peoples.”
WThe LXX (followed by Theod.) renders as though the Hebrew word were ערי (“cities”) instead of עדי (“until”). The mistake could be from either a misreading or from a mis-hearing. In the 2nd century AD, Aquilla corrected it to εως (“until”).
XThe MT is an elongated form of the preposition “from.” Aquilla and also Theodotian corrected the LXX to εξ (“from”) and omitted the extra text that follows in the LXX.
Ycf. Theod. περιοχης and Aq. πολιορκιας (“beseiged”) both here and a couple of words later when the LXX rendered it “from Tyre.”
ZThe Hebrew Matsur could be interpreted as “from Tyre,” but none of the other versions except the Peshitta interpreted it that way.
AAAquilla corrected to και θαλασσης και απο θαλασσης και ορους του ορους (“and sea even to sea and mountain to mountain”). Theodotian’s version is similar: εως του ‘υδατος του ποταμου και της θαλασσης και απο του ‘ορους εως του ‘ορους (“unto the water of the river and of sea, even from the mountain unto the mountain”).
AB“The day” is in the LXX, but Brenton omitted it, either because it was not in the Vaticanus, or due to a lapse in his own attention.
ACLiterally “pulled into flatness”
ADLXX reads “a day of water and of chaos.” Either the Vaticanus corrected that toward the reading of the MT or Brenton slipped up in his translation of the LXX.
AEDSS adds –ב (“in”) before “day,” an addition supported by the Targums, but not the Vulgate, Peshitta, or LXX, although the LXX does add -ה (“the”) before “day.”
AFThis phrase is obliterated in the DSS, but there appears to be more space than the wording of the MT would fill. No other manuscript has additional words, however.
AGThe root meaning of this word is “enclosed.” It only occurs three other places in the O.T. (2 Kings 19:24 – a parallel passage to Isaiah 37:25, where English versions translate it “shut up/beseiged/fortified/Egypt” and Jeremiah 10:17 – where English versions translate it “seige/fortress”). NASB, NIV, and ESV assumed that here and in 2 Kings 19 it is a shortened form of the word for “Egypt.” A third translation found in the ancient Greek and Aramaic versions is “from Tyre. It should be noted that “Egypt” is a novel translation which did not appear in Bibles until the 20th century.
AHWaltke thought that this conjunction should be interpreted as an emphatic (“yes”). Cf. NIV “even.”
AILit. “The river.” This was the moniker in the Bible for the Euphrates River, so NASB and NIV rendered it “Euphrates,” and the LXX rendered it “the river of Syria” for clarity.
AJWaltke thought that this conjunction should be interpreted as an emphatic (“yes”). Cf. NASB “even.”
AKNASB follows the ancient Latin, Greek, and Aramaic versions with “and.” “Newcome renders it ‘For,’ connecting this with the former verse, and applying it to heathen lands. But Dathius and Henderson render it, as an adversative, ‘But,’ ‘Nevertheless,’ and consider, with Calvin [and KJV and NIV], that the land of Israel is here meant.” ~J. Owen of Thrussington.