MIC 2:2 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–11: The LORD will punish those who oppress poor people

This section is divided into two parts: 2:1–5 and 2:6–11.

In verses 1–5, the LORD accused people in Israel of doing evil: they were dishonestly taking property away from other people. He said that he would punish them.
In verses 6–11, Micah said that people had rebuked him for prophesying these things. And the LORD again said that he would punish the people of Israel.

If you use section headings in your translation, here are some options:

Use one heading for all of 2:1–11, using the above wording. Here are some other section headings for 2:1–11:
Land Robbers Will Lose their Land (NET)
Punishment for Those Who Abuse Their Power (CEV)
Israel’s Sins Are Condemned (GW)
Use one heading for 2:1–5 and another heading for 2:6–11. For example:
^1–5Judgment against Wealthy Oppressors
^6–11True and False Prophets (NLT)
^1–5The Evil Plans of People
^6–11Micah Is Asked Not to Prophesy (NCV)
Use one heading for all of chapter 2 (2:1–13). For example:
The Fate of Those Who Oppress the Poor (GNT)
Woe to Oppressors (NASB)

TN will use one heading for 2:1–11 and another heading for 2:12–13. Use a heading or headings that will be appropriate and acceptable for your language situation.

Paragraph 2:1–5

In this paragraph, Micah is the speaker in verses 1–2. He spoke about evil people who oppressed poor people. The LORD is the speaker in verses 3–5. He spoke to those evil people. He said that he would punish them.

2:2a–b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^2aThey covet fields and seize them;

^2b they take away houses.

Some English versions translate 2:2b so that it contains an ellipsis (a deliberately omitted phrase). For example:

houses, and take them away (NRSV)

If you follow this interpretation, it may be necessary to supply the missing verb from 2:2a. For example:

^2b they covet houses and take them away

2:2a

They covet fields and seize them;

They desire to own fields that belong to other people. So they take those fields away from them.
Those people want to have land for farming. So they dishonestly/wrongfully take possession of that land.

In 2:1, Micah spoke about people who planned to do evil and then did it. Here in 2:2, he gave specific examples of the wicked things they did.

The people Micah talked about here coveted fields or houses that belonged to other people. They deceived, cheated, or even harmed those people in order to get their fields or houses.A good example of this is found in 1 Kings 21:1–16. King Ahab strongly desired a field that belonged to another man. The king’s wife gave orders to have that man killed.

In some languages, emotions like coveting are naturally expressed with direct quotes. For example:

They see fields or houses and they say in their hearts, “I want that!” Those things belong to other people. But they do evil to those people to get those things for themselves.

They covet fields and seize them: This is the first example that Micah gave of the evil deeds of these people.

covet: The word covet means “to strongly desire to own something.” It is the same word that is used in the last of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…” (Exodus 20:17). Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

desire (GW)

want (NLT)

fields: The word fields refers to farmland, areas of land on which farmers plant crops. (The same Hebrew word is translated as “the open field” in 1:6a.)

It is implied that these fields belong to other people. In some languages, it may be good to make this explicit. For example:

They desire other people’s fields… (GW)

and: This conjunction is used here to mean “and then” or “and so.” Some versions translate this as a time relationship. For example:

They covet fields, and then seize them… (NASB)

When they want fields, they seize them… (GNT)

Some versions translate this as a result relationship. For example:

They desire other people’s fields, so they seize them. (GW)

In this context, a time and result relationship are very close in meaning. First these people desire to get a field, and then, as a result, they take the field. Translate this relationship in a natural way in your language.

seize: The verb seize often means “to grab something with one’s hands.” But here it means “to forcibly become the owner of something.” These people did evil to other people in order to become the owners of their fields. Here are some other ways to translate seize:

They covet fields and take them by force… (REB)

They confiscate the fields they desire… (NET)

2:2b

they take away houses.

They desire houses that belong to others. So they take those houses from them.
Or, they want to own houses, so they do wicked things to the house owners so that the houses become theirs.

they take away houses: Another thing these people desired and took was houses.

Some English versions make the verb “covet” from 2:2a explicit in this verse part as well. For example:

^2aWhen they want fields, they seize them; ^2bwhen they want houses, they take them. (GNT)

^2aThey desire other people’s fields, so they seize them. ^2bThey desire people’s houses, so they take them. (GW)

Translate this verb in a way that fits the grammatical patterns of your language.

take away: This phrase means the same thing as “seize” in 2:2a. It means “become the owner of the houses.” It does not mean to remove the houses. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

they take over houses as well (NJB)

houses…take them (NIV)

Some versions make explicit the means by which these people take possession of someone’s house. For example:

When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. (NLT)

they oppress a man and his house (ESV)

they cheat people to get their houses (NCV)

You may want to make this explicit in your language if it will be helpful.

General Comment on 2:2a–b

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

You grab any field or house that you want… (CEV)

2:2c–d

(combined/reordered)

They cause other people extreme hardship in order to take away their inherited houses and land.

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^2cThey deprive a man of his home,

^2d a fellow man of his inheritance.

These verse parts are very similar in meaning to 2:2a–b. There is also an ellipsis (a deliberately omitted word) in 2:2d of the verb “deprive” in 2:2c. This is similar to the ellipsis of the verb “covet” in 2:2b. See the note for 2:2a–b.

2:2c

They deprive a man of his home,

They treat people cruelly in order to take away their houses
Those people do bad things to others. They take away their houses

They deprive a man of his home: There is a textual issue with this verse part:

The Masoretic Text has “and they oppress a man and his house.” This verse part leaves implicit whether the reference is to people who take the householder’s property only, or to people who take his life along with his property.Forced enslavement or murder of a homeowner would be two possible ways a life might be “taken” along with property. However, we don’t know that these atrocities would always have accompanied such land seizures. For example:
They oppress a man and his house (ESV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GW, KJV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NET, NIV, NJPS, NLT, NRSV)
The LXX has “and take as plunder a man and his house.” This verse part makes explicit that the reference is to people who take the householder as plunder along with his property. For example:
owner and house they seize alike (NJB) (NJB, REB)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions and commentaries. By leaving some aspects implicit, it best reflects the lack of scholarly consensus on the exact nature and details of these land seizures.ZIBBC (page 132) points out that “Several attempts have been made to determine the exact nature of the offending land seizure, from an economic reorganization that disenfranchised smaller landholders to some sort of military conquest. The text, however, is not specific on this point…”

deprive: To deprive a person involves causing that person extreme hardship, often by illegal means such as cheating.

Some versions make the means of oppression more explicit. For example:

They cheat people to get their houses (NCV)

They defraud people of their homes (NET)

They rob a man and his house (NASB)

a man: In Jewish culture, it was usually men who owned houses, not women. Here are some other ways to translate a man:

They defraud men of their homes (NJPS)

They cheat an owner of his house (NAB)

Notice that the NJPS uses a gender-specific form: “men.” The NAB uses a generic word: “owner.” Use whatever is natural in your language.

his home: In Hebrew, the phrase his home can mean either a building or a household/family. For that reason there are two main ways to interpret this word in this context:

It refers to a literal house as in 2:2b. For example:
They defraud men of their homes (NJPS) (NCV, NET, NIV, NJPS, NLT)
It refers to “family.”Waltke 2007 (page 96) says: “the singular, ḇayiṯ (house), in v 2B, in accord with its linkage with geḇer, refers to family.” This interpretation accords with standard Hebrew grammar, in which the object of the verb “oppress” is always a person. See also A&F (pages 269–270) and UBS (pages 154–155). For example:
They cheat a man and his family (GW) (GW, GNT)The GNT has “No one’s family or property is safe.” UBS states that the word “family” is a translation of “house.”

Versions that translate the word in 2:2c as home or “house” are ambiguous. Some examples are the BSB, the ESV, the KJV, the NASB, and the NRSV.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with the majority of versions. The parallel of home to “inheritance” in 2:2d makes it likely that both words refer to property.A difficulty is the grammatical mismatch noted in an earlier footnote, that the verb “oppress” requires a person as the object. A&F (pages 269–270) offers the explanation that in Hebrew the language is elliptical here.

2:2d

a fellow man of his inheritance.

and other property that they inherited.
and/or other property.

a fellow man of his inheritance: There is an ellipsis (a deliberately omitted phrase) in 2:2d that is similar to the one in 2:2b. Here in 2:2d, the subject and verb are both implied from the previous verse part. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing subject and verb from 2:2c. For example:

They oppress a man in order to get his inheritance.

a fellow man: In Hebrew, this word (lit. “man”) is a synonym of the word “householder” (lit. man) used in 2:2c. It can refer to any person, including a “man” (in contrast to a woman) or a “husband.”

In Jewish culture, men (not women) were usually the ones who owned houses and property. But the main point here in 2:2c–d is that these people owned houses or other property. The main point is not that they were males. Here are some other ways to translate man in 2c and 2d:

men

others

Use whatever is natural in your language.

inheritance: An inheritance is anything that a person has received from his parents when they die, including land, houses, or money. Here is another way to translate 2:2c–d:

They defraud people of their homes, and deprive people of the land they have inherited. (NET)

General Comment on 2:1–2

In 2:1–2, Micah spoke about evil people. Many translations use third-person pronouns in these verses. For example:

Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil…they perform it…the power of their hand…they covet fields…they oppress a man… (ESV)

But in 2:3–5, the LORD spoke to these people. All English versions in 2:3–5 use the second-person pronouns “you” and “your.” In some languages, it may be confusing to use third-person pronouns in 2:1–2, and second-person pronouns in 2:3–5 to refer to the same people. If this is true in your language, you may want to translate 2:1–2 using second-person pronouns. For example:

^1aWhat sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night,…. ^1bYou rise at dawn…. ^2aWhen you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. ^2bWhen you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence…You cheat a man of his property… (NLT)

Use pronouns that are natural in your language to make the meaning clear.

General Comment on 2:2c–d

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

you cheat families out of homes and land (CEV)

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear MIC 2:2

Hebrew word order