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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mic 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V11 V12 V13
OET (OET-LV) Writhe_in_pain and_burst_forth Oh_daughter_of Tsiyyōn like_(the)_who]_gives_birth if/because now you_will_go_out from_the_town and_you_will_dwell in_the_field and_you_will_go to Bāⱱel there you_will_be_delivered there he_will_redeem_you YHWH from_the_palm_of your(pl)_enemies_of_your.
OET (OET-RV) Be in pain and labour daughter of Tsiyyon,
⇔ ≈ like a woman giving birth.
⇔ For now, you need to go out of the city
⇔ ≈ and live in the countryside.
⇔ Then you’ll go to Babylon and be rescued from there.
⇔ ≈ There Yahweh will redeem you from your enemies’ control.
In this section, the LORD spoke about the future. He said that he would punish his people. He would cause their enemies to take them as captives to Babylon. But the LORD also promised that in the future he would regather his people. He would make them a strong nation, and he would rule over them.Scholars analyze the structure of 4:9–5:15 in different ways. The Notes will list only a few of the analyses here; some of them have only minor variations. A&F (page 394) posit five sections, each beginning with ʿaṯṯâ “now” (4:9–10a, 10b, 11–13, 14; 5:1–3) [5:4–5, 6, 7–9, 10–15]. In this analysis, 4:11–13 forms the center unit, with two units on either side. WBC (vol. 32, pages 11–12) has 4:9–10,11–13; 5:1–4, 5–6, 7–9, 10–15. NICOT (page 257), NAC (page 42) and Waltke 2007 (page viii) have 4:9–10, 11–13; 5:1–6, 7–9, 10–15. TOTC (page 150) and Waltke 1993 (page 598) has 4:9–13; 5:1–6, 7–9, 10–15.
In this section, as in the previous section, Micah quoted the words of the LORD and also sometimes referred to the LORD in the third person.
The Notes have divided this section into two paragraphs. If a separate paragraph heading will be helpful for your readers, here are some possible headings for each paragraph.
9–10Why the Israelites Must Go to Babylon (NCV)
9–10Current suffering and captivity, but future rescue
11–13Her Enemies to Be Crushed on the Threshing-Floor (NJB)
11–13Jerusalem will completely destroy its enemies
In this paragraph, Micah told the people of Jerusalem what would happen in the future. Enemies would capture Jerusalem and take away the people as captives to Babylon. The king, who was their counselor, would be unable to help them (4:9a–4:10e). After that, God would rescue his people (4:10f–g).
In this verse, Micah told the people of Jerusalem it was appropriate for them to writhe and groan (10a–b) because of the things that would happen to them (10c–e) before the LORD rescued them (10f–g).
Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion,
People of Zion, I tell you(plur) to writhe and moan
Yes, inhabitants of Jerusalem, it is appropriate that you contort your bodies and groan because you are sorrowful.
Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion: Writhe in agony is a command. Micah meant that it was okay for the people to Writhe in agony. It was appropriate. Here are some other ways to translate this command:
Keep on groaning with pain, you people of Jerusalem! (CEV)
Twist and groan, people of Jerusalem (GNT)
Writhe: People usually Writhe (twist or contort their bodies) because they are in pain or because they are very sad and distressed.
like a woman in labor.
like a woman who is having labor pains,
You(plur) are like a woman who is in pain because she is giving birth.
like a woman in labor: See 4:9d.
For now you will leave the city
for now you(plur) must leave your city.
It is appropriate for you to be sorrowful, because now I prophesy that your enemies will force you to leave your city.
For now you will leave the city: In this verse part as well as 4:10d–e, Micah gave the reasons that the people of Jerusalem should “writhe in agony.” The first reason is that the people would leave the city.
It is implied that an enemy army would capture Jerusalem and force the people to leave. One way to make this implication clear is to use a word such as “must.” For example:
for now you must leave the city (NIV)
and camp in the open fields.
And then you(plur) will have to camp outside in the fields/countryside.
Then you will have to stay outside in open fields.
and camp in the open fields: When the Babylonian army destroyed Jerusalem, they forced many of the Jews to move to lands close to Babylon. The trip to Babylon took many days. On that long trip, the Jews camped or slept in fields.
open fields: In Hebrew, this phrase is a word that refers to land outside a city. It can be farm land, or it can be prairie. (See also 1:6; 2:2; 2:4; and 3:12, where the same Hebrew word is used.)
You will go to Babylon;
You(plur) must go to Babylon.
You will go as exiles/prisoners to the city of Babylon.
You will go to Babylon: Micah predicted that the people of Jerusalem would go to Babylon. It is implied that the people would be forced to go there as captives. Here are some other ways to make this implied meaning clear:
to Babylon you must go (NJB)
You will soon be sent in exile to distant Babylon. (NLT)
Babylon: This is the name of a city.
In contrast to the bad news in 4:10c–e, Micah predicted here that God would rescue them and bring them back again to their homeland. This was good news. Some versions use the conjunction “but” at the beginning of 4:10f to show this contrast. For example:
10eYou will go to Babylon, 10fbut there you will be rescued. (NET)
Notice the verse parts in these parallel lines that are similar in meaning:
10f there you will be rescued;
10g there the LORD will redeem you…
These lines refer to the same event.
there…there: The word there in 10f and 10g refers to Babylon. These two words are emphatic. The Jews would go as captives to Babylon. It was there that the LORD would rescue them.
there you will be rescued;
There in Babylon you(plur) will be rescued.
From that place Yahweh will later deliver/save you.
you will be rescued: This verb is passive. The implied agent (explicit in 10g) is “the LORD.” For example:
But the Lord will rescue you there (NLT)
there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies!
There Yahweh will redeem/ransom you(plur) from the power of your enemies.
There he will pay the price to set you free from your enemies.
the LORD will redeem you: In Hebrew, the word redeem means to liberate (set free) someone by paying a debt or a penalty for that person. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
there Yahweh will ransom you (NJB)
The Lord…will buy you back (NCV)
from the hand of your enemies: The word hand here is a figure of speech that represents power. To save someone from the hand of an enemy means to save them from that enemy’s power. You can say “the LORD will redeem you from your enemies’ power.” Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
from the clutches of your enemies (NJB)
from the power of your enemies (NET)
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine these parallel clauses. For example:
but there the Lord will save you from your enemies (GNT)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / simile
(Occurrence 0) Be in pain … like a woman in labor
(Some words not found in UHB: writhe and,burst_forth daughter_of Tsiyyōn/(Zion) like_(the),who]_gives_birth that/for/because/then/when now go_forth from_[the],town and,you_will_dwell in_the=field and,you_will_go until Bāⱱel there rescued there he,will_redeem_you YHWH from,the_palm_of your(pl)_enemies_of,your )
Micah compares the suffering the people will experience when enemies force them away from their cities to the pain a woman experiences when giving birth to a baby.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
(Occurrence 0) There you will be rescued. There Yahweh will rescue you
(Some words not found in UHB: writhe and,burst_forth daughter_of Tsiyyōn/(Zion) like_(the),who]_gives_birth that/for/because/then/when now go_forth from_[the],town and,you_will_dwell in_the=field and,you_will_go until Bāⱱel there rescued there he,will_redeem_you YHWH from,the_palm_of your(pl)_enemies_of,your )
Yahweh says the same thing in both active and passive forms to emphasize that he will do what he has said he will do. This can be translated in active form. Alternate translation: “There Yahweh will rescue you. There he will rescue you”
4:10 Distant Babylon lay about 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers) from Jerusalem; it could not be reached by cutting across the barren eastern desert.
• The Lord’s rescue of his people from sure death in Babylon would surpass his bringing them out of Egypt. They were formed in the womb of suffering and awaited a promising rebirth (Isa 43:1-5; cp. Ezek 37).
• For Micah, Babylon represented the concept of exile. In Micah’s time (the late 700s and early 600s BC), there was not even the whisper of a Babylonian empire replacing the Assyrians. But Micah was speaking for God, who knows the future.
OET (OET-LV) Writhe_in_pain and_burst_forth Oh_daughter_of Tsiyyōn like_(the)_who]_gives_birth if/because now you_will_go_out from_the_town and_you_will_dwell in_the_field and_you_will_go to Bāⱱel there you_will_be_delivered there he_will_redeem_you YHWH from_the_palm_of your(pl)_enemies_of_your.
OET (OET-RV) Be in pain and labour daughter of Tsiyyon,
⇔ ≈ like a woman giving birth.
⇔ For now, you need to go out of the city
⇔ ≈ and live in the countryside.
⇔ Then you’ll go to Babylon and be rescued from there.
⇔ ≈ There Yahweh will redeem you from your enemies’ control.
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.
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