MIC 4:11 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:9–13: The people of Jerusalem will suffer exile in Babylon, but in the future the LORD will deliver them from their enemies

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

Paragraph 4:11–13

In this paragraph, Micah told the people of Jerusalem that people of many nations had gathered together to attack Jerusalem. But actually, the LORD had a different plan. He had gathered those nations together to punish those nations. He would make his people strong so they could defeat their enemies.

In 4:11–12, Micah used a Hebrew verb tense that usually refers to events that have already happened or that are now happening.The verbs that are in perfect tense in 4:11–12 are: “have assembled” (11a), “saying” (11b), “know” (12a), “understand” (12a), and “has gathered” (12b).

Throughout this paragraph (4:11–13), Micah wrote as if many nations had already assembled to attack Jerusalem. But the time period to which he referred has similar uncertainties to 4:9b–c. See the notes on those verse parts. The recommendation here is the same: translate in a way that allows either a present time or a future time to be understood.

4:11a

But now many nations have assembled against you,

¶ City of Jerusalem, now soldiers from many nations have come together to wage war against you^(sing).
¶ But now enemies from many countries are gathering to attack you^(plur) people who live in Jerusalem.

But now many nations have assembled against you: The current situation for the people in Jerusalem contrasts with their future exile in Babylon (4:10e). Right now, the armies of enemy nations are preparing to attack the city. They have come together in a large group. The BSB and some other versions make this contrast explicit. For example:

But now many nations are massed against you (REB)

But now many nations have come to fight against you (NCV)

you: In Hebrew, this pronoun is singular. It refers to Zion (Jerusalem), which is mentioned in the next verse part (4:11b). As in previous verses, you may decide to use a singular pronoun that refers to the city or a plural pronoun that refers to the people of the city.

4:11b–c

(combined/reordered)

They say, “Let’s dishonor Zion and gloat over it.” (GW)
They say, “We can hardly wait to see you disgraced.” (adapted from CEV)

These parallel lines both express the desire of the enemy troops who were preparing to attack the city. The underlined parts both refer to Zion. The parts in bold print express the enemies’ related desires.

^11bsaying, “Let her be defiled,

^11cand let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

Let…let…: Usually in English, we use the word “let” to ask permission. For example, “Let them go” = “allow them to go.” But that is not the meaning here. When the enemy soldiers said these words, they meant that they wanted (wished, hoped) that these two things would happen.

4:11b

saying, “Let her be defiled,

They say, “May she/it be desecrated/defiled!
Those people/enemies say, “Come on, we^(incl) will be happy to tear down the holy places in Jerusalem/Zion!
They say, “We truly want to dishonor/disgrace your^(plur) city.

saying: This word introduces the quote in the next two parallel lines. Here are some other ways to introduce their words:

They say, “…

This is what those enemy soldiers are saying: “…

Let her be defiled: The first thing that they wanted to happen is for Zion (Jerusalem) to be defiled. To defile something means “to desecrate it.” It means “to treat a holy place with disrespect by making it dirty or by destroying it.”

Jerusalem was a holy place, because the temple was there. These people wanted to defile it with their presence and to destroy the city so it would no longer be holy. Here are some other ways to translate this desire:

May Zion be defiled/desecrated!

We^(incl) want her to suffer outrage (adapted from REB)

We will dishonor/disgrace Zion/Jerusalem

Let’s destroy Jerusalem. (NCV)

Let her be profaned (NRSV)

4:11c

and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

We^(incl) will gloat as we watch Zion city be destroyed.”
We want to watch people destroy that city.”
It will make us happy to see the city in ruins.”

and let us feast our eyes on Zion: The word and links the two things that the enemies wanted to happen. Some versions leave this word untranslated. For example:

let our eyes gloat over Zion!” (NIV)

Link these two clauses in a natural way in your translation.

This is a figure of speech in which the eyes represent the person. It means that these people wanted to look at Zion and gloat as they defiled/destroyed it. Their desire was similar to a man who is filled with malicious delight as he gazes at or thinks about a woman that he has raped.UBS (pages 200–201), JFB (page 692). Here are some other ways to translate this line:

Let us gloat over Zion!” (NJB)

We will look at her and be glad we have defeated her.” (NCV)

We^(incl) will be happy to see Zion/Jerusalem after we^(incl) destroy it.

General Comment on 4:11b–c

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

This is what they say: “We want to disgrace and destroy the city of Zion and to enjoy watching the humiliation of the people who live there.”

See 4:11b–c (combined/reordered) in the Display for other examples.

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 4:11

Hebrew word order