MIC 5:13 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:10–15: The LORD will cause all sorcery and idolatry in Israel to end

This section is another prophecy. In this prophecy, the LORD spoke directly to the people of Israel.This is the interpretation of a large majority of commentators. These include NICOT, A&F, NAC, UBS, EBC, CBC, WBC, ZIBBC, Waltke 2007 and others. Some commentators suggest that the referent here is not Israel but ungodly nations. For example, see Achtemeier. However the latter interpretation has little to support it and is not clearly followed in versions. In 5:10–11, he told them that he would take away the military equipment and other things that they relied on instead of him. In 5:12–14, he said that he would end all sorcery and idol worship in Israel in order to purify their worship of him. In 5:15, he told about his intention to punish other nations that did not obey him.UBS (page 222).

Here are some other examples of section headings:

The Lord will Purify His People (NET)

Idols Will Be Destroyed in Israel (CEV)

5:13a–b

(combined/reordered)

You will no longer worship the idols or stone images you have made—I will destroy them, (CEV)

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^13a I will cut off the carved images and sacred pillars from among you,

^13bso that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands.

In these parallel lines, the LORD spoke about types of idols that the people relied on instead of him. He will destroy the images and sacred pillars that they made with their own hands so they will no longer worship them.

5:13a

I will also cut off the carved images and sacred pillars from among you,

I will destroy your^(sing/plur) idols and the sacred stone pillars in your^(sing/plur) midst.
I will remove your statues of gods and the memorial stones you have set up,

cut off…from among you: Here are some other ways to translate 5:13a:

I will abolish your carved images and the sacred pillars from your midst (NAB)

I will destroy your idols and the sacred pillars in your midst (NJPS)

Some versions leave the phrase from among you implied. For example:

I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars (NLT)

carved images and sacred pillars: The words carved images refers to idols. Many idols were carved from wood or stone or cast in a mold. Some were covered with metal.NIDOTTE #7181 (Volume 3, page 645).

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

idols (NLT)

statues of gods (NCV)

The word for sacred pillars refers here to stones that are set upright as a monument. In this context, the stone represents Canaanite gods.EBC (page 57). The people poured drink-offerings over the stone as an act of worship.CBC (page 332).

5:13b

so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands.

You^(sing/plur) will no longer bow down in worship to things you have made with your^(sing/plur) own hands.
so that you can no longer worship the idols you have made.

so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands: In this context, the phrase no longer refers to people’s worship of these objects.

Here are some other ways to translate these phrases:

I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars, so you will never again worship the work of your own hands. (NLT)

I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst; you will no longer worship what your own hands have made. (NET)

I will destroy your idols and sacred stone pillars; no longer will you worship the things that you yourselves have made. (GNT)

General Comment on 5:13a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these parallel lines. See 5:13a–b combined/reordered in the Display.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / you

(Occurrence 0) your carved … your stone … among you. You will … your hands

(Some words not found in UHB: and,I_will_pluck_up poles,your_Asherah from,midst_of,your and,I_will_destroy cities_of,your )

Yahweh continues to speak to the people of Israel as if they were one man.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

(Occurrence 0) the workmanship of your hands

(Some words not found in UHB: and,I_will_pluck_up poles,your_Asherah from,midst_of,your and,I_will_destroy cities_of,your )

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind the word workmanship, you can express the same idea with a verbal form such as “make.” Alternate translation: “what your hands have made”

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.