MIC 6:10 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 6:9–16: The LORD will punish his people for their dishonesty

This section has three parts. In 6:9–12, the LORD charged the people of Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah with theft, dishonesty, deception, and violence. In 6:13–15, he stated how he will punish them. In 6:16, the LORD restated in a short summary the people’s sin and their punishment. In this section, the LORD was the speaker except for 6:9, in which Micah told the people of the city to listen.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Cheating and Violence to Be Punished (NRSV)

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment (NIV)

Accusations and Covenant CursesSuggestion by A&F (pages 541–544)

Paragraph 6:9–16

In this paragraph, the LORD accused the people of committing several kinds of sin. Most were sins committed by wealthy people. Some were sins by the general population.

6:10

Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?: This verse is a rhetorical question. Its function is to express two accusations of the LORD against the people. It is not a request for information.

Here are some ways to translate this rhetorical question:

As one or more rhetorical questions. You may use slightly different questions if that is more natural in your language. For example:
…can I forgive the false measure, the accursed short bushel? (REB)
How can I forget dishonest gain by wicked people? How can I ignore the fraudulent scales that I hate so much?
As a statement. For example:
You store up stolen treasures and use dishonest scales. (CEV)

6:10a

Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness

Can I forget the treasures of evil in the houses of wicked people
I cannot overlook the stolen valuables that dishonest people keep in their homes

Can I forget any longer: There is a textual issue with the word that the BSB translates as forget. There are three main options:

Some scholars think that the original word was “forget/overlook.”BDB #5378 (page 674) and NAC (page 117). For example:
Can I overlook the false measure (NJB) (BSB, ESV, NET, NIV, NJB, NJPS, NRSV)
The Masoretic Text has “there is/are.”HALOT (electronic edition, page 92) and EBC (page 542). For example:
In the houses of evil people are treasures (GNT) (KJV, NCV, GNT)
Some scholars say that the original word was “forgive/bear.”Waltke 2007 (pages 397–398). For example:
Am I to bear any longer criminal hoarding (NAB) (NAB)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with a slight majority of versions. However, option (2) and (3) are also acceptable. All have support from scholars and fit the context well.

O house of the wicked: There are two main interpretations of the referent of the word house:

It refers to a literal house where wicked people store their stolen treasures. For example:
In the houses of evil people are treasures which they got dishonestly. (GNT) (NJPS, NLT, GNT)
It refers to the wicked people. For example:
O wicked house (NIV) (NET, NIV, BSB)

Some versions, such as the NRSV, are ambiguous.

You may follow either interpretation. The word house can refer to either a building or to a group of people.NAC (page 117) and Waltke 2007 (pages 397–398).

the treasures of wickedness: This phrase probably refers to wealth or luxuries that people obtained by wicked means.UBS (page 53). It does not specify the kind of wickedness. The following context suggests that it refers to cheating, dishonesty, violence, deceit, and lying.

6:10b

and the short ephah, which is accursed?

and the smaller than standard measures that I despise?
and inaccurate measures for cheating that I have condemned.

and the short ephah: In Hebrew, this phrase is more literally “and an ephah of scantness.” The standard dry measure of that time was the ephah.Equal to about half a bushel. An ephah of scantness was a container that held less than an ephah of grain or other product. Some merchants cheated their customers by saying that the container held a full ephah.ABC (page 1082).

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the smaller-than-standard measure (NET)

They use false measures (GNT)

they cheat their customers by giving them less than they have paid forSuggested by UBS (pages 237–238).

which is accursed: In this context, the word accursed probably means that this kind of cheating was a violation of the law of Moses and was detestable to God.CBC (page 339). See Leviticus 19:35–36.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

I hate so much (NET)

a thing that I hate (GNT)

that abomination (NJB)

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-alternativereadings

ע֗וֹד הַ⁠אִשׁ֙

again/more [are],there?

The phrase text is a translation of the standard written Hebrew text as we have it today. The wording in the text, however, is very unusual, and scholars have proposed that the first word should be read with the previous verse and that a letter has dropped off of the second word. Reading the text in this way results in the following alternate translation. You may want to follow the ULT or you may want to follow the major translation in your area. Alternate translation: [Can I forget]

Note 2 topic: writing-quotations

ע֗וֹד הַ⁠אִשׁ֙ בֵּ֣ית רָשָׁ֔ע

again/more [are],there? house_of wicked

This verse begins a direct quotation from Yahweh that continues to the end of the chapter. In your translation, use a natural way of indicating direct quotations in your language.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

רָשָׁ֔ע

wicked

Yahweh is using the adjective wicked as a noun to mean a certain kind of person. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you can translate this adjective with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [the person who is wicked]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

רֶ֑שַׁע

wickedness

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of wickedness, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [things gained wickedly]

Note 5 topic: translate-unknown

וְ⁠אֵיפַ֥ת רָז֖וֹן

and,an_ephah_of short

An ephah is a kind of container that was used to measure dry goods such as grain. It held about 22 liters. If your readers would not be familiar with what an ephah is, you could use the name of a similar measure that your readers would recognize, or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [and the measuring basket of leanness]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

וְ⁠אֵיפַ֥ת רָז֖וֹן

and,an_ephah_of short

Yahweh is using the possessive form to describe an ephah that is characterized by leanness, that is, a measure that holds less than it should. If a speaker of your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could express this idea in another way. Alternate translation: [and the undersized ephah]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

זְעוּמָֽה

accursed

The expression cursed is a passive verbal form. If it would be unnatural to use that form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [that I, Yahweh, have cursed]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

ע֗וֹד הַ⁠אִשׁ֙ בֵּ֣ית רָשָׁ֔ע אֹצְר֖וֹת רֶ֑שַׁע וְ⁠אֵיפַ֥ת רָז֖וֹן זְעוּמָֽה

again/more [are],there? house_of wicked treasures_of wickedness and,an_ephah_of short accursed

Yahweh is using the question form to accuse the people of the city of cheating others in their business dealings. If a speaker of your language would not use the question form for that purpose, you could translate this as a statement or as an exclamation. Alternate translation: [There are still in the house of the wicked treasuries of wickedness, and the ephah of leanness that is cursed!]

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.