OET interlinear MIC 7:1

7:1

This verse begins Micah’s lament. He uses similes to describe his disappointment that he cannot find any fruit at harvest time.

There are two main interpretations of the situation depicted by the similes:

1. There was no fruit left to pick after the fruit and grapes were harvested.Waltke 2007 (pages 416–417) suggests that the harvest was gathered several times so that no gleanings remained. Others that support this interpretation include NAC, WBC, EBC, JFB, and UBS. For example:

   I am depressed! indeed, it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered, and the grapes have been harvested. There is no grape cluster to eat, no fresh figs that I crave so much. (NET) (CEV, ESV, BSB, GNT, KJV, NAB, NCV, NET, NJPS, NLT, NRSV, REB)

2. There was no harvest of fruit and grapes.A&F (pages 565–566) suggest that the vintage had failed. Alternatively, TOTC (page 218) suggests that vandals had stripped the grapes and figs from the vines and trees and left them bare. For example:

   Woe is me! For I am like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers. There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, Or a first-ripe fig which I crave. (NASB) (GW, NASB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It has support from most commentators and versions.

7:1a

Woe is me!: This expression indicates despair.Feelings of despair, not just disappointment, are explainable in light of the farming practices described in Leviticus 19:9–10. Land owners were required to leave behind any grain or fruit that was missed in the main harvest, so that the poor could gather it for their food. A poor person could starve without this food supply. UBS (pages 244–245) and A&F (pages 565–566). Here are some other ways to express the meaning:

I am depressed! (NET)

It’s hopeless! (GNT)

I feel very sadSuggested by UBS (page 244).

7:1a–e

7:1b–e

The ESV has been used as the source line for 7:1b–c because it maintains both similes and follows the recommended interpretation.

Notice the two sets of parallel lines that follow the underlined part. The lines in bold have similar meaning and the lines in italics have similar meaning:

^1bFor I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, (ESV)

^1c as when the grapes have been gleaned: (ESV)

^1d there is no cluster to eat, (ESV, BSB)

^1e no early fig that I crave. (BSB)

There is an ellipsis (a deliberately omitted phrase) in 7:1c. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing words from 7:1b. For example:

^1c I have become as when the grapes have been gleaned:

There are two similes in 7:1b–e. The lines are arranged as a chiasm. Lines 7:1b and 7:1e are parts of a simile about summer fruit. Lines 7:1c and 7:1d are parts of a simile about grapes.

In each simile, Micah compares himself to a person who looks for fruit that is left behind after the fruit harvests are done. In the first simile he looks for summer fruit. In the second simile he looks for grapes.

Some versions combine the two similes into one. See the General Comment on 7:1 for examples.

7:1b

For: The word For introduces the reason why Micah is in despair. He explains the reason in the verses that follow, 7:1b–6.

(ESV) I have become as…: In Hebrew, this phrase is more literally “I have become like harvests of summer fruit…” The implied meaning of the phrase is that Micah compared himself to a person who found no fruit to eat following a harvest. The way they are similar is that both feel despair.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

• Keep the simile. For example:

  I am like the fruit pickers (NASB)

  I am like a hungry person who… (GNT)

  I am like those gathering… (GW)

• Change the simile into a metaphor. For example:

  How wretched I am, a harvester… (NJB)

(ESV) when the summer fruit has been gathered: This line describes the setting or situation of the simile. The harvest of summer fruit has already been completed.

The phrase summer fruit may refer to fruit that grew in the summer season or it may refer to ripe fruit in general.Mounce (page 1033). Some versions leave the word summer implied.

Here are some other ways to translate this line:

and all the summer fruit has been picked (NCV)

when the fruit is gathered (NAB)

7:1c

(ESV) as when the grapes have been gleaned: This line is more literally “like gleanings of [the] grape harvest.” It describes the setting or situation of the second simile. The harvest of grapes has already been completed.

The word gleaned means that the grapes have been picked a second time after the main harvest.BDB #5955 (page 760) and A&F (page 566).

Here are some other ways to translate this line:

and the grapes have been harvested (NET)

as when the vines have been gleaned (NAB)

7:1d

there is no cluster to eat: This line is the final part of the simile about the grape harvest. The person looks for grapes to eat, but he does not find any.

The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as cluster means “a cluster/bunch of grapes.”BDB #811 (page 79).

Here are some other ways to translate this line:

• Make the word “grapes” explicit along with cluster. For example:

  not a cluster of grapes (NLT)

• Translate the word “grapes” instead of cluster. For example:

  there are no grapes left to eat (NCV)

7:1e

no early fig that I crave: This line is the final part of the simile about the summer fruit harvest. The person looks for figs to eat but he does not find any.

The phrase early fig refers here to the first figs of the season that appear on the tree in early summer. These figs are especially delicious.HALOT (electronic edition, page 130), BDB #1063 (page 114), and A&F (page 566–568)

Here are some other ways to translate this line:

none of the early figs I love (NCV)

no fresh figs that I crave so much (NET)

all the tasty figs have been picked (GNT)

If grapes and figs are unknown in your language group, you may want to add pictures. You may also want to include descriptions in a footnote.