MIC 6:15 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=important (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Σὺ σπερεῖς, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀμήσῃς, σὺ πιέσεις ἐλαίαν, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀλείψῃ ἔλαιον, καὶ οἶνον, καὶ οὐ μὴ πίητε, καὶ ἀφανισθήσεται νόμιμα λαοῦ μου.
(Su spereis, kai ou maʸ amaʸsaʸs, su pieseis elaian, kai ou maʸ aleipsaʸ elaion, kai oinon, kai ou maʸ piaʸte, kai afanisthaʸsetai nomima laou mou. )

BrTr Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt press the olive, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil; and shalt make wine, but ye shall drink no wine: and the ordinances of my people shall be utterly abolished.

ULT You will sow but not reap;
⇔ you will tread the olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;
⇔ you will press grapes but drink no wine.

UST You will plant crops,
⇔ but you will not harvest anything.
⇔ You will press olives,
⇔ but others, not you, will use the olive oil.
⇔ You will trample on the grapes and make wine from the juice,
⇔ but others, not you, will drink the wine.

OEB You will sow but not reap.
⇔ You will tread the olives but have no oil for rubbing,
⇔ tread grapes but drink no wine!

WEBBE You will sow, but won’t reap.
⇔ You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil;
⇔ and crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET You will plant crops, but will not harvest them;
⇔ you will squeeze oil from the olives, but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies;
⇔ you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink.

LSV You sow, and you do not reap,
You tread the olive,
And you do not pour out oil,
And new wine—and you do not drink wine.

FBV You will sow, but you won't reap; you will press your olives, but not use the oil; you will make your wine, but drink none of it.

T4T You will plant seeds,
⇔ but you will not harvest anything.
⇔ You will press olives,
⇔ but others, not you, will use the olive oil.
⇔ You will trample on grapes and make wine from the juice,
⇔ but others, not you, will drink the wine.

LEB • You yourself will sow, but you will not reap; you will tread olives, but you will not anoint yourself with oil;
• you will tread grapes, but you will not drink wine.

BBE You will put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no wine.

Moff you may sow, but you shall never reap;
⇔ you may crush olives, but you shall never get oil;
⇔ you may make vintage, but you shall drink no wine.

JPS Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink wine.

ASV Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.

DRA Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap: thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not be anointed with the oil: and the new wine, but shalt not drink the wine.

YLT Thou — thou sowest, and thou dost not reap, Thou — thou treadest the olive, And thou pourest not out oil, And new wine — and thou drinkest not wine.

Drby Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and new wine, but shalt not drink wine.

RV Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap: thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
(Thou/You shalt/shall sow, but shalt/shall not reap: thou/you shalt/shall tread the olives, but shalt/shall not anoint thee/you with oil; and the vintage, but shalt/shall not drink the wine. )

SLT Thou shalt sow and thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olive and thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil; and new wine, and thou shalt not drink wine.

Wbstr Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.

KJB-1769 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
(Thou/You shalt/shall sow, but thou/you shalt/shall not reap; thou/you shalt/shall tread the olives, but thou/you shalt/shall not anoint thee/you with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt/shall not drink wine. )

KJB-1611 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reape: thou shalt tread the oliues, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oile; & sweet wine, but shalt not drinke wine.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Thou shalt sowe, but not reape, thou shalt presse out Oliues, but oyle shalt thou not haue to annoynt thy selfe withall: thou shalt tread out sweete must, but shalt drincke no wine.
(Thou/You shalt/shall sow, but not reap, thou/you shalt/shall press out Olives, but oil shalt/shall thou/you not have to anoint thyself/yourself also/fully: thou/you shalt/shall tread out sweet must, but shalt/shall drink no wine.)

Gnva Thou shalt sowe, but not reape: thou shalt treade the oliues, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oyle, and make sweete wine, but shalt not drinke wine.
(Thou/You shalt/shall sow, but not reap: thou/you shalt/shall tread the olives, but thou/you shalt/shall not anoint thee/you with oil, and make sweet wine, but shalt/shall not drink wine. )

Cvdl Thou shalt sowe, but not reape: thou shalt presse out olyues, but oyle shalt thou not haue, to anoynte thy self withall: thou shalt treade out swete must, but shalt drynke no wyne.
(Thou/You shalt/shall sow, but not reap: thou/you shalt/shall press out olives, but oil shalt/shall thou/you not have, to anoint thy/your self also/fully: thou/you shalt/shall tread out sweet must, but shalt/shall drink no wine.)

Wycl Thou schalt sowe, and schal not repe; thou schalt trede the `frut of oliue, and schalt not be anoyntid with oile; and must, and schalt not drynke wyn.
(Thou/You shalt/shall sow, and shall not repe; thou/you shalt/shall trede the fruit of olive, and shalt/shall not be anointed with oil; and must, and shalt/shall not drink wine.)

Luth Du sollst säen und nicht ernten; du sollst Öl keltern und dich mit demselben nicht salben, und Most keltern und nicht Wein trinken.
(You(sg) should sow and not harvest(v); you(sg) should oil keltern and you/yourself with the_same not anoint, and cider keltern and not wine drink(v).)

ClVg Tu seminabis, et non metes: tu calcabis olivam, et non ungeris oleo; et mustum, et non bibes vinum.
(You(sg) seminabis, and not/no metes: you(sg) calcabis olivem, and not/no ungeris with_oil; and mustum, and not/no you_will_drink wine. )

SOTN 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.

6:15a

You will sow but not reap;

You^(sing/plur) will sow seed but not reap a crop.
Although you plant crops, you will not harvest them.

You will sow but not reap: This is a curse on farming. It describes the normal activity of a farmer sowing and reaping. He will be able to sow, but the unexpected outcome is that he will not reap a harvest.NAC (page 119) suggests that the reason for the inability to reap is because of an enemy invasion.

sow: This word means to plant seeds to grow a crop. Here are some other ways to translate this word:

plant (GW)

plant crops (NLT)

reap: This word means to harvest a crop. For example:

harvest (NCV)

The word reap can refer in general to the gathering-in of grain or other agricultural products. However, in this context it may refer specifically to the spring harvest.Suggested by Waltke 2007 (page 403). If your language has specific words for harvests at different times of the year, consider using your word for a springtime harvest or the first harvest of the year.

6:15b

you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;

You^(sing/plur) will press olives but not put the oil on your skin.
You will squeeze oil from olives, but you will not use the oil for yourselves.
Although you will make olive oil, you won’t use it.

6:15c

you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

You^(sing/plur) will tread grapes but not drink the wine you produce.
You will squeeze juice from grapes, but you won’t drink the wine you make from it.
Although you will make wine, you won’t drink it.

6:15b–c

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^15b you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;

^15c you will tread grapes but not drink wine.

These parallel lines highlight two agricultural products that were important to the people. These lines either express two curses on these products or they are two parts of one curse on the autumn harvest.Waltke 2007 (page 403) suggests that here the focus shifts to the loss of oil and wine in the fall harvest. Each line describes the normal activity of producing oil or wine. The people will be able to produce them, but the unexpected, undesirable outcome is that they will not use the oil or drink the wine.

press olives…tread grapes: These words are more literally “tread olives…and new wine.” In Hebrew, the verb tread refers to both olives and new wine/grapes. There is an interpretation issue with this verb. There are two main interpretations:

The Hebrew word means “press” when the referent is olives and “tread/crush” when the referent is grapes. For example:
you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine (NIV11) (NET, NIV11, NJB, NLT, REB, BSB)
The Hebrew word means “tread/crush” for both olives and grapes. For example:
you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine (ESV) (ESV, GW, NAB, NASB, NCV, NJPS, NRSV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It has majority commentary support and good version support.Waltke 2007 (page 403) and NAC (page 119, footnote 37) suggest that that the verb is a zeugma. A zeugma is a literary feature where a verb is used that is normally appropriate for only one of the objects, in this case “grapes.” However, a zeugma may have multiple meanings. According to NAC (page 119) and BDB #1869 (page 202) sense 3, this verb can mean “tread” for wine or “press” for oil. There is no conclusive evidence from the Old Testament that people tread olives to make oil.NICOT (page 381) cites Deuteronomy 33:24 as supporting evidence. That verse is a blessing that Asher may bathe his feet in oil. However, there is no indication that the blessing refers to Asher treading on olives. It may refer to the use of oil as a skin lotion for Asher’s feet.

The way olive oil was extracted at that time was to squeeze olives in an oil press under a heavy beam or to turn them into pulp with a millstone.NICOT (page 381).

The way wine was made was to stomp with bare feet on grapes in a vat. The juice was collected and fermented to make wine.UBS (page 241).

In this verse the Hebrew word for “new wine” is a figure of speech (metonymy) for grapes.Waltke 2007 (page 403) calls it a metonymy of effect. A&F (page 549) suggest that the choice of this word rather than the more correct “grapes” or winepress telescopes the stages of the work. Most modern versions translate this word as grapes.

Here are some ways to translate these phrases:

Use a generic word that refers to extracting liquid from fruit, if you have such a word in your language. For example:
You will squeeze oil from the olives…you will squeeze juice from the grapes (NET)
Use a separate word for each process. For example:
You will press your olives…You will trample the grapes (NLT)
Describe the process of making oil and wine in a general way. For example:
You will make oil and wine

but not anoint yourselves with oil…but not drink the wine: Olive oil and wine were important products at that time. One use of olive oil was as a lotion to rub on skin.NICOT (page 381). The word anoint has that meaning here. For example:

but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies (NET)

Wine was especially important in places where water supplies were scarce and impure.UBS (page 241). Times of wine making were festive occasions. Having an abundance of wine was a cause of joy.NICOT (page 381).

These descriptions were vivid, striking ways to express disruption of normal life. It is recommended that you keep these descriptions explicit in your translation if they will be understood.

However, in some language groups these products may be unknown. If that is true in your language, another option is to translate these descriptions in a general way. For example: