MIC 7:2 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=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) The faithful people have disappeared from the land.
⇔ There is no godly person among all mankind.
⇔ They all lie in wait to shed blood—
⇔ each one hunts his own fellow countryman with a net.

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 ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν εὐσεβὴς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ κατορθῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐχ ὑπάρχει· πάντες εἰς αἵματα δικάζονται, ἕκαστος τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐκθλίβουσιν ἐκθλιβῇ,
(hoti apolōlen eusebaʸs apo taʸs gaʸs, kai katorthōn en anthrōpois ouⱪ huparⱪei; pantes eis haimata dikazontai, hekastos ton plaʸsion autou ekthlibousin ekthlibaʸ, )

BrTr For the godly is perished from the earth; and there is none among men that orders his way aright: they all quarrel even to blood: they grievously afflict every one his neighbour:

ULT The faithful ones have disappeared from the land;
⇔ there is no upright person in all mankind.
⇔ They all lie in wait to shed blood;
⇔ each one hunts his own brother with a net.

UST Everyone who honored God has disappeared from this land;
⇔ not one of them is left.
⇔ The people who are left are all murderers;
⇔ it is as though everyone is eager to kill his fellow countryman.

OEB ⇔ The honest have perished from the land,
⇔ of the upright among people there is none.
⇔ All of them lie in wait to shed blood.
⇔ They hunt one another with the net.

WEBBE The godly man has perished out of the earth,
⇔ and there is no one upright amongst men.
⇔ They all lie in wait for blood;
⇔ every man hunts his brother with a net.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Faithful men have disappeared from the land;
⇔ there are no godly men left.
⇔ They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood;
⇔ they hunt their own brother with a net.

LSV The kind have perished out of the land,
And upright among men—there are none,
All of them lie in wait for blood,
They each hunt his brother [with] a net.

FBV All the good people in the country are gone, there's no one who does right left anywhere. Everyone is looking to murder others; they try to trap even their own brothers.

T4T All the godly people have disappeared from this land;
⇔ there is not one of them left.
⇔ The people who are left are all murderers [MTY];
⇔ it is as though everyone is eager to kill his fellow countryman.

LEB • The faithful person has perished from the land, and there is none who is upright among humankind.
• All of them lie in wait;
• each hunts his brother with a net.

BBE The good man is gone from the earth, there is no one upright among men: they are all waiting secretly for blood, every man is going after his brother with a net.

Moff so the devout have vanished from the land,
⇔ not one honest soul remains;
⇔ everyone lurks for bloodshed,
⇔ each man preys upon his fellow.

JPS The godly man is perished out of the earth, and the upright among men is no more; they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

ASV The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

DRA The holy man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood, every one hunteth his brother to death.

YLT Perished hath the kind out of the land, And upright among men — there are none, All of them for blood lie in wait, Each his brother they hunt [with] a net.

Drby The [fn]godly [man] hath perished out of the land, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood, they hunt every man his brother with a net.

7.2 Elohim

RV The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

SLT The merciful one perished from the earth, and none upright among men: they all will lie in wait for bloods; they will hunt each his brother with a net.

Wbstr The good man hath perished from the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

KJB-1769 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.[fn]

7.2 good: or, godly, or, merciful

KJB-1611 [fn]The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none vpright among men: they all lie in waite for blood: they hunt euery man his brother with a net.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

7:2 Or, godly, or mercifull.

Bshps There is not a godly vpon earth, there is not one righteous among men: they al lye in wayte for blood, and euery man hunteth his brother to death.
(There is not a godly upon earth, there is not one righteous among men: they all lie in wait for blood, and every man hunteth/hunts his brother to death.)

Gnva The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none righteous among men: they all lye in wayte for blood: euery man hunteth his brother with a net.
(The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none righteous among men: they all lie in wait for blood: every man hunteth/hunts his brother with a net. )

Cvdl There is not a godly man vpo earth, there is not one rightuous amoge me. They laboure all to shed bloude, & euery ma hunteth his brother to death:
(There is not a godly man upon earth, there is not one righteous among me. They labour all to shed blood, and every man hunteth/hunts his brother to death:)

Wycl The hooli perischide fro erthe, and riytful is not in men; alle aspien, ether setten tresoun, in blood, a man huntith his brother to deth.
(The holy perished from earth, and rightful is not in men; all aspien, either setting treason, in blood, a man hunteth/hunts his brother to death.)

Luth Die frommen Leute sind weg in diesem Lande; und die Gerechten sind nicht mehr unter den Leuten. Sie lauern alle aufs Blut; ein jeglicher jagt den andern, daß er ihn verderbe,
(The pious/devout people/folk are away/gone in this_one land; and the righteous_(ones) are not more under the people. They/She lurk all onto blood; a any/each hunts the change/modify, that he him/it spoil,)

ClVg Periit sanctus de terra, et rectus in hominibus non est: omnes in sanguine insidiantur; vir fratrem suum ad mortem venatur.
(It_is_lost holy from/about earth/land, and straight/righteous in/into/on to_humans not/no it_is: everyone in/into/on blood insidiantur; man brother his_own to death venatur. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 7:1–7: Micah lamented about the wickedness of God’s people

This section is a lament of Micah that expresses his sorrow about the lack of righteous people in the land. In 7:1–6, he talked about the wickedness of the people using a combination of figures of speech and direct speech. In 7:7, he concluded the lament by expressing his own hope in the LORD.

Some scholars and versions place 7:7 in the next section. However, expressions of both sorrow and hope are features in some other laments, such as in the Psalms.Psalm 55 is one example. NICOT (pages 383–385). Also, both 7:1 and 7:7 have first-person pronouns and verbs that enclose third-person descriptions in 7:2–6. This change of word forms probably indicates the start and end of the lament.UBS (pages 244–256).

Here are some other examples of section headings:

The Total Corruption of the People (NRSV)

Israel’s Misery (NIV)

Misery Turned to Hope (NLT)

7:2a–b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^2a The godly man has perished from the earth;

^2b there is no one upright among men.

These parallel lines explain why Micah was in despair. The lack of fruit he described in the similes of 7:1 represented the lack of faithful people in the land.

Here are some other ways to translate these phrases:

The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains. (NIV)

The faithful are gone from the earth, among men the upright are no more! (NAB)

The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. (NLT)

The godly…upright: In Hebrew, the words godly and upright are two ways to describe a person who followed the standards of Yahweh’s covenant.“The faithful” are people “who keep covenant with God and his community” (TOTC page 218). They show “faithful covenant love” (NAC page 122). The upright are “those who maintain the moral rectitude of the covenant” TOTC (page 218).

The word godly means “a person who obeys God and shows mercy toward others.”HALOT (electronic edition, page 111) “faithful, devout.” The word indicates a responsibility to God and to his people, and has a distinctly social emphasis (NICOT page 385). The phrase the godly means “faithful people.”

The word upright means “a person who is morally straight and deals fairly with others.”Mounce (page 954) “morally straight: right, upright, innocent.” “One who conforms his life to the ‘straight’ standard of Yahweh’s covenant law” (Davis page 142).

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

faithful…honest (NJB)

godly people…fair-minded (NLT)

loyal to God…does right (CEV)

has perished from the earth…there is no one upright among men: Both phrases mean that there are no faithful, upright people. These phrases do not specify the way that the people disappeared, only that there are none.

7:2a

The godly man has perished from the earth;

There are no more faithful people in the land.
In the same way, those who are faithful to God are no longer here.

from the earth: There are two main interpretations of the referent of earth in this phrase:

The referent of the word earth is left implied. Here it probably refers to the land of Israel. For example:
the faithful have vanished from the land (REB) (GNT, NASB, NET, NIV, NJB, NJPS, NRSV, REB)
The referent of the word earth is the earth. For example:
The godly has perished from the earth (ESV) (ESV, GW, KJV, NAB, BSB)

Either interpretation is acceptable. Interpretation (1) fits well with the similes in 7:1 that depict a local, agricultural setting of fig and grape harvests, and with the description of Micah’s contemporaries in 7:3–6.USB (page 245) suggests that Micah is concerned with his own nation in particular rather than the whole world. Also Waltke 2007 (page 417). However, interpretation (2) fits well with the parallel line that may have an application beyond Israel.KD (page 341). (See the next note).

7:2b

there is no one upright among men.

Upright people have disappeared.
Those who are righteous are gone.

there is no one upright among men: In Hebrew, this phrase is more literally “and an upright [person] among humankind there [is] not.” The phrase may refer to the absence of upright people among humans.JFB (page 694) notes the similarity of these lines to Psalm 12:1 “no one is faithful anymore, those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.” Or, it may be a figure of speech (hyperbole) that refers to the people of Israel. It is acceptable to translate the phrase either way.

Here are some examples:

Translate the phrase more literally. For example:
there is no one upright among mankind (ESV)
Leave implied the words “among humankind.” For example:
no one does right (CEV)
not one honest person is to be found (REB)

7:2c

They all lie in wait for blood;

Everyone lies in wait to shed blood; (NIV)
The people who remain are anxious to kill each other.
They are all murderers, (NLT)

7:2d

they hunt one another with a net.

they use traps to capture each other.
They are eager to deceive and harm their fellowmen.
setting traps even for their own brothers. (NLT)

7:2c–d

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^2c They all lie in wait for blood;

^2d they hunt one other with a net.

In these parallel lines Micah gives examples of the people’s evil behavior to show that the people in the land are not faithful or upright.

They all…they: The phrase They all and the word they refer to the same people. The reference is probably to every person in the land.According to Waltke 2007 (page 417), the Hebrew phrase “all of them” indicates totality. However, A&F (page 568) and NAC (page 122) suggest that in this context the reference is to those listed in 7:3, which are rulers, judges and the powerful. Micah highlights especially the officials, judges and powerful people in 7:3. It may be that the corruption began in these groups and spread to the entire population.NAC (page 122).

Here are some other ways to translate these pronouns:

Everyone…everyone (NCV)

All people…They (GW)

All of them…every man (NJB)

lie in wait for blood…hunt one another with a net: These parallel expressions are both figures of speech. The expression lie in wait for blood means “to attack and kill someone.” The expression hunt one another with a net is more literally “each hunts his brother [with] a net.” It compares how a person captured a fellow Israelite to the way a hunter trapped and killed animals.

These expressions describe the behavior of the people of Israel at that time. The expressions may refer to people who killed others for personal gain. It is also possible that they are hyperboles (exaggerations) that refer to people who took advantage of others to benefit themselves in various ways.Both ideas are suggested by commentators. KD (page 341) and WBC (page 545) suggest that excessive mistreatment of others may be meant, not necessarily murder. However, UBS (page 245) suggests that “the people are pictured as being so bad that everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder.” TOTC (page 218) comments that the expression “hunters who lie in wait” means that “their practices are sinister and covert” and the expression “hunt with a net” means that they are “effectively deadly.”

Here are some ways to translate these expressions:

Keep the figures of speech. For example:
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood…they hunt their own brother with a net (NET)
Translate the meaning of the expressions more directly. The first example shows that the meaning is evil behavior, but not necessarily murder. The second example regards the meaning to be actual murder. For example:
Everyone is brutal and eager to deceive everyone else. (CEV)
Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people. (GNT)

blood: In Hebrew, this word means “blood that is shed through violence.”BDB #1818 (pages 196–187).

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

shed blood (NIV)

commit murder (GNT)

net: In Hebrew, this word means “a device with holes that is used to capture fish or other animals.”TWOT #745a.

Here are some ways to translate this word:

Translate as net or something similar. For example:
net (NJPS)
trap (NCV)
Translate as behavior associated with the use of a net. For example:
hunts down (GNT)
ensnares (NAB)