MIC 7:4 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 best of them is like a thorn-bush.
⇔ ≈ The most upright is worse than a prickly hedge.
⇔ It’s the day foretold by your watchmen—
⇔ the day of your punishment.
⇔ Now is the time of their confusion.

Key: khaki:verbs.
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 ὡς σὴς ἐκτρώγων, καὶ βαδίζων ἐπὶ κανόνος ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σκοπιᾶς· οὐαὶ οὐαὶ, αἱ ἐκδικήσεις σου ἥκασι, νῦν ἔσονται κλαυθμοὶ αὐτῶν.
(hōs saʸs ektrōgōn, kai badizōn epi kanonos en haʸmera skopias; ouai ouai, hai ekdikaʸseis sou haʸkasi, nun esontai klauthmoi autōn. )

BrTr therefore I will take away their goods as a devouring moth, and as one who acts by a rigid rule in a day of visitation. Woe, woe, thy times of vengeance are come; now shall be their lamentations.

ULT The best of them is like a brier,
⇔ the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge.
⇔ It is the day foretold by your watchmen,
⇔ the day of your punishment.
⇔ Now is the time of their confusion.

UST Even the best people are as worthless as briers;
⇔ the people who we thought to be the most honest are worse than thornbushes.
⇔ But Yahweh will soon judge them.
⇔ Now is the time that he will punish people,
⇔ when they will be very confused because of it.

OEB ⇔ The best of them are like a thorn thicket,
⇔ their most upright like a prickly hedge.
⇔ The day of their punishment has come,
⇔ now will be their confusion!

WEBBE The best of them is like a brier.
⇔ The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge.
⇔ The day of your watchmen,
⇔ even your visitation, has come;
⇔ now is the time of their confusion.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The best of them is like a thorn;
⇔ the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes.
⇔ The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
⇔ your appointed time of punishment – is on the way,
⇔ and then you will experience confusion.

LSV Their best one [is] as a brier,
The upright one—than a thorn-hedge,
The day of your watchmen—Your visitation—has come. Now is their perplexity.

FBV Even the best of them is like a thorny bush, the most honest like a thorn hedge. Your day of judgment that was announced by the prophets,[fn] your time of punishment, has arrived. You'rethrown into complete confusion.

7:4 Literally, “the day of your watchmen.”

T4T Even the best people are as worthless [SIM] as briers;
⇔ the people who are considered by others to be [IRO] the most honest are worse than clumps of thornbushes.
⇔ But, Yahweh will soon judge them;
⇔ now is the time that he will punish people,
⇔ a time when they will be very confused because of being defeated.

LEB • The best of them is like a brier; the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
• The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come;
• now their confusion will come.

BBE The best of them is like a waste plant, and their upright ones are like a wall of thorns. Sorrow! the day of their fate has come; now will trouble come on them.

Moff The best of them are no better than briars,
⇔ the straightest are like thorns twisted in a hedge.
⇔ Their hour of punishment is coming;
⇔ it will be wrack and ruin.
¶ 

JPS The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge; the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.

ASV The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.

DRA He that is best among them, is as a brier: and he that is righteous, as the thorn of the hedge. The day of thy inspection, thy visitation cometh: now shall be their destruction.

YLT Their best one [is] as a brier, The upright one — than a thorn-hedge, The day of thy watchmen — Thy visitation — hath come. Now is their perplexity.

Drby The best of them is as a briar; the most upright, [worse] than a thorn-fence. The day of thy watchmen, thy visitation is come; now shall be their perplexity.

RV The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.
(The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy/your watchmen, even thy/your visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity. )

SLT Their good as the thorn, the upright more than the thorn-hedge: the day of thy watchings and thy reviewings came; now shall be their perplexity.

Wbstr The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

KJB-1769 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
(The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy/your watchmen and thy/your visitation cometh/comes; now shall be their perplexity. )

KJB-1611 The best of them is as a brier: the most vpright is sharper then a thorne hedge: the day of thy watchmen, and thy visitation commeth; now shall be their perplexitie.
(The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper then a thorn hedge: the day of thy/your watchmen, and thy/your visitation cometh/comes; now shall be their perplexity.)

Bshps The best of them is as bryer, and the most righteous of them is sharper then a thorne hedge: the day of thy watchmen, and of thy visitation commeth: then shalbe their confusion.
(The best of them is as brier, and the most righteous of them is sharper then a thorn hedge: the day of thy/your watchmen, and of thy/your visitation cometh/comes: then shall be their confusion.)

Gnva The best of them is as a brier, and the most righteous of them is sharper then a thorne hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation commeth: then shalbe their confusion.
(The best of them is as a brier, and the most righteous of them is sharper then a thorn hedge: the day of thy/your watchmen and thy/your visitation cometh/comes: then shall be their confusion. )

Cvdl The best off the is but as a thistle, and the most rightuous of them is but as a brere in the hedge But when the daye of thy preachers commeth, yt thou shalt be vysited: the shal they be waisted a waye.
(The best off the is but as a thistle, and the most righteous of them is but as a brere in the hedge But when the day of thy/your preachers cometh/comes, it thou/you shalt/shall be visited: the shall they be wasted a way.)

Wycl He that is best in hem, is as a paluyre; and he that is riytful, is as a thorn of hegge. The dai of thi biholdyng, thi visityng cometh, now schal be distriyng of hem.
(He that is best in hem, is as a paluyre; and he that is rightful, is as a thorn of hegge. The day of thy/your beholding, thy/your visiting cometh/comes, now shall be destroying of hem.)

Luth Der Beste unter ihnen ist wie ein Dorn und der Redlichste wie eine Hecke. Aber wenn der Tag deiner Prediger kommen wird, wenn du heimgesucht sollst werden, da werden sie dann nicht wissen, wo aus.
(The Beste under to_them is as/like a Dorn and the/of_the Redlichste as/like a/one Hecke. But when the/of_the day your(s) preacher coming becomes, when you(sg) visited/haunted should become, there become they/she/them then not realise, where out.)

ClVg Qui optimus in eis est, quasi paliurus, et qui rectus, quasi spina de sepe. Dies speculationis tuæ, visitatio tua venit: nunc erit vastitas eorum.
(Who the_best in/into/on to_them it_is, as_if paliurus, and who/which straight/righteous, as_if spina from/about sepe. The_day watchtowertionis yours, a_visit your he_came: now will_be vastitas their. )

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)

7:4a–b

(combined/reordered)

The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch. (CEV)

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^4a The best of them is like a brier;

^4b the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.

In Hebrew, there is an ellipsis (a deliberately omitted phrase) in 7:4b (bracketed in the BSB above). In some languages, you may not need to do this, or it may be more natural to supply missing words that match 7:4a more closely. For example:

^4b the most upright is like a hedge of thorns.

In these parallel lines Micah continues to describe the widespread evil among the people of that time. Each line is a figure of speech that compares the best of the people to undesirable weeds.

The best of them…the most upright: In Hebrew, these phrases are more literally “their good person” and “an upright [person].” In Hebrew, the word “good” means “ethical.”BDB #2895 (page 374). In Hebrew, the word upright means “morally straight” or “just.”BDB #3477 (page 449) and Mounce (page 954). However, in this context these words are meant as sarcasm.UBS (pages 246–247). The people are not truly good and upright. The similes indicate that the level/standard of moral goodness and responsibility among the people is very low.NICOT (page 387) and UBS (pages 246–247).

Here are some ways to translate these phrases:

Use sarcasm. Rely on the comparison of the people to weeds to indicate that the words for “good” and upright are meant negatively here. This example uses superlatives, best and most.A superlative is a word that means “surpassing all others.” See Merriam-Webster “Superlative.” In these phrases the superlatives indicate that these are the most responsible people among them. It gives attention to the most responsible people among them.
The best of them is like a briar. The most decent person is sharper than thornbushes. (GW) This example uses normal words for “good” and upright. It gives attention to the people as a group.
Their goodness is twisted like rank weeds and their honesty like briars. (REB)
Translate the negative meaning of the words “good” and upright in this context. For example:
The so called good person is really as bad as a brier. The one they say is upright is dangerous like a thorn bush that pricks and scratches.
Some of them are as bad as briars and thorns, and the rest of them are even worse.Modified from a suggestion by UBS (pages 246–247).

brier…hedge of thorns: In Hebrew, the words brier and hedge of thorns refer to plants with thorns. Here the similes compare the people to these thorny plants. The way they are similar is that they are both harmful.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

thornbush…prickly plant (NCV)

rank weeds…briars (NEB)

sharper than a hedge of thorns: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “more than a thorn hedge.” A hedge is a row of plants that may line the boundary of a property. The phrase probably means that the upright person of this simile causes even more harm/injury to other people than a thorn hedge would cause.Pusey (page 91) and the NET footnote on “a row of thorn bushes.” Some versions, including the BSB, make this meaning clear. For example:

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes (NET)

The [most] upright, worse than a barrier of thorns (NJPS)

General Comment on 7:4a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel lines. For example:

The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch. (CEV)

Even the best and most honest of them are as worthless as weeds. (GNT)

7:4a

The best of them is like a brier;

The best of them is like an overgrown patch of weeds/thorns,
Even the so-called good people are as bad/dangerous as prickly weeds,

7:4b

the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.

and their honesty like briars. (REB)
and the upright people are worse than thorn bushes.

7:4c

The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation.

God warned you through the prophets that he would come to punish you. That day has arrived!
The time of God’s punishment has come,

The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation: The phrases The day for your watchmen and the day of your visitation, are two ways to refer to the same event. The word day does not refer to a literal 24–hour day. Here it refers to the time when the LORD would punish the people of Israel. The phrase has come indicates that the time had arrived.

The day for your watchmen: There is a textual issue about the word watchmen:

The Masoretic Text has watchmen. For example:
The day of your watchmen (ESV) (CEV, ESV, GNT, KJV, NAB, NASB, BSB, NCV, NIV, NRSV)
Some scholars say that the original word was “judgment.”See CBC (page 343). For example:
But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. (NLT) (NLT, REB)
Some scholars say that the original word was “from the north.”See Waltke 2007 (page 421). For example:
Now from the north their punishment approaches! (NJB) (NJB)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions and commentaries.

At the time of Micah, a “watchman” or “sentinel” was a person who gave a warning to the residents of a town or city when he saw potential danger. In this verse the word watchmen referred to the prophets. In the past the prophets had warned the people that this time of punishment was coming.UBS, KD, and A&F.

Here are some ways to translate the phrase The day for your watchmen:

Make some aspects of meaning more explicit. Both examples below make explicit that the people were previously warned. The second example also makes explicit the identity of the sentinels/watchmen:
The day that your watchmen warned you about has come. (NCV)
The day has come when God will punish the people, as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. (GNT)
Translate the phrase literally and leave the aspects of meaning implied. For example:
The day of their watchmen, of their punishment, has come. (RSV)
Leave the entire phrase The day for your watchmen implied. Allow the reference to punishment to provide the meaning. For example:
The day of their punishment has come (REB)
But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your time of punishment is here (NLT)

your: In 7:4a–b and 7:4d Micah uses the pronouns “them” and “their” to talk about the people. He used the pronoun your in this line and in 7:5 to address the people directly.Some commentators propose that a change of speaker and/or addressee occurs here. For example, A&F suggest that the speaker is the LORD and the addressee is the people. NICOT proposes that the speaker is Micah and the addressee is the LORD. These notes will follow the suggestion of UBS, NAC, KD and Waltke 2007, all of whom regard Micah to be the speaker and the addressee to be the people. In Hebrew poetry, it is common for an author to alternate pronouns in this way, even though the pronoun referent remains the same.

One way that versions reduce the potential confusion to readers is to reduce the number of times the pronouns alternate. For example, the NRSV has “their” in this line to match the other pronouns in 7:4. The NIV does it differently. It has “you/your” in this line and in 7:4d:

^4cThe day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. ^4dNow is the time of your confusion. (NIV)

Use the most natural and least confusing way in your language to translate the pronouns in this verse.

the day of your visitation: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “your visitation.” Here the phrase means “the LORD’s judgment of the people.”HALOT (electronic edition, page 958), BDB #6486 (page 824). Waltke 2007 (page 421) calls the phrase “a metonymy for judgment.” Also see Davis, NAC, and CBC.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

your doom (NJPS)

your judgment day…Your time of punishment (NLT)

7:4d

Now is the time of their confusion.

Now a time will begin when you will be terrified/confused.
and it will be a time of panic/confusion.

Now is the time of their confusion: This line means that the punishment from the LORD will cause confusion among the people.

Now: This word indicates “at that time.” Here are some other ways to translate it:

Then (NASB)

That will be when (NJB)

is the time: This phrase is not in the Hebrew text. It is an expression in English that the BSB and some other versions supply. It reinforces that the time of punishment would happen at that time. If this expression is not natural in your language, it is best to leave it untranslated.

confusion: This word refers to chaos or disorder or panic that results from an attack by an enemy.NAC, Davis, and CBC. The LORD probably allowed this kind of attack as his means of punishment.