Footnotes

1. Micah 7:14 tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a rod, such as a ṣhepherd’s rod, or a “scepter.”
2. Micah 7:14 tn Heb “the flock of your inheritance.”
3. Micah 7:14 tn Or “in the midst of Carmel.” The Hebrew term translated “pastureland” may be a place name.sn The point seems to be that Israel is in a vulnerable position, like sheep in a thicket populated by predators, while rich pastureland (their homeland and God’s blessings) is in view.
4. Micah 7:14 sn The regions of Bashan and Gilead, located in Transjordan, were noted for their rich grazing lands.
5. Micah 7:14 tn Heb “as in the days of antiquity.”
6. Micah 7:15 tn Heb “him.” This probably refers to Israel in a collective sense. Because the switch from direct address to the third person is awkward, some prefer to emend the suffix to a second person form. In any case, it is necessary to employ a second person pronoun in the translation to maintain the connection for the English reader.
7. Micah 7:15 sn I will show you miraculous deeds. In this verse the Lord responds to the petition of v. 14 with a brief promise of deliverance.
8. Micah 7:16 tn Or “be ashamed of.”
9. Micah 7:16 tn Heb “and their ears will be deaf.” Apparently this means the opposing nations will be left dumbfounded by the Lord’s power. Their inability to respond will make them appear to be deaf mutes.
10. Micah 7:17 tn Heb “like crawling things on the ground.” The parallelism suggests snakes are in view.
11. Micah 7:17 tn The translation assumes that the phrase אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ (ʾel y^ehvah ʾelohenu, “to the Lord our God”) goes with what precedes. Another option is to take the phrase with the following verb, in which case one could translate, “to the Lord our God they will turn in dread.”
12. Micah 7:17 tn Heb “they will be in dread and afraid.”
13. Micah 7:17 tn The Lord is addressed directly using the second person.
14. Micah 7:18 sn The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!” The claim is supported by the following description.
15. Micah 7:18 tn Heb “one who,” a substantival participle. The descriptions in the rest of vv. 18-19 fill out the rhetorical question, “Who is a God like you?” That is, they provide descriptions of God as reasons that make him without equal. This context uses two participles, e.g. “who forgives” and “who pardons,” and then independent clauses with third person verbs. A similar construction occurs in Ps 113:5-9, with participles and a third person finite verb in v. 7. Here, making the two participles grammatically dependent on the rhetorical question and then switching to the third person is confusing English style. It masks that all these descriptions are serving the same function as a list of unique qualities of God, who is addressed in the second person. To tie these together in English, all the descriptions can be made into second person statements (so NIV), though this does not clarify the distinction of when the original text deliberately switches back to second person in v. 20. Another approach would be to translate the third person clauses as indefinite and dependent, e.g. “Who is…like you, someone who does X, someone who does Y?” Or the interrogative force can be be extended, e.g. “Who is the one who does not stay angry?”
16. Micah 7:18 tn Heb “passes over.”
17. Micah 7:18 tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”
18. Micah 7:19 tn The interrogative force of the previous verse is continued here, part of a list of attributes reinforcing the question, “Who is like God?”
19. Micah 7:19 tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.
20. Micah 7:19 tn Some prefer to read יִכְבֹּס (yikhbos, “he will cleanse”; see HALOT 459 s.v. כבס pi). If the MT is taken as it stands, sin is personified as an enemy that the Lord subdues.
21. Micah 7:19 tc The MT reads וְתַשְׁלִיך (v^etashlik, “and you will throw”), while the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate read “he will throw,” implying וְהַשְׁלִיך (v^ehashlik). Being conceptually tied to the previous verb, this one should be part of the list begun in v. 18, so the third person form is expected. Also the vav plus perfect consecutive is more typical than vav plus imperfect in this setting.
22. Micah 7:19 tc Heb “their sins.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate read “our sins.” The shape of the letters in the first person plural suffix נו (nun and vav) look very much like ם (a final mem), which makes the third person plural suffix. Confusing the two is not an uncommon copying error. It may also be an enclitic ם rather than a pronominal suffix. In that case the suffix from the preceding line (“our”) may be understood as doing double duty.
23. Micah 7:19 sn In this metaphor the Lord disposes of Israel’s sins by throwing them into the waters of the sea (here symbolic of chaos).
24. Micah 7:20 tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.”
25. Micah 7:20 tn Heb “our fathers,” meaning “our forefathers.”
26. Micah 7:20 tn Heb “from days of old.”