Vindication and the Restoration of the Remnant
Micah 7:8-13
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Mic.7.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אל: NEG
- תשמחי: VERB,qal,juss,2,f,sg
- איבתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- כי: CONJ
- נפלתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- קמתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- כי: CONJ
- אשב: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,sg
- בחשך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 24:16 (thematic): Both verses express the motif of falling and rising again—persistence and vindication despite setbacks (’a righteous man falls seven times and rises again’).
- Psalm 18:28 (verbal): A close verbal/theological parallel: ‘For you light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness,’ echoing Micah’s claim that YHWH is his light in darkness.
- Isaiah 9:2 (thematic): Both contrast darkness with divine light bringing hope—‘the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,’ paralleling YHWH as light to one who sits in darkness.
- Lamentations 3:21-24 (structural): Shared context of suffering followed by confident hope in the LORD’s faithfulness (‘This I call to mind... The LORD is my portion’), similar to Micah’s refusal to let enemies rejoice because YHWH will restore and be his light.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; though I have fallen, I will rise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD is my light.
- Do not rejoice, my enemy, over me; though I fall I will rise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
Mic.7.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זעף: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אשא: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- כי: CONJ
- חטאתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- עד: PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יריב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ריבי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,1,sg
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- משפטי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- יוציאני: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg+obj1,sg
- לאור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אראה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- בצדקתו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+prs3,m
Parallels
- Psalm 51:4 (verbal): David confesses sin directly to God—'Against you, you only, have I sinned'—and seeks God's justification; parallels Micah's admission of sin before the LORD and appeal to God's righteous judgment.
- Daniel 9:5 (verbal): Daniel's corporate confession 'we have sinned and done wickedly' and plea for mercy echo Micah's acknowledgment of sin, enduring divine anger, and seeking God's vindication.
- Lamentations 3:25-26 (thematic): Affirms the goodness of the LORD to those who wait and quietly hope for him; parallels Micah's patient bearing of God's wrath 'until he pleads my cause' and the expectation of seeing God's righteousness.
- Habakkuk 3:2 (allusion): The petition 'in wrath remember mercy' captures the tension in Micah between divine indignation and the plea for mercy—bearing the LORD's anger while seeking his compassionate action.
Alternative generated candidates
- I will bear the LORD's wrath, for I have sinned against him; until he pleads my cause and executes justice for me—he will bring me out into the light, and then I shall behold his righteousness.
- I will bear the LORD’s wrath, for I have sinned against him; until he pleads my cause and executes my judgment—he will bring me out into the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Mic.7.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותרא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,f,sg
- איבתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- ותכסה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בושה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- האמרה: VERB,qal,ptc,3,f,sg
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- איו: ADV,interr
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- תראינה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,pl
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- עתה: ADV
- תהיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,sg
- למרמס: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- כטיט: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חוצות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 41:11-12 (thematic): Enemies are put to shame and made powerless while the LORD promises deliverance—parallel theme of foes being confounded and reduced to nothing like Micah’s taunted question ‘Where is the Lord?’ and God’s vindication.
- Psalm 35:4-8 (verbal): The psalmist prays that those who seek his life be confounded, ashamed, turned back and trampled—language and imagery close to Micah’s depiction of enemies seeing, covering their faces in shame, and being trampled like mire.
- Ezekiel 36:20-23 (structural): Nations deride Israel and speak of their God’s absence; God answers by vindicating his name so the nations know him—structurally parallels Micah’s situation where taunts (‘Where is the LORD your God?’) are met by divine vindication.
- Isaiah 52:5-6 (allusion): God laments that his name was profaned among the nations and promises a reversal so the nations will know and be ashamed—an allusive echo of Micah’s theme that those who mocked God will see and be put to shame.
Alternative generated candidates
- My enemies will see and be put to shame—those who say to me, “Where now is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see them; now they shall be trampled like the mire of the streets.
- My enemies shall see and be put to shame—those who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will look upon them; now they shall be trampled like the mire of the streets.
Mic.7.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לבנות: ADJ,f,pl,abs
- גדריך: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- ירחק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- חק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 9:11 (verbal): Speaks of raising up and repairing what has fallen ('the booth/tabernacle of David' and closing breaches) — closely parallels Micah's language of rebuilding/repairing walls and restoration.
- Jeremiah 31:38-40 (thematic): Promises a future rebuilding and enduring restoration of Jerusalem's walls and cities — parallels Micah's image of a decisive day of rebuilding and security.
- Zechariah 8:9-13 (thematic): Foretells renewed prosperity, rebuilding, and security for Zion and its inhabitants — echoes Micah's theme of a coming day of restoration and flourishing.
- Isaiah 62:6-7 (allusion): Calls for watchmen and intercession until God's restoration and vindication of Zion — thematically parallel to Micah's emphasis on a coming day when the city/people are reestablished and honored.
Alternative generated candidates
- A day to build up your walls—on that day the boundary will extend far.
- A day to build your walls—on that day the boundary shall be drawn far.
Mic.7.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- ועדיך: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+2ms
- יבוא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- למני: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשור: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- וערי: NOUN,f,pl,const
- מצור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולמני: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מצור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועד: CONJ+PREP
- נהר: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- וים: CONJ
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- והר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ההר: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Isaiah 11:11-16 (thematic): Like Mic.7:12, Isaiah speaks of a future 'in that day' restoration in which God gathers the remnant from far places (including Assyria) and brings them to the land—using territorial language from Assyria to the sea.
- Zechariah 10:10 (thematic): Promises of regathering Israel 'from Assyria' and 'from Egypt' parallel Micah’s picture of peoples coming from Assyria to the fortified cities and to the sea—both portray a divine return from exile.
- Psalm 114:3-5 (verbal): Psalm 114 uses the same cluster of miraculous motifs—sea fleeing, Jordan turning back, mountains skipping—which echoes Micah’s image of the sea being moved and mountains in the context of divine intervention.
- Psalm 46:2-3 (verbal): The extraordinary cosmological imagery (earth giving way, mountains falling into the sea) parallels Micah’s language of seas and mountains being shaken/moved to signal God’s decisive act on behalf of his people.
Alternative generated candidates
- The remnant of men will come to you—people kept for you will come: from Assyria and from fortified cities; from fortress to river, from sea to sea, from mountain to mountain.
- In that day peoples will come to you: from Assyria and from the fortified cities, from stronghold to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
Mic.7.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- לשממה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- ישביה: NOUN,m,pl,poss:3f
- מפרי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,constr
- מעלליהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
Parallels
- Leviticus 26:32-33 (thematic): Curses for covenant unfaithfulness: the land is made desolate and the people are scattered because of their disobedience, echoing Micah’s link between inhabitants’ deeds and land devastation.
- Deuteronomy 28:25 (thematic): Part of the Deuteronomic curse traditions where defeat and exile lead to cities and land becoming waste—paralleling Micah’s cause-and-effect between peoples’ sins and a desolate land.
- Isaiah 24:5 (verbal): Isaiah states the earth is defiled by its inhabitants because of their transgressions, closely paralleling Micah’s language that the land becomes desolate on account of the inhabitants’ deeds.
- Hosea 4:3 (verbal): Hosea declares the land will mourn and its inhabitants waste away because of their sins, using similar imagery of land suffering as a direct result of the people’s wrongdoing.
- Ezekiel 36:17-19 (allusion): Ezekiel portrays the land as defiled by Israel’s abominations and describes exile/scattering and divine judgment upon the land—an expanded prophetic treatment of the same causal connection Micah asserts.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the land will be laid waste of its inhabitants because of the fruit of their deeds.
- And the land shall become a desolation for its inhabitants, because of the fruit of their deeds.
Do not rejoice, my enemy, over me; for though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
I will bear the LORD’s anger, for I have sinned against him—until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out into the light; then I will see his righteousness.
My enemy shall see and be covered with shame—the one who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes shall look on her; now she will be trampled like the mire of the streets.
A day to build your walls—on that day the boundary line will be far removed.
At that time your exiles shall come—those from Assyria and from fortified cities, from the stronghold to the river, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. And the land shall lie desolate because of its inhabitants, on account of the fruit of their deeds.