Verse 13 is direct quotation of words addressed by the Lord to his people. Good News Translation has added The LORD says to make this clear.
As elsewhere, the literal “daughter of Zion” (Revised Standard Version) means People of Jerusalem.
The metaphor of threshing grain is continued in the Hebrew, where the people are told to “Arise and thresh” (Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation drops the metaphor here and gives the plain meaning, go and punish your enemies!
The Lord promises to give his people strength for this task. This promise is expressed in a further metaphor that is turned into a simile in Good News Translation, I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. The reference to a bull is probably a continuation of the picture of threshing, since animals were used to tread on the grain in order to separate the ears, or heads, from the stalks (see Deut 25.4; Hos 10.11). In cultures where this practice is still known, it may be possible to retain the image of threshing with an animal in both verse 12 and verse 13. However, in many situations this will not be the case, and where the image would not be understood, it should be dropped, and the meaning should be expressed in plain language.
But even where threshing with animals is not known, it may be possible to retain the reference to the bull simply as a symbol of strength, as Good News Translation has done. The reference to iron horns and bronze hoofs may need to be expanded so as to say “I will make you as strong as a bull, as if it had horns made of iron and hoofs made of bronze.” Iron and bronze were the strongest metals available in the period of the Old Testament prophets. Even when it seems possible to keep the image, it may be helpful to make certain points a little clearer. For example, one could begin the verse with “Jerusalem (or, People of Jerusalem), you are like a threshing bull, so start the threshing now.” Some commentators say that bulls will poke the grain with their horns while threshing, but it seems more likely that the horns are mentioned only to show how strong the bull is.
With the strength that the Lord gives them, the people of Jerusalem will crush many nations, those very nations who had gathered against them. The word crush means to grind into dust. Translators who are keeping the threshing image should use a word that fits the action of threshing.
The wealth that the victorious people of Israel take from their enemies they will present to me, the Lord of the whole world. That is to say, the people are to treat the things they capture just as Joshua and his army treated the things they captured at Jericho (Josh 6.17-19, 24). They were to burn everything that could be burned, and metal objects that would not burn were broken and put into the Lord’s treasury. The word translated wealth in Good News Translation includes two Hebrew words (“gain” and “wealth” in Revised Standard Version). These words seem to cover both the wealth that the enemy rightfully owned and the plunder that they had taken from others by violence in the course of battle. All this would pass into the hands of the victorious people of Israel, and they would present it to the Lord.
The Lord is here described as the Lord of the whole world. This is an appropriate description in a setting in which he gives his people victory over many nations. This shows that he is the real Lord even of these nations. The nations, however, do not recognize or accept him as their ruler, so the term used for Lord here should not imply that they do.
In some languages it may be necessary to say that the people of Jerusalem will first take the wealth from their enemies and then present it to the Lord. It is probably not necessary to put into the translation the details of what will be done with the things that are captured. The important fact is that the people will not keep these things for themselves, but they will bring all of them to present or dedicate to the Lord.
The last part of verse 13 may have to be restructured in many languages, because so many ideas are combined in one sentence. One possibility may be “You will crush many nations and take away all of the valuable things that they have obtained by violence. You will bring all of these things and present them to me, the Lord of the whole world.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .