2 Samuel 19:20

19:20 For I, your servant, ¹  know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

Ezekiel 37:16

37:16 “As for you, son of man, take one branch, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him.’

Ezekiel 37:19

37:19 tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, ²  and make them into one stick – they will be one in my hand.’ ³ 

Amos 5:15

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ⁴  justice at the city gate! ⁵ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ⁶  those who are left from ⁷  Joseph. ⁸ 

Amos 6:6

6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, ⁹ 

and pour the very best oils on themselves. ¹⁰ 

Yet they are not concerned over ¹¹  the ruin ¹²  of Joseph.

¹ tn The Hebrew text has simply “your servant.”

² tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”

³ sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.

⁴ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

⁵ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

⁶ tn Or “will show favor to.”

⁷ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

⁸ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

⁹ sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).

¹⁰ tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”

¹¹ tn Or “not sickened by.”

¹² sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.