1:7 So I will set Gaza’s city wall 1 on fire;
fire 2 will consume her fortresses.
1:10 So I will set fire to Tyre’s city wall; 3
fire 4 will consume her fortresses.”
1:12 So I will set Teman 5 on fire;
fire 6 will consume Bozrah’s 7 fortresses.”
2:5 So I will set Judah on fire,
and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.” 8
1:4 So I will set Hazael’s house 9 on fire;
fire 10 will consume Ben Hadad’s 11 fortresses.
1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s 12 city wall; 13
fire 14 will consume her fortresses.
War cries will be heard on the day of battle; 15
a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. 16
2:2 So I will set Moab on fire, 17
and it will consume Kerioth’s 18 fortresses.
Moab will perish 19 in the heat of battle 20
amid war cries and the blaring 21 of the ram’s horn. 22
3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)
“They store up 23 the spoils of destructive violence 24 in their fortresses.
3:9 Make this announcement in 25 the fortresses of Ashdod
and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.
Say this:
“Gather on the hills around Samaria! 26
Observe the many acts of violence 27 taking place within the city, 28
the oppressive deeds 29 occurring in it.” 30
3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. 31
He will take away your power; 32
your fortresses will be looted.”
6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. 33
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:
“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;
I hate their 34 fortresses.
I will hand over to their enemies 35 the city of Samaria 36 and everything in it.”
1 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
2 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
4 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 sn Teman was an important region (or perhaps city) in Edom.
6 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 sn Bozrah was a city located in northern Edom.
7 map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
9 tn “Hazael’s house” (“the house of Hazael”) refers to the dynasty of Hazael.
10 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 sn Ben-hadad may refer to Hazael’s son and successor (2 Kgs 13:3, 24) or to an earlier king (see 1 Kgs 20), perhaps the ruler whom Hazael assassinated when he assumed power.
11 sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.
12 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
13 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”
15 tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”
13 sn The destruction of Moab by fire is an example of a judgment in kind – as the Moabites committed the crime of “burning,” so the
14 sn Kerioth was an important Moabite city. See Jer 48:24, 41.
15 tn Or “die” (KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV); NAB “shall meet death.”
16 tn Or “in the tumult.” This word refers to the harsh confusion of sounds that characterized an ancient battle – a mixture of war cries, shouts, shrieks of pain, clashes of weapons, etc.
17 tn Heb “sound” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
18 sn The ram’s horn (used as a trumpet) was blown to signal the approaching battle.
15 tn Heb “those who.”
16 tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.
17 tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).
18 sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.
19 tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.
20 tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”
21 tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).
22 tn Heb “within her.”
19 tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”
20 tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.
21 tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”
22 tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.
23 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
24 tn Heb “the city”; this probably refers to the city of Samaria (cf. 6:1), which in turn, by metonymy, represents the entire northern kingdom.