8:8 Because of this the earth 1 will quake, 2
and all who live in it will mourn.
The whole earth 3 will rise like the River Nile, 4
it will surge upward 5 and then grow calm, 6 like the Nile in Egypt. 7
12:4 How long must the land be parched 8
and the grass in every field be withered?
How long 9 must the animals and the birds die
because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land? 10
For these people boast,
“God 11 will not see what happens to us.” 12
4:3 Therefore the land will mourn,
and all its inhabitants will perish. 13
The wild animals, 14 the birds of the sky,
and even the fish in the sea will perish.
1 tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).
2 tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the
3 tn Heb “all of it.”
4 tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.
5 tn Or “churn.”
6 tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.
7 tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.
8 tn The verb here is often translated “mourn.” However, this verb is from a homonymic root meaning “to be dry” (cf. HALOT 7 s.v. II אָבַל and compare Hos 4:3 for usage).
9 tn The words “How long” are not in the text. They are carried over from the first line.
10 tn Heb “because of the wickedness of those who live in it.”
11 tn Heb “he.” The referent is usually identified as God and is supplied here for clarity. Some identify the referent with Jeremiah. If that is the case, then he returns to his complaint about the conspirators. It is more likely, however, that it refers to God and Jeremiah’s complaint that the people live their lives apart from concern about God.
12 tc Or reading with the Greek version, “God does not see what we are doing.” In place of “what will happen to us (אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ, ’akharitenu, “our end”) the Greek version understands a Hebrew text which reads “our ways” (אָרְחוֹתֵנו, ’orkhotenu), which is graphically very close to the MT. The Masoretic is supported by the Latin and is retained here on the basis of external evidence. Either text makes good sense in the context. Some identify the “he” with Jeremiah and understand the text to be saying that the conspirators are certain that they will succeed and he will not live to see his prophecies fulfilled.
13 tn Or “languish” (so KJV, NRSV); NIV “waste away.”
14 tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so NAB, NIV).