28:1 “If you indeed 5 obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving 6 you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.
8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments 11 I am giving 12 you today so that you may live, increase in number, 13 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 14
34:29 But if God 15 is quiet, who can condemn 16 him?
If he hides his face, then who can see him?
Yet 17 he is over the individual and the nation alike, 18
ש (Sin/Shin)
1:21 They have heard 19 that I groan,
yet there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you 20 have brought it about. 21
Bring about 22 the day of judgment 23 that you promised 24
so that 25 they may end up 26 like me!
5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he can turn the darkness into morning
and daylight 27 into night.
He summons the water of the seas
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name!
7:4 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw 28 the sovereign Lord summoning a shower of fire. 29 It consumed the great deep and devoured the fields.
9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace 30 in heaven
and sets its foundation supports 31 on the earth. 32
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name.
1 tn Heb “The
2 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
3 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
4 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
5 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”
6 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).
7 tn Heb “to the
8 tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “an abomination”; cf. NAB) describes persons, things, or practices offensive to ritual or moral order. See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:314-18; see also the note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25.
9 tn Heb “gates.”
10 tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the
11 tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).
12 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).
13 tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”
14 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).
15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn The verb in this position is somewhat difficult, although it does make good sense in the sentence – it is just not what the parallelism would suggest. So several emendations have been put forward, for which see the commentaries.
17 tn The line simply reads “and over a nation and over a man together.” But it must be the qualification for the points being made in the previous lines, namely, that even if God hides himself so no one can see, yet he is still watching over them all (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 222).
18 tn The word translated “alike” (Heb “together”) has bothered some interpreters. In the reading taken here it is acceptable. But others have emended it to gain a verb, such as “he visits” (Beer), “he watches over” (Duhm), “he is compassionate” (Kissane), etc. But it is sufficient to say “he is over.”
19 tc The MT reads שָׁמְעוּ (sham’u, “They heard”), Qal perfect 3rd person common plural from שָׁמַע (shama’, “to hear”). The LXX ἀκούσατε (akousate) reflects the vocalization שִׁמְעוּ (shim’u, “Hear!”), Qal imperative 2nd person masculine plural from שָׁמַע (shama’, “to hear”). Internal evidence favors the MT. Elsewhere in Lamentations, personified Jerusalem urges God with singular imperatives (“Look! See!”); however, nowhere else is a plural imperative used. In fact, the Qal perfect 3rd person common plural form שָׁמְעוּ (sham’u, “They hear”) appears in the following line. The referent of שָׁמְעוּ (sham’u) is the enemy who has destroyed Jerusalem and now mocks her when they hear her laments. The MT vocalization is undoubtedly original. Most English versions follow the MT: “They hear” (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, NJPS, CEV); but several follow the LXX and revocalize the text as an imperative: “Hear!” (RSV, NRSV, TEV).
20 tn “You” here and in the following line refers to the
21 tn Heb “that You have done it.”
22 tn The verb הֵבֵאתָ (heve’ta) Hiphil perfect 2nd person masculine singular from בּוֹא (bo’, “to bring” in the Hiphil) probably functions, not as a simple past-time perfect, but as a precative perfect, an unusual volitional nuance similar to the imperative of request. The precative is used in reference to situations the speaker prays for and expects to be realized; it is a prayer or request of confidence (e.g., 2 Sam 7:29; Job 21:16; 22:18; Pss 3:8; 4:2; 7:7; 22:22; 31:5-6; 71:3; Lam 1:21). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. This volitional precative nuance is reflected in the Syriac Peshitta which translates this verb using an imperative. Most English versions adopt the precative nuance: “Bring on the day you have announced” (NRSV), “Oh, that Thou wouldst bring the day which Thou hast proclaimed” (NASB), “May you bring the day you have announced” (NIV), “Bring the day you promised” (TEV), “Oh, bring on them what befell me!” (NJPS), “Hurry and punish them, as you have promised” (CEV). A few English versions adopt a prophetic perfect future-time nuance: “thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called” (KJV, NKJV, ASV).
23 tn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is often used as a metonymy of association, standing for the event associated with that particular time period: judgment (e.g., Isa 2:12; 13:6, 9; Jer 46:10; Lam 2:22; Ezek 13:5; 30:3; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad 15; Zeph 1:7, 14; Zech 14:1; Mal 3:23) (BDB 399 s.v. 3).
24 tn Heb “proclaimed.”
25 tn Heb “and.” Following a volitive use of the perfect, the vav (ו) prefixed to וְיִהְיוּ (vÿyihyu, “and let it be!”) introduces a purpose/result clause in a dependent volitive construction: “so that they may be like me!”
26 tn Heb “that they be like me.”
27 tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”
28 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
29 tc The Hebrew appears to read, “summoning to contend with fire,” or “summoning fire to contend,” but both are problematic syntactically (H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos [Hermeneia], 292; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 230-31). Many emend the text to לרבב אשׁ, “(calling) for a shower of fire,” though this interpretation is also problematic (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 746-47).
30 tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).
31 tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.
32 sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.