30:11 Then you turned my lament into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy. 1
6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, 2
and sprawl out on their couches.
They eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the middle of the pen.
6:5 They sing 3 to the tune of 4 stringed instruments; 5
like David they invent 6 musical instruments.
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, 7
and pour the very best oils on themselves. 8
Yet they are not concerned over 9 the ruin 10 of Joseph.
6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, 11
and the religious banquets 12 where they sprawl on couches 13 will end.
8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, 14
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes 15
and cause every head to be shaved bald. 16
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; 17
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. 18
1 sn Covered me with joy. “Joy” probably stands metonymically for festive attire here.
2 tn Heb “beds of ivory.”
3 tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּרַט (parat), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. Some translate “strum,” “pluck,” or “improvise.”
4 tn Heb “upon the mouth of,” that is, “according to.”
5 sn The stringed instruments mentioned here are probably harps (cf. NIV, NRSV) or lutes (cf. NEB).
6 tn The meaning of the Hebrew phrase חָשְׁבוּ לָהֶם (khoshvu lahem) is uncertain. Various options include: (1) “they think their musical instruments are like David’s”; (2) “they consider themselves musicians like David”; (3) “they esteem musical instruments highly like David”; (4) “they improvise [new songs] for themselves [on] instruments like David”; (5) “they invent musical instruments like David.” However, the most commonly accepted interpretation is that given in the translation (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 206-7).
4 sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).
5 tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”
6 tn Or “not sickened by.”
7 sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.
5 tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”
6 sn Religious banquets. This refers to the מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh), a type of pagan religious banquet popular among the upper class of Israel at this time and apparently associated with mourning. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 137-61; J. L. McLaughlin, The “Marzeah” in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup). Scholars debate whether at this banquet the dead were simply remembered or actually venerated in a formal, cultic sense.
7 tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.
6 tn Heb “mourning.”
7 tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”
8 tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).
9 tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”
10 tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.
7 tn This term and the following one are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.
8 tn Grk “let your laughter be turned.”