2 Chronicles 9:27

9:27 The king made silver as plentiful ¹  in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was ²  as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands ³ .

Isaiah 9:10

9:10 “The bricks have fallen,

but we will rebuild with chiseled stone;

the sycamore fig trees have been cut down,

but we will replace them with cedars.” ⁴ 

Amos 7:14

7:14 Amos replied ⁵  to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. ⁶  No, ⁷  I was a herdsman who also took care of ⁸  sycamore fig trees. ⁹ 

[9:27]  ¹ tn The words “as plentiful” are supplied for clarification.

[9:27]  ² tn Heb “he made cedar.”

[9:27]  ³ tn Heb “as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah.”

[9:10]  ⁴ sn Though judgment (see v. 8) had taken away the prosperity they did have (symbolized by the bricks and sycamore fig trees), they arrogantly expected the future to bring even greater prosperity (symbolized by the chiseled stone and cedars).

[7:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “replied and said.” The phrase “and said” is pleonastic (redundant) and has not been included in the translation.

[7:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “I was not a prophet nor was I the son of a prophet.” The phrase “son of a prophet” refers to one who was trained in a prophetic guild. Since there is no equative verb present in the Hebrew text, another option is to translate with the present tense, “I am not a prophet by profession.” In this case Amos, though now carrying out a prophetic ministry (v. 15), denies any official or professional prophetic status. Modern English versions are divided about whether to understand the past (JB, NIV, NKJV) or present tense (NASB, NEB, NRSV, NJPS) here.

[7:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “for.”

[7:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “gashed”; or “pierced.”

[7:14]  ⁹ sn It is possible that herdsmen agreed to care for sycamore fig trees in exchange for grazing rights. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 116-17. Since these trees do not grow around Tekoa but rather in the lowlands, another option is that Amos owned other property outside his hometown. In this case, this verse demonstrates his relative wealth and is his response to Amaziah; he did not depend on prophecy as a profession (v. 13).