Discovery Box2 Kings 17:6
Context17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel 1 to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.
2 Kings 17:18
Context17:18 So the Lord was furious 2 with Israel and rejected them; 3 only the tribe of Judah was left.
2 Kings 19:9-11
Context19:9 The king 4 heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him. 5 He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 19:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over 6 to the king of Assyria.” 19:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. 7 Do you really think you will be rescued? 8
Isaiah 7:8-9
Context7:8 For Syria’s leader is Damascus,
and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation. 9
7:9 Ephraim’s leader is Samaria,
and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah.
If your faith does not remain firm,
then you will not remain secure.” 10
Isaiah 8:4
Context8:4 for before the child knows how to cry out, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria 11 will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” 12
Isaiah 17:3
Context17:3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and Damascus will lose its kingdom. 13
The survivors in Syria
will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
Amos 3:9--4:1
Context3:9 Make this announcement in 14 the fortresses of Ashdod
and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.
Say this:
“Gather on the hills around Samaria! 15
Observe the many acts of violence 16 taking place within the city, 17
the oppressive deeds 18 occurring in it.” 19
3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)
“They store up 20 the spoils of destructive violence 21 in their fortresses.
3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. 22
He will take away your power; 23
your fortresses will be looted.”
3:12 This is what the Lord says:
“Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion’s mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. 24
They will be left with just a corner of a bed, 25
and a part 26 of a couch.”
3:13 Listen and warn 27 the family 28 of Jacob! 29
The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, 30 is speaking!
3:14 “Certainly when 31 I punish Israel for their 32 covenant transgressions, 33
I will destroy 34 Bethel’s 35 altars.
The horns 36 of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. 37
The houses filled with ivory 38 will be ruined,
the great 39 houses will be swept away.” 40
The Lord is speaking!
4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan 41 who live on Mount Samaria!
You 42 oppress the poor;
you crush the needy.
You say to your 43 husbands,
“Bring us more to drink!” 44
Amos 6:1-8
Context6:1 Woe 45 to those who live in ease in Zion, 46
to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
They think of themselves as 47 the elite class of the best nation.
The family 48 of Israel looks to them for leadership. 49
6:2 They say to the people: 50
“Journey over to Calneh and look at it!
Then go from there to Hamath-Rabbah! 51
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines!
Are they superior to our two 52 kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?” 53
6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, 54
but you establish a reign of violence. 55
6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, 56
and sprawl out on their couches.
They eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the middle of the pen.
6:5 They sing 57 to the tune of 58 stringed instruments; 59
like David they invent 60 musical instruments.
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, 61
and pour the very best oils on themselves. 62
Yet they are not concerned over 63 the ruin 64 of Joseph.
6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, 65
and the religious banquets 66 where they sprawl on couches 67 will end.
6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. 68
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:
“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;
I hate their 69 fortresses.
I will hand over to their enemies 70 the city of Samaria 71 and everything in it.”
Amos 9:1
Context9:1 I saw the sovereign One 72 standing by the altar 73 and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, 74 so the thresholds shake!
Knock them down on the heads of all the people, 75
and I will kill the survivors 76 with the sword.
No one will be able to run away; 77
no one will be able to escape. 78
Micah 1:4
Context1:4 The mountains will disintegrate 79 beneath him,
and the valleys will be split in two. 80
The mountains will melt 81 like wax in a fire,
the rocks will slide down like water cascading down a steep slope. 82
Micah 6:16
Context6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; 83
you follow their policies. 84
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, 85
the city’s 86 inhabitants will be taunted derisively, 87
and nations will mock all of you.” 88
[17:6] 1 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
[17:18] 2 tn Heb “very angry.”
[17:18] 3 tn Heb “turned them away from his face.”
[19:9] 4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:9] 5 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘Look, he has come out to fight with you.’”
[19:10] 6 tn Heb “will not be given.”
[19:11] 7 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
[19:11] 8 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
[7:8] 9 tn Heb “Ephraim will be too shattered to be a nation”; NIV “to be a people.”
[7:9] 10 tn Heb “if you do not believe, you will not endure.” The verb forms are second plural; the Lord here addresses the entire Davidic family and court. (Verse 4 was addressed to the king.) There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text, designed to draw attention to the alternatives set before the king (cf. 1:20). “Believe” (תַאֳמִינוּ, ta’aminu) is a Hiphil form of the verb אָמָן (’aman); “endure” (תֵאָמֵנוּ, te’amenu) is a Niphal form of this same verb.
[8:4] 11 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[8:4] 12 sn The child’s name foreshadows what will happen to Judah’s enemies; when their defeat takes place, the child will be a reminder that God predicted the event and brought it to pass. As such the child will be a reminder of God’s protective presence with his people.
[17:3] 13 tn Heb “and kingship from Damascus”; cf. NASB “And sovereignty from Damascus.”
[3:9] 14 tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).
[3:9] 15 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.
[3:9] 16 tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.
[3:9] 17 tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”
[3:9] 18 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).
[3:10] 21 tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.
[3:11] 22 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.”
[3:11] 23 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.
[3:12] 24 sn The verb translated salvaged, though often used in a positive sense of deliverance from harm, is here employed in a sarcastic manner. A shepherd would attempt to salvage part of an animal to prove that a predator had indeed killed it. In this way he could prove that he had not stolen the missing animal and absolve himself from any responsibility to repay the owner (see Exod 22:12-13).
[3:12] 25 tn Heb “with a corner of a bed.”
[3:12] 26 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word דְּמֶשֶׁק (dÿmesheq), which occurs only here, is uncertain. If not emended, it is usually related to the term ַדּמֶּשֶׂק (dammeseq) and translated as the “Damask linens” of the bed (cf. NASB “the cover”) or as “in Damascus” (so KJV, NJB, NIV). The differences in spelling (Damascus is spelled correctly in 5:27), historical considerations, and the word order make both of these derivations unlikely. Many emendations have been proposed (e.g., “a part from the foot [of a bed],” based on a different division of the Hebrew letters (cf. NEB, NRSV); “on the edge,” based on a Hebrew term not attested in the Bible (NKJV). Some suggest a resemblance to an Akkadian term which means “sideboard [of a bed],” which is sometimes incorrectly rendered “headboard” (NJPS; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 121-22). Most likely another part of a bed or couch is in view, but it is difficult to be more specific.
[3:13] 27 tn Or “testify against.”
[3:13] 29 tn These words are spoken to either the unidentified heralds addressed at the beginning of v. 9, or to the Egyptians and Philistines (see v. 9b). Another possibility is that one is not to look for a specific addressee but rather appreciate the command simply as a rhetorical device to grab the attention of the listeners and readers of the prophetic message.
[3:13] 30 tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”
[3:14] 31 tn Heb “in the day.”
[3:14] 32 tn Heb “his.” With the referent “Israel” here, this amounts to a collective singular.
[3:14] 33 tn Traditionally, “transgressions, sins,” but see the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3.
[3:14] 34 tn Heb “punish” (so NASB, NRSV).
[3:14] 35 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[3:14] 36 sn The horns of an ancient altar projected upwards from the four corners and resembled an animal’s horns in appearance. Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the
[3:15] 37 tn Heb “the winter house along with the summer house.”
[3:15] 38 tn Heb “houses of ivory.” These houses were not made of ivory, but they had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 139-48.
[3:15] 39 tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”
[3:15] 40 tn The translation assumes the form is from the Hebrew verb סָפָה (safah, “to sweep away”) rather than סוּף (suf, “to come to an end”), which is the choice of most versions. Either option effectively communicates the destruction of the structures.
[4:1] 41 sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.
[4:1] 42 tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).
[4:1] 44 sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).
[6:1] 45 tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.
[6:1] 46 sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.
[6:1] 47 tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.
[6:1] 49 tn Heb “comes to them.”
[6:2] 50 tn The words “They say to the people” are interpretive and supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation understands v. 2 as the boastful words, which the leaders (described in v. 1) spoke to those who came to them (v. 1b). Some interpret v. 2 differently, understanding the words as directed to the leaders by the prophet. Verse 2b would then be translated: “Are you (i.e., Israel and Judah) better than these kingdoms (i.e., Calneh, etc.)? Is your border larger than their border?” (This reading requires an emendation of the Hebrew text toward the end of the verse.) In this case the verse is a reminder to Judah/Israel that they are not superior to other nations, which have already fallen victim to military conquest. Consequently Judah/Israel should not expect to escape the same fate. Following this line of interpretation, some take v. 2 as a later addition since the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser III conquered Calneh, Hamath, and Gath after the time of Amos’ ministry. However, this conclusion is not necessary since the kingdoms mentioned here had suffered military setbacks prior to Amos’ time as well. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 201-4.
[6:2] 51 tn Or “Great Hamath” (cf. NIV); or “Hamath the great” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); the word “rabbah” means “great” in Hebrew.
[6:2] 52 tn Heb “to these,” referring to Judah and Israel (see v. 1a).
[6:2] 53 tn Both rhetorical questions in this verse expect the answer “no.” If these words do come from the leaders, then this verse underscores their self-delusion of power (compare 6:13). The prophet had no such mistaken sense of national grandeur (7:2, 5).
[6:3] 54 tn Heb “those who push away a day of disaster.”
[6:3] 55 tn Heb “you bring near a seat of violence.” The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שֶׁבֶת (shevet, “seat, sitting”) is unclear in this context. The translation assumes that it refers to a throne from which violence (in the person of the oppressive leaders) reigns. Another option is that the expression refers not to the leaders’ oppressive rule, but to the coming judgment when violence will overtake the nation in the person of enemy invaders.
[6:4] 56 tn Heb “beds of ivory.”
[6:5] 57 tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּרַט (parat), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. Some translate “strum,” “pluck,” or “improvise.”
[6:5] 58 tn Heb “upon the mouth of,” that is, “according to.”
[6:5] 59 sn The stringed instruments mentioned here are probably harps (cf. NIV, NRSV) or lutes (cf. NEB).
[6:5] 60 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).
[6:6] 61 sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).
[6:6] 62 tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”
[6:6] 63 tn Or “not sickened by.”
[6:6] 64 sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.
[6:7] 65 tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”
[6:7] 66 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.
[6:7] 67 tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.
[6:8] 68 tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”
[6:8] 69 tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.
[6:8] 70 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[6:8] 71 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.
[9:1] 72 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[9:1] 73 sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.
[9:1] 74 tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.
[9:1] 75 tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”
[9:1] 76 tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.
[9:1] 77 tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”
[9:1] 78 tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”
[1:4] 79 tn Or “melt” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This is a figurative description of earthquakes, landslides, and collapse of the mountains, rather than some sort of volcanic activity (note the remainder of the verse).
[1:4] 80 sn The mountains will disintegrate…the valleys will be split in two. This imagery pictures an earthquake and accompanying landslide.
[1:4] 81 tn The words “the mountains will melt” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The simile extends back to the first line of the verse.
[1:4] 82 tn The words “the rocks will slide down” are supplied in the translation for clarification. This simile elaborates on the prior one and further develops the imagery of the verse’s first line.
[6:16] 83 tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”
[6:16] 84 tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”
[6:16] 85 tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.
[6:16] 86 tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:16] 87 tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.
[6:16] 88 tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).
