Amos 7:14

7:14 Amos replied ¹  to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. ²  No, ³  I was a herdsman who also took care of ⁴  sycamore fig trees. ⁵ 

Acts 19:17-20

19:17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, ⁶  both Jews and Greeks; fear came over ⁷  them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. ⁸  19:18 Many of those who had believed came forward, ⁹  confessing and making their deeds known. ¹⁰  19:19 Large numbers ¹¹  of those who had practiced magic ¹²  collected their books ¹³  and burned them up in the presence of everyone. ¹⁴  When ¹⁵  the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins. ¹⁶  19:20 In this way the word of the Lord ¹⁷  continued to grow in power ¹⁸  and to prevail. ¹⁹ 

[7:14]  ¹ tn Heb “replied and said.” The phrase “and said” is pleonastic (redundant) and has not been included in the translation.

[7:14]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “for.”

[7:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “gashed”; or “pierced.”

[7:14]  ⁵ 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).

[19:17]  ⁶ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “fell on.” BDAG 377 s.v. ἐπιπίπτω 2 has “φόβος ἐ. ἐπί τινα fear came upon someone…Ac 19:17.”

[19:17]  ⁸ tn Or “exalted.”

[19:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “came”; the word “forward” is supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning and to conform to the contemporary English idiom.

[19:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “confessing and disclosing their deeds.” BDAG 59 s.v. ἀναγγέλλω 2 has “W. ἐξομολογεῖσθαι: ἀ. τὰς πράξεις αὐτο'ν make their deeds known Ac 19:18.”

[19:19]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 4.a has “many, quite a few” for ἱκανοί (Jikanoi) in this verse.

[19:19]  ¹² tn On this term see BDAG 800 s.v. περίεργος 2.

[19:19]  ¹³ tn Or “scrolls.”

[19:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “burned them up publicly.” L&N 14.66 has “‘they brought their books together and burned them up in the presence of everyone’ Ac 19:19.”

[19:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[19:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “fifty thousand silver drachmas” (about $10,000 US dollars). BDAG 128 s.v. ἀργύριον 2.c states, “ἀργυρίου μυριάδας πέντε 50,000 (Attic silver) drachmas Ac 19:19.” Another way to express the value would be in sheep: One drachma could buy one sheep. So this many drachmas could purchase a huge flock of sheep. A drachma also equals a denarius, or a day’s wage for the average worker. So this amount would be equal to 50,000 work days or in excess of 8,300 weeks of labor (the weeks are calculated at six working days because of the Jewish cultural context). The impact of Christianity on the Ephesian economy was considerable (note in regard to this the concerns expressed in 19:26-27).

[19:20]  ¹⁷ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[19:20]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect verb ηὔξανεν (huxanen) has been translated as a progressive imperfect, as has the following verb ἴσχυεν (iscuen).

[19:20]  ¹⁹ sn The word of the Lord…to prevail. Luke portrays the impact of Christianity in terms of the Lord’s transforming power in the lives of individuals.