Amos 1:10

1:10 So I will set fire to Tyre’s city wall; ¹ 

fire ²  will consume her fortresses.”

Amos 3:11

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ³ 

He will take away your power; ⁴ 

your fortresses will be looted.”

Amos 1:9

1:9 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Tyre has committed three crimes ⁵  –

make that four! ⁶  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁷ 

They sold ⁸  a whole community ⁹  to Edom;

they failed to observe ¹⁰  a treaty of brotherhood. ¹¹ 

[1:10]  ¹ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Tyre, even because of four.”

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “handed over.”

[1:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “[group of] exiles.” A similar phrase occurs in v. 6.

[1:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “did not remember.”

[1:9]  ¹¹ sn A treaty of brotherhood. In the ancient Near Eastern world familial terms were sometimes used to describe treaty partners. In a treaty between superior and inferior parties, the lord would be called “father” and the subject “son.” The partners in a treaty between equals referred to themselves as “brothers.” For biblical examples, see 1 Kgs 9:13; 20:32-33.