Amos 1:3

1:3 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Damascus has committed three crimes ¹  –

make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my

decree of judgment. ³ 

They ripped through Gilead like threshing sledges with iron teeth. ⁴ 

Amos 2:9

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ⁵ 

They were as tall as cedars ⁶ 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ⁷ 

and their roots in the ground. ⁸ 

Amos 3:1

Every Effect has its Cause

3:1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against ⁹  you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up ¹⁰  from the land of Egypt:

Amos 4:2

4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ¹¹ 

“Certainly the time is approaching ¹² 

when you will be carried away ¹³  in baskets, ¹⁴ 

every last one of you ¹⁵  in fishermen’s pots. ¹⁶ 

Amos 4:9

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ¹⁷  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ¹⁸  devouring your orchards, ¹⁹  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:6

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ²⁰  like fire against Joseph’s ²¹  family; ²² 

the fire ²³  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ²⁴ 

Amos 5:18

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe ²⁵  to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

Amos 6:8

6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ²⁶ 

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:

“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;

I hate their ²⁷  fortresses.

I will hand over to their enemies ²⁸  the city of Samaria ²⁹  and everything in it.”

Amos 6:14

6:14 “Look! I am about to bring ³⁰  a nation against you, family ³¹  of Israel.”

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking.

“They will oppress ³²  you all the way from Lebo-Hamath ³³  to the Stream of the Arabah.” ³⁴ 

Amos 7:2

7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,

“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ³⁵ 

How can Jacob survive? ³⁶ 

He is too weak!” ³⁷ 

Amos 8:12

8:12 People ³⁸  will stagger from sea to sea, ³⁹ 

and from the north around to the east.

They will wander about looking for a revelation from ⁴⁰  the Lord,

but they will not find any. ⁴¹ 

Amos 9:3-4

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ⁴²  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ⁴³  I would command the Sea Serpent ⁴⁴  to bite them.

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ⁴⁵ 

from there ⁴⁶  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ⁴⁷ 

Amos 9:9

9:9 “For look, I am giving a command

and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.

It will resemble a sieve being shaken,

when not even a pebble falls to the ground. ⁴⁸ 

Amos 9:12

9:12 As a result they ⁴⁹  will conquer those left in Edom ⁵⁰ 

and all the nations subject to my rule.” ⁵¹ 

The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

[1:3]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” or “sins.” The word refers to rebellion against authority and is used in the international political realm (see 1 Kgs 12:19; 2 Kgs 1:1; 3:5, 7; 8:22). There is debate over its significance in this context. Some relate the “rebellion” of the foreign nations to God’s mandate to Noah (Gen 9:5-7). This mandate is viewed as a treaty between God and humankind, whereby God holds humans accountable to populate the earth and respect his image as it is revealed in all people. While this option is a possible theological explanation of the message in light of the Old Testament as a whole, nothing in these oracles alludes to that Genesis passage. J. Barton suggests that the prophet is appealing to a common morality shared across the ancient Near East regarding the conduct of war since all of the oracles can be related to activities and atrocities committed in warfare (Amos’s Oracles against the Nations [SOTSMS], 39-61). The “transgression” then would be a violation of what all cultures would take as fundamental human decency. Some argue that the nations cited in Amos 1-2 had been members of the Davidic empire. Their crime would consist of violating the mutual agreements that all should have exhibited toward one another (cf. M. E. Polley, Amos and the Davidic Empire). This interpretation is connected to the notion that Amos envisions a reconstituted Davidic empire for Israel and the world (9:11-15). Ultimately, we can only speculate what lay behind Amos’ thinking. He does not specify the theological foundation of his universal moral vision, but it is clear that Amos believes that all nations are responsible before the Lord for their cruelty toward other human beings. He also assumes that even those who did not know his God would recognize their inhumane treatment of others as inherently wrong. The translation “crimes” is general enough to communicate that a standard (whether human or divine) has been breached. For a survey of the possible historical events behind each oracle, see S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia).

[1:3]  ² tn Heb “Because of three violations of Damascus, even because of four.”

[1:3]  ³ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The pronominal object (1) refers to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 46-47. Another option (2) is to understand the suffix as referring to the particular nation mentioned in the oracle and to translate, “I will not take him [i.e., that particular nation] back.” In this case the Lord makes it clear that he does not intend to resume treaty relations with the nation in view. See M. L. Barré, “The Meaning of lá ásŒybnw in Amos 1:3-2:6,” JBL 105 (1986): 622.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “they threshed [or “trampled down”] Gilead with sharp iron implements” (NASB similar).

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and his roots from below.”

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Or “about.”

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn One might expect a third person verb form (“he brought up”), since the Lord apparently refers to himself in the third person in the preceding sentence. This first person form, however, serves to connect this message to the earlier indictment (2:10) and anticipates the words of the following verse.

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”

[4:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”

[4:2]  ¹⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “baskets” is uncertain. The translation follows the suggestion of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (130-32): “shields” (cf. NEB); “ropes”; “thorns,” which leads to the most favored interpretation, “hooks” (cf. NASB “meat hooks”; NIV, NRSV “hooks”); “baskets,” and (derived from “baskets”) “boats.” Against the latter, it is unlikely that Amos envisioned a deportation by boat for the inhabitants of Samaria! See also the note on the expression “fishermen’s pots” later in this verse.

[4:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”

[4:2]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression translated “in fishermen’s pots” is uncertain. The translation follows that of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (132-33): “thorns,” understood by most modern interpreters to mean (by extension) “fishhooks” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV); “boats,” but as mentioned in the previous note on the word “baskets,” a deportation of the Samaritans by boat is geographically unlikely; and “pots,” referring to a container used for packing fish (cf. NEB “fish-baskets”). Paul (p. 134) argues that the imagery comes from the ancient fishing industry. When hauled away into exile, the women of Samaria will be like fish packed and transported to market.

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

[4:9]  ¹⁸ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is taken adverbially (“kept”) and connected to the activity of the locusts (NJPS). It also could be taken with the preceding sentence and related to the Lord’s interventions (“I kept destroying,” cf. NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards,” cf. NASB; cf. also KJV, NKJV).

[4:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “gardens.”

[5:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ²² sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ²³ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”

[5:18]  ²⁵ tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.

[6:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”

[6:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.

[6:8]  ³¹ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:8]  ³² 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.

[6:14]  ³³ tn Or “raise up” (KJV, NASB); NIV “stir up.”

[6:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[6:14]  ³⁵ sn Once again there is irony in the divine judgment. The oppressive nation itself will suffer oppression. The verb “oppress” (לָחַץ, lakhats) in this verse is not the same as that used in 4:1 (עָשַׁק, ’ashaq).

[6:14]  ³⁶ tn Or “from the entrance to Hamath.” The Hebrew term לְבוֹא (lÿvo’) can either be translated or considered a part of the place name.

[6:14]  ³⁷ sn Lebo-Hamath refers to the northern border of Israel, the Stream of the Arabah to its southern border. See 2 Kgs 14:25. Through this invader the Lord would reverse the victories and territorial expansion Israel experienced during the reign of Jeroboam II.

[7:2]  ³⁷ tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[7:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “small.”

[8:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁴² tn That is, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east – that is, across the whole land.

[8:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “looking for the word of.”

[8:12]  ⁴⁴ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[9:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ⁴⁷ sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.

[9:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ⁵⁰ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”

[9:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “like being shaken with a sieve, and a pebble does not fall to the ground.” The meaning of the Hebrew word צְרוֹר (tsÿror), translated “pebble,” is unclear here. In 2 Sam 17:13 it appears to refer to a stone. If it means “pebble,” then the sieve described in v. 6 allows the grain to fall into a basket while retaining the debris and pebbles. However, if one interprets צְרוֹר as a “kernel of grain” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT) then the sieve is constructed to retain the grain and allow the refuse and pebbles to fall to the ground. In either case, the simile supports the last statement in v. 8 by making it clear that God will distinguish between the righteous (the grain) and the wicked (the pebbles) when he judges, and will thereby preserve a remnant in Israel. Only the sinners will be destroyed (v. 10).

[9:12]  ⁵⁷ sn They probably refers to the Israelites or to the Davidic rulers of the future.

[9:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “take possession of the remnant of Edom”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “possess the remnant of Edom.”

[9:12]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “nations over whom my name is proclaimed.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership, sometimes as a result of conquest. See 2 Sam 12:28.