Amos 1:5

1:5 I will break the bar ¹  on the gate of Damascus.

I will remove ²  the ruler ³  from Wicked Valley, ⁴ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Beth Eden. ⁵ 

The people of Aram will be deported to Kir.” ⁶ 

The Lord has spoken!

Amos 1:8

1:8 I will remove ⁷  the ruler ⁸  from Ashdod, ⁹ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ¹⁰ 

I will strike Ekron ¹¹  with my hand; ¹² 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ¹³ 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ¹⁴  will quake, ¹⁵ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ¹⁶  will rise like the River Nile, ¹⁷ 

it will surge upward ¹⁸  and then grow calm, ¹⁹  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁰ 

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ²¹ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ²² 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ²³  rises like the River Nile, ²⁴ 

and then grows calm ²⁵  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁶ 

Amos 3:12

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. ²⁷ 

They will be left with just a corner of a bed, ²⁸ 

and a part ²⁹  of a couch.”

Amos 5:11

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ³⁰ 

and exact a grain tax from them,

you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,

nor will you drink the wine from the fine ³¹  vineyards you planted. ³² 

Amos 9:14

9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; ³³ 

they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble ³⁴  and settle down. ³⁵ 

They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; ³⁶ 

they will grow orchards ³⁷  and eat the fruit they produce. ³⁸ 

[1:5]  ¹ sn The bar on the city gate symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:5]  ³ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some English versions take the Hebrew term in a collective sense as “inhabitants” (e.g., KJV, NKJV, NASB, NRSV). The context and the parallel in the next clause (“the one who holds the royal scepter”), however, suggest that the royal house is in view. For this term (יוֹשֵׁב, yoshev), see N. K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh, 512-30.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “valley of wickedness.” Though many English versions take the Hebrew phrase בִקְעַת־אָוֶן (biq’-at ’aven) as a literal geographical place name (“Valley of Aven,” so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), it appears to be a derogatory epithet for Damascus and the kingdom of Aram.

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Many associate the name “Beth Eden” with Bit Adini, an Aramean state located near the Euphrates River, but it may be a sarcastic epithet meaning “house of pleasure.”

[1:5]  ⁶ sn According to Amos 9:7, the Arameans originally came from Kir. The Lord threatens to reverse their history and send them back there.

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[1:8]  ⁹ sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁰ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹¹ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹² tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.

[1:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ¹⁴ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ¹⁶ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ¹⁹ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ²² tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ²³ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ²⁴ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[3:12]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Heb “with a corner of a bed.”

[3:12]  ²⁷ 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.

[5:11]  ³¹ tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).

[5:11]  ³² tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ³³ tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”

[9:14]  ³⁷ tn This line can also be translated “I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel” and is a common idiom (e.g., Deut 30:3; Jer 30:3; Hos 6:11; Zeph 3:20). This rendering is followed by several modern English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, NJPS).

[9:14]  ³⁸ tn Or “the ruined [or “desolate”] cities.”

[9:14]  ³⁹ tn Or “and live [in them].”

[9:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “drink their wine.”

[9:14]  ⁴¹ tn Or “gardens.”

[9:14]  ⁴² tn Heb “eat their fruit.”