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 5:16

5:16 Because of Israel’s sins ⁷  this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, ⁸  says:

“In all the squares there will be wailing,

in all the streets they will mourn the dead. ⁹ 

They will tell the field workers ¹⁰  to lament

and the professional mourners ¹¹  to wail.

Amos 7:17

7:17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets ¹² 

and your sons and daughters will die violently. ¹³ 

Your land will be given to others ¹⁴ 

and you will die in a foreign ¹⁵  land.

Israel will certainly be carried into exile ¹⁶  away from its land.’”

[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.

[5:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10-13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14-15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.

[5:16]  ⁸ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[5:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).

[5:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[5:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “those who know lamentation.”

[7:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the city,” that is, “in public.”

[7:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will fall by the sword.”

[7:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will be divided up with a [surveyor’s] measuring line.”

[7:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[an] unclean”; or “[an] impure.” This fate would be especially humiliating for a priest, who was to distinguish between the ritually clean and unclean (see Lev 10:10).

[7:17]  ¹⁷ tn See the note on the word “exile” in 5:5.