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 5:3

5:3 The sovereign Lord says this:

“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers ⁷  will have only a hundred left;

the town ⁸  that marches out with a hundred soldiers ⁹  will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” ¹⁰ 

Amos 5:6

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ¹¹  like fire against Joseph’s ¹²  family; ¹³ 

the fire ¹⁴  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ¹⁵ 

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ¹⁶ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ¹⁷  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 6:1

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ¹⁸  to those who live in ease in Zion, ¹⁹ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ²⁰  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ²¹  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ²² 

Amos 6:14

6:14 “Look! I am about to bring ²³  a nation against you, family ²⁴  of Israel.”

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

“They will oppress ²⁵  you all the way from Lebo-Hamath ²⁶  to the Stream of the Arabah.” ²⁷ 

Amos 7:13

7:13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel ²⁸  any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” ²⁹ 

Amos 7:16

7:16 So now listen to the Lord’s message! You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel! Don’t preach ³⁰  against the family of Isaac!’

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. ³¹ 

[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.

[5:3]  ⁷ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “The one.” The word “town” has been used in the translation in keeping with the relative sizes of the armed contingents sent out by each. It is also possible that this line is speaking of the same city of the previous line. In other words, the contingent sent by that one city would have suffered a ninety-nine percent casualty loss.

[5:3]  ⁹ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for/to the house of Israel.” The translation assumes that this is a graphic picture of what is left over for the defense of the nation (NEB, NJB, NASB, NKJV). Others suggest that this phrase completes the introductory formula (“The sovereign Lord says this…”; see v. 4a; NJPS). Another option is that the preposition has a vocative force, “O house of Israel” (F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 476). Some simply delete the phrase as dittography from the following line (NIV).

[5:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ¹⁴ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ¹⁷ 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.”

[5:19]  ¹⁹ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.

[6:1]  ²⁶ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ²⁷ tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.

[6:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[6:14]  ³¹ tn Or “raise up” (KJV, NASB); NIV “stir up.”

[6:14]  ³² tn Heb “house.”

[6:14]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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.

[7:13]  ³⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for it is a temple of a king and it is a royal house.” It is possible that the phrase “royal house” refers to a temple rather than a palace. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 243.

[7:16]  ⁴³ tn The verb, which literally means “to drip,” appears to be a synonym of “to prophesy,” but it might carry a derogatory tone here, perhaps alluding to the impassioned, frenzied way in which prophets sometimes delivered their messages. If so, one could translate, “to drivel; to foam at the mouth” (see HALOT 694 s.v. נטף).

[9:9]  ⁴⁹ 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).