Amos 1:5

Context

1:5 I will break the bar¹ on the gate of Damascus.

I will remove² the ruler³ 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 9:3

Context

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 me⁷ at the bottom of the sea,

from there⁸ I would command the Sea Serpent⁹ to bite them.

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

[1:5] ²tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:5] ³tn 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] ⁴tn 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] ⁵tn 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] ⁶sn According to Amos 9:7, the Arameans originally came from Kir. The Lord threatens to reverse their history and send them back there.

[9:3] ⁷tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3] ⁸tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3] ⁹sn 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.