Amos 1:8

1:8 I will remove ¹  the ruler ²  from Ashdod, ³ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ⁴ 

I will strike Ekron ⁵  with my hand; ⁶ 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ⁷ 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

Amos 2:9

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ⁸ 

They were as tall as cedars ⁹ 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ¹⁰ 

and their roots in the ground. ¹¹ 

Amos 3:14

3:14 “Certainly when ¹²  I punish Israel for their ¹³  covenant transgressions, ¹⁴ 

I will destroy ¹⁵  Bethel’s ¹⁶  altars.

The horns ¹⁷  of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

Amos 4:9

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ¹⁸  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ¹⁹  devouring your orchards, ²⁰  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 ²¹  like fire against Joseph’s ²²  family; ²³ 

the fire ²⁴  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ²⁵ 

Amos 9:8

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ²⁶  the sinful nation, ²⁷ 

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

But I will not completely destroy the family ²⁸  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:8]  ² 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]  ³ sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁴ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁵ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.”

[2:9]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and his roots from below.”

[3:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in the day.”

[3:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his.” With the referent “Israel” here, this amounts to a collective singular.

[3:14]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally, “transgressions, sins,” but see the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3.

[3:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “punish” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:14]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[3:14]  ²⁰ sn The horns of an ancient altar projected upwards from the four corners and resembled an animal’s horns in appearance. Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the Lord’s enemies.

[4:9]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Or “gardens.”

[5:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ³⁰ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ³² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ³³ 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.”

[9:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ³⁷ tn Or “kingdom.”

[9:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).