Amos 1:9

1:9 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Tyre has committed three crimes ¹  –

make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³ 

They sold ⁴  a whole community ⁵  to Edom;

they failed to observe ⁶  a treaty of brotherhood. ⁷ 

Amos 1:11

1:11 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Edom has committed three crimes ⁸  –

make that four! ⁹  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ¹⁰ 

He chased his brother ¹¹  with a sword;

he wiped out his allies. ¹² 

In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; ¹³ 

in his fury he relentlessly attacked them. ¹⁴ 

Amos 1:13

1:13 This is what the Lord says:

“Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes ¹⁵  –

make that four! ¹⁶  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ¹⁷ 

They ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women ¹⁸ 

so they could expand their territory.

Amos 6:10

6:10 When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, ¹⁹  pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “Be quiet! Don’t invoke the Lord’s name!” ²⁰ 

Amos 7:8

7:8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The sovereign One then said,

“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel.

I will no longer overlook their sin. ²¹ 

Amos 7:10

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ²²  sent this message ²³  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ²⁴  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ²⁵ 

Amos 8:2

8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end ²⁶  has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. ²⁷ 

Amos 8:11

8:11 Be certain of this, ²⁸  the time is ²⁹  coming,” says the sovereign Lord,

“when I will send a famine through the land –

not a shortage of food or water

but an end to divine revelation! ³⁰ 

Amos 9:1

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ³¹  standing by the altar ³²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³³  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ³⁴ 

and I will kill the survivors ³⁵  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ³⁶ 

no one will be able to escape. ³⁷ 

Amos 9:8

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ³⁸  the sinful nation, ³⁹ 

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

But I will not completely destroy the family ⁴⁰  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

[1:9]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:9]  ² tn Heb “Because of three violations of Tyre, even because of four.”

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “handed over.”

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “[group of] exiles.” A similar phrase occurs in v. 6.

[1:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “did not remember.”

[1:9]  ⁷ sn A treaty of brotherhood. In the ancient Near Eastern world familial terms were sometimes used to describe treaty partners. In a treaty between superior and inferior parties, the lord would be called “father” and the subject “son.” The partners in a treaty between equals referred to themselves as “brothers.” For biblical examples, see 1 Kgs 9:13; 20:32-33.

[1:11]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Edom, even because of four.”

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ¹¹ sn It is likely that “brother” refers here to a treaty partner (see the note on the word “brotherhood” in 1:9). However, it is possible, if Israel is in view, that Edom’s ancient blood relationship to God’s people is alluded to here. Cf. NCV, NLT “their relatives, the Israelites.”

[1:11]  ¹² tn Or “He stifled his compassion.” The Hebrew term רָחֲמָיו (rakhamayv) is better understood here (parallel to “brother/treaty partner”) as a reference to “allies” which Edom betrayed. An Aramaic cognate is attested (see DNWSI 2:1069-70). See M. Fishbane, “The Treaty Background of Amos 1:11 and Related Matters,” JBL 89 (1970): 313-18; idem, “Critical Note: Additional Remarks on rh£myw (Amos 1:11),” JBL 91 (1972): 391-93; and M. Barré, “Amos 1:11 reconsidered,” CBQ 47 (1985) 420-27. Some argue that the clause is best translated as “and destroyed his womenfolk.” רַחַם (rakham) means “womb”; the plural here would be a metonymy for “women” and could establish a parallel with the atrocity of 1:13. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 64-65.

[1:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “his anger tore continually.” The Hebrew verb טָרַף (taraf, “tear apart”) is often used of an animal tearing apart its prey. The word picture here is that of a vicious predator’s feeding frenzy.

[1:11]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally, “he kept his fury continually.” The Hebrew term שְׁמָרָה (shÿmarah) could be taken as a Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular with 3rd person feminine singular suffix (with mappiq omitted), “he kept it” (NASB, NKJV, NRSV). It is also possible in light of the parallelism that שָׁמַר (shamar) is a rare homonym cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to rage; to be furious.” Repointing the verb as שָׁמְרָה (shamÿrah, third person feminine singular), one could translate literally, “his fury raged continually” (NIV, NJPS).

[1:13]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Because of three violations of the Ammonites, even because of four.”
On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.

[1:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:13]  ¹⁸ sn The Ammonites ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women in conjunction with a military invasion designed to expand their territory. Such atrocities, although repugnant, were not uncommon in ancient Near Eastern warfare.

[6:10]  ²² tn The translation assumes that “their relatives” and “the ones who will burn the corpses” are in apposition. Another option is to take them as distinct individuals, in which case one could translate, “When their close relatives and the ones who will burn the corpses pick up…” The meaning of the form translated “the ones who burn the corpses” is uncertain. Another option is to translate, “the ones who prepare the corpses for burial” (NASB “undertaker”; cf. also CEV). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 215-16.

[6:10]  ²³ tn This verse is notoriously difficult to interpret. The Hebrew text literally reads, “And he will lift him up, his uncle, and the one burning him, to bring out bones from the house. And he will say to the one who is in the inner parts of the house, ‘Is there [anyone] still with you?’ And he will say, ‘Be quiet for not to invoke the name of the Lord.’” The translation assumes that the singular pronominal and verbal forms throughout the verse are collective or distributive. This last sentence has been interpreted in several ways: a command not to call on the name of the Lord out of fear that he might return again in judgment; the realization that it is not appropriate to seek a blessing in the Lord’s name upon the dead in the house since the judgment was deserved; an angry refusal to call on the Lord out of a sense that he has betrayed his people in allowing them to suffer.

[7:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “And I will no longer pass over him.”

[7:10]  ³⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ³⁷ tn The direct object of the verb translated “sent” is elided in the Hebrew text. The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “words.”

[8:2]  ⁴³ tn There is a wordplay here. The Hebrew word קֵץ (qets, “end”) sounds like קָיִץ (qayits, “summer fruit”). The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end.

[8:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “I will no longer pass over him.”

[8:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[8:11]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the days are.”

[8:11]  ⁵² tn Heb “not a hunger for food or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.”

[9:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ⁵⁸ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ⁶² tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ⁶³ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “kingdom.”

[9:8]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).