Amos 2:14-15

2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; ¹ 

strong men will have no strength left; ² 

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

2:15 Archers ³  will not hold their ground; ⁴ 

fast runners will not save their lives,

nor will those who ride horses. ⁵ 

Isaiah 24:17-18

24:17 Terror, pit, and snare

are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! ⁶ 

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ⁷ 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ⁸  are opened up ⁹ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

Isaiah 30:16

30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’

so you will indeed flee.

You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’

so your pursuers will be fast.

Jeremiah 48:44

48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit.

Anyone who climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a trap. ¹⁰ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ¹¹ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹² 

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”

[2:14]  ² tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”

[2:15]  ³ tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”

[2:15]  ⁴ tn For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”

[2:15]  ⁵ tn The last two lines read literally, “The one fast in his feet will not rescue [his life], and the rider of the horse will not rescue his life.” The phrase “his life” does double duty in the parallelism and should be understood in both lines.

[24:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.

[24:18]  ⁷ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ⁹ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[48:44]  ¹⁰ sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.

[48:44]  ¹¹ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”