Amos 2:7

2:7 They trample ¹  on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; ² 

they push the destitute away. ³ 

A man and his father go to the same girl; ⁴ 

in this way they show disrespect ⁵  for my moral purity. ⁶ 

Amos 8:10

8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, ⁷ 

and all your songs into funeral dirges.

I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ⁸ 

and cause every head to be shaved bald. ⁹ 

I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ¹⁰ 

when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ¹¹ 

Amos 9:1

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ¹²  standing by the altar ¹³  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ¹⁴  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹⁵ 

and I will kill the survivors ¹⁶  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹⁷ 

no one will be able to escape. ¹⁸ 

[2:7]  ¹ tn Most scholars now understand this verb as derived from the root II שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to crush; to trample”), an alternate form of שׁוּף (shuf), rather than from I שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to pant, to gasp”; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).

[2:7]  ² tn Heb “those who stomp on the dirt of the ground on the head of the poor.” It is possible to render the line as “they trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground,” thereby communicating that the poor are being stepped on in utter contempt (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 79-80). The participial form הַשֹּׁאֲפִים (hasho’afim) is substantival and stands in apposition to the pronominal suffix on מִכְרָם (mikhram, v. 6b).

[2:7]  ³ tn Heb “they turn aside the way of the destitute.” Many interpreters take “way” to mean “just cause” and understand this as a direct reference to the rights of the destitute being ignored. The injustice done to the poor is certainly in view, but the statement is better taken as a word picture depicting the powerful rich pushing the “way of the poor” (i.e., their attempt to be treated justly) to the side. An even more vivid picture is given in Amos 5:12, where the rich are pictured as turning the poor away from the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[2:7]  ⁴ sn Most interpreters see some type of sexual immorality here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), even though the Hebrew phrase הָלַךְ אֶל (halakh ’el, “go to”) never refers elsewhere to sexual intercourse. (The usual idiom is בוֹא אֶל [bo’ ’el]. However, S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 82) attempts to develop a linguistic case for a sexual connotation here.) The precise identification of the “girl” in question is not clear. Some see the referent as a cultic prostitute (cf. NAB; v. 8 suggests a cultic setting), but the term נַעֲרָה (na’arah) nowhere else refers to a prostitute. Because of the contextual emphasis on social oppression, some suggest the exploitation of a slave girl is in view. H. Barstad argues that the “girl” is the hostess at a pagan מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh) banquet (described at some length in 6:4-7). In his view the sin described here is not sexual immorality, but idolatry (see H. Barstad, The Religious Polemics of Amos [VTSup], 33-36). In this case, one might translate, “Father and son go together to a pagan banquet.” In light of this cultic context, F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman argue that this is a reference to a specific female deity (“the Girl”) and correlate this verse with 8:14 (Amos [AB], 318-19).

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Or “pollute”; “desecrate”; “dishonor.”

[2:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “my holy name.” Here “name” is used metonymically for God’s moral character or reputation, while “holy” has a moral and ethical connotation.

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “mourning.”

[8:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”

[8:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).

[8:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”

[8:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ¹⁴ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”