Amos 2:9

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ¹ 

They were as tall as cedars ² 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ³ 

and their roots in the ground. ⁴ 

Amos 4:1

4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ⁵  who live on Mount Samaria!

You ⁶  oppress the poor;

you crush the needy.

You say to your ⁷  husbands,

“Bring us more to drink!” ⁸ 

Amos 5:14

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ⁹ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ¹⁰  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 9:9

9:9 “For look, I am giving a command

and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.

It will resemble a sieve being shaken,

when not even a pebble falls to the ground. ¹¹ 

Amos 9:12

9:12 As a result they ¹²  will conquer those left in Edom ¹³ 

and all the nations subject to my rule.” ¹⁴ 

The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

Amos 9:15

9:15 I will plant them on their land

and they will never again be uprooted from the ¹⁵  land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

[2:9]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his roots from below.”

[4:1]  ⁵ sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.

[4:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “their.”

[4:1]  ⁸ sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).

[5:19]  ⁹ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[9:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “like being shaken with a sieve, and a pebble does not fall to the ground.” The meaning of the Hebrew word צְרוֹר (tsÿror), translated “pebble,” is unclear here. In 2 Sam 17:13 it appears to refer to a stone. If it means “pebble,” then the sieve described in v. 6 allows the grain to fall into a basket while retaining the debris and pebbles. However, if one interprets צְרוֹר as a “kernel of grain” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT) then the sieve is constructed to retain the grain and allow the refuse and pebbles to fall to the ground. In either case, the simile supports the last statement in v. 8 by making it clear that God will distinguish between the righteous (the grain) and the wicked (the pebbles) when he judges, and will thereby preserve a remnant in Israel. Only the sinners will be destroyed (v. 10).

[9:12]  ¹⁷ sn They probably refers to the Israelites or to the Davidic rulers of the future.

[9:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “take possession of the remnant of Edom”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “possess the remnant of Edom.”

[9:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “nations over whom my name is proclaimed.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership, sometimes as a result of conquest. See 2 Sam 12:28.

[9:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “their.” The pronoun was replaced by the English definite article in the translation for stylistic reasons.