Amos 2:9-16

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 

2:10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt;

I led you through the wilderness for forty years

so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.

2:11 I made some of your sons prophets

and some of your young men Nazirites. ⁵ 

Is this not true, you Israelites?”

The Lord is speaking!

2:12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine; ⁶ 

you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’

2:13 Look! I will press you down,

like a cart loaded down with grain presses down. ⁷ 

2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; ⁸ 

strong men will have no strength left; ⁹ 

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

2:15 Archers ¹⁰  will not hold their ground; ¹¹ 

fast runners will not save their lives,

nor will those who ride horses. ¹² 

2:16 Bravehearted ¹³  warriors will run away naked in that day.”

The Lord is speaking!

[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.”

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “religious devotees” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) refers to one who “consecrated” or “devoted” to God (see Num 6:1-21).

[2:12]  ⁶ sn Nazirites were strictly forbidden to drink wine (Num 6:2-3).

[2:13]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of this verse is unclear. Various suggested meanings have been proposed (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 94): (1) One option is to relate the verb to an Arabic verb, meaning “to hinder; to hamper,” and translate, “I am making you immobile, like a cart filled with grain is immobile.” In this case, the Lord refers to Israel’s inability to escape his coming judgment (see vv. 14-16; NJPS). (2) Another view relates the verb to a different Arabic verb meaning “to cut in pieces,” translating “I will cut you in pieces as a cart cuts in pieces [the earth],” referring to the ruts and rifts in the ground caused by an earthquake. (3) Some relate the verb to an Arabic root meaning “to groan” with the idea that the Lord causes the ground underneath Israel to groan (cf. NLT). (4) The translation connects the verb to an Aramaism signifying to “press down” (cf. NIV, NRSV). Some English versions translate the verb in an intransitive sense as “I am weighted down” (cf. NASB, NKJV) or “I groan beneath you” (NEB). For this last option, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 334.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”

[2:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”

[2:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”

[2:15]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[2:16]  ¹³ tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”