Amos 3:10-11

3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)

“They store up ¹  the spoils of destructive violence ²  in their fortresses.

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ³ 

He will take away your power; ⁴ 

your fortresses will be looted.”

[3:10]  ¹ tn Heb “those who.”

[3:10]  ² tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.

[3:11]  ³ tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”

[3:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.