Amos 3:11-15

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ¹ 

He will take away your power; ² 

your fortresses will be looted.”

3:12 This is what the Lord says:

“Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion’s mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear,

so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. ³ 

They will be left with just a corner of a bed, ⁴ 

and a part ⁵  of a couch.”

3:13 Listen and warn ⁶  the family ⁷  of Jacob! ⁸ 

The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, ⁹  is speaking!

3:14 “Certainly when ¹⁰  I punish Israel for their ¹¹  covenant transgressions, ¹² 

I will destroy ¹³  Bethel’s ¹⁴  altars.

The horns ¹⁵  of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ¹⁶ 

The houses filled with ivory ¹⁷  will be ruined,

the great ¹⁸  houses will be swept away.” ¹⁹ 

The Lord is speaking!

[3:11]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[3:12]  ³ sn The verb translated salvaged, though often used in a positive sense of deliverance from harm, is here employed in a sarcastic manner. A shepherd would attempt to salvage part of an animal to prove that a predator had indeed killed it. In this way he could prove that he had not stolen the missing animal and absolve himself from any responsibility to repay the owner (see Exod 22:12-13).

[3:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “with a corner of a bed.”

[3:12]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word דְּמֶשֶׁק (dÿmesheq), which occurs only here, is uncertain. If not emended, it is usually related to the term ַדּמֶּשֶׂק (dammeseq) and translated as the “Damask linens” of the bed (cf. NASB “the cover”) or as “in Damascus” (so KJV, NJB, NIV). The differences in spelling (Damascus is spelled correctly in 5:27), historical considerations, and the word order make both of these derivations unlikely. Many emendations have been proposed (e.g., “a part from the foot [of a bed],” based on a different division of the Hebrew letters (cf. NEB, NRSV); “on the edge,” based on a Hebrew term not attested in the Bible (NKJV). Some suggest a resemblance to an Akkadian term which means “sideboard [of a bed],” which is sometimes incorrectly rendered “headboard” (NJPS; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 121-22). Most likely another part of a bed or couch is in view, but it is difficult to be more specific.

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Or “testify against.”

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[3:13]  ⁸ tn These words are spoken to either the unidentified heralds addressed at the beginning of v. 9, or to the Egyptians and Philistines (see v. 9b). Another possibility is that one is not to look for a specific addressee but rather appreciate the command simply as a rhetorical device to grab the attention of the listeners and readers of the prophetic message.

[3:13]  ⁹ tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”

[3:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the day.”

[3:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his.” With the referent “Israel” here, this amounts to a collective singular.

[3:14]  ¹² tn Traditionally, “transgressions, sins,” but see the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3.

[3:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “punish” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:14]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[3:14]  ¹⁵ sn The horns of an ancient altar projected upwards from the four corners and resembled an animal’s horns in appearance. Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the Lord’s enemies.

[3:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the winter house along with the summer house.”

[3:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “houses of ivory.” These houses were not made of ivory, but they had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 139-48.

[3:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”

[3:15]  ¹⁹ tn The translation assumes the form is from the Hebrew verb סָפָה (safah, “to sweep away”) rather than סוּף (suf, “to come to an end”), which is the choice of most versions. Either option effectively communicates the destruction of the structures.