Amos 3:13

3:13 Listen and warn ¹  the family ²  of Jacob! ³ 

The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, ⁴  is speaking!

Amos 5:8

5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;

he can turn the darkness into morning

and daylight ⁵  into night.

He summons the water of the seas

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name!

Amos 6:8

6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ⁶ 

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:

“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;

I hate their ⁷  fortresses.

I will hand over to their enemies ⁸  the city of Samaria ⁹  and everything in it.”

Amos 9:6

9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace ¹⁰  in heaven

and sets its foundation supports ¹¹  on the earth. ¹² 

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name.

Isaiah 47:4

47:4 says our protector –

the Lord who commands armies is his name,

the Holy One of Israel. ¹³ 

Isaiah 48:2

48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; ¹⁴ 

they trust in ¹⁵  the God of Israel,

whose name is the Lord who commands armies.

Jeremiah 10:16

10:16 The Lord, who is the inheritance ¹⁶  of Jacob’s descendants, ¹⁷  is not like them.

He is the one who created everything.

And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. ¹⁸ 

He is known as the Lord who rules over all.” ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 51:19

51:19 The Lord, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.

For he is the one who created everything,

including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own. ²⁰ 

He is known as the Lord who rules over all. ²¹ 

[3:13]  ¹ tn Or “testify against.”

[3:13]  ² tn Heb “house.”

[3:13]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”

[6:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”

[6:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.

[6:8]  ⁸ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “the city”; this probably refers to the city of Samaria (cf. 6:1), which in turn, by metonymy, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.

[9:6]  ¹² sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.

[47:4]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads, “Our redeemer – the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” The ancient Greek version adds “says” before “our redeemer.” אָמַר (’amar) may have accidentally dropped from the text by virtual haplography. Note that the preceding word אָדָם (’adam) is graphically similar.

[48:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.

[48:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”

[10:16]  ¹⁶ tn The words “The Lord who is” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. For the significance of the words that follow them see the study note that follows.

[10:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The Portion of Jacob.” “Descendants” is implied, and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And Israel is the tribe of his possession.”

[10:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies is his name.”

[51:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “For he is the former of all [things] and the tribe of his inheritance.” This is the major exception to the verbatim repetition of 10:12-16 in 51:15-19. The word “Israel” appears before “the tribe of his inheritance” in 10:16. It is also found in a number of Hebrew mss, in the Lucianic recension of the LXX (the Greek version), the Aramaic Targums, and the Latin Vulgate. Most English versions and many commentaries assume it here. However, it is easier to explain why the word is added in a few of the versions and some Hebrew than to explain why it was left out. It is probable that the word is not original here because the addressees are different and the function of this hymnic piece is slightly different (see the study note on the next line for details). Here it makes good sense to understand that the Lord is being called the creator of the special tribe of people he claims as his own property (see the study note on the first line of 10:16).

[51:19]  ²¹ sn With the major exception discussed in the translator’s note on the preceding line vv. 15-19 are a verbatim repetition of 10:12-16 with a few minor variations in spelling. There the passage was at the end of a section in which the Lord was addressing the Judeans and trying to convince them that the worship of idols was vain – the idols were impotent but he is all powerful. Here the passage follows a solemn oath by the Lord who rules over all and is apparently directed to the Babylonians, emphasizing the power of the Lord to carry out his oath.