Discovery BoxAmos 4:13
Context4:13 For here he is!
He 1 formed the mountains and created the wind.
He reveals 2 his plans 3 to men.
He turns the dawn into darkness 4
and marches on the heights of the earth.
The Lord, the God who commands armies, 5 is his name!”
Amos 7:17
Context7:17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets 6
and your sons and daughters will die violently. 7
Your land will be given to others 8
and you will die in a foreign 9 land.
Israel will certainly be carried into exile 10 away from its land.’”
[4:13] 1 tn Heb “For look, the one who.” This verse is considered to be the first hymnic passage in the book. The others appear at 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. Scholars debate whether these verses were originally part of a single hymn or three distinct pieces deliberately placed in each context for particular effect.
[4:13] 2 tn Or “declares” (NAB, NASB).
[4:13] 3 tn Or “his thoughts.” The translation assumes that the pronominal suffix refers to God and that divine self-revelation is in view (see 3:7). If the suffix refers to the following term אָדַם (’adam, “men”), then the expression refers to God’s ability to read men’s minds.
[4:13] 4 tn Heb “he who makes dawn, darkness.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation assumes that allusion is made to God’s approaching judgment, when the light of day will be turned to darkness (see 5:20). Other options include: (1) “He makes the dawn [and] the darkness.” A few Hebrew
[4:13] 5 tn Traditionally, “God of hosts.”
[7:17] 6 tn Heb “in the city,” that is, “in public.”
[7:17] 7 tn Heb “will fall by the sword.”
[7:17] 8 tn Heb “will be divided up with a [surveyor’s] measuring line.”
[7:17] 9 tn Heb “[an] unclean”; or “[an] impure.” This fate would be especially humiliating for a priest, who was to distinguish between the ritually clean and unclean (see Lev 10:10).
