Discovery BoxAmos 4:4-6
Context4:4 “Go to Bethel 1 and rebel! 2
At Gilgal 3 rebel some more!
Bring your sacrifices in 4 the morning,
your tithes on 5 the third day!
4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! 6
Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! 7
For you love to do this, you Israelites.”
The sovereign Lord is speaking!
4:6 “But surely I gave 8 you no food to eat in any of your cities;
you lacked food everywhere you live. 9
Still you did not come back to me.”
The Lord is speaking!
[4:4] 1 sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.
[4:4] 2 tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).
[4:4] 3 sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.
[4:5] 6 sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.
[4:5] 7 tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”
[4:6] 8 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).
[4:6] 9 tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.
