Amos 5:26

5:26 You will pick up your images ¹  of Sikkuth, ²  your king, ³ 

and Kiyyun, ⁴  your star god, which you made for yourselves,

Amos 7:16

7:16 So now listen to the Lord’s message! You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel! Don’t preach ⁵  against the family of Isaac!’

Amos 8:3

8:3 The women singing in the temple ⁶  will wail in that day.”

The sovereign Lord is speaking.

“There will be many corpses littered everywhere! ⁷  Be quiet!”

Amos 8:6

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ⁸ 

a pair of sandals ⁹  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ¹⁰ 

[5:26]  ¹ tn This word appears in an awkward position in the Hebrew, following “Kiyyun.” It is placed here for better sense.

[5:26]  ² tn The Hebrew term סִכּוּת (sikkut) apparently refers to Sakkuth, a Mesopotamian star god identified with Ninurta in an Ugaritic god list. The name is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some English versions, following the LXX, translate as “tent” or “shrine” (NEB, NIV), pointing the term as סֻכַּת (sukkat; cf. 9:11).

[5:26]  ³ tc LXX, Vulgate, and Acts 7:43 read “Moloch” (cf. KJV). The Hebrew consonants are the same for both “king” and “Moloch” (מֹלֶךְ; molekh).

[5:26]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term כִּיּוּן (kiyyun) apparently refers to the Mesopotamian god Kayamanu, or Saturn. The name, like “Sikkuth” in the previous line, is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some versions translate as “pedestal” (NEB, NIV), relating the term to the root כּוּן (kun).

[7:16]  ⁵ tn The verb, which literally means “to drip,” appears to be a synonym of “to prophesy,” but it might carry a derogatory tone here, perhaps alluding to the impassioned, frenzied way in which prophets sometimes delivered their messages. If so, one could translate, “to drivel; to foam at the mouth” (see HALOT 694 s.v. נטף).

[8:3]  ⁹ tn Or “palace” (NASB, NCV, TEV).

[8:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Many corpses in every place he will throw out.” The subject of the verb is probably impersonal, though many emend the active (Hiphil) form to a passive (Hophal): “Many corpses in every place will be thrown out.”

[8:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  ¹⁴ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”