Amos 5:5

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ¹ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ²  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ³  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁴ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁵ 

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 8:14

8:14 These are the ones who now take oaths ¹⁰  in the name of the sinful idol goddess ¹¹  of Samaria.

They vow, ¹²  ‘As surely as your god ¹³  lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one ¹⁴  lives, O Beer Sheba!’

But they will fall down and not get up again.”

[5:5]  ¹ sn Ironically, Israel was to seek after the Lord, but not at Bethel (the name Bethel means “the house of God” in Hebrew).

[5:5]  ² tn Heb “cross over.”

[5:5]  ³ tn Heb “For Gilgal.” By metonymy the place name “Gilgal” is used instead of referring directly to the inhabitants. The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:5]  ⁴ tn In the Hebrew text the statement is emphasized by sound play. The name “Gilgal” sounds like the verb גָּלָה (galah, “to go into exile”), which occurs here in the infinitival + finite verb construction (גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה, galoh yigleh). The repetition of the “ג” (g) and “ל” (l) sounds draws attention to the announcement and suggests that Gilgal’s destiny is inherent in its very name.

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

[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.

[8:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “those who swear.”

[8:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the sin [or “guilt”] of Samaria.” This could be a derogatory reference to an idol-goddess popular in the northern kingdom, perhaps Asherah (cf. 2 Chr 24:18, where this worship is labeled “their guilt”), or to the golden calf at the national sanctuary in Bethel (Hos 8:6, 10:8). Some English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, CEV) repoint the word and read “Ashimah,” the name of a goddess worshiped in Hamath in Syria (see 2 Kgs 17:30).

[8:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “say.”

[8:14]  ¹⁴ sn Your god is not identified. It may refer to another patron deity who was not the God of Israel, a local manifestation of the Lord that was worshiped by the people there, or, more specifically, the golden calf image erected in Dan by Jeroboam I (see 1 Kgs 12:28-30).

[8:14]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads, “As surely as the way [to] Beer Sheba lives,” or “As surely as the way lives, O Beer Sheba.” Perhaps the term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “the way”) refers to the pilgrimage route to Beersheba (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 272) or it may be a title for a god. The notion of pilgrimage appears elsewhere in the book (cf. 4:4-5; 5:4-5; 8:12). The translation above assumes an emendation to דֹּדְךְ (dodÿkh, “your beloved” or “relative”; the term also is used in 6:10) and understands this as referring either to the Lord (since other kinship terms are used of him, such as “Father”) or to another deity that was particularly popular in Beer Sheba. Besides the commentaries, see S. M. Olyan, “The Oaths of Amos 8:14” Priesthood and Cult in Ancient Israel, 121-49.