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 7:8

7:8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The sovereign One then said,

“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel.

I will no longer overlook their sin. ⁶ 

Amos 8:2

8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end ⁷  has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. ⁸ 

[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.”

[7:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “And I will no longer pass over him.”

[8:2]  ¹¹ tn There is a wordplay here. The Hebrew word קֵץ (qets, “end”) sounds like קָיִץ (qayits, “summer fruit”). The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end.

[8:2]  ¹² tn Heb “I will no longer pass over him.”