Amos 6:12

6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?

Can one plow the sea with oxen? ¹ 

Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,

and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. ² 

Amos 9:13

9:13 “Be sure of this, ³  the time is ⁴  coming,” says the Lord,

“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper ⁵ 

and the one who stomps the grapes ⁶  will overtake ⁷  the planter. ⁸ 

Juice will run down the slopes, ⁹ 

it will flow down all the hillsides. ¹⁰ 

[6:12]  ¹ tc Heb “Does one plow with oxen?” This obviously does not fit the parallelism, for the preceding rhetorical question requires the answer, “Of course not!” An error of fusion has occurred in the Hebrew, with the word יָם (yam, “sea”) being accidentally added as a plural ending to the collective noun בָּקָר (baqar, “oxen”). A proper division of the consonants produces the above translation, which fits the parallelism and also anticipates the answer, “Of course not!”

[6:12]  ² sn The botanical imagery, when juxtaposed with the preceding rhetorical questions, vividly depicts and emphasizes how the Israelites have perverted justice and violated the created order by their morally irrational behavior.

[9:13]  ³ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[9:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “the days are.”

[9:13]  ⁵ sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.

[9:13]  ⁶ sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.

[9:13]  ⁷ tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[9:13]  ⁸ sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.

[9:13]  ⁹ tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.

[9:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”