Amos 6:5

6:5 They sing ¹  to the tune of ²  stringed instruments; ³ 

like David they invent ⁴  musical instruments.

Amos 9:1

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ⁵  standing by the altar ⁶  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ⁷  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁸ 

and I will kill the survivors ⁹  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹⁰ 

no one will be able to escape. ¹¹ 

Amos 6:1

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ¹²  to those who live in ease in Zion, ¹³ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ¹⁴  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ¹⁵  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ¹⁶ 

Amos 9:15

9:15 I will plant them on their land

and they will never again be uprooted from the ¹⁷  land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

[6:5]  ¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּרַט (parat), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. Some translate “strum,” “pluck,” or “improvise.”

[6:5]  ² tn Heb “upon the mouth of,” that is, “according to.”

[6:5]  ³ sn The stringed instruments mentioned here are probably harps (cf. NIV, NRSV) or lutes (cf. NEB).

[6:5]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew phrase חָשְׁבוּ לָהֶם (khoshvu lahem) is uncertain. Various options include: (1) “they think their musical instruments are like David’s”; (2) “they consider themselves musicians like David”; (3) “they esteem musical instruments highly like David”; (4) “they improvise [new songs] for themselves [on] instruments like David”; (5) “they invent musical instruments like David.” However, the most commonly accepted interpretation is that given in the translation (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 206-7).

[9:1]  ⁵ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ⁶ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[6:1]  ⁹ tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[9:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “their.” The pronoun was replaced by the English definite article in the translation for stylistic reasons.