Amos 6:7-8

6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, ¹ 

and the religious banquets ²  where they sprawl on couches ³  will end.

6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ⁴ 

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:

“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;

I hate their ⁵  fortresses.

I will hand over to their enemies ⁶  the city of Samaria ⁷  and everything in it.”

[6:7]  ¹ tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”

[6:7]  ² sn Religious banquets. This refers to the מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh), a type of pagan religious banquet popular among the upper class of Israel at this time and apparently associated with mourning. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 137-61; J. L. McLaughlin, The “Marzeah” in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup). Scholars debate whether at this banquet the dead were simply remembered or actually venerated in a formal, cultic sense.

[6:7]  ³ tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.

[6:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.

[6:8]  ⁶ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:8]  ⁷ 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.