Amos 7:4

7:4 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ¹  the sovereign Lord summoning a shower of fire. ²  It consumed the great deep and devoured the fields.

Amos 8:1

More Visions and Messages of Judgment

8:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ³  a basket of summer fruit. ⁴ 

Amos 3:8

3:8 A lion has roared! ⁵  Who is not afraid?

The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy? ⁶ 

Amos 3:13

3:13 Listen and warn ⁷  the family ⁸  of Jacob! ⁹ 

The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, ¹⁰  is speaking!

Amos 7:5-7

7:5 I said, “Sovereign Lord, stop!

How can Jacob survive? ¹¹ 

He is too weak!” ¹² 

7:6 The Lord decided not to do this. ¹³  The sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”

7:7 He showed me this: I saw ¹⁴  the sovereign One ¹⁵  standing by a tin ¹⁶  wall holding tin in his hand.

Amos 1:8

1:8 I will remove ¹⁷  the ruler ¹⁸  from Ashdod, ¹⁹ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ²⁰ 

I will strike Ekron ²¹  with my hand; ²² 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ²³ 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

Amos 3:7

3:7 Certainly the sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

Amos 3:11

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ²⁴ 

He will take away your power; ²⁵ 

your fortresses will be looted.”

Amos 4:2

4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ²⁶ 

“Certainly the time is approaching ²⁷ 

when you will be carried away ²⁸  in baskets, ²⁹ 

every last one of you ³⁰  in fishermen’s pots. ³¹ 

Amos 4:5

4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! ³² 

Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! ³³ 

For you love to do this, you Israelites.”

The sovereign Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:3

5:3 The sovereign Lord says this:

“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers ³⁴  will have only a hundred left;

the town ³⁵  that marches out with a hundred soldiers ³⁶  will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” ³⁷ 

Amos 6:8

6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ³⁸ 

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

“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;

I hate their ³⁹  fortresses.

I will hand over to their enemies ⁴⁰  the city of Samaria ⁴¹  and everything in it.”

Amos 7:1-2

Symbolic Visions of Judgment

7:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ⁴²  him making locusts just as the crops planted late ⁴³  were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. ⁴⁴ ) 7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,

“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ⁴⁵ 

How can Jacob survive? ⁴⁶ 

He is too weak!” ⁴⁷ 

Amos 8:3

8:3 The women singing in the temple ⁴⁸  will wail in that day.”

The sovereign Lord is speaking.

“There will be many corpses littered everywhere! ⁴⁹  Be quiet!”

Amos 8:9

8:9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon,

and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. ⁵⁰ 

Amos 5:16

5:16 Because of Israel’s sins ⁵¹  this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, ⁵²  says:

“In all the squares there will be wailing,

in all the streets they will mourn the dead. ⁵³ 

They will tell the field workers ⁵⁴  to lament

and the professional mourners ⁵⁵  to wail.

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. ⁵⁶ 

Amos 8:11

8:11 Be certain of this, ⁵⁷  the time is ⁵⁸  coming,” says the sovereign Lord,

“when I will send a famine through the land –

not a shortage of food or water

but an end to divine revelation! ⁵⁹ 

Amos 9:1

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ⁶⁰  standing by the altar ⁶¹  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ⁶²  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁶³ 

and I will kill the survivors ⁶⁴  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ⁶⁵ 

no one will be able to escape. ⁶⁶ 

Amos 9:8

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ⁶⁷  the sinful nation, ⁶⁸ 

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

But I will not completely destroy the family ⁶⁹  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[7:4]  ² tc The Hebrew appears to read, “summoning to contend with fire,” or “summoning fire to contend,” but both are problematic syntactically (H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos [Hermeneia], 292; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 230-31). Many emend the text to לרבב אשׁ, “(calling) for a shower of fire,” though this interpretation is also problematic (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 746-47).

[8:1]  ³ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[8:1]  ⁴ sn The basket of summer fruit (also in the following verse) probably refers to figs from the summer crop, which ripens in August-September. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 115.

[3:8]  ⁵ sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see 1:2; cf. 3:4, 12). Verses 7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action.

[3:8]  ⁶ sn Who can refuse to prophesy? When a message is revealed, the prophet must speak, and the news of impending judgment should cause people to fear.

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Or “testify against.”

[3:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[3:13]  ⁹ tn These words are spoken to either the unidentified heralds addressed at the beginning of v. 9, or to the Egyptians and Philistines (see v. 9b). Another possibility is that one is not to look for a specific addressee but rather appreciate the command simply as a rhetorical device to grab the attention of the listeners and readers of the prophetic message.

[3:13]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”

[7:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “stand.”

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “small.”

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”

[7:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[7:7]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here and in the following verse is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[7:7]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word אֲנָךְ (’anakh, “tin”) occurs only in this passage (twice in this verse and twice in the following verse). (Its proposed meaning is based on an Akkadian cognate annaku.) The tin wall of the vision, if it symbolizes Israel, may suggest weakness and vulnerability to judgment. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 233-35. The symbolic significance of God holding tin in his hand and then placing tin among the people is unclear. Possibly the term אֲנָךְ in v. 8b is a homonym meaning “grief” (this term is attested in postbiblical Hebrew). In this case there is a wordplay, the אֲנָךְ (“tin”) of the vision suggesting the אֲנָךְ (“grief”) that judgment will bring upon the land. See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 759. Another option is to maintain the meaning “tin” and understand that the Lord has ripped off a piece of the tin wall and placed it in front of all to see. Their citadels, of which the nation was so proud and confident, are nothing more than tin fortresses. The traditional interpretation of these verses (reflected in many English versions) understands the term אֲנָךְ to mean “lead,” and by extension, “plumb line.” In this case, one may translate: “I saw the sovereign one standing by a wall built true to plumb holding a plumb line in his hand. The Lord said to me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ I said, ‘A plumb line.’ The sovereign one then said, ‘Look, I am about to place a plumb line among my people…’” According to this view, the plumb line symbolizes God’s moral standards by which he will measure Israel to see if they are a straight or crooked wall.

[1:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[1:8]  ¹⁷ sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁸ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁹ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.

[1:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”

[3:11]  ¹⁷ tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”

[3:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.

[4:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”

[4:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”

[4:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”

[4:2]  ²² tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “baskets” is uncertain. The translation follows the suggestion of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (130-32): “shields” (cf. NEB); “ropes”; “thorns,” which leads to the most favored interpretation, “hooks” (cf. NASB “meat hooks”; NIV, NRSV “hooks”); “baskets,” and (derived from “baskets”) “boats.” Against the latter, it is unlikely that Amos envisioned a deportation by boat for the inhabitants of Samaria! See also the note on the expression “fishermen’s pots” later in this verse.

[4:2]  ²³ tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”

[4:2]  ²⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression translated “in fishermen’s pots” is uncertain. The translation follows that of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (132-33): “thorns,” understood by most modern interpreters to mean (by extension) “fishhooks” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV); “boats,” but as mentioned in the previous note on the word “baskets,” a deportation of the Samaritans by boat is geographically unlikely; and “pots,” referring to a container used for packing fish (cf. NEB “fish-baskets”). Paul (p. 134) argues that the imagery comes from the ancient fishing industry. When hauled away into exile, the women of Samaria will be like fish packed and transported to market.

[4:5]  ²¹ sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.

[4:5]  ²² tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”

[5:3]  ²³ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “The one.” The word “town” has been used in the translation in keeping with the relative sizes of the armed contingents sent out by each. It is also possible that this line is speaking of the same city of the previous line. In other words, the contingent sent by that one city would have suffered a ninety-nine percent casualty loss.

[5:3]  ²⁵ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for/to the house of Israel.” The translation assumes that this is a graphic picture of what is left over for the defense of the nation (NEB, NJB, NASB, NKJV). Others suggest that this phrase completes the introductory formula (“The sovereign Lord says this…”; see v. 4a; NJPS). Another option is that the preposition has a vocative force, “O house of Israel” (F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 476). Some simply delete the phrase as dittography from the following line (NIV).

[6:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”

[6:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.

[6:8]  ²⁷ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:8]  ²⁸ 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.

[7:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[7:1]  ²⁸ sn The crops planted late (consisting of vegetables) were planted in late January-early March and sprouted in conjunction with the spring rains of March-April. For a discussion of the ancient Israelite agricultural calendar, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 31-44.

[7:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “the mowings of the king.”

[7:2]  ²⁹ tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[7:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “small.”

[8:3]  ³¹ tn Or “palace” (NASB, NCV, TEV).

[8:3]  ³² tn Heb “Many corpses in every place he will throw out.” The subject of the verb is probably impersonal, though many emend the active (Hiphil) form to a passive (Hophal): “Many corpses in every place will be thrown out.”

[8:9]  ³³ tn Heb “in a day of light.”

[5:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10-13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14-15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.

[5:16]  ³⁶ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[5:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).

[5:16]  ³⁸ tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[5:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “those who know lamentation.”

[7:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And I will no longer pass over him.”

[8:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[8:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the days are.”

[8:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “not a hunger for food or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.”

[9:1]  ⁴¹ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ⁴² sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:8]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “kingdom.”

[9:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).