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. ¹ 

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ²  will quake, ³ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ⁴  will rise like the River Nile, ⁵ 

it will surge upward ⁶  and then grow calm, ⁷  like the Nile in Egypt. ⁸ 

Amos 8:12

8:12 People ⁹  will stagger from sea to sea, ¹⁰ 

and from the north around to the east.

They will wander about looking for a revelation from ¹¹  the Lord,

but they will not find any. ¹² 

Amos 8:14

8:14 These are the ones who now take oaths ¹³  in the name of the sinful idol goddess ¹⁴  of Samaria.

They vow, ¹⁵  ‘As surely as your god ¹⁶  lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one ¹⁷  lives, O Beer Sheba!’

But they will fall down and not get up again.”

Amos 9:5-6

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹⁸ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ¹⁹ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ²⁰  rises like the River Nile, ²¹ 

and then grows calm ²²  like the Nile in Egypt. ²³ 

9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace ²⁴  in heaven

and sets its foundation supports ²⁵  on the earth. ²⁶ 

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name.

[7:8]  ¹ tn Heb “And I will no longer pass over him.”

[8:8]  ² tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ³ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  ⁶ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ⁷ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ⁸ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁴ tn That is, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east – that is, across the whole land.

[8:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “looking for the word of.”

[8:12]  ⁶ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “those who swear.”

[8:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sin [or “guilt”] of Samaria.” This could be a derogatory reference to an idol-goddess popular in the northern kingdom, perhaps Asherah (cf. 2 Chr 24:18, where this worship is labeled “their guilt”), or to the golden calf at the national sanctuary in Bethel (Hos 8:6, 10:8). Some English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, CEV) repoint the word and read “Ashimah,” the name of a goddess worshiped in Hamath in Syria (see 2 Kgs 17:30).

[8:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “say.”

[8:14]  ⁷ sn Your god is not identified. It may refer to another patron deity who was not the God of Israel, a local manifestation of the Lord that was worshiped by the people there, or, more specifically, the golden calf image erected in Dan by Jeroboam I (see 1 Kgs 12:28-30).

[8:14]  ⁸ tc The MT reads, “As surely as the way [to] Beer Sheba lives,” or “As surely as the way lives, O Beer Sheba.” Perhaps the term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “the way”) refers to the pilgrimage route to Beersheba (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 272) or it may be a title for a god. The notion of pilgrimage appears elsewhere in the book (cf. 4:4-5; 5:4-5; 8:12). The translation above assumes an emendation to דֹּדְךְ (dodÿkh, “your beloved” or “relative”; the term also is used in 6:10) and understands this as referring either to the Lord (since other kinship terms are used of him, such as “Father”) or to another deity that was particularly popular in Beer Sheba. Besides the commentaries, see S. M. Olyan, “The Oaths of Amos 8:14” Priesthood and Cult in Ancient Israel, 121-49.

[9:5]  ⁵ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ⁶ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ⁹ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[9:6]  ⁶ tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).

[9:6]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.

[9:6]  ⁸ sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.