Amos 8:4-8

Context

8:4 Listen to this, you who trample¹ the needy,

and do away with² the destitute in the land.

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival³ be over,⁴ so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end,⁵ so we can open up the grain bins?⁶

We’re eager⁷ to sell less for a higher price,⁸

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales!⁹

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor,¹⁰

a pair of sandals¹¹ for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”¹²

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath¹³ by the arrogance of Jacob:¹⁴

“I swear¹⁵ I will never forget all you have done!¹⁶

8:8 Because of this the earth¹⁷ will quake,¹⁸

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth¹⁹ will rise like the River Nile,²⁰

it will surge upward²¹ and then grow calm,²² like the Nile in Egypt.²³

[8:4] ¹tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.

[8:4] ²tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”

[8:5] ³sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5] ⁴tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5] ⁵tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5] ⁶tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5] ⁷tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5] ⁸tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.

[8:5] ⁹tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:6] ⁵tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6] ⁶tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6] ⁷tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”

[8:7] ⁷tn Or “swears.”

[8:7] ⁸sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

[8:7] ⁹tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

[8:7] ¹⁰tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”

[8:8] ⁹tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8] ¹⁰tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8] ¹¹tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8] ¹²tc 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] ¹³tn Or “churn.”

[8:8] ¹⁴tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8] ¹⁵tn 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.