Deuteronomy 32:14-15

32:14 butter from the herd

and milk from the flock,

along with the fat of lambs,

rams and goats of Bashan,

along with the best of the kernels of wheat;

and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.

Israel’s Rebellion

32:15 But Jeshurun ¹  became fat and kicked,

you ²  got fat, thick, and stuffed!

Then he deserted the God who made him,

and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

Isaiah 34:7

34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered ³  along with them,

as well as strong bulls. ⁴ 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

Ezekiel 39:18

39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors ⁵  and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan.

Amos 4:1-3

4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ⁶  who live on Mount Samaria!

You ⁷  oppress the poor;

you crush the needy.

You say to your ⁸  husbands,

“Bring us more to drink!” ⁹ 

4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ¹⁰ 

“Certainly the time is approaching ¹¹ 

when you will be carried away ¹²  in baskets, ¹³ 

every last one of you ¹⁴  in fishermen’s pots. ¹⁵ 

4:3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; ¹⁶ 

you will be thrown out ¹⁷  toward Harmon.” ¹⁸ 

The Lord is speaking!

Matthew 27:1

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

27:1 When ¹⁹  it was early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to execute him.

Acts 4:27

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ²⁰  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ²¹ 

[32:15]  ¹ tn To make the continuity of the referent clear, some English versions substitute “Jacob” here (NAB, NRSV) while others replace “Jeshurun” with “Israel” (NCV, CEV, NLT) or “the Lord’s people” (TEV).

[32:15]  ² tc The LXX reads the third person masculine singular (“he”) for the MT second person masculine singular (“you”), but such alterations are unnecessary in Hebrew poetic texts where subjects fluctuate frequently and without warning.

[34:7]  ³ tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”

[34:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[39:18]  ⁵ sn See Rev 19:17-18.

[4:1]  ⁶ sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “their.”

[4:1]  ⁹ sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).

[4:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”

[4:2]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”

[4:2]  ¹⁵ 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.

[4:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and [through the] breaches you will go out, each straight ahead.”

[4:3]  ¹⁷ tn The Hiphil verb form has no object. It may be intransitive (F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 425), though many emend it to a Hophal.

[4:3]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of this word is unclear. Many understand it as a place name, though such a location is not known. Some (e.g., H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos [Hermeneia[, 204) emend to “Hermon” or to similarly written words, such as “the dung heap” (NEB, NJPS), “the garbage dump” (NCV), or “the fortress” (cf. NLT “your fortresses”).

[27:1]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:27]  ²⁰ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ²¹ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”