Jeremiah 24:6

24:6 I will look after their welfare ¹  and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land ²  and will not uproot them. ³ 

Jeremiah 40:4

40:4 But now, Jeremiah, today I will set you free ⁴  from the chains on your wrists. If you would like to come to Babylon with me, come along and I will take care of you. ⁵  But if you prefer not to come to Babylon with me, you are not required to do so. ⁶  You are free to go anywhere in the land you want to go. ⁷  Go wherever you choose.” ⁸ 

Proverbs 23:5

23:5 When you gaze upon riches, ⁹  they are gone,

for they surely make wings for themselves,

and fly off into the sky like an eagle! ¹⁰ 

Amos 9:4

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ¹¹ 

from there ¹²  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ¹³ 

Amos 9:1

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ¹⁴  standing by the altar ¹⁵  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ¹⁶  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹⁷ 

and I will kill the survivors ¹⁸  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹⁹ 

no one will be able to escape. ²⁰ 

Amos 3:12

3:12 This is what the Lord says:

“Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion’s mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear,

so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. ²¹ 

They will be left with just a corner of a bed, ²² 

and a part ²³  of a couch.”

[24:6]  ¹ tn Heb “I will set my eyes upon them for good.” For the nuance of “good” see Jer 21:10; Amos 9:4 (in these cases the opposite of harm; see BDB 375 s.v. טוֹבָה 1).

[24:6]  ² tn The words “There” and “firmly in the land” are not in the text but are implicit from the connection and the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:6]  ³ sn For these terms see Jer 1:10.

[40:4]  ⁴ tn The verb here is an example of the perfect of resolve where the speaker announces his intention to do something according to IBHS 488-89 §30.5.1d. The word “Jeremiah” is supplied in the translation to avoid the possible misunderstanding that the you is still plural.

[40:4]  ⁵ tn Or “look out for you.” See 39:12 and the translator’s note there.

[40:4]  ⁶ tn Or “Stay here”; Heb “Forbear.” The imperative is used in a permissive sense; “you may forbear.” See GKC 324 §110.b and compare usage in Gen 50:6.

[40:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “See all the land [or the whole land] is before you.” For this idiom see BDB 817 s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a(f) and compare the usage in Gen 20:15; 47:6.

[40:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Unto the good and the right in your eyes to go, go there.”

[23:5]  ⁹ tc The Kethib is הֲתָעוּף (hata’uf), “do your eyes fly [light] on it?” The Qere is the Hiphil, הֲתָעִיף (hata’if) “do you cause your eyes to fly on it?” But the line is difficult. The question may be indirect: If you cast your eyes on it, it is gone – when you think you are close, it slips away.

[23:5]  ¹⁰ sn This seventh saying warns people not to expend all their energy trying to get rich because riches are fleeting (cf. Instruction of Amememope, chap. 7, 9:10-11 which says, “they have made themselves wings like geese and have flown away to heaven”). In the ancient world the symbol of birds flying away signified fleeting wealth.

[9:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ¹² tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ¹⁵ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[3:12]  ²¹ sn The verb translated salvaged, though often used in a positive sense of deliverance from harm, is here employed in a sarcastic manner. A shepherd would attempt to salvage part of an animal to prove that a predator had indeed killed it. In this way he could prove that he had not stolen the missing animal and absolve himself from any responsibility to repay the owner (see Exod 22:12-13).

[3:12]  ²² tn Heb “with a corner of a bed.”

[3:12]  ²³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word דְּמֶשֶׁק (dÿmesheq), which occurs only here, is uncertain. If not emended, it is usually related to the term ַדּמֶּשֶׂק (dammeseq) and translated as the “Damask linens” of the bed (cf. NASB “the cover”) or as “in Damascus” (so KJV, NJB, NIV). The differences in spelling (Damascus is spelled correctly in 5:27), historical considerations, and the word order make both of these derivations unlikely. Many emendations have been proposed (e.g., “a part from the foot [of a bed],” based on a different division of the Hebrew letters (cf. NEB, NRSV); “on the edge,” based on a Hebrew term not attested in the Bible (NKJV). Some suggest a resemblance to an Akkadian term which means “sideboard [of a bed],” which is sometimes incorrectly rendered “headboard” (NJPS; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 121-22). Most likely another part of a bed or couch is in view, but it is difficult to be more specific.