1:1 The following is a record of what Amos prophesied. 1 He 2 was one of the herdsmen from Tekoa. These prophecies about Israel were revealed to him 3 during the time of 4 King Uzziah of Judah and 5 King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 6
1:5 I will break the bar 7 on the gate of Damascus.
I will remove 8 the ruler 9 from Wicked Valley, 10
the one who holds the royal scepter from Beth Eden. 11
The people of Aram will be deported to Kir.” 12
The Lord has spoken!
4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. 13
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with the horses you had captured.
I made the stench from the corpses 14 rise up into your nostrils.
Still you did not come back to me.”
The Lord is speaking!
5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he can turn the darkness into morning
and daylight 15 into night.
He summons the water of the seas
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name!
5:16 Because of Israel’s sins 16 this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, 17 says:
“In all the squares there will be wailing,
in all the streets they will mourn the dead. 18
They will tell the field workers 19 to lament
and the professional mourners 20 to wail.
They vow, 23 ‘As surely as your god 24 lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one 25 lives, O Beer Sheba!’
But they will fall down and not get up again.”
9:13 “Be sure of this, 26 the time is 27 coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper 28
and the one who stomps the grapes 29 will overtake 30 the planter. 31
Juice will run down the slopes, 32
it will flow down all the hillsides. 33
1 tn Heb “The words of Amos.” Among the prophetic books this opening phrase finds a parallel only at Jer 1:1 but is not that uncommon in other genres (note, e.g., Prov 30:1; 31:1; Eccl 1:1; Neh 1:1).
2 tn Heb “who.” Here a new sentence has been started in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “which he saw concerning Israel.”
4 tn Heb “in the days of.”
5 tn The Hebrew text repeats, “and in the days of.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 sn This refers to a well-known earthquake that occurred during the first half of the 8th century
7 sn The bar on the city gate symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
8 tn Heb “cut off.”
9 tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some English versions take the Hebrew term in a collective sense as “inhabitants” (e.g., KJV, NKJV, NASB, NRSV). The context and the parallel in the next clause (“the one who holds the royal scepter”), however, suggest that the royal house is in view. For this term (יוֹשֵׁב, yoshev), see N. K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh, 512-30.
10 tn Heb “valley of wickedness.” Though many English versions take the Hebrew phrase בִקְעַת־אָוֶן (biq’-at ’aven) as a literal geographical place name (“Valley of Aven,” so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), it appears to be a derogatory epithet for Damascus and the kingdom of Aram.
11 tn Many associate the name “Beth Eden” with Bit Adini, an Aramean state located near the Euphrates River, but it may be a sarcastic epithet meaning “house of pleasure.”
12 sn According to Amos 9:7, the Arameans originally came from Kir. The
13 tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”
14 tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”
15 tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”
16 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.
17 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
18 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”).
19 tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
20 tn Heb “those who know lamentation.”
sn Professional mourners are referred to elsewhere in the OT (2 Chr 35:25; Jer 9:17) and ancient Near Eastern literature. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 180.
21 tn Heb “those who swear.”
22 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).
23 tn Heb “say.”
24 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).
25 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.
26 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
27 tn Heb “the days are.”
28 sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.
29 sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.
30 tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.
31 sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.
32 tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.
33 tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”