Amos 1:7

1:7 So I will set Gaza’s city wall ¹  on fire;

fire ²  will consume her fortresses.

Amos 1:10

1:10 So I will set fire to Tyre’s city wall; ³ 

fire ⁴  will consume her fortresses.”

Amos 1:12

1:12 So I will set Teman ⁵  on fire;

fire ⁶  will consume Bozrah’s ⁷  fortresses.”

Amos 2:5

2:5 So I will set Judah on fire,

and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.” ⁸ 

Amos 2:13

2:13 Look! I will press you down,

like a cart loaded down with grain presses down. ⁹ 

Amos 5:1

Death is Imminent

5:1 Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, ¹⁰  family ¹¹  of Israel:

Amos 7:5

7:5 I said, “Sovereign Lord, stop!

How can Jacob survive? ¹² 

He is too weak!” ¹³ 

Amos 8:1

More Visions and Messages of Judgment

8:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ¹⁴  a basket of summer fruit. ¹⁵ 

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¹ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ sn Teman was an important region (or perhaps city) in Edom.

⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ sn Bozrah was a city located in northern Edom.

⁸ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn The precise meaning of this verse is unclear. Various suggested meanings have been proposed (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 94): (1) One option is to relate the verb to an Arabic verb, meaning “to hinder; to hamper,” and translate, “I am making you immobile, like a cart filled with grain is immobile.” In this case, the Lord refers to Israel’s inability to escape his coming judgment (see vv. 14-16; NJPS). (2) Another view relates the verb to a different Arabic verb meaning “to cut in pieces,” translating “I will cut you in pieces as a cart cuts in pieces [the earth],” referring to the ruts and rifts in the ground caused by an earthquake. (3) Some relate the verb to an Arabic root meaning “to groan” with the idea that the Lord causes the ground underneath Israel to groan (cf. NLT). (4) The translation connects the verb to an Aramaism signifying to “press down” (cf. NIV, NRSV). Some English versions translate the verb in an intransitive sense as “I am weighted down” (cf. NASB, NKJV) or “I groan beneath you” (NEB). For this last option, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 334.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Listen to this word which I am about to take up against you, a funeral song.”

¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

¹² tn Heb “stand.”

¹³ tn Heb “small.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

¹⁵ sn The basket of summer fruit (also in the following verse) probably refers to figs from the summer crop, which ripens in August-September. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 115.