1:8 I will remove 1 the ruler 2 from Ashdod, 3
the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. 4
I will strike Ekron 5 with my hand; 6
the rest of the Philistines will also die.” 7
The sovereign Lord has spoken!
4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: 8
“Certainly the time is approaching 9
when you will be carried away 10 in baskets, 11
every last one of you 12 in fishermen’s pots. 13
4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! 14
Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! 15
For you love to do this, you Israelites.”
The sovereign Lord is speaking!
5:3 The sovereign Lord says this:
“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers 16 will have only a hundred left;
the town 17 that marches out with a hundred soldiers 18 will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” 19
7:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw 20 him making locusts just as the crops planted late 21 were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. 22 )
“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel.
I will no longer overlook their sin. 23
8:11 Be certain of this, 24 the time is 25 coming,” says the sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land –
not a shortage of food or water
but an end to divine revelation! 26
9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. 27
He touches the earth and it dissolves; 28
all who live on it mourn.
The whole earth 29 rises like the River Nile, 30
and then grows calm 31 like the Nile in Egypt. 32
9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching 33 the sinful nation, 34
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
But I will not completely destroy the family 35 of Jacob,” says the Lord.
1 tn Heb “cut off.”
2 tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).
3 sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
4 sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
5 sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).
6 tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.
7 tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”
8 tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”
sn The message that follows is an unconditional oath, the fulfillment of which is just as certain as the
9 tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”
10 tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”
11 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.
12 tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”
13 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.
sn The imagery of catching fish in connection with the captivity of Israel is also found in Jer 16:16 and Hab 1:14.
14 sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.
15 tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”
16 tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 tn Heb “The one.” The word “town” has been used in the translation in keeping with the relative sizes of the armed contingents sent out by each. It is also possible that this line is speaking of the same city of the previous line. In other words, the contingent sent by that one city would have suffered a ninety-nine percent casualty loss.
18 tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
19 tn Heb “for/to the house of Israel.” The translation assumes that this is a graphic picture of what is left over for the defense of the nation (NEB, NJB, NASB, NKJV). Others suggest that this phrase completes the introductory formula (“The sovereign
20 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
21 sn The crops planted late (consisting of vegetables) were planted in late January-early March and sprouted in conjunction with the spring rains of March-April. For a discussion of the ancient Israelite agricultural calendar, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 31-44.
22 tn Or “the mowings of the king.”
sn This royal harvest may refer to an initial mowing of crops collected as taxes by the royal authorities.
23 tn Heb “And I will no longer pass over him.”
24 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
25 tn Heb “the days are.”
26 tn Heb “not a hunger for food or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the
27 tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
28 tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.
29 tn Heb “all of it.”
30 tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Or “sinks back down.”
32 sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.
33 tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign
34 tn Or “kingdom.”
35 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).