2:4 This is what the Lord says:
“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions 1 –
make that four! 2 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 3
They rejected the Lord’s law; 4
they did not obey his commands.
Their false gods, 5
to which their fathers were loyal, 6
led them astray.
5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he can turn the darkness into morning
and daylight 7 into night.
He summons the water of the seas
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name!
6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. 8
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:
“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;
I hate their 9 fortresses.
I will hand over to their enemies 10 the city of Samaria 11 and everything in it.”
1 tn This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.
2 tn Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.”
sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.
3 tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.
4 tn Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”
5 tn Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26) and a delusion (Isa 66:3). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9; cf. Hab 2:3). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.
6 tn Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76.
sn Here the idolatry of the parents carried over to the children, who persisted in worshiping the idols to which their fathers were loyal.
7 tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”
8 tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”
9 tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.
10 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
11 tn Heb “the city”; this probably refers to the city of Samaria (cf. 6:1), which in turn, by metonymy, represents the entire northern kingdom.