3:1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against 1 you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up 2 from the land of Egypt:
3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. 3
He will take away your power; 4
your fortresses will be looted.”
5:2 “The virgin 5 Israel has fallen down and will not get up again.
She is abandoned on her own land
with no one to help her get up.” 6
7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! 9 Run away to the land of Judah! Earn your living 10 and prophesy there!
1 tn Or “about.”
2 tn One might expect a third person verb form (“he brought up”), since the
3 tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”
4 tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.
5 tn Or “young lady.” The term “Israel” is an appositional genitive.
6 tn Or “with no one to lift her up.”
7 tn Or “for.”
8 tn See the note on the word “exile” in 5:5.
9 tn Traditionally, “seer.” The word is a synonym for “prophet,” though it may carry a derogatory tone on the lips of Amaziah.
10 tn Heb “Eat bread there.”