3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. 1
He will take away your power; 2
your fortresses will be looted.”
“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! 3
How can Jacob survive? 4
He is too weak!” 5
8:3 The women singing in the temple 6 will wail in that day.”
The sovereign Lord is speaking.
“There will be many corpses littered everywhere! 7 Be quiet!”
8:9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon,
and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. 8
1 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.”
2 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.
3 tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
5 tn Heb “small.”
6 tn Or “palace” (NASB, NCV, TEV).
7 tn Heb “Many corpses in every place he will throw out.” The subject of the verb is probably impersonal, though many emend the active (Hiphil) form to a passive (Hophal): “Many corpses in every place will be thrown out.”
8 tn Heb “in a day of light.”