3:9 Make this announcement in 1 the fortresses of Ashdod
and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.
Say this:
“Gather on the hills around Samaria! 2
Observe the many acts of violence 3 taking place within the city, 4
the oppressive deeds 5 occurring in it.” 6
4:4 “Go to Bethel 7 and rebel! 8
At Gilgal 9 rebel some more!
Bring your sacrifices in 10 the morning,
your tithes on 11 the third day!
1 tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).
2 sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.
map For location of the city see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
3 tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.
4 tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”
5 tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).
6 tn Heb “within her.”
7 sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.
map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
8 tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).
9 sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.
10 tn Or “for.”
11 tn Or “for.”