4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: 1
“Certainly the time is approaching 2
when you will be carried away 3 in baskets, 4
every last one of you 5 in fishermen’s pots. 6
4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! 7
Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! 8
For you love to do this, you Israelites.”
The sovereign Lord is speaking!
6:14 “Look! I am about to bring 9 a nation against you, family 10 of Israel.”
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking.
“They will oppress 11 you all the way from Lebo-Hamath 12 to the Stream of the Arabah.” 13
1 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
2 tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”
3 tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”
4 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.
5 tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”
6 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.
7 sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.
8 tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”
9 tn Or “raise up” (KJV, NASB); NIV “stir up.”
10 tn Heb “house.”
11 sn Once again there is irony in the divine judgment. The oppressive nation itself will suffer oppression. The verb “oppress” (לָחַץ, lakhats) in this verse is not the same as that used in 4:1 (עָשַׁק, ’ashaq).
12 tn Or “from the entrance to Hamath.” The Hebrew term לְבוֹא (lÿvo’) can either be translated or considered a part of the place name.
13 sn Lebo-Hamath refers to the northern border of Israel, the Stream of the Arabah to its southern border. See 2 Kgs 14:25. Through this invader the Lord would reverse the victories and territorial expansion Israel experienced during the reign of Jeroboam II.