9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. 1
He touches the earth and it dissolves; 2
all who live on it mourn.
The whole earth 3 rises like the River Nile, 4
and then grows calm 5 like the Nile in Egypt. 6
9:13 “Be sure of this, 7 the time is 8 coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper 9
and the one who stomps the grapes 10 will overtake 11 the planter. 12
Juice will run down the slopes, 13
it will flow down all the hillsides. 14
1 tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.
3 tn Heb “all of it.”
4 tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Or “sinks back down.”
6 sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.
7 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
8 tn Heb “the days are.”
9 sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.
10 sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.
11 tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.
12 sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.
13 tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.
14 tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”