Discovery BoxAmos 5:8-9 
Context5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he can turn the darkness into morning
and daylight 1 into night.
He summons the water of the seas
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name!
5:9 He flashes 2 destruction down upon the strong
so that destruction overwhelms 3 the fortified places.)
Amos 9:5-6
Context9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. 4
He touches the earth and it dissolves; 5
all who live on it mourn.
The whole earth 6 rises like the River Nile, 7
and then grows calm 8 like the Nile in Egypt. 9
9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace 10 in heaven
and sets its foundation supports 11 on the earth. 12
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name.
1 tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”
2 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb בָּלַג (balag, translated here “flashes”) is uncertain.
3 tn Heb “comes upon.” Many prefer to repoint the verb as Hiphil and translate, “he brings destruction upon the fortified places.”
4 tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
5 tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.
6 tn Heb “all of it.”
7 tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Or “sinks back down.”
9 sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.
10 tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).
11 tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.
12 sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.
