Discovery BoxAmos 1:13 
Context1:13 This is what the Lord says:
“Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes 1 –
make that four! 2 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 3
They ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women 4
so they could expand their territory.
Amos 2:8
Context2:8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;
they do so right 5 beside every altar!
They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;
they do so right in the temple 6 of their God! 7
Amos 5:15
Context5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!
Promote 8 justice at the city gate! 9
Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on 10 those who are left from 11 Joseph. 12
Amos 6:12
Context6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?
Can one plow the sea with oxen? 13
Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,
and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. 14
1 tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.
2 tn Heb “Because of three violations of the Ammonites, even because of four.”
On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.
3 tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.
4 sn The Ammonites ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women in conjunction with a military invasion designed to expand their territory. Such atrocities, although repugnant, were not uncommon in ancient Near Eastern warfare.
5 tn The words “They do so right” are supplied twice in the translation of this verse for clarification.
6 tn Heb “house.”
7 tn Or “gods.” The Hebrew term אֱלֹהֵיהֶם (’elohehem) may be translated “their gods” (referring to pagan gods), “their god” (referring to a pagan god, cf. NAB, NIV, NLT), or “their God” (referring to the God of Israel, cf. NASB, NRSV).
8 tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).
9 sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.
10 tn Or “will show favor to.”
11 tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”
12 sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.
13 tc Heb “Does one plow with oxen?” This obviously does not fit the parallelism, for the preceding rhetorical question requires the answer, “Of course not!” An error of fusion has occurred in the Hebrew, with the word יָם (yam, “sea”) being accidentally added as a plural ending to the collective noun בָּקָר (baqar, “oxen”). A proper division of the consonants produces the above translation, which fits the parallelism and also anticipates the answer, “Of course not!”
14 sn The botanical imagery, when juxtaposed with the preceding rhetorical questions, vividly depicts and emphasizes how the Israelites have perverted justice and violated the created order by their morally irrational behavior.
