Discovery BoxAmos 1:8 
Context1:8 I will remove 1 the ruler 2 from Ashdod, 3
the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. 4
I will strike Ekron 5 with my hand; 6
the rest of the Philistines will also die.” 7
The sovereign Lord has spoken!
Amos 4:2
Context4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: 8
“Certainly the time is approaching 9
when you will be carried away 10 in baskets, 11
every last one of you 12 in fishermen’s pots. 13
Amos 7:2
Context7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,
“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! 14
How can Jacob survive? 15
He is too weak!” 16
Amos 7:5
Context7:5 I said, “Sovereign Lord, stop!
How can Jacob survive? 17
He is too weak!” 18
Amos 8:3
Context8:3 The women singing in the temple 19 will wail in that day.”
The sovereign Lord is speaking.
“There will be many corpses littered everywhere! 20 Be quiet!”
Amos 8:9
Context8:9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon,
and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. 21
Amos 8:11
Context8:11 Be certain of this, 22 the time is 23 coming,” says the sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land –
not a shortage of food or water
but an end to divine revelation! 24
Amos 9:8
Context9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching 25 the sinful nation, 26
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
But I will not completely destroy the family 27 of Jacob,” says the Lord.
1 tn Heb “cut off.”
2 tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).
3 sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
4 sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
5 sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).
6 tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.
7 tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”
8 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
9 tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”
10 tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”
11 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.
12 tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”
13 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.
14 tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
16 tn Heb “small.”
17 tn Heb “stand.”
18 tn Heb “small.”
19 tn Or “palace” (NASB, NCV, TEV).
20 tn Heb “Many corpses in every place he will throw out.” The subject of the verb is probably impersonal, though many emend the active (Hiphil) form to a passive (Hophal): “Many corpses in every place will be thrown out.”
21 tn Heb “in a day of light.”
22 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
23 tn Heb “the days are.”
24 tn Heb “not a hunger for food or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the
25 tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign
26 tn Or “kingdom.”
27 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
