Discovery BoxAmos 1:9-10 
Context1:9 This is what the Lord says:
“Because Tyre has committed three crimes 1 –
make that four! 2 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 3
They sold 4 a whole community 5 to Edom;
they failed to observe 6 a treaty of brotherhood. 7
1:10 So I will set fire to Tyre’s city wall; 8
fire 9 will consume her fortresses.”
Amos 1:14
Context1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s 10 city wall; 11
fire 12 will consume her fortresses.
War cries will be heard on the day of battle; 13
a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. 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 Tyre, even because of four.”
sn 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 tn Heb “handed over.”
5 tn Heb “[group of] exiles.” A similar phrase occurs in v. 6.
6 tn Heb “did not remember.”
7 sn A treaty of brotherhood. In the ancient Near Eastern world familial terms were sometimes used to describe treaty partners. In a treaty between superior and inferior parties, the lord would be called “father” and the subject “son.” The partners in a treaty between equals referred to themselves as “brothers.” For biblical examples, see 1 Kgs 9:13; 20:32-33.
8 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
9 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.
11 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
12 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”
14 tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”
sn A windstorm is a metaphor for judgment and destruction in the OT (see Isa 29:6; Jer 23:19) and ancient Near Eastern literature.
