Discovery BoxAmos 1:9 
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
Amos 1:13
Context1:13 This is what the Lord says:
“Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes 8 –
make that four! 9 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 10
They ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women 11
so they could expand their territory.
Amos 8:12
Context8:12 People 12 will stagger from sea to sea, 13
and from the north around to the east.
They will wander about looking for a revelation from 14 the Lord,
but they will not find any. 15
Amos 9:2
Context9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, 16
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
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 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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn That is, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east – that is, across the whole land.
14 tn Heb “looking for the word of.”
15 tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the
16 tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”
