Discovery BoxAmos 2:6 
Context2:6 This is what the Lord says:
“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions 1 –
make that four! 2 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 3
They sold the innocent 4 for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals. 5
Amos 2:9
Context2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. 6
They were as tall as cedars 7
and as strong as oaks,
but I destroyed the fruit on their branches 8
and their roots in the ground. 9
Amos 3:14
Context3:14 “Certainly when 10 I punish Israel for their 11 covenant transgressions, 12
I will destroy 13 Bethel’s 14 altars.
The horns 15 of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
Amos 5:3
Context5:3 The sovereign Lord says this:
“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers 16 will have only a hundred left;
the town 17 that marches out with a hundred soldiers 18 will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” 19
Amos 6:1
Context6:1 Woe 20 to those who live in ease in Zion, 21
to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
They think of themselves as 22 the elite class of the best nation.
The family 23 of Israel looks to them for leadership. 24
Amos 6:14
Context6:14 “Look! I am about to bring 25 a nation against you, family 26 of Israel.”
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking.
“They will oppress 27 you all the way from Lebo-Hamath 28 to the Stream of the Arabah.” 29
Amos 7:8
Context7:8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The sovereign One then said,
“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel.
I will no longer overlook their sin. 30
Amos 8:2
Context8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end 31 has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. 32
Amos 9:7
Context9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” 33 says the Lord.
“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor 34 and the Arameans from Kir. 35
Amos 9:9
Context9:9 “For look, I am giving a command
and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.
It will resemble a sieve being shaken,
when not even a pebble falls to the ground. 36
Amos 9:14
Context9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; 37
they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble 38 and settle down. 39
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; 40
they will grow orchards 41 and eat the fruit they produce. 42
1 tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.
2 tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, 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. Only in this last oracle against Israel does one find the list of four specific violations expected based on the use of a similar formula elsewhere in wisdom literature (see Prov 30:18-19, 29-31). This adaptation of the normal pattern indicates the
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 Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).
5 tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.
6 tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”
8 tn Heb “his fruit from above.”
9 tn Heb “and his roots from below.”
10 tn Heb “in the day.”
11 tn Heb “his.” With the referent “Israel” here, this amounts to a collective singular.
12 tn Traditionally, “transgressions, sins,” but see the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3.
13 tn Heb “punish” (so NASB, NRSV).
14 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
15 sn The horns of an ancient altar projected upwards from the four corners and resembled an animal’s horns in appearance. Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the
16 tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 tn Heb “The one.” The word “town” has been used in the translation in keeping with the relative sizes of the armed contingents sent out by each. It is also possible that this line is speaking of the same city of the previous line. In other words, the contingent sent by that one city would have suffered a ninety-nine percent casualty loss.
18 tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
19 tn Heb “for/to the house of Israel.” The translation assumes that this is a graphic picture of what is left over for the defense of the nation (NEB, NJB, NASB, NKJV). Others suggest that this phrase completes the introductory formula (“The sovereign
20 tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.
21 sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.
22 tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.
23 tn Heb “house.”
24 tn Heb “comes to them.”
25 tn Or “raise up” (KJV, NASB); NIV “stir up.”
26 tn Heb “house.”
27 sn Once again there is irony in the divine judgment. The oppressive nation itself will suffer oppression. The verb “oppress” (לָחַץ, lakhats) in this verse is not the same as that used in 4:1 (עָשַׁק, ’ashaq).
28 tn Or “from the entrance to Hamath.” The Hebrew term לְבוֹא (lÿvo’) can either be translated or considered a part of the place name.
29 sn Lebo-Hamath refers to the northern border of Israel, the Stream of the Arabah to its southern border. See 2 Kgs 14:25. Through this invader the Lord would reverse the victories and territorial expansion Israel experienced during the reign of Jeroboam II.
30 tn Heb “And I will no longer pass over him.”
31 tn There is a wordplay here. The Hebrew word קֵץ (qets, “end”) sounds like קָיִץ (qayits, “summer fruit”). The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end.
32 tn Heb “I will no longer pass over him.”
33 tn The Hebrew text has a rhetorical question, “Are you children of Israel not like the Cushites to me?” The rhetorical question has been converted to an affirmative statement in the translation for clarity. See the comment at 8:8.
sn Though Israel was God’s special covenant people (see 3:2a), the Lord emphasizes they are not inherently superior to the other nations subject to his sovereign rule.
34 sn Caphtor may refer to the island of Crete.
35 tn The second half of v. 7 is also phrased as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text, “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?” The translation converts the rhetorical question into an affirmation for clarity.
36 tn Heb “like being shaken with a sieve, and a pebble does not fall to the ground.” The meaning of the Hebrew word צְרוֹר (tsÿror), translated “pebble,” is unclear here. In 2 Sam 17:13 it appears to refer to a stone. If it means “pebble,” then the sieve described in v. 6 allows the grain to fall into a basket while retaining the debris and pebbles. However, if one interprets צְרוֹר as a “kernel of grain” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT) then the sieve is constructed to retain the grain and allow the refuse and pebbles to fall to the ground. In either case, the simile supports the last statement in v. 8 by making it clear that God will distinguish between the righteous (the grain) and the wicked (the pebbles) when he judges, and will thereby preserve a remnant in Israel. Only the sinners will be destroyed (v. 10).
37 tn This line can also be translated “I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel” and is a common idiom (e.g., Deut 30:3; Jer 30:3; Hos 6:11; Zeph 3:20). This rendering is followed by several modern English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, NJPS).
38 tn Or “the ruined [or “desolate”] cities.”
39 tn Or “and live [in them].”
40 tn Heb “drink their wine.”
41 tn Or “gardens.”
42 tn Heb “eat their fruit.”
