Discovery BoxAmos 3:10-11 
Context3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)
“They store up 1 the spoils of destructive violence 2 in their fortresses.
3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. 3
He will take away your power; 4
your fortresses will be looted.”
Amos 3:9
Context3:9 Make this announcement in 5 the fortresses of Ashdod
and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.
Say this:
“Gather on the hills around Samaria! 6
Observe the many acts of violence 7 taking place within the city, 8
1 tn Heb “those who.”
2 tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.
3 tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”
4 tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.
5 tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).
6 sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.
map For location of the city see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
7 tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.
8 tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”
9 tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).
10 tn Heb “within her.”
