Discovery BoxAmos 3:15 
Context3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. 1
The houses filled with ivory 2 will be ruined,
the great 3 houses will be swept away.” 4
The Lord is speaking!
Amos 4:3
Context4:3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; 5
you will be thrown out 6 toward Harmon.” 7
The Lord is speaking!
Amos 7:2
Context7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,
“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! 8
How can Jacob survive? 9
He is too weak!” 10
1 tn Heb “the winter house along with the summer house.”
sn Like kings, many in Israel’s wealthy class owned both winter and summer houses (cf. 1 Kgs 21:1,18; Jer 36:22). For a discussion of archaeological evidence relating to these structures, see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 64-65.
2 tn Heb “houses of ivory.” These houses were not made of ivory, but they had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 139-48.
3 tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”
4 tn The translation assumes the form is from the Hebrew verb סָפָה (safah, “to sweep away”) rather than סוּף (suf, “to come to an end”), which is the choice of most versions. Either option effectively communicates the destruction of the structures.
5 tn Heb “and [through the] breaches you will go out, each straight ahead.”
6 tn The Hiphil verb form has no object. It may be intransitive (F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 425), though many emend it to a Hophal.
7 tn The meaning of this word is unclear. Many understand it as a place name, though such a location is not known. Some (e.g., H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos [Hermeneia[, 204) emend to “Hermon” or to similarly written words, such as “the dung heap” (NEB, NJPS), “the garbage dump” (NCV), or “the fortress” (cf. NLT “your fortresses”).
8 tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
10 tn Heb “small.”
