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 6:4
Context6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, 5
and sprawl out on their couches.
They eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the middle of the pen.
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 “beds of ivory.”
