Discovery BoxAmos 6:12 
Context6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?
Can one plow the sea with oxen? 1
Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,
and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. 2
Amos 9:6
Context9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace 3 in heaven
and sets its foundation supports 4 on the earth. 5
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name.
1 tc Heb “Does one plow with oxen?” This obviously does not fit the parallelism, for the preceding rhetorical question requires the answer, “Of course not!” An error of fusion has occurred in the Hebrew, with the word יָם (yam, “sea”) being accidentally added as a plural ending to the collective noun בָּקָר (baqar, “oxen”). A proper division of the consonants produces the above translation, which fits the parallelism and also anticipates the answer, “Of course not!”
2 sn The botanical imagery, when juxtaposed with the preceding rhetorical questions, vividly depicts and emphasizes how the Israelites have perverted justice and violated the created order by their morally irrational behavior.
3 tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).
4 tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.
5 sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.
