Discovery BoxAmos 6:7-8 
Context6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, 1
and the religious banquets 2 where they sprawl on couches 3 will end.
6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. 4
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:
“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;
I hate their 5 fortresses.
I will hand over to their enemies 6 the city of Samaria 7 and everything in it.”
1 tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”
2 sn Religious banquets. This refers to the מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh), a type of pagan religious banquet popular among the upper class of Israel at this time and apparently associated with mourning. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 137-61; J. L. McLaughlin, The “Marzeah” in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup). Scholars debate whether at this banquet the dead were simply remembered or actually venerated in a formal, cultic sense.
3 tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.
4 tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”
5 tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.
6 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 tn Heb “the city”; this probably refers to the city of Samaria (cf. 6:1), which in turn, by metonymy, represents the entire northern kingdom.
