Discovery BoxAmos 9:2-4 
Context9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, 1
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from me 2 at the bottom of the sea,
from there 3 I would command the Sea Serpent 4 to bite them.
9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, 5
from there 6 I will command the sword to kill them.
I will not let them out of my sight;
they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” 7
1 tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”
2 tn Heb “from before my eyes.”
3 tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).
4 sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the
5 tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”
6 tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).
7 tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”
