Amos 5:16
Context| NETBible | Because of Israel’s sins 1 this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, 2 says: “In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. 3 They will tell the field workers 4 to lament and the professional mourners 5 to wail. |
| XREF | Isa 15:2-5,8; Isa 22:12; Jer 4:31; Jer 9:10,18-20; Jer 9:17-19; Joe 1:8,11,14; Am 3:13; Am 5:27; Am 8:10; Mic 1:8; Mic 2:4; Re 18:10,15,16,19 |
| NET © Notes |
1 tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10-13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14-15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation. 2 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay). 3 tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”). 4 tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). 5 tn Heb “those who know lamentation.” sn Professional mourners are referred to elsewhere in the OT (2 Chr 35:25; Jer 9:17) and ancient Near Eastern literature. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 180. |
