Amos 1:2

God Will Judge the Surrounding Nations

1:2 Amos ¹  said:

“The Lord comes roaring ²  out of Zion;

from Jerusalem ³  he comes bellowing! ⁴ 

The shepherds’ pastures wilt; ⁵ 

the summit of Carmel ⁶  withers.” ⁷ 

Amos 3:9

Samaria Will Fall

3:9 Make this announcement in ⁸  the fortresses of Ashdod

and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.

Say this:

“Gather on the hills around Samaria! ⁹ 

Observe the many acts of violence ¹⁰  taking place within the city, ¹¹ 

the oppressive deeds ¹²  occurring in it.” ¹³ 

Amos 4:4

Israel has an Appointment with God

4:4 “Go to Bethel ¹⁴  and rebel! ¹⁵ 

At Gilgal ¹⁶  rebel some more!

Bring your sacrifices in ¹⁷  the morning,

your tithes on ¹⁸  the third day!

Amos 5:25

5:25 You did not bring me ¹⁹  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ²⁰  of Israel.

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ²¹  will quake, ²² 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ²³  will rise like the River Nile, ²⁴ 

it will surge upward ²⁵  and then grow calm, ²⁶  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁷ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn Heb “he;” the referent (Amos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:2]  ² sn The Lord, in his role of warrior-king, is compared to a lion. See 3:4, 8.

[1:2]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “gives his voice.”

[1:2]  ⁵ tn Lexicographers debate whether there are two roots אָבַל (’aval), one signifying “mourn” and the other “be dry,” or simply one (“mourn”). The parallel verb (“withers”) might favor the first option and have the meaning “wilt away.” It is interesting to note, however, that the root appears later in the book in the context of lament (5:16; 8:8, 10; 9:5). Either 1:2 is a possible wordplay to alert the reader to the death that will accompany the judgment (the option of two roots), or perhaps the translation “mourns” is appropriate here as well (cf. KJV, NASB, NKJV, NJPS; see also D. J. A. Clines, “Was There an ’BL II ‘Be Dry’ in Classical Hebrew?” VT 42 [1992]: 1-10).

[1:2]  ⁶ sn Carmel was a region known for its abundant plants and trees. See Isa 33:9; 35:2; Jer 50:19.

[1:2]  ⁷ sn Loss of a land’s fertility is frequently associated with judgment in the OT and ancient Near Eastern literature.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).

[3:9]  ⁹ sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.

[3:9]  map For location of the city see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[3:9]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”

[3:9]  ¹² tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “within her.”

[4:4]  ¹⁴ sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.

[4:4]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[4:4]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).

[4:4]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.

[4:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for.”

[4:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “for.”

[5:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.

[5:25]  sn Like Jer 7:22-23, this passage seems to contradict the Pentateuchal accounts that indicate Israel did offer sacrifices during the wilderness period. It is likely that both Amos and Jeremiah overstate the case to emphasize the relative insignificance of sacrifices in comparison to weightier matters of the covenant. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 428.

[5:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[8:8]  ²¹ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ²² tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ²³ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ²⁴ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the River Nile.

[8:8]  ²⁵ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ²⁶ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ²⁷ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.