Amos 2:14-15

2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; ¹ 

strong men will have no strength left; ² 

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

2:15 Archers ³  will not hold their ground; ⁴ 

fast runners will not save their lives,

nor will those who ride horses. ⁵ 

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ⁶ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ⁷  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 9:1-4

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ⁸  standing by the altar ⁹  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ¹⁰  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹¹ 

and I will kill the survivors ¹²  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹³ 

no one will be able to escape. ¹⁴ 

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ¹⁵ 

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 ¹⁶  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ¹⁷  I would command the Sea Serpent ¹⁸  to bite them.

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ¹⁹ 

from there ²⁰  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ²¹ 

[2:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”

[2:14]  ² tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”

[2:15]  ³ tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”

[2:15]  ⁴ tn For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”

[2:15]  ⁵ tn The last two lines read literally, “The one fast in his feet will not rescue [his life], and the rider of the horse will not rescue his life.” The phrase “his life” does double duty in the parallelism and should be understood in both lines.

[5:19]  ⁶ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ⁹ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:2]  ¹⁵ 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.”

[9:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ¹⁸ 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 Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.

[9:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ²⁰ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”