Amos 2:9

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ¹ 

They were as tall as cedars ² 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ³ 

and their roots in the ground. ⁴ 

Amos 9:8

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ⁵  the sinful nation, ⁶ 

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

But I will not completely destroy the family ⁷  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

[2:9]  ¹ tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ² tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his roots from below.”

[9:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ⁶ tn Or “kingdom.”

[9:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).