Amos 1:4

1:4 So I will set Hazael’s house ¹  on fire;

fire ²  will consume Ben Hadad’s ³  fortresses.

Amos 1:7

1:7 So I will set Gaza’s city wall ⁴  on fire;

fire ⁵  will consume her fortresses.

Amos 4:11

4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God ⁶  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ⁷ 

You were like a burning stick ⁸  snatched from the flames.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:6

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ⁹  like fire against Joseph’s ¹⁰  family; ¹¹ 

the fire ¹²  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ¹³ 

[1:4]  ¹ tn “Hazael’s house” (“the house of Hazael”) refers to the dynasty of Hazael.

[1:4]  sn Hazael took the throne of Aram in 843 b.c. and established a royal dynasty. See 2 Kgs 8:7-15 and W. Pitard, Ancient Damascus, 145-60.

[1:4]  ² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:4]  ³ sn Ben-hadad may refer to Hazael’s son and successor (2 Kgs 13:3, 24) or to an earlier king (see 1 Kgs 20), perhaps the ruler whom Hazael assassinated when he assumed power.

[1:7]  ⁴ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ⁶ tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “like God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.” The divine name may be used in an idiomatic superlative sense here, in which case one might translate, “like the great [or “disastrous”] overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

[4:11]  sn The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described in Gen 19:1-29.

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”

[5:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ¹² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”