Amos 3:11

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ¹ 

He will take away your power; ² 

your fortresses will be looted.”

Amos 6:7

6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, ³ 

and the religious banquets ⁴  where they sprawl on couches ⁵  will end.

[3:11]  ¹ tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.

[6:7]  ³ tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”

[6:7]  ⁴ sn Religious banquets. This refers to the מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh), a type of pagan religious banquet popular among the upper class of Israel at this time and apparently associated with mourning. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 137-61; J. L. McLaughlin, The “Marzeah” in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup). Scholars debate whether at this banquet the dead were simply remembered or actually venerated in a formal, cultic sense.

[6:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.