Amos 7:2-5

7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,

“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ¹ 

How can Jacob survive? ² 

He is too weak!” ³ 

7:3 The Lord decided not to do this. ⁴  “It will not happen,” the Lord said.

7:4 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ⁵  the sovereign Lord summoning a shower of fire. ⁶  It consumed the great deep and devoured the fields.

7:5 I said, “Sovereign Lord, stop!

How can Jacob survive? ⁷ 

He is too weak!” ⁸ 

Amos 9:11

The Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty

9:11 “In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut ⁹  of David.

I will seal its ¹⁰  gaps,

repair its ¹¹  ruins,

and restore it to what it was like in days gone by. ¹² 

[7:2]  ¹ tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[7:2]  ³ tn Heb “small.”

[7:3]  ⁴ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”

[7:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[7:4]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew appears to read, “summoning to contend with fire,” or “summoning fire to contend,” but both are problematic syntactically (H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos [Hermeneia], 292; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 230-31). Many emend the text to לרבב אשׁ, “(calling) for a shower of fire,” though this interpretation is also problematic (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 746-47).

[7:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “stand.”

[7:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “small.”

[9:11]  ⁹ tn The phrase translated “collapsing hut” refers to a temporary shelter (cf. NASB, NRSV “booth”) in disrepair and emphasizes the relatively weakened condition of the once powerful Davidic dynasty. Others have suggested that the term refers to Jerusalem, while still others argue that it should be repointed to read “Sukkoth,” a garrison town in Transjordan. Its reconstruction would symbolize the rebirth of the Davidic empire and its return to power (e.g., M. E. Polley, Amos and the Davidic Empire, 71-74).

[9:11]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads a third feminine plural suffix, which could refer to the two kingdoms (Judah and Israel) or, more literally, to the breaches in the walls of the cities that are mentioned in v. 4 (cf. 4:3). Some emend to third feminine singular, since the “hut” of the preceding line (a feminine singular noun) might be the antecedent. In that case, the final nun (ן) is virtually dittographic with the vav (ו) that appears at the beginning of the following word.

[9:11]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads a third masculine singular suffix, which could refer back to David. However, it is possible that an original third feminine singular suffix (יה-, yod-hey) has been misread as masculine (יו-, yod-vav). In later Hebrew script a ה (he) resembles a יו- (yod-vav) combination.

[9:11]  ¹² tn Heb “and I will rebuild as in days of antiquity.”