Amos 3:14

3:14 “Certainly when ¹  I punish Israel for their ²  covenant transgressions, ³ 

I will destroy ⁴  Bethel’s ⁵  altars.

The horns ⁶  of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

Amos 4:4

Israel has an Appointment with God

4:4 “Go to Bethel ⁷  and rebel! ⁸ 

At Gilgal ⁹  rebel some more!

Bring your sacrifices in ¹⁰  the morning,

your tithes on ¹¹  the third day!

Amos 5:25

5:25 You did not bring me ¹²  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ¹³  of Israel.

Amos 8:3

8:3 The women singing in the temple ¹⁴  will wail in that day.”

The sovereign Lord is speaking.

“There will be many corpses littered everywhere! ¹⁵  Be quiet!”

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ¹⁶  will quake, ¹⁷ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ¹⁸  will rise like the River Nile, ¹⁹ 

it will surge upward ²⁰  and then grow calm, ²¹  like the Nile in Egypt. ²² 

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ²³ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ²⁴ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ²⁵  rises like the River Nile, ²⁶ 

and then grows calm ²⁷  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁸ 

[3:14]  ¹ tn Heb “in the day.”

[3:14]  ² tn Heb “his.” With the referent “Israel” here, this amounts to a collective singular.

[3:14]  ³ tn Traditionally, “transgressions, sins,” but see the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3.

[3:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “punish” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:14]  ⁵ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[3:14]  ⁶ sn The horns of an ancient altar projected upwards from the four corners and resembled an animal’s horns in appearance. Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the Lord’s enemies.

[4:4]  ⁷ sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.

[4:4]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[4:4]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).

[4:4]  ⁹ sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.

[4:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.”

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[5:25]  ¹² tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.

[5:25]  sn Like Jer 7:22-23, this passage seems to contradict the Pentateuchal accounts that indicate Israel did offer sacrifices during the wilderness period. It is likely that both Amos and Jeremiah overstate the case to emphasize the relative insignificance of sacrifices in comparison to weightier matters of the covenant. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 428.

[5:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “house.”

[8:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “palace” (NASB, NCV, TEV).

[8:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Many corpses in every place he will throw out.” The subject of the verb is probably impersonal, though many emend the active (Hiphil) form to a passive (Hophal): “Many corpses in every place will be thrown out.”

[8:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the River Nile.

[8:8]  ²⁰ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ²¹ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ²² tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ²³ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ²⁷ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ²⁸ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.