Amos 4:1

4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ¹  who live on Mount Samaria!

You ²  oppress the poor;

you crush the needy.

You say to your ³  husbands,

“Bring us more to drink!” ⁴ 

Amos 5:25

5:25 You did not bring me ⁵  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ⁶  of Israel.

Amos 8:12

8:12 People ⁷  will stagger from sea to sea, ⁸ 

and from the north around to the east.

They will wander about looking for a revelation from ⁹  the Lord,

but they will not find any. ¹⁰ 

[4:1]  ¹ sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “their.”

[4:1]  ⁴ sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).

[5:25]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[8:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁸ tn That is, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east – that is, across the whole land.

[8:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “looking for the word of.”

[8:12]  ¹⁰ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.