Amos 4:4

Israel has an Appointment with God

4:4 “Go to Bethel ¹  and rebel! ² 

At Gilgal ³  rebel some more!

Bring your sacrifices in ⁴  the morning,

your tithes on ⁵  the third day!

Amos 5:3

5:3 The sovereign Lord says this:

“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers ⁶  will have only a hundred left;

the town ⁷  that marches out with a hundred soldiers ⁸  will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” ⁹ 

[4:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.

[4:4]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[4:4]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[5:3]  ⁶ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “The one.” The word “town” has been used in the translation in keeping with the relative sizes of the armed contingents sent out by each. It is also possible that this line is speaking of the same city of the previous line. In other words, the contingent sent by that one city would have suffered a ninety-nine percent casualty loss.

[5:3]  ⁸ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “for/to the house of Israel.” The translation assumes that this is a graphic picture of what is left over for the defense of the nation (NEB, NJB, NASB, NKJV). Others suggest that this phrase completes the introductory formula (“The sovereign Lord says this…”; see v. 4a; NJPS). Another option is that the preposition has a vocative force, “O house of Israel” (F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 476). Some simply delete the phrase as dittography from the following line (NIV).