Amos 8:5

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival ¹  be over, ²  so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end, ³  so we can open up the grain bins? ⁴ 

We’re eager ⁵  to sell less for a higher price, ⁶ 

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ⁷ 

Amos 7:1

Symbolic Visions of Judgment

7:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ⁸  him making locusts just as the crops planted late ⁹  were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. ¹⁰ )

Amos 9:13

9:13 “Be sure of this, ¹¹  the time is ¹²  coming,” says the Lord,

“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper ¹³ 

and the one who stomps the grapes ¹⁴  will overtake ¹⁵  the planter. ¹⁶ 

Juice will run down the slopes, ¹⁷ 

it will flow down all the hillsides. ¹⁸ 

[8:5]  ¹ sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5]  ² tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5]  ³ tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5]  ⁵ tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.

[8:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:5]  sn Rigged scales may refer to bending the crossbar or shifting the center point of the scales to make the amount weighed appear heavier than it actually was, thus cheating the buyer.

[7:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[7:1]  ⁹ sn The crops planted late (consisting of vegetables) were planted in late January-early March and sprouted in conjunction with the spring rains of March-April. For a discussion of the ancient Israelite agricultural calendar, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 31-44.

[7:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the mowings of the king.”

[7:1]  sn This royal harvest may refer to an initial mowing of crops collected as taxes by the royal authorities.

[9:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[9:13]  ¹² tn Heb “the days are.”

[9:13]  ¹³ sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.

[9:13]  ¹⁴ sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.

[9:13]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.

[9:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”