Amos 3:2

3:2 “I have chosen ¹  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Amos 9:7

9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” ²  says the Lord.

“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,

but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor ³  and the Arameans from Kir. ⁴ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “You only have I known.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’) is used here in its covenantal sense of “recognize in a special way.”

[9:7]  ² tn The Hebrew text has a rhetorical question, “Are you children of Israel not like the Cushites to me?” The rhetorical question has been converted to an affirmative statement in the translation for clarity. See the comment at 8:8.

[9:7]  sn Though Israel was God’s special covenant people (see 3:2a), the Lord emphasizes they are not inherently superior to the other nations subject to his sovereign rule.

[9:7]  ³ sn Caphtor may refer to the island of Crete.

[9:7]  ⁴ tn The second half of v. 7 is also phrased as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text, “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?” The translation converts the rhetorical question into an affirmation for clarity.