Amos 2:15
Konteks2:15 Archers 1 will not hold their ground; 2
fast runners will not save their lives,
nor will those who ride horses. 3
Hagai 2:23
Konteks2:23 On that day,’ 4 says the Lord who rules over all, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ 5 says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, 6 for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.” 7
[2:15] 1 tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”
[2:15] 2 tn For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”
[2:15] 3 tn The last two lines read literally, “The one fast in his feet will not rescue [his life], and the rider of the horse will not rescue his life.” The phrase “his life” does double duty in the parallelism and should be understood in both lines.
[2:23] 4 sn The expression on that day appears as a technical eschatological term in a number of other OT passages (cf., e.g., Isa 2:11, 17, 20; 3:7, 18; Amos 8:3, 9; Hos 2:18, 21).
[2:23] 5 sn My servant. The collocation of “servant” and “chosen” bears strong messianic overtones. See the so-called “Servant Songs” and other messianic texts in Isaiah (Isa 41:8; 42:1; 44:4; 49:7).
[2:23] 6 sn The noun signet ring, used also to describe Jehoiachin (Jer 22:24-30), refers to a ring seal worn by a king or other important person and used as his signature. Zerubbabel was a grandson of King Jehoiachin (1 Chr 3:17-19; Matt 1:12); God once pronounced that none of Jehoiachin’s immediate descendants would rule (Jer 22:24-30), but here he reverses that judgment. Zerubbabel never ascended to such a lofty position of rulership; he is rather a prototype of the Messiah who would sit on David’s throne.
[2:23] 7 tn The repetition of the formula “says the
