7:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw 1 him making locusts just as the crops planted late 2 were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. 3 )
9:13 “Be sure of this, 4 the time is 5 coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper 6
and the one who stomps the grapes 7 will overtake 8 the planter. 9
Juice will run down the slopes, 10
it will flow down all the hillsides. 11
1 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
2 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.
3 tn Or “the mowings of the king.”
sn This royal harvest may refer to an initial mowing of crops collected as taxes by the royal authorities.
4 tn Heb “behold” or “look.”
5 tn Heb “the days are.”
6 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.
7 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.
8 tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.
9 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.
10 tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.
11 tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”