Amos 8:7

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath ¹  by the arrogance of Jacob: ² 

“I swear ³  I will never forget all you have done! ⁴ 

Amos 9:2

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ⁵ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

[8:7]  ¹ tn Or “swears.”

[8:7]  ² sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

[8:7]  ³ tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

[8:7]  ⁴ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”

[9:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”