Amos 1:14

1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s ¹  city wall; ² 

fire ³  will consume her fortresses.

War cries will be heard on the day of battle; ⁴ 

a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. ⁵ 

Amos 3:9

Samaria Will Fall

3:9 Make this announcement in ⁶  the fortresses of Ashdod

and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.

Say this:

“Gather on the hills around Samaria! ⁷ 

Observe the many acts of violence ⁸  taking place within the city, ⁹ 

the oppressive deeds ¹⁰  occurring in it.” ¹¹ 

Amos 3:15

3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ¹² 

The houses filled with ivory ¹³  will be ruined,

the great ¹⁴  houses will be swept away.” ¹⁵ 

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:8

4:8 People from ¹⁶  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ¹⁷  water,

but remained thirsty. ¹⁸ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:25

5:25 You did not bring me ¹⁹  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ²⁰  of Israel.

Amos 7:4

7:4 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ²¹  the sovereign Lord summoning a shower of fire. ²²  It consumed the great deep and devoured the fields.

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ²³ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ²⁴ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ²⁵  rises like the River Nile, ²⁶ 

and then grows calm ²⁷  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁸ 

[1:14]  ¹ sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.

[1:14]  ² sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:14]  ³ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”

[1:14]  sn A windstorm is a metaphor for judgment and destruction in the OT (see Isa 29:6; Jer 23:19) and ancient Near Eastern literature.

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “on” or “over” (also later in this verse).

[3:9]  ⁷ sn Samaria might refer here both to the region and to the capital city (later known as Sebaste). On the other hand, there actually are hills that surround the mound upon which the city was built. The implication is that the nations can come and sit and see from those hills the sin of the capital city and its judgment.

[3:9]  map For location of the city see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun carries the nuance of “panic” or “confusion.” Here it refers metonymically to the violent deeds that terrorize the oppressed.

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “in her midst” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “among her people.”

[3:9]  ¹⁰ tn The translation assumes the form is an abstract plural (see Job 35:9; Eccl 4:1). Another option is to understand the form as a substantival passive participle and translate, “the oppressed” (so KJV).

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “within her.”

[3:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the winter house along with the summer house.”

[3:15]  sn Like kings, many in Israel’s wealthy class owned both winter and summer houses (cf. 1 Kgs 21:1,18; Jer 36:22). For a discussion of archaeological evidence relating to these structures, see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 64-65.

[3:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “houses of ivory.” These houses were not made of ivory, but they had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 139-48.

[3:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn The translation assumes the form is from the Hebrew verb סָפָה (safah, “to sweep away”) rather than סוּף (suf, “to come to an end”), which is the choice of most versions. Either option effectively communicates the destruction of the structures.

[4:8]  ¹⁶ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[5:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.

[5:25]  sn Like Jer 7:22-23, this passage seems to contradict the Pentateuchal accounts that indicate Israel did offer sacrifices during the wilderness period. It is likely that both Amos and Jeremiah overstate the case to emphasize the relative insignificance of sacrifices in comparison to weightier matters of the covenant. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 428.

[5:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[7:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[7:4]  ²² tc The Hebrew appears to read, “summoning to contend with fire,” or “summoning fire to contend,” but both are problematic syntactically (H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos [Hermeneia], 292; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 230-31). Many emend the text to לרבב אשׁ, “(calling) for a shower of fire,” though this interpretation is also problematic (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 746-47).

[9:5]  ²³ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ²⁷ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ²⁸ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.