Amos 4:3

4:3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; ¹ 

you will be thrown out ²  toward Harmon.” ³ 

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 6:6

6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, ⁴ 

and pour the very best oils on themselves. ⁵ 

Yet they are not concerned over ⁶  the ruin ⁷  of Joseph.

[4:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and [through the] breaches you will go out, each straight ahead.”

[4:3]  ² tn The Hiphil verb form has no object. It may be intransitive (F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 425), though many emend it to a Hophal.

[4:3]  ³ tn The meaning of this word is unclear. Many understand it as a place name, though such a location is not known. Some (e.g., H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos [Hermeneia[, 204) emend to “Hermon” or to similarly written words, such as “the dung heap” (NEB, NJPS), “the garbage dump” (NCV), or “the fortress” (cf. NLT “your fortresses”).

[6:6]  ⁴ sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”

[6:6]  ⁶ tn Or “not sickened by.”

[6:6]  ⁷ sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.