Amos 4:6

4:6 “But surely I gave ¹  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ² 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:8

4:8 People from ³  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ⁴  water,

but remained thirsty. ⁵ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:11

4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God ⁶  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ⁷ 

You were like a burning stick ⁸  snatched from the flames.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:9-10

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ⁹  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ¹⁰  devouring your orchards, ¹¹  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. ¹² 

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with the horses you had captured.

I made the stench from the corpses ¹³  rise up into your nostrils.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 9:14

9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; ¹⁴ 

they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble ¹⁵  and settle down. ¹⁶ 

They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; ¹⁷ 

they will grow orchards ¹⁸  and eat the fruit they produce. ¹⁹ 

Amos 2:7

2:7 They trample ²⁰  on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; ²¹ 

they push the destitute away. ²² 

A man and his father go to the same girl; ²³ 

in this way they show disrespect ²⁴  for my moral purity. ²⁵ 

Amos 5:12

5:12 Certainly ²⁶  I am aware of ²⁷  your many rebellious acts ²⁸ 

and your numerous sins.

You ²⁹  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ³⁰  the needy at the city gate. ³¹ 

[4:6]  ¹ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).

[4:6]  ² tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.

[4:8]  ³ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ⁵ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[4:11]  ⁶ tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “like God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.” The divine name may be used in an idiomatic superlative sense here, in which case one might translate, “like the great [or “disastrous”] overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

[4:11]  sn The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described in Gen 19:1-29.

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

[4:9]  ¹⁰ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is taken adverbially (“kept”) and connected to the activity of the locusts (NJPS). It also could be taken with the preceding sentence and related to the Lord’s interventions (“I kept destroying,” cf. NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards,” cf. NASB; cf. also KJV, NKJV).

[4:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “gardens.”

[4:10]  ¹² tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”

[4:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”

[9:14]  ¹⁴ tn This line can also be translated “I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel” and is a common idiom (e.g., Deut 30:3; Jer 30:3; Hos 6:11; Zeph 3:20). This rendering is followed by several modern English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, NJPS).

[9:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the ruined [or “desolate”] cities.”

[9:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “and live [in them].”

[9:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “drink their wine.”

[9:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “gardens.”

[9:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “eat their fruit.”

[2:7]  ²⁰ tn Most scholars now understand this verb as derived from the root II שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to crush; to trample”), an alternate form of שׁוּף (shuf), rather than from I שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to pant, to gasp”; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).

[2:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “those who stomp on the dirt of the ground on the head of the poor.” It is possible to render the line as “they trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground,” thereby communicating that the poor are being stepped on in utter contempt (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 79-80). The participial form הַשֹּׁאֲפִים (hasho’afim) is substantival and stands in apposition to the pronominal suffix on מִכְרָם (mikhram, v. 6b).

[2:7]  sn The picture of the poor having dirt-covered heads suggests their humiliation before their oppressors and/or their sorrow (see 2 Sam 1:2; 15:32).

[2:7]  ²² tn Heb “they turn aside the way of the destitute.” Many interpreters take “way” to mean “just cause” and understand this as a direct reference to the rights of the destitute being ignored. The injustice done to the poor is certainly in view, but the statement is better taken as a word picture depicting the powerful rich pushing the “way of the poor” (i.e., their attempt to be treated justly) to the side. An even more vivid picture is given in Amos 5:12, where the rich are pictured as turning the poor away from the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[2:7]  ²³ sn Most interpreters see some type of sexual immorality here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), even though the Hebrew phrase הָלַךְ אֶל (halakh ’el, “go to”) never refers elsewhere to sexual intercourse. (The usual idiom is בוֹא אֶל [bo’ ’el]. However, S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 82) attempts to develop a linguistic case for a sexual connotation here.) The precise identification of the “girl” in question is not clear. Some see the referent as a cultic prostitute (cf. NAB; v. 8 suggests a cultic setting), but the term נַעֲרָה (na’arah) nowhere else refers to a prostitute. Because of the contextual emphasis on social oppression, some suggest the exploitation of a slave girl is in view. H. Barstad argues that the “girl” is the hostess at a pagan מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh) banquet (described at some length in 6:4-7). In his view the sin described here is not sexual immorality, but idolatry (see H. Barstad, The Religious Polemics of Amos [VTSup], 33-36). In this case, one might translate, “Father and son go together to a pagan banquet.” In light of this cultic context, F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman argue that this is a reference to a specific female deity (“the Girl”) and correlate this verse with 8:14 (Amos [AB], 318-19).

[2:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “pollute”; “desecrate”; “dishonor.”

[2:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my holy name.” Here “name” is used metonymically for God’s moral character or reputation, while “holy” has a moral and ethical connotation.

[5:12]  ²⁶ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ²⁷ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ²⁸ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

[5:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[5:12]  ³¹ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.