Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ¹ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ²  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ³  will quake, ⁴ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ⁵  will rise like the River Nile, ⁶ 

it will surge upward ⁷  and then grow calm, ⁸  like the Nile in Egypt. ⁹ 

Amos 8:14

8:14 These are the ones who now take oaths ¹⁰  in the name of the sinful idol goddess ¹¹  of Samaria.

They vow, ¹²  ‘As surely as your god ¹³  lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one ¹⁴  lives, O Beer Sheba!’

But they will fall down and not get up again.”

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹⁵ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ¹⁶ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ¹⁷  rises like the River Nile, ¹⁸ 

and then grows calm ¹⁹  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁰ 

[5:19]  ¹ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ² tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[8:8]  ³ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ⁴ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ⁶ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the River Nile.

[8:8]  ⁷ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ⁸ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ⁹ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “those who swear.”

[8:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the sin [or “guilt”] of Samaria.” This could be a derogatory reference to an idol-goddess popular in the northern kingdom, perhaps Asherah (cf. 2 Chr 24:18, where this worship is labeled “their guilt”), or to the golden calf at the national sanctuary in Bethel (Hos 8:6, 10:8). Some English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, CEV) repoint the word and read “Ashimah,” the name of a goddess worshiped in Hamath in Syria (see 2 Kgs 17:30).

[8:14]  ¹² tn Heb “say.”

[8:14]  ¹³ sn Your god is not identified. It may refer to another patron deity who was not the God of Israel, a local manifestation of the Lord that was worshiped by the people there, or, more specifically, the golden calf image erected in Dan by Jeroboam I (see 1 Kgs 12:28-30).

[8:14]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads, “As surely as the way [to] Beer Sheba lives,” or “As surely as the way lives, O Beer Sheba.” Perhaps the term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “the way”) refers to the pilgrimage route to Beersheba (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 272) or it may be a title for a god. The notion of pilgrimage appears elsewhere in the book (cf. 4:4-5; 5:4-5; 8:12). The translation above assumes an emendation to דֹּדְךְ (dodÿkh, “your beloved” or “relative”; the term also is used in 6:10) and understands this as referring either to the Lord (since other kinship terms are used of him, such as “Father”) or to another deity that was particularly popular in Beer Sheba. Besides the commentaries, see S. M. Olyan, “The Oaths of Amos 8:14” Priesthood and Cult in Ancient Israel, 121-49.

[9:5]  ¹⁵ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ²⁰ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.