Amos 5:9

5:9 He flashes ¹  destruction down upon the strong

so that destruction overwhelms ²  the fortified places.)

Amos 2:14

2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; ³ 

strong men will have no strength left; ⁴ 

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

Amos 6:13

6:13 You are happy because you conquered Lo-Debar. ⁵ 

You say, “Did we not conquer Karnaim ⁶  by our own power?”

Amos 3:11

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ⁷ 

He will take away your power; ⁸ 

your fortresses will be looted.”

Amos 2:9

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ⁹ 

They were as tall as cedars ¹⁰ 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ¹¹ 

and their roots in the ground. ¹² 

[5:9]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb בָּלַג (balag, translated here “flashes”) is uncertain.

[5:9]  ² tn Heb “comes upon.” Many prefer to repoint the verb as Hiphil and translate, “he brings destruction upon the fortified places.”

[2:14]  ³ tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”

[6:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who rejoice over Lo-Debar.”

[6:13]  sn Lo-Debar was located across the Jordan River in Gilead, which the Israelite army had conquered. However, there is stinging irony here, for in Hebrew the name Lo-Debar means “nothing.” In reality Israel was happy over nothing of lasting consequence.

[6:13]  ⁶ sn Karnaim was also located across the Jordan River. The name in Hebrew means “double horned.” Since an animal’s horn was a symbol of strength (see Deut 33:17), the Israelites boasted in this victory over a town whose very name symbolized military power.

[3:11]  ⁷ tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”

[3:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.

[2:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “and his roots from below.”