Amos 4:2-3

4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ¹ 

“Certainly the time is approaching ² 

when you will be carried away ³  in baskets, ⁴ 

every last one of you ⁵  in fishermen’s pots. ⁶ 

4:3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; ⁷ 

you will be thrown out ⁸  toward Harmon.” ⁹ 

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 2:14

2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; ¹⁰ 

strong men will have no strength left; ¹¹ 

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

Amos 9:1-4

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ¹²  standing by the altar ¹³  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ¹⁴  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹⁵ 

and I will kill the survivors ¹⁶  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ¹⁷ 

no one will be able to escape. ¹⁸ 

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ¹⁹ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ²⁰  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ²¹  I would command the Sea Serpent ²²  to bite them.

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ²³ 

from there ²⁴  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ²⁵ 

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”

[4:2]  sn The message that follows is an unconditional oath, the fulfillment of which is just as certain as the Lord’s own holy character.

[4:2]  ² tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “baskets” is uncertain. The translation follows the suggestion of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (130-32): “shields” (cf. NEB); “ropes”; “thorns,” which leads to the most favored interpretation, “hooks” (cf. NASB “meat hooks”; NIV, NRSV “hooks”); “baskets,” and (derived from “baskets”) “boats.” Against the latter, it is unlikely that Amos envisioned a deportation by boat for the inhabitants of Samaria! See also the note on the expression “fishermen’s pots” later in this verse.

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression translated “in fishermen’s pots” is uncertain. The translation follows that of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (132-33): “thorns,” understood by most modern interpreters to mean (by extension) “fishhooks” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV); “boats,” but as mentioned in the previous note on the word “baskets,” a deportation of the Samaritans by boat is geographically unlikely; and “pots,” referring to a container used for packing fish (cf. NEB “fish-baskets”). Paul (p. 134) argues that the imagery comes from the ancient fishing industry. When hauled away into exile, the women of Samaria will be like fish packed and transported to market.

[4:2]  sn The imagery of catching fish in connection with the captivity of Israel is also found in Jer 16:16 and Hab 1:14.

[4:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “and [through the] breaches you will go out, each straight ahead.”

[4:3]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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”).

[2:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”

[9:1]  ¹² tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ¹³ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[9:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ²² sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.

[9:4]  ²³ tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”