translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: AMO

label: NET translator note

text: Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7 , see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3 .


text: Heb “Because of three violations of Moab, even because of four.” sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3 .


text: Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3 .


text: Or “die” (KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV); NAB “shall meet death.”


text: Or “in the tumult.” This word refers to the harsh confusion of sounds that characterized an ancient battle – a mixture of war cries, shouts, shrieks of pain, clashes of weapons, etc.


text: Heb “sound” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).


text: Heb “cut off” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “root out”; NCV “bring to an end.”


text: Heb “the leader [traditionally, “judge”] from her midst.”


text: Heb “her”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Or “princes” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT); TEV, CEV “leaders.”


text: This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3 ). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.


text: Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.” sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3 .


text: Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”


text: Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” ( Deut 32:21 ; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26 ) and a delusion ( Isa 66:3 ). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9 ; cf. Hab 2:3 ). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.


text: Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76. sn Here the idolatry of the parents carried over to the children, who persisted in worshiping the idols to which their fathers were loyal .


text: For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: For this translation see the note at 2:4 .


text: Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.” sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3 . Only in this last oracle against Israel does one find the list of four specific violations expected based on the use of a similar formula elsewhere in wisdom literature (see Prov 30:18-19, 29-31 ). This adaptation of the normal pattern indicates the Lord ’s focus on Israel here (he is too bent on judging Israel to dwell very long on her neighbors) and emphasizes Israel’s guilt with respect to the other nations (Israel’s list fills up before the others’ lists do). See R. B. Chisholm, “‘For three sins...even for four’: the numerical sayings in Amos,” BSac 147 (1990) 188-97.


text: Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view ( Exod 21:2-11 ; Lev 25:35-55 ; Deut 15:12-18 ) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions ( 5:12 ; cf. Exod 23:6-7 ).


text: Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt ( Ruth 4:7 ; cf. Deut 25:8-10 ). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם ( ne ’ lam , “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם , ’ alam , “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.


text: 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).


text: 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. 6 b). 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 ).


text: 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).


text: Or “pollute”; “desecrate”; “dishonor.”


text: Heb “my holy name.” Here “name” is used metonymically for God’s moral character or reputation, while “holy” has a moral and ethical connotation.


text: The words “They do so right” are supplied twice in the translation of this verse for clarification.


text: Heb “house.”


text: Or “gods.” The Hebrew term אֱלֹהֵיהֶם (’ elohehem ) may be translated “their gods” (referring to pagan gods), “their god” (referring to a pagan god, cf. NAB, NIV, NLT), or “their God” (referring to the God of Israel, cf. NASB, NRSV).


text: 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).


text: Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”


text: Heb “his fruit from above.”


text: Heb “and his roots from below.”


text: Or perhaps “religious devotees” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term נָזִיר ( nazir ) refers to one who “consecrated” or “devoted” to God (see Num 6:1-21 ).


text: The precise meaning of this verse is unclear. Various suggested meanings have been proposed (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 94): (1) One option is to relate the verb to an Arabic verb, meaning “to hinder; to hamper,” and translate, “I am making you immobile, like a cart filled with grain is immobile.” In this case, the Lord refers to Israel’s inability to escape his coming judgment (see vv. 14-16 ; NJPS). (2) Another view relates the verb to a different Arabic verb meaning “to cut in pieces,” translating “I will cut you in pieces as a cart cuts in pieces [the earth],” referring to the ruts and rifts in the ground caused by an earthquake. (3) Some relate the verb to an Arabic root meaning “to groan” with the idea that the Lord causes the ground underneath Israel to groan (cf. NLT). (4) The translation connects the verb to an Aramaism signifying to “press down” (cf. NIV, NRSV). Some English versions translate the verb in an intransitive sense as “I am weighted down” (cf. NASB, NKJV) or “I groan beneath you” (NEB). For this last option, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 334.


text: Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”


text: Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”


text: Heb “the one who holds the bow.”


text: For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5 ; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14 ; 2 Kgs 10:4 ; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”


text: The last two lines read literally, “The one fast in his feet will not rescue [his life], and the rider of the horse will not rescue his life.” The phrase “his life” does double duty in the parallelism and should be understood in both lines.


text: Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”