¹sn The expression you “cows of Bashan” is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. Some feminist scholars cite this phrase to critique the book’s view of women (see J. Sanderson, “Amos” in The Women’s Bible Commentary, 207-9).
²tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).
³tn Heb “their.”
⁴sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).
⁵tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”
sn The message that follows is an unconditional oath, the fulfillment of which is just as certain as the Lord’s own holy character.
⁶tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you.”
⁷tn Heb “one will carry you away.”
⁸tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “baskets” is uncertain. The translation follows the suggestion of S. M. Paul, Amos, 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.
⁹tn Or “your children.”
¹⁰tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression translated “in fishermen’s pots” is uncertain. The translation follows that of S. M. Paul, Amos, 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 (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.
sn The imagery of catching fish in connection with the captivity of Israel is also found in Jer 16:16 and Hab 1:14.
¹¹tn Heb “and [through the] breaches you will go out, each straight ahead.”
¹²tn The Hiphil verb form has no object. It may be intransitive (Andersen and Freedman, Amos, 425), though many emend it to a Hophal.
¹³tn The meaning of this word is unclear. Many understand it as a place name, though such a location is not known. Some (e.g., Wolff, Joel and Amos, 204) emend to “Hermon” or to similarly written words, such as “the dung heap” (NEB, NJPS) or “the fortress.”
¹⁴sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.
map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
¹⁵tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).
¹⁶sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.
¹⁷tn Or “for.”
¹⁸tn Or “for.”
¹⁹sn For the background of the thank-offering of leavened bread, see Lev 7:13.
²⁰tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”
²¹tn 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).
²²tn 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.
²³sn Rain…three months before the harvest refers to the rains of late March-early April.
²⁴tn Heb “portion.”
²⁵tn Heb “portion.”
²⁶tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
²⁷tn Heb “to drink.”
²⁸tn Or “were not satisfied.”
²⁹tn 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.
³⁰tn 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…”; NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards…”; NASB; cf. KJV, NKJV).
³¹tn Or “gardens.”
³²tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”
³³tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”
³⁴tn Several English translations substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NLT).
³⁵tn 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.”
sn The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described in Gen 19:1-29.
³⁶tn Heb “like that which is burning.”
³⁷tn The Lord appears to announce a culminating judgment resulting from Israel’s obstinate refusal to repent. The following verse describes the Lord in his role as sovereign judge, but it does not outline the judgment per se. For this reason Andersen and Freedman (Amos, 450) take the prefixed verbal forms as preterites referring to the series of judgments detailed in vv. 6-11. It is more likely that a coming judgment is in view, but that its details are omitted for rhetorical effect, creating a degree of suspense (see S. M. Paul, Amos, 149-50) that will find its solution in chapter 5. This line is an ironic conclusion to the section begun at 4:4. Israel thought they were meeting the Lord at the sanctuaries, yet they actually had misunderstood how he had been trying to bring them back to himself. Now Israel would truly meet the Lord—not at the sanctuaries, but face-to-face in judgment.
³⁸tn Heb “For look, the one who….” This verse is considered to be the first hymnic passage in the book. The others appear at 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. Scholars debate whether these verses were originally part of a single hymn or three distinct pieces deliberately placed in each context for particular effect.
³⁹tn Or “declares.”
⁴⁰tn Or “his thoughts.” The translation assumes that the pronominal suffix refers to God and that divine self-revelation is in view (see 3:7). If the suffix refers to the following term <da (“men”), then the expression refers to God’s ability to read men’s minds.
⁴¹tn Heb “he who makes dawn, darkness.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation assumes that allusion is made to God’s approaching judgment, when the light of day will be turned to darkness (see 5:20). Other options include: (1) “He makes the dawn [and] the darkness.” A few Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, add the conjunction (“and”) between the two nouns. (2) “He turns darkness into glimmering dawn” (NJPS). See S. M. Paul, Amos, 154, who takes rjv as “blackness” rather than “dawn” and hpyu as “glimmering dawn” rather than “darkness.”
⁴²tn Traditionally, “God of hosts.”