The Book of Amos

Naomi Mara Hyman

1

1.The words of Amos/Overburdened (1), who was among the specialized sheep breeders from Tekoa/ Horn (2) who saw through God’s eyes concerning Yisrael/God Wrestling [People] in the days of Uziyah/Yah’s Strength, king of Yehudah/Yah’s Praise, and in the days of Yaravam/Quadrupler, son of Yoash/Despaired Of, king of Israel (3), two years before the earthquake (4).

2. And he said:

YHWH from Zion will roar,

and from Jerusalem he will give voice

and the pastures of the shepherds will wither

and the summit of Carmel/Garden-land will dry up.

3.Thus said YHWH:

For the three transgressions of Dameshek (5),

for four I will not rescind [it]

because they crushed Gil’ad/Witness[ing] Ruins with threshing sledges of iron. (6)

4. I will send fire into the House of Haza’el/Seer of God

and it will consume the citadel of Ben-Hadad/ Echoing Offspring.

5. I will shatter the bolted [gates of] Dameshek

and I will deal harshly with those who dwell in the Valley of Aven/Vanity

and the Ruler/Support of the Tribe of the House of Eden/Paradise.

I will exile the people of Aram/Infinite Heavens (7) to Kir/the ends of the earth, (8)

aid YHWH.

6. Thus said YHWH:

For three transgressions of Gaza/Powerful (9),

for four I will not rescind [it]

because they exiled them, yes, exiled them completely by handing them over to Edom/Red.

7. I will send fire into the city walls of Gaza/Powerful

and it will consume its citadel.

8. I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod/Friend’s Fire (10)

and the support of the tribe from Asheklon/Shamefaced (11)

and I will turn my hand upon Ekron/Principle

and the remnant of the Plishtim/Invaders will perish.

Thus said ADNY YHWH.

9. Thus said YHWH:

For three transgressions of Tzor/Flint (12),

for four I will not rescind [it]

because they handed [them] over into complete exile to Edom/Red

and did not remember a Covenant of Brothers.

1. I will send fire into the city walls of Tzor/Flint

and consume their citadels.

11. Thus said YHWH:

For three transgressions of Edom/Red (13) ,

for four I will not rescind [it]

because they have pursued-with-sword his brother

and cast off all pity

and his anger preyed upon [them] forever

and he has tended the fires of his rage (14).

12. I will send fire into Teman/South

and it will consume the citadels of Batzrah/Enclosure.

13. Thus said YHWH:

For three transgressions of the Children of Ammon/Nation of Oppressors (15),

for four I will not rescind [it]

because they have split open pregnant [women] of Gil’ad/Witness[ing] Ruin

in order to expand their borders (16).

14. I will kindle fire in the walls of Rabbah/Affluence

and it will consume their citadel

in the midst of shouting on a day of battle

with an upheaval on a day of storm.

15. Their king will go into exile

he and his nobles together,

aid YHWH.

Notes to Chapter One

1. Amus means loaded or laden, but with the connotation of being overburdened or overloaded. Amus bilshono refers to a stammerer or one with a speech impediment. Amusim is a poetic way of referred to Israel, literally "Overburdened." These meanings, combined with the fact that Amos is a shepherd—perhaps even a shepherd with responsibilities vis-à-vis the Temple (the Encyclopedia Judaica cites some interesting but inconclusive scholarship on this point)—suggest a connection to Moses. Moses was a shepherd at the time of his epiphany and served as a shepherd to his people—a sacred shepherding precedent to the role of noqed. Moses claimed to have a speech impediment, although different terms are used. And certainly, there are many instances in which Moses felt himself to be overburdened
2. Or, shofar. The Encyclopedia Judaica notes that Tekoa is located south of Bethlehem near the Judean desert, but that certain evidence in the text suggests that Amos was in fact from the North, perhaps from a northern city of Tekoa in the Galilee as in mentioned in talmudic literature.
3. Peaceful relations existed between the two nations as the time of these two monarchs, however, textual evidence suggests that Amos prophesied only in the North, in Jeroboam son of Joash’s kingdom. (Encyclopedia Judaica)
4. The earthquake occurred during the reign of Uzziah and is mentioned in Zechariah 14:5: And the Valley in the Hills shall be stopped up, for the Valley of the Hills shall reach only to Azal; it shall be stopped up as it was stopped up as a result of the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah.—And the Lord my God, with all the holy beings, will come to you.
5. Aram-Damascus, the capitol of the Aramean empire. See 1:5. Amos’ first "prophecy against the nations" is thus against the Arameans to the northeast of the kingdom of Judah.
6. Suggestive of—in contemporary terms—columns of tanks.
7. From aleph/infinity and ram/heavens.
8. literally, "the border."
9. Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron are among the primary cities of the Philistine empire to the southwest of Israel and the northwest of Judah.
10. From aysh/fire and dod/friend (biblical usage). Alternately, Cauldron, from aysh/fire and davad/kettle .
11. From kalon/shame or disgrace and aysh/fire or heat, here taken to refer to the flushing of the face.
12. In Phoenicia, to the northwest of the kingdom of Israel.
13. The Edomite empire to the southeast of the kingdom of Judah. Batzrah and Teman were two of its principle cities.
14. literally, "kept his wrath perpetually."
15. from am/people and monah/oppressor. The Ammonite empire to the east of the kingdom of Israel.
16. The transgressions of the nations follow a trend of increasing severity from colonizing ("they crushed Gil’ad/Witness[ing] Ruins with threshing sledges of iron," 1:3) to exile ("they exiled them, yes, exiled them completely by handing them over to Edom/Red," 1:6) to exile and betrayal ("because they handed [them] over into complete exile to Edom/Red and did not remember a Covenant of Brothers," 1:9) to slaughter ("because they have pursued-with-sword his brother and cast off all pity," 1:11) to genocide ("because they have split open pregnant [women] of Gil’ad/Witness[ing] Ruins in order to expand their borders," 1:13)

2

1. Thus said YHWH:

For three transgressions of Moav/Origin (1),

for four I will not rescind [it]

because he burned the bones

of the King of Edom/Red to lime. (2)

2. I will send fire into Moav/Origin

and I will consume the citadels of the Kiriyot/Town

and Moav/Origin will die amidst uproar,

admidst shouting and the sound of the shofar.

3. I will annihilate the ruler from within her,

and all of her leadership will be executed with him,

aid YHWH.

4. Thus said YHWH:

for three transgressions of Yehudah/Yah’s Praise,

for four I will not rescind [it]

because they rejected the Torah/Words Pointing Toward Wisdom of YHWH

and his prescriptions they have not kept.

They are led astray by the mirage

after which their ancestors walked (3).

1. I will send fire into Yehudah/Yah’s Praise,

and I will consume the citadels of Yerushalayim/Aiming for Wholene

6. Thus said YHWH:

for three transgressions of Yisrael/God Wrestling [People]

for four I will not rescind [it]

for they (4) have sold out for silver

the righteous,

and the poor

for

a pair

of

andals.

7. [They] trample upon the dust of the earth

the head[s] of the impoverished

and the path of the humble you distort

and a man and his father go to the same girl (5)

in order (6) to desecrate my holy Name.

8. And upon pawned garments

they recline near every (7) altar

And forbidden wine (8)

they drink in the house of their [!] God.

9. And I,

I annihilated (9) the Emori/Talkative People from before them—

whose height was like the cedars’ height

and who were as powerful as oaks—

annihilating his fruit from above

and his roots from below.

10. And I,

I brought you up from Eretz Mitzrayim/the Narrow Place

and led you in the wilderness for forty year

to possess the land of the Emori/Talkative People.

1. And I raised up Nevi’im/Those Who Cry Out What They See from among your

children

and Nazirim/Those Who Devote Themselves from among young people—

is that not so, B’nai Yisrael/God Wrestling People?—

So spoke YHWH.

1. You made the Nazirim/Those Who Devote Themselves drink wine,

and as for the Nevi’im/Those Who Cry Out What They See—you ordered them not to

ay that which they see.

1. Behold, instead [of saving you] I will encumber [you]

as a wagon is encumbered

when it is full of cut grain. (10)

1. There shall be no escape [even] for the swift (11)

and the strong will not find strength

and the warrior will not save his life.

1. And the bowman will not stand [fast]

and the swift-footed [one] will not save [himself]

and the horseman will not save his life.

1. And the stout-hearted among the warriors

hall flee naked on that day—

So spoke YHWH

Notes to Chapter Two

1. from av/father and the prefix mem-vav (mo) which is used to create abstract nouns. Moab was located on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, to the east of the kingdom of Judah and to the southeast of the kingdom of Israel.
2. The transgression of regicide ("burn[ing] the bones of the King of Edom/Red to lime," 2:1) does not seem to follow the escalation of severity that appears in Chapter 1 (see n. 16, above). It is possible that the expression is a metaphor for a complete destruction of a nation (of which the king is a symbol) until even its memory (symbolized by the king’s remains) is eradicated. If this is the case, then the pattern of escalation continues: blotting out the memory of a people is in some sense worse than genocide alone since without memory, it is as if the people never existed at all. However, this is an interpretive stretch that is only nominally supported by the text.
3. By moving from genocide to disobedience and delusion ("rejected the Torah/Words Pointing Toward Wisdom of YHWH and His prescriptions they have not kept. They are led astray by the mirages after which their ancestors walked," 2:4), the text subtly compares the seriousness of the latter transgressions. It suggests that either, these are indeed very serious crimes or, that the people of Israel are to be held to a much higher standard than their neighbors. See also 2:6-12
4. The prophecy continues in third person even though Amos is describing the offenses of the very people to whom he speaks. The rhetoric will not shift to second person until Amos reminds his listeners of Yetziat Mitzrayim in 3:10.
5. The image here suggests that the offense is not only that father and son go to the same woman, but that she is a minor as well. In my mind’s eye, I see teenage girls hooking for crack. The problem is not just the behavior of the "johns" but the entirety of a system that makes such desperation possible and then sustains it.
6. Alternately, "thereby"
7. Suggesting "religious promiscuity."
8. That is, non-kosher wine, the consumption of which is considered to be a punishable sin. Moreover, consumption of such wine suggests participation in avodah zerah, also a serious transgression. When taken in connection with 2:7, the suggestion is that Israel is "sleeping with the enemy," so to speak.
9. Although they appear to be linguistically unrelated, the shoresh shim-mem-daled also means coerced apostasy. This meaning serves as an incredible counterpoint to the apparently voluntary apostasy described in the preceding verse. If it were technologically possibly, I would have the screen subliminally flash "You have betrayed your God" intermittently with the word "annihilated."
10. This image calls to mind the heavy chariots of the Egyptians, stuck in the muddy bottom of the Reed Sea as it rushed in upon them. Thus, this verse might be seen as a parallel to 2:10.
11. There is a hint of a comparison between the heavily-laden wagon 2:13 and the single, unencumbered runner implied in 2:14, as if to heighten the sense that there is no escape for anyone.

3

1. Hear this word

which YHWH has spoken about B’nai Yisrael/God Wrestling People

about the entire family that I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

1. Only you have I known intimately—

from all of the families of the Earth.

Accordingly, I will hold you accountable

for all of your iniquity.

1. Can two walk together

without having met?

4. Does a lion roar in the forest

if it has no prey?

Does a young lion give voice from his den

without having having captured?

5. Does a bird fall, ensnared, upon the land

if no trap is there?

Does a snare rise up from the earth

if it has not captured?

6. If a shofar is sounded in a city,

do the people not tremble?

Can evil be in a city,

and YHWH not cause it?

7. For my ADNY YHWH, does not do a thing

unless its secret is revealed

to those who serve by crying out what they see. (1)

1. A lion has roared—

who can but fear?

ADNY YHWH has spoken—

Who can but cry out what has been seen?

1. Cause it to be heard in the citadels of Ashdod/Friend’s Fire,

and upon the citadels of the land of Mitzrayim/Narrow Places (2)

and say:

"Gather upon the mountains of Shomron/Guardians (3)

and see the many troubles within her

and the oppression in her midst.

1. They do not know how do right—

o spoke YHWH—

they store up violence and plunder

in their citadels.

1. Assuredly—

Thus said my ADNY YHWH—

an enemy surrounding the land!

You shall be brought down (4) from your glory

and your fortresses shall be plundered.

`12. Thus said YHWH—

As a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion

[just] two legs or a severed ear,

o will B’nai Yisrael/God Wrestling People escape

who dwell in Shomron/Guardian

with the corner of a bed or a edge of a couch.

1. Cause it to be heard and bear witness to the House of Ya’akov/Heel-grabber—

o spoke ADNY YHWH, the God of Hosts.

1. For on the day that I visit the transgressions of the Yisrael/God Wrestling [People] upon them,

and hold them accountable for the altars of Beit El/ God’s House

the horns of the altar will be cut off

and they will fall to the ground.

1. I will strike the winter house

along with the summer house,

the houses of ivory shall cease to exist

and the great houses shall be swept away—

o spoke YHWH.

 

 

 

Notes to Chapter 3

1. lit., "to servants, the Nevi’im/Those Who Cry Out What They See"
2. lit., Egypt
3. lit., Samaria
4. lit., "He will bring you down"
5. The shoresh kuf-resh-nun may mean, in addition to "horn" or "ray," "strength", "power", "might", "glory" and/or "pride." Thus, the breaking off of the horns of the altar seems to suggest that Israel’s "pride and glory" will be destroyed. The image highlights the hypocrisy of making sacrifices to God while ignoring the plight of the poor.

4

1. Hear this word, you cows of Bashan/Shame

who are on the mountain of Shomron/Guardians—

you oppressors of the poor,

you crushers of the destitute

who say to their lords (1),

"Bring, and let’s party!"

1. My ADNY YHWH, swears by his holiness

for behold, days are coming upon you

when you will be carried off in basket

and, to the last one, on flesh (2) hooks (3).

1. And through cracks they will escape—

each woman for herself—thrown out of her palace—

o spoke YHWH.

1. Come to Beit El/ God’s House and transgress—

to Gilgal/Wheel even more to trangress.

And bring, in the morning, your sacrifices;

for three days, your tithes.

1. And burn leavened [bread] as an offering of gratitude;

call out freewill offerings, announce [them]—

because these are the things you love, O B’nai Yisrael/God Wrestling People—

o spoke ADNY YHWH

6. And I have even given to you

emptiness (5) of teeth in all of your citie

and lack of bread in all of your places,

and yet you have not changed your course (6)—

o spoke YHWH.

7. And I have even withheld from them the rain

until three months before harvest-time,

and I have caused it to rain upon one city

and upon one city I have not caused it to rain.

Upon one plot (7) [of land] it would rain—

and [another] plot [of land] upon which rain did not fall—it would wither.

8. And two or three towns would wander

into one town to drink water

but they would not be satisfied.

And yet you did not change your course—

o spoke YHWH.

9. I afflicted you with blight and mildew,

many times—your gardens and your vineyards.

Your fig trees and your olive tree

were eaten by locust

and yet you did not change your course—

o spoke YHWH.

10. I sent upon you pestilence

in the manner of Egypt (8)

I killed with the sword your young men

[together] with your captured horses.(9)

I caused to rise the stink of your armies

in your very nostrils (10)

and yet you did not change your course—

o spoke YHWH.

11. I have overturned (11) you

like God’s overturning of Sodom/Torturers (12) and Amorah/Exploiter (13)

and you have become like a brand rescued from fire

and yet you have not changed your course—

o spoke YHWH.

12. Assuredly—

thus I will do to you, Yisrael/God Wrestling [People]—

Consequently (14),

because this I will do to you—

prepare to meet your God, Yisrael/God Wrestling [People]. (15)

13. And so, behold!

The former of mountain

and the creator of wind

who tells His intentions to a human being

who makes dawn into darkne

and who makes His way upon the high places of the earth—

YHWH, God of Hosts is his Name.

Notes to Chapter 4

(1) JPS, in translating adonayhem as "husbands" rather than "lords," loses the parallel

to 4:2 in which Amos speaks of his Lord.

1. lit., "fish" or "fishing."
2. The meaning of 4:2 is uncertain. The totality of the images suggested by the various definitions suggests to me the disposal of large quantities of corpses.
3. The "cows of Bashan"
4. lit., "cleanness"
5. lit., "turn," "repent, or "return." With this transltion, I’m trying to emphasize that the desired action is not (only) a spiritual return but also and more importantly a change in behavior.
6. "Helek" may also be understood as "portion" or "fate." An alternative reading might be "It was the fate of one to be rained upon and the fate [of another] not to be rained upon and to wither."
7. The word dever itself is an allusion to the ten plagues; the subsequent reference to the Exodus from Egypt emphasizes the connection lest the listener/reader miss it.
8. The allusion to the Exodus continues with language reminiscent of the Song at the Sea: "Horse and driver he has cast into the sea…"
9. The origin of the stench is not entirely clear. Is it from the corpses of the dead soldiers or is from the existence of the armies themselves? In other words, might Amos be referring to the devastating consequences of a militarized society, as we find today in the U.S. and especially in Israel?
10. This translation is an attempt to maintain the parallel between "shoov" and "hapach," both of which carry the sense of turning, the former in a positive sense and the latter in a negative one.
11. From the root samech-daled, meaning "stocks used for torturing.
12. From the root ayin-mem-resh, meaning "to treat as a slave, to treat cruelly."
13. The Hebrew root ayin-koof-vet may also mean "to follow, track, deceive, supplant, grab, hinder or stop" and as a noun, "heel, hoof, footstep, vestige, hind-part." Of course, the most famous usage is in the naming of Ya’akov in Genesis 25:26. See 3:13, above. Since in this verse the word, "ekev" immediately follows the name "Yisrael," which is the name later given to Ya’akov by God, it would seem that the text would intend for listeners/readers to hear the many layers of meaning.
14. Although "L’cha Dodi" was written centuries after Amos, the use of the word "likrat" here brings to mind the Sabbath hymn. How different are these two meetings with God!

 

5

1. Hear this word that I speak

over you, a lamentation, O Beit Yisrael/Family of God Wrestling [People].

2. Fallen, not to rise again (1)

are "innocent" (2) Yisrael/God Wrestling [People],

abandoned upon their (3) soil

with no one, nothing (4) to lift them (5) up.

3. For thus said ADNY YHWH:

The city that goes out one thousand [strong]—

a hundred will remain,

and [the city] that goes out one hundred [strong]—

ten will remain
for Beit Yisrael/the Family of the God Wrestling [People].

4. For thus said YHWH

to Beit Yisrael/ the Family of God Wrestling [People]:

Seek me, and you will live!

5. Don’t seek Beit El/ God’s House!

Come not to Gilgal/Wheel (6),

and to Be’er Sheva/Well of the Oath do transgress (7)—

For Gilgal/Wheel will be exiled into exile (8)

and Beit El/God’s House will be as a delusion (9).

6. Seek YHWH and you will live—

lest he fall upon the tribe of Yosef/Increase like fire

and consume, with nothing to quench it, Beit El/God’s House.

7. You who turn justice into wormwood

and righteousness you consign to the ground—

8. The Maker of the Pleiades and Orion,

the Turner of shadowy darkness (10) to morning

the Darkener of day to night

the Caller-Forth of the waters of the sea

and the Pourer [of waters] upon the earth—

YHWH is his name!

9. The Restrainer of Devastation out of strength

and the Devastator of a stronghold [when the time] comes (11).

10. They hate the muckraker at the gate

and the truth-teller they detest (12).

11. Assuredly,

because you trample upon the poor

and you take from them (13) a burden of grain—

you have built houses of stone,

but you will not dwell in them;

delightful vineyards you have planted,

but you will not drink their wine.

12. Because I know how many are your transgressions,

[how ] substantial are your sins,

you oppressors of the righteous,

you takers of bribes—

the [cause of the] destitute

you subvert in the gates!

13. Assuredly,

the prudent person at a time like this keeps silent,

because an evil time it is!

14. Seek good and not evil

in order that you may live

and thus it will be:

YHWH, the God of Hosts, will be with you—

if you say

15. "Hate evil and love good,"

and cause justice to stand [firm] in the gate,

perhaps YHWH, the God of Hosts, will be graciou

to the remnant of Yosef/Increase.

16. Assuredly,

thus said YHWH,

God of Hosts, my God:

In each of the square there will be lamenting,

and in every street they will cry, "Oy! Oy! (14)

The farm worker will be called

to mourn,

and to lamenting

those who know how to wail—

17. In every vineyard lamenting

when I pass through your midst—

aid YHWH.

18. Oy, you who long

for the day of YHWH—

Why would you want this for yourselves?

The day of YHWH—

It will be darkness, not light!

19. [It will be] as if a man were to flee from the mouth of a lion

[only to]be attacked by a bear

and he comes home

and leans his hand upon the wall

[only to be] bitten by a snake!(15)

20. Is not the day of YHWH darkne

and not light,

deepest darkness untainted by brightness?

21. I despise, I detest your festivals,

and I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies.

22. For even if you offer up burnt offerings and meal-offerings to me,

they will not be wanted,

and peace offerings from your fatlings--

I will not take note of them.

23. Spare me the noise of your song

I will not listen to the "music" of your lutes.

24. But let transformational justice well up like water

and righteousness like an bountiful stream.

25. Did you offer the sacrifices and the meal offerings to me

in the wilderness, for forty years,

O, Beit Yisrael/ Family of God Wrestling [People]?

26. You will carry off Sikut/Chance and Kiyun/Saturn, your "kings,"

your images of astral deities,

which you have made for yourselves,

27. as I exile you beyond Dameshek—

aid YHWH—

the God of Hosts is his name.

 

 

Notes to Chapter 5

(1) As with the word "ekev" in 4:12, above, the use of the word "toseef" here calls to mind Yosef, whose name derives from this root. See 5:6 below.

(2) lit,, "maiden" or "virgin." This description seems to be used sarcastically as the enunciation of transgressions in the previous chapters suggests that the God Wrestling People are anything but naïve, except perhaps of the consequences of their actions.

(3) lit., "her."

(4) Most translations use "no one" or "none." However, the word "ayn" suggests something stonger: not only are there no other people to lift them up but the People are without even the internal spiritual, physical, mental or emotional resources to lift themselves from their low state.

(5) lit., "her."

(6) See 4:4, above.

(7) The double meaning here of the root, "ayin-vet-resh," ("to cross over" and "to violate or sin") is intentional.

(8) There is no way to capture the assonance of the Hebrew in English. I’ve tried to allude to it with the ending syllables: GilgAL, WheEL, wILL, exiLE, and exiLED. One might understand the verse to mean that the fate of the ones named for a means of transportation will be forced to move. Or, understanding "gilgal" in the sense of karma, the verse might be implying that "what goes around comes around."

(9) "Aven" may also mean "wickedness, evil or iniquity," as with note 7, above, the use of a word with a double meaning is intentional.

(10) "Tzalmavet" means both "deep darkness" and "the shadow of death." This translation attempts to integrate the two meanings by implying that there is something sinister or dangerous to the darkness.

(11) The meaning of the Hebrew is, in the JPS translation’s words, uncertain. This attempt seeks to mirror the parallelism of 5:8.

(12) lit., "the one who speaks purely."

(13) lit., "him."

(14) There is no English equivalent to the word "oy." The closest one might come is the verb, "to howl."

(15) 5:19 calls to mind Tosefta Brachot 1:11:

Similarly, "Do not remember former matters and do not reflect upon things of old.’ (Isaiah 43:18) "Do not remember former things"—these are [matters concerning God’s] Sovereignty and "do not reflect upon things of old"—these are [matters concerning] Egypt, "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now, it is sprouting forth." (Isaiah 43:19)—this is the battle of Gog and Magog. They likened [this] to a parable—to what may this be compared? To one who is walking on the way and a wolf attacked him, but he escaped from it, and he continually recounted the wolf incident. A lion attacked him but he escaped from its clutches; he forgot the wolf incident and [instead] recounted the lion incident. After this, a snake attacked him, but he escaped from its clutches; he forgot the two [prior incidents]and he continually recounted the snake incident. It is thus with Israel: their later troubles cause them to forget the former [troubles].

 

6

1. Ah, the complacent ones in Tziyon/Signpost in the Wilderness (1)

and the confident ones on the mountain of Shomron/Guardians,

the named leadership of the nation

to whom Beit Yisrael/Family of God Wrestling [People] come—

2. Cross over to Chalnei/Brides and see,

and go from there to Chamat Rabbah/The Wrath of the Great,

and go down to Gat Plishtim/Invaders’ Cistern (2)—

Are they better than these kingdoms?

Are their borders greater than your own?

3. Yet you attempt to banish the evil day

by convening conferences of injustice.

4. They lie on ivory beds,

they lounge upon their couche

and dine on rams (3) from the flock

and on veal force-fed in pens. (4)

5. They pluck melodies from the lute

and think of themselves as instruments of song like David,

6. They drink wine by the bowlful

and with the finest of oil, they anoint themselve

and they do not concern themselves with ruin of Yosef/Increase.

7. Therefore—soon—

you shall lead (5) the refugees into exile,

no more (6) to lie about at merry banquets.

8. ADNY YHWH swore by its own soul-breath—

thus spoke YHWH, the God of Hosts—

I loathe the "Excellence"of Ya’kov/Heel-grabber

and his citadel I hate.

9. And if ten people remain in one house,

they will die…

10. And if someone’s kinsman comes to take him and save him

from destruction (7) and to bring out the bones from the house

and calls out into the far reaches of the house asking, "Is there anyone with you?"

he will say, "None." and he [the kinsman] will say, "Have pity upon us, for there is no one to remember the Name, YHWH!"

11. See, YHWH will command

and the great house will be pulverized

and the small house will be beaten into splinters.

12. Can horses run upon a rock?

with oxen may it be plowed?

Yet you have turned justice into poison

and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.

13. Rejoicers over Lo-Dabar/No-thing,

Those who say, "Did we not with our strength [alone]

take for ourselves Karnayim/Strength?" —

14. See! Here I am, establishing against you, Beit Yisrael/Family of God Wrestling [People]

—so spoke YHWH, the God of Hosts—

a nation to crush you from Lebo-Hamat/To Enter the Its Wrath

to Nakhal HaAravah/The Desert’s River.(8)

Notes to Chapter 6

1. From tzayon, "wilderness" or "desolation" and tziyoon, "mark," "pointing out" or "waymark."

2. All three of these cities had been conquered in major invasions, but by different kingdoms.

3. The word "kar" is defined as "ram," and not "lamb" or "fatted sheep" as the JPS and ArtScroll Tanakhs respectively translate it. Amos, as a shepherd, knew his livestock, and wouldn’t have chosen such a designation carelessly. Rams would have been the most valuable animals in the flock. Eating them would suggest either a sort of conspicuous consumption or a disregard for resources, a kind of foolishness.

4. lit., "on calves from the midst of stalls." The language is highly suggestive of the inhumane contemporary conditions under which most veal is produced.

5. The use of the word "rosh" draws the reader/listener back to 6:1: The so-called leaders of the land will lead the people out of the land. The use of the words "leadership" and "lead" is an attempt to echo the connection in the Hebrew.

6. The Hebrew homonym "sar" is interesting here. Samech-resh, from the root samech-vav-resh, means "to be removed, sent away, banished." Sin-resh means "ruler, prince, head or leader." The wordplay suggests that the leadership will lose its position entirely, by being transformed from princes into refugees. Thus, their position at the head of the exile should not be misconstrued as suggesting as a (reduced) leadership position, but rather as an indicator that the leadership’s punishment will be meted out first.

7. Derived from the cognate meanings of samech-resh-fey, including "combine/separate;" "burn" and "purify." JPS notes that the meaning of this verse is uncertain.

8. Two cities recaptured by Jeraboam ben Joash, located east of the Jordan.

7

1. This is what ADNY YHWH showed to me:

See, He was forming [a swarm of] locusts when the late crop was beginning to come up—

now it was the late crop after the king’s reaping.

2. And it was when it finished eating [up] all of the grass of the earth, that I said, "ADNY YHWH, please forgive! How will Ya’akov/Heel-grabber [with]stand [it], for he is [so] small!"

3. And YHWH relented with regard to this: "It will not be," said YHWH.

4. This is what ADNY YHWH showed to me:

See, ADNY YHWH summoned forth fire with which to contend, and consumed the great depths and ate up the fields.

5. And I said, ADNY YHWH, "please refrain! How will Ya’akov/Heel-grabber [with]stand [it], for he is [so] small!"

6. And YHWH relented with regard to this: "This, too, will not be," said ADNY YHWH.

7. This is what he showed me:

See, ADNY was standing upon the vertical wall [of a city] and in his hand was a plumbline.

8. And YHWH asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" and I said, "A plumbline." and ADNY said, "See, I am placing a plumb-line in the midst of my people Yisrael/the God Wrestling [People] (1)—I will no longer protect (2) him [from the consequences of] his own transgressions.

9. And the high places of Yiskhak/Laughing [People] (3) will be devastated (4) and the sacred places of Yisrael/God Wrestling [People] will be destroyed (5) and I will turn on Yaravam/Quadrupler with the sword.

10. And Amatzyah/Yah’s Courageous One, priest of Beit-El/God’s House sent [word] to Yaravam/Quadrupler, King of Yisrael/God Wrestling [People], saying: "Plotting against you is Amos/Overburdened in the midst of Beit Yisrael/Family of God Wrestling [People]. The land is unable to contain all of his words!

11. For thus says Amos/Overburdened: ‘By the sword will Yaravam/Quadrupler die and exiled, yes exiled, will Yisrael/God Wrestling [People] be from its soil.’"

12. Said Amatzyah/Yah’s Courageous One to Amos/Overburdened: "Seer, Depart! Begone, you, to the Land of Yehudah/Yah’s Praise—there eat your bread and there cry out what you see.

13. And [as for] Beit El/God’s House—never again gather yourself up to cry out what you see [there], for it is the king’s sacred place and a royal house! (6)"

14. Amos/Overburdened replied and said to Amatzyah/Yah’s Courageous One: "I am not a Navi/One Who Cries Out What He Sees and I am not the son of a Navi/One Who Cries Out What He Sees—rather I am a herdsman and tender of sycamore-trees.

15. YHWH took me from following after my sheep and YHWH said to me, ‘Go and cry our what you see to my people, Yisrael/God Wrestling [People].’

16. Now, hear the word of YHWH—you say, ‘Do not cry out what you see concerning Yisrael/God Wrestling [People] and don’t gather yourself up concerning Beit Yiskhak/Family of Laughing People.

17. Therefore, thus spoke YHWH: ‘Your wife will be forced into prostitution in the city and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword and your soil will be divided up with a measuring line, and you, you will die upon contaminated soil and Yisrael/God Wrestling [People] will be exiled, yes exiled, from upon its soil."

Notes to Chapter 7

1. In this section, Amos has referred to the people as "Ya’akov." Here God speaks of them as "Yisrael" It is as if Amos wants to remind God that human beings are imperfect and weak and God replies by reminding him that nevertheless, we are called to consciously and actively engage with the divine demand to rise above ourselves, to be God-wrestlers.

2. Following the definition of alef-samech-fey as "to take under protection."

3. The spelling of Yitzkhak is unusual: yud-sin-khet-koof. Etymologically, the root is a secondary form of tzadee-khet-koof, "to laugh or mock". Additionally, the reference to Isaac itself is unusual, both in general and in this context where the communal references have been to Ya’akov and Yisrael.

4. The root of the word nun-shin-mem-vav is shin-mem-mem, to devastate or destroy. In the grammatical form in which it is used here, it alludes both to nachamu, Jeremiah’s plea for comfort for the people that becomes the name of the Shabbat immediately following Tisha B’Av and neshama, breath or soul. This suggests that the seeds of comfort are present even in the promise of punishment.

5.One can almost hear the sarcastic tone in these words: The "high" places of the Mocking/Laughing People and the "holy" places of those [who claim to] Wrestle with God.

6. Amatzyah seems unaware of the irony of telling Amos that Beit-El/God’s House is instead the (lower case "k") king’s house and the king’s holy place.

8

1. This is what ADNY YHWH showed to me:

See, a basket of summer fruit!

2. And he said, " What do you see, Amos/Overburdened?" and I said, "A basket of summer fruit." and YHWH said to me, "The end (1) has come for my people, Yisrael/God Wrestling [People]—I will no longer protect him [from the consequences of] his own transgressions.

3. And they will howl (2) their poetry (3) in the palace on that day—

o spoke ADNY YHWH.

So many bodies—everywhere—abandoned….

Have pity upon us!

4. Hear this, you who trample the poor and annihilate the needy of the land—

5. Saying, "When will the [New] Moon [observance] be over so that we can sell grain, the Sabbath (4) that the [stores of] wheat might be opened—to reduce the measure and raise the price, to tilt fraudulent scales—

6. To buy for silver the poor and the needy for a pair of sandals—

to sell[[even] the refuse of the grain.

7. YHWH has sworn by the "Excellence" of Ya’kov/Heel-grabber,

"I will never forget any of their deeds!"

8. For on account of this, should not the land [itself] be anguished

and all that dwell upon her lament?

Shall not all of [Creation] (5) rise up like the [flooding] Nile

and rage (6) and subside like the Nile of Mitzrayim/The Narrow Places?

9. And will be on that day—

o spoke ADNY YHWH—

I will bring down the sun at noon

and I will darken the land on a sunny day.

10. And I will turn your festivals into mourning

and all of your songs into a [single] dirge

and I will place on every loin sack-cloth

and on every head, baldne

and I will make it (7) mourn as if for its only one,

the end of it like a bitter day.

11. See, days are coming—

o spoke ADNY YHWH—

when I will send a famine to the land,

not a hunger for bread and not a thirst for water,

but for hearing the words of YHWH.

12. People will move from sea to sea

and from north to east, wandering, to seek the word of YHWH

but they will not find.

13. On that day the beautiful young women and the young men

will faint with thirst.

14. Those who swear by the guilt of Shomron/Guardian

and say, "by the life of your god, Dan/Water Vessel (8)

and "by the life of Be’er Sheva/Well of the Oath," (9)

they will fall, never again to rise.

Notes to Chapter 8

1. Connecting kayitz, summer fruit, to kaytz, the end.

2. Haylilu is reminiscent of Hallelu. Both suggest a passionate crying out, the former in pain and terror, the latter in gratitude and joy. This translation brings to mind the now-classic poem, "Howl," by Allen Ginsberg.

3. Artscroll translates haShabbat as the Sabbatical year.

4. Perhaps Eycha/Lamentations?

5. Taking zot, "this (feminine)" to refer to the earth and all who dwell upon her, as specified in the preceding phrase.

6. Nigrash may be translated as "to rage," referring specifically to the sea.

7. The earth and all who dwell upon here, see note 4, above.

8. A dan is an earthenware vessel for liquids. Note the allusion to verses 8:11 and 13, above.

9. Again, the allusion to verses 8:11 and 13.

9

1. I saw ADNY standing by the altar and he said,

"Strike the capital and shake the threshold

and make an end to the first of them and the last of them I will slay with the sword.

No escapees among them will escape

and no refugee among them will find refuge.

2. If they dig down into Sheol,

from there my hand will take them,

and if they ascend to Heaven,

from there I will bring them down.

3. And if they hide on the top of the Carmel/Garden-Land

there I will search them out and seize them

and if they conceal themselves from in front of my eye

on the bottom of the sea,

there I will command the snake to sink its teeth (1) into them.

4. And if they go into captivity

before their enemies,

there I will command

the sword and slay them

and I will keep my eye on them for evil,

and not for good.

5. ADNY YHWH, the God of Hosts

who touches the land and it dissolves—

they will mourn, all who dwell upon her,

and like the Nile, all of it will rise up

and subside like the Nile of Mitzrayim/the Narrow Places— (2)

6. who builds in heaven, higher and higher,

and founds upon the land his legend (3)

who calls to the waters of the sea

and pours them upon the face of the land—

YHWH is his name.

7. Are you B’nai Yisrael/God Wrestling People not to me as the People

of Ku’shiyim/Like Gifts (4)?—

o spokeYHWH.

Did I not bring up the Yisrael/the God Wrestling [People]

from the land of Mitzrayim/the Narrow Place

and the Plishtiyim/Invaders from Kaftor/Capital

and Aram/Infinite Heavens from Kir/the Ends of the Earth?

8. See, the eyes of ADNY YHWH

within the sinful kingdom—

I will annihilate it from upon the face of the earth!

But, I will not annihilate, yes annihilate

Beit Ya’akov/the House of the Heel-grabber—

o spokeYHWH.

9. See! I will command

and I will shake out from all of the nation

Beit Yisrael/Family of God Wrestling [People]

as one shakes with a sieve

and not [even] a pebble falls to the ground.

10. By the sword, they will die,

all the sinners of my people

who say,

"Evil will not draw near and never [will it] come near us."

11. On that day,

I will establish the fallen shelter of David/Beloved (5)

and I will close up its breaches and its ruins cause to stand

and I will build it as in the days of old.

12. So that they will possess the remnant of Edom/Red

and all of the nations who have called my name upon themselves—

o spoke YHWH, the one who does this.

13. See, days are coming—

o spoke YHWH—

when the ploughman will meet the reaper

and the treader of grapes [will meet]

the one who carries the seed

and the mountains will drip new wine

and all of the hills will melt.

14. I will restore my people, Yisrael/the God Wrestling [People]

and they will rebuild the souls (6) of their cities and dwell [in them]

and they will plant vineyards and drink their wine

and they will cultivate gardens and eat their fruits.

15. And I will plant them upon their earth (7)

never again to be uprooted

from upon their earth which I gave to them—

aid YHWH, your God. (8)

 

 

 

Notes to Chapter 9

1. Trying to capture the assonance of nakhash un’shakhah.

2. This segment, a parallel to 8: 8, seems misplaced here. The section would read more clearly if the text fro