Amos 4:3-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Amos 4:3 tn Heb “and [through the] breaches you will go out, each straight ahead.”
2. Amos 4:3 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.
3. Amos 4:3 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”).
4. Amos 4:4 sn 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.
5. Amos 4:4 tn 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] and 3:14).
6. Amos 4:4 sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.
7. Amos 4:4 tn Or “for.”
8. Amos 4:4 tn Or “for.”
9. Amos 4:5 sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.
10. Amos 4:5 tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”