Amos 5:6-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Amos 5:6 tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.
2. Amos 5:6 sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.
3. Amos 5:6 tn Heb “house.”
4. Amos 5:6 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
5. Amos 5:6 tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”
6. Amos 5:7 tn Heb “Those who”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. In light of vv. 11-13, it is also possible that the words are directed at a more limited group within the nation—those with social and economic power.
7. Amos 5:7 tn There is an interesting wordplay here with the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn, turn”). Israel “turns” justice into wormwood (cf. 6:12), while the Lord “turns” darkness into morning (v. 8; cf. 4:11; 8:10). Israel’s turning is for evil, whereas the Lord’s is to demonstrate his absolute power and sovereignty.
8. Amos 5:7 tn Heb “they throw righteousness.”
9. Amos 5:7 sn In v. 7 the prophet begins to describe the guilty Israelites but then interrupts his word picture with a parenthetical, yet powerful, description of the judge they must face (vv. 8-9). He resumes his description of the sinners in v. 10.
10. Amos 5:8 tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”