Amos 5:9-11

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Amos 5:9 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb בָּלַג (balag, translated here “flashes”) is uncertain.
2. Amos 5:9 tn Heb “comes upon.” Many prefer to repoint the verb as Hiphil and translate, “he brings destruction upon the fortified places.”
3. Amos 5:10 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4. Amos 5:10 sn In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.
5. Amos 5:11 tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).
6. Amos 5:11 tn Or “lovely”; cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant,” NAB “choice,” NIV “lush.”
7. Amos 5:11 tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”