Footnotes

1. Amos 1:7 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
2. Amos 1:7 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3. Amos 1:8 tn Heb “cut off.”
4. Amos 1:8 tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).
5. Amos 1:8 sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
6. Amos 1:8 sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).
7. Amos 1:8 sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).
8. Amos 1:8 tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.
9. Amos 1:8 tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”
10. Amos 1:9 tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.
11. Amos 1:9 tn Heb “Because of three violations of Tyre, even because of four.”sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.
12. Amos 1:9 tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.
13. Amos 1:9 tn Heb “handed over.”
14. Amos 1:9 tn Heb “[group of] exiles.” A similar phrase occurs in v. 6.
15. Amos 1:9 tn Heb “did not remember.”
16. Amos 1:9 sn A treaty of brotherhood. In the ancient Near-Eastern world familial terms were sometimes used to describe treaty partners. In a treaty between superior and inferior parties, the lord would be called “father” and the subject “son.” The partners in a treaty between equals referred to themselves as “brothers.” For biblical examples, see 1 Kgs 9:13 and 20:32-33.