Amos 2:1-2

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Amos 2:1 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.
2. Amos 2:1 tn Heb “Because of three violations of Moab, 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.
3. Amos 2:1 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.
4. Amos 2:1 sn The Moabites apparently desecrated the tomb of an Edomite king and burned his bones into a calcined substance which they then used as plaster (cf. Deut 27:2, 4). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 72. Receiving a proper burial was very important in this culture. Desecrating a tomb or a deceased individual’s bones was considered an especially heinous act.
5. Amos 2:2 sn The destruction of Moab by fire is an example of a judgment in kind—as the Moabites committed the crime of “burning,” so the Lord will punish them by setting them on fire.
6. Amos 2:2 sn Kerioth was an important Moabite city. See Jer 48:24, 41.
7. Amos 2:2 tn Or “die” (KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV); cf. NAB “shall meet death.”
8. Amos 2:2 tn Or “in the tumult.” This word refers to the harsh confusion of sounds that characterized an ancient battle—a mixture of war cries, shouts, shrieks of pain, clashes of weapons, etc.
9. Amos 2:2 tn Heb “sound” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
10. Amos 2:2 sn The ram’s horn (used as a trumpet) was blown to signal the approaching battle.