Amos 6:6-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Amos 6:6 sn Perhaps some religious rite is in view, or the size of the bowls is emphasized (i.e., bowls as large as sacrificial bowls).
2. Amos 6:6 tn Heb “with the best of oils they anoint [themselves].”
3. Amos 6:6 tn Or “not sickened by.”
4. Amos 6:6 sn The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.
5. Amos 6:7 tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”
6. Amos 6:7 sn Religious banquets. This refers to the מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh), a type of pagan religious banquet popular among the upper class of Israel at this time and apparently associated with mourning. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 137-61; J. L. McLaughlin, The “Marzeah” in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup). Scholars debate whether at this banquet the dead were simply remembered or actually venerated in a formal, cultic sense.
7. Amos 6:7 tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.
8. Amos 6:8 tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”
9. Amos 6:8 tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.
10. Amos 6:8 tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
11. Amos 6:8 tn Heb “the city”; this probably refers to the city of Samaria (cf. 6:1), which in turn, by metonymy, represents the entire northern kingdom.