A Lament and Call to Seek Justice
Amos 5:1-17
Amo.5.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- הדבר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- הזה: DEM,m,sg
- אשר: PRON,rel
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- נשא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עליכם: PREP+PRON,2mp
- קינה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 3:1 (verbal): Same prophetic address formula — a direct call to 'hear this word' addressed to Israel; both introduce a judicial message against the people.
- Amos 4:1 (verbal): Uses the identical opening formula 'Hear this word' (addressing the 'cows of Bashan'); parallels Amos 5:1 in form and accusatory tone leading into a lament or indictment.
- Joel 1:2 (thematic): Begins with 'Hear this' calling the community to listen before a dirge over devastation; thematically parallels Amos 5:1 as an opening summons to a communal lament.
- Ezekiel 19:1 (thematic): Commands to 'take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel' — echoes Amos 5:1's explicit designation of the message as a 'lamentation' (קינה) for Israel.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear this word that I raise against you—a lament, O house of Israel.
- Hear this word that I lift up against you: a lamentation, O house of Israel.
Amo.5.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- נפלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תוסיף: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- קום: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- בתולת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נטשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- על: PREP
- אדמתה: NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,f,sg
- אין: PART,neg
- מקימה: VERB,hiph,part,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 47:1 (verbal): Addresses a 'daughter' (virgin) brought low—'Come down and sit on the ground, O virgin daughter'—using similar daughter/virgin imagery of humiliation and loss of status as Amos's 'daughter Israel... fallen.'
- Isaiah 1:8 (thematic): Depicts 'the daughter Zion' left desolate ('like a booth in a vineyard'), echoing the theme of Israel/Jerusalem abandoned on her land with no one to restore her.
- Lamentations 1:1-2 (structural): A communal lament over a once-populous city now solitary and without comforters; parallels Amos's poetic lament that the daughter Israel has fallen and there is none to raise her up.
- Nahum 3:7 (thematic): Rhetorical mourning—'who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?'—parallels Amos's emphasis on the lack of helpers or restorers for the fallen city/people.
- Ezekiel 16:6 (allusion): Ezekiel recalls finding Jerusalem 'in thy blood' and saying 'Live'—a related tradition about the city's vulnerability that also highlights, by contrast, Amos's bleak claim that Israel has fallen and will not be raised.
Alternative generated candidates
- She has fallen—she shall not rise again; the virgin Israel is cast off upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
- Fallen—she shall not rise again; the virgin Israel is laid waste on her land; there is no one to raise her up.
Amo.5.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- העיר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- היצאת: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- אלף: NUM,m,sg
- תשאיר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- מאה: NUM,f,sg,abs
- והיוצאת: VERB,qal,ptc,f,sg
- מאה: NUM,f,sg,abs
- תשאיר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- עשרה: NUM,card,m,pl
- לבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cns
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 6:13 (verbal): Uses the same idea of a reduced remnant — only a tenth remains (’a tenth will return’), paralleling Amos’ numerical shrinkage to convey severe judgment with a small surviving remnant.
- Isaiah 10:20-23 (thematic): Speaks of only a remnant of Israel returning after judgment; thematically aligns with Amos’ announcement that only a small remnant will be left.
- Zechariah 13:8-9 (structural): Portrays judgment by proportions (two-thirds cut off, one-third left), similar structural use of numeric fractions to describe loss and a surviving remnant.
- Amos 9:9 (thematic): Within the same book, God describes sifting and preserving a remnant of Israel (‘I will sift the house of Israel among all nations’), echoing Amos 5:3’s theme of severe reduction yet survival of some.
Alternative generated candidates
- For thus says the Lord GOD: The city that goes out a thousand shall leave a hundred, and the one that goes out a hundred shall leave ten for the house of Israel.
- For thus says the Lord GOD: The one who marches out a thousand shall leave a hundred; and the one who marches out a hundred shall leave ten—for the house of Israel.
Amo.5.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cns
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דרשוני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl,obj:1s
- וחיו: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Amos 5:6 (verbal): Immediate parallel within the oracle: repeats the call to “seek the LORD and live,” but expands with a warning about judgment if they do not seek him.
- Deuteronomy 4:29 (verbal): Deuteronomic promise that if Israel seeks the LORD (with heart/soul) they will find him—same theological link between seeking God and life/salvation.
- Jeremiah 29:13 (verbal): Assures that seeking God wholeheartedly results in finding him; echoes Amos’ summons to seek Yahweh as the path to life.
- Isaiah 55:6 (thematic): Urgent summons to seek the LORD while he may be found—shares the motif of timely pursuit of God as the means to restoration.
- Hosea 5:6 (allusion): Describes people who go to seek the LORD but fail to find him because he has withdrawn—serves as a contrasting warning to Amos’ promise that seeking leads to life.
Alternative generated candidates
- For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: Seek me and live.
- For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: Seek me, and live.
Amo.5.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- תדרשו: VERB,qal,impf,2,pl
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- והגלגל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- תבאו: VERB,qal,imperf,2,m,pl
- ובאר: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שבע: NUM,card
- לא: PART_NEG
- תעברו: VERB,qal,imf,2,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- הגלגל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- גלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יגלה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ובית: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,cs
- אל: NEG
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לאון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 5:4 (structural): Immediate context: the prophet first commands ‘Seek the LORD and live’ and then forbids seeking Bethel, Gilgal, Beersheba—Amos contrasts true seeking of God with reliance on cultic sites.
- Amos 4:4 (verbal): Earlier scathing critique of pilgrimage practices: ‘Come to Bethel… at Gilgal multiply transgression’ — parallels Amos 5:5’s denunciation of those sanctuaries and their corrupt worship.
- Hosea 4:15 (verbal): Hosea warns ‘Do not go to Gilgal, and do not go up to Beth‑aven’ (Beth‑aven = Bethel). Direct verbal/allusive parallel condemning visits to Gilgal/Bethel as illicit.
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (thematic): Narrative background: Jeroboam sets up rival sanctuaries at Bethel (and Dan) with golden calves to prevent pilgrimages to Jerusalem—explains Bethel’s role as a focal, yet illegitimate, worship center later denounced by prophets like Amos.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do not seek Bethel, and do not go to Gilgal, and do not pass over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall go into exile, and Bethel shall become a ruin.
- Do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, and do not pass over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.
Amo.5.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- דרשו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- וחיו: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,pl
- פן: CONJ
- יצלח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כאש: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואכלה: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- מכבה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cns
- אל: NEG
Parallels
- Amos 5:4 (quotation): Almost identical exhortation elsewhere in the same prophecy: 'Seek me and live'—same verb and promise of life, framing Amos's call to repentance.
- Jeremiah 29:13 (verbal): Similar promise linking earnest seeking of YHWH with finding/experiencing him ('You will seek me and find me'), echoing the life-restoring result of seeking God.
- Isaiah 55:6 (thematic): Urgent call to seek the LORD while he may be found—parallels the immediacy and life-or-death stakes of Amos's summons to seek YHWH.
- Amos 4:4 (structural): Earlier chapter in Amos condemns cultic practices at Bethel ('Go to Bethel...'), connecting Amos's threat against 'Bethel' here with the prophet's sustained indictment of that sanctuary.
- Amos 7:4 (verbal): Uses the same fire-judgment imagery elsewhere in Amos—YHWH calling forth fire that devours—reinforcing the motif of inextinguishable divine wrath threatening Israel/Ephraim (house of Joseph).
Alternative generated candidates
- Seek the LORD and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour, with none to quench it in Bethel.
- Seek the LORD and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it, with none to quench it at Bethel.
Amo.5.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ההפכים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ללענה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וצדקה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הניחו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 5:7 (verbal): Both texts contrast the expectation of justice and righteousness with their perversion or replacement (Isaiah: ‘for justice, but behold blood; for righteousness, but behold an outcry’).
- Isaiah 59:14-15 (verbal): Isaiah depicts justice and righteousness as turned back or far off—language and theme closely echoing Amos’s charge that justice is turned into a curse and righteousness cast down.
- Amos 5:12 (verbal): Same prophetic context: Amos condemns a society where transgressions abound and there is no one who calls for justice—continuing the complaint that justice and righteousness have been subverted.
- Micah 3:9-11 (thematic): Micah denounces leaders and prophets who pervert justice and build the city with blood—a thematic parallel about institutional corruption and the betrayal of justice and righteousness.
- Isaiah 10:1-2 (thematic): A woe against unjust laws and those who pervert judgment; thematically parallels Amos’s condemnation of societal practices that distort justice and trample righteousness.
Alternative generated candidates
- They turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
- They have turned justice into wormwood and cast righteousness down to the earth.
Amo.5.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כימה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכסיל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והפך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לבקר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צלמות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ויום: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לילה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- החשיך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הקורא: VERB,qal,ptc,act,m,sg,def
- למי: PREP,interr
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- וישפכם: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,ms+PRON,3,pl
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- שמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 9:9 (verbal): Mentions the same celestial figures (constellations/Pleiades and Orion), paralleling Amos’s attribution of these creations to God’s power.
- Job 38:31-33 (thematic): God’s sovereign control over the stars (binding the Pleiades, leading Orion) echoes Amos’s emphasis on God’s governance of cosmic order.
- Job 26:10 (verbal): Speaks of God marking a boundary on the waters ‘between light and darkness,’ resonating with Amos’s imagery of turning darkness into morning and directing the seas.
- Isaiah 45:7 (thematic): Declares that God forms light and creates darkness—a close theological parallel to Amos’s statement that God turns darkness into morning and darkens day into night.
- Psalm 104:6-9 (structural): Describes God’s control over the waters and setting their limits (waters fleeing at his rebuke), paralleling Amos’s image of God calling forth and pouring out the seas upon the earth.
Alternative generated candidates
- He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into morning and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth— the LORD is his name.
- He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns deep night into morning and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth—the LORD is his name.
Amo.5.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- המבליג: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg,def
- שד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- עז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- מבצר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יבוא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 25:2 (verbal): Like Amos 5:9, Isaiah declares that God will make the fortified city a ruin — language of a fortress laid waste and the collapse of presumed security.
- Zephaniah 2:13 (thematic): Speaks of God striking down a great power and making its strongholds desolate (Nineveh/Assyria), echoing Amos’s theme of God uprooting the mighty and overturning fortresses.
- Nahum 1:8 (thematic): Depicts Yahweh bringing a complete end to a city/seat of power (with overflowing judgment), parallel to Amos’s announcement that God will bring ruin to strongholds.
- Psalm 46:9 (thematic): Portrays God as the one who breaks weapons and ends military security — thematically parallel to Amos’s image of God removing strength and demolishing fortresses.
Alternative generated candidates
- He will bring plunder upon the strong, and spoil shall come against the fortress.
- He makes a spoil of the strong, and a plunder comes upon the fortress.
Amo.5.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שנאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בשער: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מוכיח: PART,piel,ptc,_,m,sg
- ודבר: VERB,qal,fut,3,m,sg
- תמים: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- יתעבו: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Proverbs 9:8 (verbal): Contrasts treatment of the reproofer: 'Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee'—echoes Amos' observation that people hate those who rebuke in the gate.
- Proverbs 15:12 (verbal): 'A scorner loveth not one that reproves him'—similar proverb describing hostility toward upright rebuke.
- Isaiah 30:10-11 (thematic): People tell prophets to 'see not' and to speak smooth things instead of the truth—parallels Amos' charge that honest speech and rebuke are abhorred.
- Matthew 23:34-37 (thematic): Jesus laments sending prophets who were persecuted/killed—reflects the recurring biblical theme that true reprovers and prophets are hated by the people.
- Jeremiah 6:10 (thematic): Jeremiah finds the people unwilling to hear reproof ('their ears are uncircumcised')—parallels Amos' claim that upright speech and rebuke are rejected.
Alternative generated candidates
- They hate him who reproves at the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks plainly.
- They hate at the gate the one who reproves, and they abhor the one who speaks what is straight.
Amo.5.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לכן: ADV
- יען: CONJ
- בושסכם: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- על: PREP
- דל: ADJ,m,sg
- ומשאת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בר: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תקחו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ממנו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- בתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs,1cs
- גזית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בניתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- תשבו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- בם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- כרמי: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- חמד: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- נטעתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- תשתו: VERB,qal,imperf,2,m,pl,NA
- את: PRT,acc
- יינם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 5:8 (verbal): Condemns accumulating houses and fields (’join house to house, add field to field’) and predicts they will not be enjoyed—close verbal and thematic parallel to building fine houses and planting vineyards that will not be lived in or drunk from.
- Micah 2:2 (thematic): Denounces coveting and seizing houses and fields and oppressing the poor (’they covet fields and seize them, and houses… they oppress a man and his house’), echoing Amos’s critique of unjust expropriation and its consequences.
- Jeremiah 22:13-14 (thematic): Woe against those who build houses by unrighteousness and whose constructions bring no blessing—parallels Amos’s theme that ill-gotten prosperity (fine houses, vineyards) will not be enjoyed.
- Amos 2:6 (verbal): Earlier Amos indictment of social injustice (’they sell the righteous for silver… the needy for a pair of sandals’) complements 5:11’s charge that the wealthy trample the poor and will not enjoy their gains.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore because you trample the poor and exact grain tax of him, you have built houses of hewn stone—yet you will not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards—yet you will not drink their wine.
- Therefore because you despise the poor and exact grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, yet you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you shall not drink their wine.
Amo.5.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- ידעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- רבים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- פשעיכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+2mp
- ועצמים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- חטאתיכם: NOUN,f,pl,abs+2mp
- צררי: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- צדיק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לקחי: VERB,qal,infc
- כפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואביונים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בשער: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הטו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 1:23 (verbal): Accuses leaders of loving bribes and failing to defend the orphan and widow—language and charge of corrupt justice parallel Amos’ condemnation of taking bribes and neglecting the needy.
- Micah 3:11 (verbal): States that officials ‘judge for a bribe’ and priests/prophets work for pay—directly parallels Amos’ charge that the righteous are hated and justice is subverted by bribery.
- Proverbs 17:23 (verbal): Says the wicked accepts a bribe to pervert justice—concise proverbial formulation of the same wrongdoing Amos denounces.
- Ezekiel 22:12 (thematic): Condemns the taking of bribes and oppression of the poor among Jerusalem’s leaders—echoes Amos’ indictment of social injustice and corrupt courts.
- Zechariah 7:10 (thematic): Commands not to oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor—serves as a prophetic counterpoint to Amos’ complaint about turning aside the needy at the gate.
Alternative generated candidates
- For I know your many transgressions and your great sins: you who oppress the righteous, who take bribes, and turn aside the poor at the gate.
- For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins—oppressing the righteous, taking bribes, and turning aside the poor at the gate.
Amo.5.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לכן: ADV
- המשכיל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בעת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ההיא: DEM,f,sg
- ידם: NOUN,m,sg,suff,3,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- עת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- רעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- היא: PRON,dem,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 3:7 (structural): Both assert there is an appointed time for silence; Amos’ counsel that the prudent keep quiet in 'an evil time' parallels Qohelet’s observation that there is 'a time to be silent.'
- Proverbs 17:28 (verbal): Proverb links silence with prudence/wisdom—'even a fool, when he holds his tongue, is considered wise'—echoing Amos’ theme that the prudent remain silent in perilous times.
- Zephaniah 1:7 (thematic): Zephaniah commands silence before the LORD because the day of the LORD is near; like Amos, it frames silence as the appropriate stance in the face of impending judgment/evil time.
- Lamentations 3:28–29 (thematic): Jeremiah’s voice counsels sitting alone and keeping silence as a posture of patient suffering and submission—resonant with Amos’ injunction that the discerning keep quiet amid calamity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore the prudent hold their peace in that day, for it is an evil time.
- Therefore the discerning will be silent in that day— for it is an evil time.
Amo.5.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- דרשו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- טוב: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- רע: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- למען: PREP
- תחיו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כן: ADV
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- כאשר: CONJ
- אמרתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 1:16-17 (verbal): Direct verbal and thematic overlap: 'learn to do good; seek justice' parallels Amos' command to 'seek good and not evil'—both call for ethical reform.
- Deuteronomy 30:15-16 (structural): Presents the life/death choice tied to obedience: 'I have set before you life and death... if you obey... you shall live,' echoing Amos' 'seek good... that you may live' and God's presence as consequence.
- Micah 6:8 (thematic): Summarizes prophetic ethics—'do justice, love mercy, walk humbly'—aligning with Amos' call to pursue what is good rather than evil.
- Jeremiah 29:13-14 (thematic): Emphasizes seeking God and finding him and being restored: 'you will seek me and find me... I will be found by you,' paralleling Amos' promise that Yahweh will be with those who seek good.
- Hosea 10:12 (verbal): Combines a call to righteousness with the imperative to 'seek the LORD'—'sow righteousness... seek the LORD'—mirroring Amos' linkage of ethical seeking and divine presence/blessing.
Alternative generated candidates
- Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD God of hosts will be with you, as you say.
- Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so may the LORD God of hosts be with you, as you claim.
Amo.5.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שנאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- רע: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ואהבו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- טוב: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- והציגו: VERB,hif,imp,2,m,pl
- בשער: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- משפט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אולי: ADV
- יחנן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שארית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יוסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Micah 6:8 (thematic): Both call for right conduct before God—acting justly, loving what is good (mercy/steadfast love), and living humbly—summarizing ethical demands similar to 'hate evil, love good, and establish justice.'
- Isaiah 1:17 (thematic): Commands to 'learn to do good; seek justice; correct oppression; defend the fatherless' echo Amos' injunction to love good and set justice in the gate as concrete social obligations.
- Zechariah 7:9-10 (thematic): Urges practice of true justice and mercy—do not oppress, show kindness—closely paralleling Amos' social-ethical appeal and hope for God's favor toward the remnant.
- Proverbs 31:9 (verbal): Calls to 'open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy,' resonating with Amos' charge to set justice in the gate where legal decisions are made.
- Deuteronomy 16:18 (structural): Institutes judges and officials 'in your gates' to administer righteous judgment; parallels Amos' imagery of establishing justice at the city gate as the locus of public justice.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hate evil, and love good; establish justice in the gate—perhaps the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
- Hate evil and love good, and establish justice at the gate; perhaps the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Amo.5.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- לכן: ADV
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- בכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רחבות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- מספד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ובכל: CONJ+PREP
- חוצות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יאמרו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- הו: INTJ
- הו: INTJ
- וקראו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אכר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- אבל: CONJ
- ומספד: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- יודעי: PART,qal,ptcp,m,pl
- נהי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 9:17-18 (verbal): Commands to 'call for the mourning women' and to summon lamenters parallel Amos' call that mourners be called and wailing fill the streets—both use explicit language of summoning professional mourners in response to divine judgment.
- Amos 8:3 (structural): Within the same book Amos turns cultic song into lament—'the songs of the temple will be wailings'—echoing Amos 5:16's scene of public mourning and the conversion of public/religious spaces into sites of lament.
- Joel 1:13-15 (verbal): Joel summons a fast, calls for mourning and wailing, and cries 'Alas for the day!'—language and liturgical response closely parallel Amos' 'Ho! Ho!' cries and the call to mourn throughout the public squares.
- Zechariah 12:11-12 (thematic): Predicts 'a great mourning in Jerusalem' and that 'the land shall mourn,' with families lamenting—a thematic parallel to Amos' depiction of widespread public lamentation and communal calls to mourn over calamity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: In every public square there shall be wailing, and in every street they shall cry, 'Alas! Alas!' They will summon the mourners and call for the skilled wailers.
- Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: In every public square there shall be wailing, and in every market they shall cry, “Woe! woe!” They shall call for the mourners and for those skilled in lamentation.
Amo.5.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ובכל: CONJ+PREP
- כרמים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מספד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- אעבר: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- בקרבך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,prs:2ms
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Joel 1:11-12 (verbal): Calls for lamentation by vinedressers and describes the vine's devastation—closely parallels 'in all the vineyards there shall be wailing.'
- Isaiah 24:7 (verbal): Speaks of the wine mourning and the vine languishing after divine judgment—similar imagery of vineyards and mourning.
- Exodus 12:12, 12:23 (verbal): Uses the language of God 'passing through' a land to bring judgment (the Exodus Passover account), echoing Amos' 'for I will pass through thee.'
- Isaiah 63:1-6 (thematic): Depicts the LORD as executing judgment with winepress imagery—the vineyard/winepress motif links divine retribution to sorrow in the vineyards.
Alternative generated candidates
- In all the vineyards there shall be lamentation, for I will pass through your midst, says the LORD.
- In all the vineyards there shall be wailing; for I will pass through your midst, declares the LORD.
Hear this word that I lift up against you—a lamentation, house of Israel.
Fallen—she shall not rise again; the virgin Israel is cast off upon her land; there is no one to raise her up.
For thus says the Lord GOD: The city that marches forth a thousand strong shall leave only a hundred; and that which goes forth a hundred shall leave only ten—for the house of Israel.
For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: Seek me, and live.
Do not seek Bethel, and do not go to Gilgal, nor pass on to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall be taken away into exile, and Bethel shall be laid waste.
Seek the LORD and live, lest he break out like fire against the house of Joseph and it devour—with none to quench it at Bethel.
They turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness down to the earth.
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns deep darkness into morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the land—The LORD is his name.
He brings ruin upon the strong; ruin will come upon the fortress.
They hate the one who reproves at the gate, and abhor the one who speaks what is right.
Therefore because you trample the poor and exact a levy of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone—you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards—you shall not drink their wine.
For I know your many transgressions and your great sins: you who oppress the righteous, who take bribes, and who pervert the cause of the poor at the gate.
Therefore the wise shall keep silent in that day—for it is an evil day.
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and may the LORD God of hosts be with you, as you say.
Hate evil and love good, and establish justice at the gate; perhaps the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: In every public square there shall be wailing, and in every thoroughfare they shall call out, 'Alas! Alas!' They shall summon the mourners and those skilled in lamentation. And in all the vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through you, says the LORD.