[The following is a copy of a very short essay I wrote recently on Amos 9:11-15.]
The end of Amos 9 and of the entire book of Amos presents a hopeful conclusion for the future. Amos has just been transitioning from judgment and destruction (9:1-6) to a hope for restoration (9:7-10), and 9:11-15 concludes this with a grand flourish. Some have suggested that the passage foreshadows Christ; I will examine this claim and argue that it refers not to Christ but to the return from exile.
The passage is written from the perspective of one in exile, since David's hut is "fallen", the past participle. However, this need not indicate that the original passage was truly written by one in exile. The phrase “David’s fallen hut” likely refers to Jerusalem itself. Isaiah 1:8 compares the “daughter of Zion”, Jerusalem, to be like a “hut in a vineyard.” Amos 9:11b, with the language of repairing breaches and restoring ruins, likely refers, in consideration of Isaiah 1:8, to the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls at the time of Nehemiah (Neh. 2–4); if so, then the text would have been written after. In parallel to this interpretation, the term “breaches” is reminiscent of Amos 4:3a, “Through the breaches you will depart”, and so 9:11 additionally reverses the promise of deportation, promising a return from exile.
Life after the return from exile will involve agricultural abundance; there appear to be no intervals at all between the seasons: planting and harvest seasons become one as the plowman and reaper catch up with each other (v. 13). This, of course, is metaphor and hyperbole, but it aptly captures the prosperity that Israel is promised to have. Very similarly, Leviticus 26:5 says, "Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing", and this passage comes as a promised reward for faithful obedience to God.
In verse 14, God promises to "restore the fortunes of my people Israel." The verse uses the Hebrew phrase šûb še˘bût, to "turn the turning" or "reverse the reversal" (Eidevall, 2017:242). This more than likely refers to the return from exile. Deuteronomy 30:3 uses the phrase in the same way; God promises that if the Israelites sin and are exiled but then repent, he will turn their turning, bringing them back from exile. Jeremiah 30:3 and 31:23 also appear to use the phrase to reference a return from exile.
The whole chapter has been filled with radical changes, but in verse 15, there is presented a static, permanent vision of peace. There will be no more turnings. Earlier, Amos 7:17 told us, "You yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land" (7:17). The explicit use of the term exile allows us to better understand what is in focus in Amos 9:15. They will never again be plucked out of "the land I have given them", once again indicating that the passage is foretelling a return from exile. The final words, "your God", bring to mind a frightening passage, aptly translated with an exclamation mark – Amos 4:12: "Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" Whereas "your God" once brought a terrifying dimension to Amos’ oracles, they now communicate a personal message of love and harmonious relationship between Israel and God.
Eidevall, G. (2017). Amos. New Haven: Yale University Press.
The end of Amos 9 and of the entire book of Amos presents a hopeful conclusion for the future. Amos has just been transitioning from judgment and destruction (9:1-6) to a hope for restoration (9:7-10), and 9:11-15 concludes this with a grand flourish. Some have suggested that the passage foreshadows Christ; I will examine this claim and argue that it refers not to Christ but to the return from exile.
The Translation of Amos 9:11-15
The Meaning of Amos 9:11-15
The first part of Amos 9 is a dreadful description of the oncoming judgment. No matter where the people of Israel go, God will destroy them (vv. 1-4). He has every power and right to do this, as is demonstrated by his complete control of the earth, sky, and sea (vv. 5-6). Verse 7 is confusing, but it probably means that God has established other exoduses at other times, and so Israel is in no special position in God’s eyes (Coogan et. al., 2018:1314). Suddenly, God says, “I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob” (9:8b, NRSV). God will indeed shake Israel like a sieve, but Israel will remain (v. 9). It will only be the sinners who will die, those who look to the deliverance of their Israelites brethren and conclude that they too are safe (v. 10). Julius Wellhausen suggested that vv. 11-15 are a later, secondary addition, which is entirely possible.The passage is written from the perspective of one in exile, since David's hut is "fallen", the past participle. However, this need not indicate that the original passage was truly written by one in exile. The phrase “David’s fallen hut” likely refers to Jerusalem itself. Isaiah 1:8 compares the “daughter of Zion”, Jerusalem, to be like a “hut in a vineyard.” Amos 9:11b, with the language of repairing breaches and restoring ruins, likely refers, in consideration of Isaiah 1:8, to the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls at the time of Nehemiah (Neh. 2–4); if so, then the text would have been written after. In parallel to this interpretation, the term “breaches” is reminiscent of Amos 4:3a, “Through the breaches you will depart”, and so 9:11 additionally reverses the promise of deportation, promising a return from exile.
Life after the return from exile will involve agricultural abundance; there appear to be no intervals at all between the seasons: planting and harvest seasons become one as the plowman and reaper catch up with each other (v. 13). This, of course, is metaphor and hyperbole, but it aptly captures the prosperity that Israel is promised to have. Very similarly, Leviticus 26:5 says, "Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing", and this passage comes as a promised reward for faithful obedience to God.
In verse 14, God promises to "restore the fortunes of my people Israel." The verse uses the Hebrew phrase šûb še˘bût, to "turn the turning" or "reverse the reversal" (Eidevall, 2017:242). This more than likely refers to the return from exile. Deuteronomy 30:3 uses the phrase in the same way; God promises that if the Israelites sin and are exiled but then repent, he will turn their turning, bringing them back from exile. Jeremiah 30:3 and 31:23 also appear to use the phrase to reference a return from exile.
The whole chapter has been filled with radical changes, but in verse 15, there is presented a static, permanent vision of peace. There will be no more turnings. Earlier, Amos 7:17 told us, "You yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land" (7:17). The explicit use of the term exile allows us to better understand what is in focus in Amos 9:15. They will never again be plucked out of "the land I have given them", once again indicating that the passage is foretelling a return from exile. The final words, "your God", bring to mind a frightening passage, aptly translated with an exclamation mark – Amos 4:12: "Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" Whereas "your God" once brought a terrifying dimension to Amos’ oracles, they now communicate a personal message of love and harmonious relationship between Israel and God.
A Christological Fulfillment?
The LXX reinterprets "Edom" as ˀādām, "humanity", and translates it as ἀνθρώπων, "humanity" in Greek. According to this interpretation, v. 12 speaks of the conversion of the Gentiles. The LXX is quoted in Acts 15:15-18. 15:17a says, "…that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord", an apt translation of the LXX, which- not only changed "Edom" to "mankind" or "humanity", but also
- changed "possess" or “inherit” to “seek”.
References
Coogan, M. et. al. (2018). The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New York: Oxford University Press.Eidevall, G. (2017). Amos. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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