A Handbook on the Book of Amos
Overview
What if you were responsible for translating God's Word into a language that never had a Bible before? Can you imagine the burden you would feel to do a good job?
God takes His Word pretty seriously, and you would certainly do everything in your power to make sure that you were not putting words into God's mouth, but that you were providing a text that clearly communicated God's Word as closely to the original as possible.
This challenge to understand the heart of the original Scriptures, in order to put the original text into a new language, was the impetus for the United Bible Societies to create handbooks for Bible translators working on this very thing. The United Bible Societies' Handbook Series is a comprehensive verse-by-verse guide to understanding exactly what is being communicated by the author in the original Scriptures.
- Exegetical, historical, cultural, and linguistic information on the original text
- Verse-by-verse guides
- An essential tool for Bible translators
Top Highlights
“They do, however, have one strong central theme, that after its destruction Israel will some day be restored. That restoration is described as a political renewal in verses 11–12 and as a blessing of the land in verses 13–15.” (Page 184)
“However, Amos was not a priest or any other kind of official religious leader, and his title should not imply that he was.” (Page 22)
“a warning to remember nations which were greater than theirs and yet had met their doom.” (Page 128)
“And the feelings change from passage to passage. There is bitterness against the treatment of the poor, and there are hymns of praise to God, with the ending full of hope and promise. No translation is adequate if the reader does not feel the changes and intensity of the moods throughout the book.” (Page 13)
“Because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes (rsv) (Hebrew: sandals)—/ They sell into slavery honest men who cannot pay their debts, poor men who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals.” (Page 47)
- Title: A Handbook on the Book of Amos
- Authors: Jan de Waard and William A. Smalley
- Series: The United Bible Societies' Handbook Series (UBSHS)
- Publisher: United Bible Societies
- Pages: 268