As was pointed out earlier, verse 12 forms a separate paragraph since it is a new saying and has no clear connection with the preceding paragraph or the following paragraph. The tone of the passage is that of someone who is saying the opposite of what he actually means (irony). The translator should try very hard to convey this tone. It is as though Amos was answering people who said that God would rescue his people. Amos’ meaning here is that of course God will “rescue” them, just like a shepherd “rescues” the remains of a sheep when a lion has finished with it!

As Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version footnotes show, the Hebrew of the last part of verse 12 is not clear. In order to show why different translations are different, we first give two other translations of the verse. The King James Version is quite literal; the New English Bible reflects the meaning in the context, and this is what is recommended for the translator to follow:
KJV: As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
NEB: As a shepherd rescues out of the jaws of a lion two shin bones or the tip of an ear, so shall the Israelites who live in Samaria be rescued like a corner of a couch or a chip from the leg of a bed.

The problem of grammar: how does the last part (“in the corner of a bed … a couch” [King James Version]) relate to the rest? Some translators relate it to “dwell in Samaria”: “the Israelites … who loll on corners of diwans within Samaria, on silken cushions of a couch” (Moffatt); “the Israelites who sit in Samaria on beautiful beds and luxurious couches” (The Translator’s Old Testament; see also Bible de Jérusalem).

A better solution is to make “in the corner of a bed … a couch” relate to “taken out” or “rescued” because of the parallel with the first part of the verse:

First part: “rescued … two shin bones or the tip of an ear”

Second part: “rescued … corner of a couch or chip from … a bed” (New English Bible). Most modern English translations have taken this solution to the grammatical problem: so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed; “so will the Israelites be rescued, who dwell in Samaria, along with the corner of a couch, and the leg of a bed” (Smith-Goodspeed); “So the Israelites who dwell in Samaria shall escape with the corner of a couch or a piece of a cot” (New American Bible).

The problem of comparison: what is compared with what? In the Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, and Smith-Goodspeed mentioned above, the comparison is between the shepherd who can only save a useless pair of bones or a piece of an ear of a devoured sheep and the Israelites who can save for themselves no more than a few worthless pieces of furniture. In the case of other translations, however, the comparison is between the insignificant part of the animal that is rescued and the small part of Israel that will be saved: “only a very few will be rescued” (The Translator’s Old Testament) and only a few will survive.

But all these translations may miss the point since the emphasis in the picture itself is not on “saving” Israel or “being saved.” When an animal was killed by wild beasts it was the duty of the shepherd to bring some remains of the animal to the owner to show him how it had been killed. If the shepherd was unable to do that, he has to pay the owner for the animal. So the remains of the animal are nothing but pitiful evidence of its destruction. “Rescue” or “save,” therefore, is the opposite of what it really means. The picture is that all that will be left of the Israelites in Samaria are just enough pieces of broken belongings to give pitiful evidence of their complete destruction.

The problem of vocabulary: what does “in Damascus” (King James Version) have to do with it? This probably results from a mistake in writing the Hebrew vowels (written much later than the consonants). Without the vowels, the consonants can be understood as two Hebrew words meaning “piece of a leg.”

So, taking the best solution to each of the three problems, this is how the Hebrew can be understood: “So shall the Israelites who dwell in Samaria be ‘rescued’—in the form of a corner of a couch, and of a piece of a leg of a bed!” That is the basis of the New English Bible quoted above, and will be used as the basis for the discussion of translation problems below.

In many languages, however, an equivalent verb for “to save” or “to rescue” cannot be used, for the simple reason that the use of such a word will not be understood to mean the opposite of what it does mean, as would be necessary here. In some cases an equivalent of “to save” can be written between inverted commas (quotation marks), but this will only help experienced readers. People who hear the Scripture read will not see the punctuation. Sometimes a different verb may help, one which translates another part of the meaning of the Hebrew word. For example, “Just as a shepherd snatches from the lion’s mouth two legs or a piece of an ear, even so shall the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria be snatched out: nothing more than a piece of a couch and a part from a bed’s leg.”

The reader can perhaps be helped to understand that the prophet is speaking in an opposite way from what he says by making a contrast between “rescue” and “snatch out”: “Just like a shepherd snatches nothing more than two legs or a piece of an ear from the lion’s mouth, the people of Israel who live in Samaria will also be rescued—nothing but a piece of a couch, and part of the leg of a bed.” Or: “A shepherd brings back only two legs of a sheep, or only its ear after a lion has finished eating it. That is how the people of Israel will be saved (or: someone will save the people of Israel) also; there will be nothing more left than a piece of a couch, and part of the leg of a bed.”

Different languages require different parts of the picture to be made clear. Sometimes the translator has to say “two legs or a piece of an ear of a sheep” or “of his sheep” (New American Bible), or, since the particular kind of animal is not the important point, simply “of an animal.” The one doing the snatching may have to be expressed: “someone will snatch out the Israelites….” Also, the word mouth really stands for something that happens, and so it may be better to say that a lion has eaten.

Shepherd. See 1.2.

Two legs. The Hebrew word has the meaning of “shank-bones” (Smith-Goodspeed) or “shin bones” (New English Bible) in some contexts, but there seems to be no reason to be so specific here. A general translation of two legs or “two bones” is enough.

The Assyrian bed was richly carved, and perhaps the beds of the Israelites in Samaria were much the same. It is not completely clear what is meant by “corner or side of a couch.” This may be the head or the foot of the bed. The details are not important for the picture. Some languages do have specific words for the part of the bed which supports the head as well as for the leg. If not, the information can be made more general and also shorter; for example, “as pieces of a bed/sleeping-platform.”

Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .