Testify against/warn. The Hebrew, because of its particular construction here, means warn, not “testify against.”

The house of Jacob/the descendants of Jacob. House or “family” in Hebrew often represents the nation. Though house of Jacob is equivalent to “Israelites,” the name of Jacob should be kept in the translation. He may have been mentioned here because of the sanctuary of Bethel (verse 14) which he established, and he is associated with God’s choosing the Israelites. However, as a translation, “the family of Jacob” (New English Bible) may be misleading. The descendants of Jacob (so also The Translator’s Old Testament) is better.

The Lord GOD, the God of hosts/the Sovereign LORD Almighty. For the translation of Lord GOD, see 3.7.

God of hosts is the standard translation of almost all modern English versions. However, what hosts means is far from clear. Some think of the armies of Israel which the Lord leads, others of heavenly armies, including the angels and the stars. Because of this uncertainty, the kind of army cannot be made clear in translation. However, to translate simply “armies” is certainly misleading. But whatever the meaning of the expression may be, there always seems to be an element of “power” in it, and so the best solution is to translate this meaning: “the powerful God,” LORD Almighty.

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 .