This verse describes the character and power of the God who brings judgment. It is in the poetry of a hymn (like 1.2) which recognizes God’s power and praises him at the same time.
Whatever style was used in 1.2 should be used here also. The sample text in English meter given in Translating Amos, Section 5.1, shows how Hebrew meter can be restructured to the poetry of other languages without loss of meaning.
Like 1.2 this verse has Amos speaking directly, not quoting the LORD. It may be necessary to show this at the beginning or the end of the verse, or both, if that is best in the receptor language.
Lo. The Hebrew is the same as behold in 2.13. Here it helps to indicate that the passage is a climactic statement near the end of Part 1 of Amos (Appendix, Figure 5), but in addition carries some meaning of wonder and awe. Good News Translation does not have any transition, and it is difficult to find a suitable transitional phrase in English. (“What do you know!” carries the meaning but is too colloquial.) A restructuring of the passage could move the idea of wonder to near the end: “Yes, that very one is the LORD, the mighty God!” “For” (Jerusalem Bible) is probably a little weak. A possibility in modern English might be “Yes….” The translator in another language may be able to find some suitable transitional expression.
Forms/made. Made and created have practically the same meaning in Hebrew. One is related to the picture of the potter who “forms” the clay, which is why most English translations use “form.” In many languages a general word like “to make” will have to be used, perhaps even twice.
Creates the wind/created the winds. The Hebrew word translated by wind can also be translated by “spirit.” It is very likely that both meanings are present in the poem because the meaning “wind” connects this sentence with the one before it about the creation of natural things like mountains, and the meaning “spirit” or “spirit of man” connects it with the following sentence He makes his thoughts known to man. Normally, this double meaning is lost in translation. All English translations have wind. However, it may be possible or even necessary to keep the double meaning of the Hebrew word by a double translation: “God is the one who made mountains and winds. He created the spirit of human beings and makes his thoughts known to them.” Whether or not it is best to give a double translation depends upon the way the translation is restructured.
Declares to man what is his thought/He makes his thoughts known to man. Grammatically the his in Hebrew can be understood to refer to God or to man, and this ambiguity will be carried over into other languages, unless something is done to make the meaning clear. Unlike the case of “wind-spirit,” two meanings are not intended here, and a decision about which meaning to use has to be made. Although some commentators think that his refers to man, it is more probable that it refers to God in view of the vocabulary used. Moffatt, for example, capitalizes “His”: “and reveals His inner mind to man.”
Who makes the morning darkness/he changes day into night. Hebrew manuscripts do not all agree here. Most are like the Revised Standard Version, but a few are slightly different and can be translated as “who makes dawn and darkness” (Smith-Goodspeed, Moffatt, New American Bible). It is hard to say which manuscript should be translated. The parallel in 5.8 (probably originally part of the same hymn) makes “who makes the morning darkness” more probable. So also The Translator’s Old Testament “who changes the dawn to dusk”. New English Bible “who darkens the dam with thick clouds”; Good News Translation he changes day into night.
And (who) treads (marches/strides) on (over) the heights of the earth/He walks on the heights of the earth. This is a picture of the rule of God over the earth. He is shown to be Lord by his moving over its highest places. If such an understanding can be obtained by keeping the picture, it would be best to do so, especially when translating as poetry. On the other hand, if the Hebrew picture does not give a correct understanding in a receptor language, something like “he rules over all the earth” is a possibility.
The LORD, the God of Hosts/the LORD God Almighty. See 3.13.
The LORD … is his name/This is his name. This expression presents a general problem for all translators (see Translators Handbook on Ruth, 1.6). Here Amos is not telling the people what God’s name is. Rather, he is saying something like “It is the LORD himself who does this!” The creative action of verse 13 reveals the character of the God who rescued the people from Egypt and established a special relationship with them.
There is an additional problem in the fact that the LORD is not a name but a title. So consequently, in English and many other languages “His name is the LORD” is a peculiar expression. A translation such as that suggested above may solve the problem. Combined with the God of Hosts the translation could be “It is the (al)mighty LORD himself who does this” or “Our powerful LORD is the one who does all this.” A similar expression (“Yahweh [is] his name”) occurs in 5.8.
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 .