This verse tells more fully who the people are in verse 13 and gives more specific reasons for their punishment. They are people who swear by other gods, who are more important to them than the LORD. The prediction of punishment is repeated at the end of the verse. The translation can say something like “these people will fall and never be able to rise again, because they swear…” or “these are the people who swear … they will fall…”
Those who swear by … and say/Those who swear by … who say. See 8.7. (Here, of course, it is not the LORD who is swearing). In the first line of the Hebrew verse the people swear by something (or someone); in the second line the same people are introduced as speakers whose oaths are quoted. It may not be possible to do this in some languages. It may be necessary to quote the oath in all three cases, or not quote it in all three cases. If swearing of this kind is not known, other possibilities are “rely on” or “seek help from” in this particular context.
The short Hebrew oath (literally: “may live…” or “as … lives”) was shortened from “As surely as (name of deity) lives, I will (will not) do…” In many cultures similar oath-sentences are used, though rarely with the same wording as in Hebrew. Shortened forms are less frequent, so that by the god of … cannot very often be used as a model for other languages. The only solution may be to follow the construction of the first line in the second: “who swear by the god of Dan or the god of Beersheba.” To swear by may be translated as “They swear using the name of” or “… through the power of” or “They say, ‘May the idols of Samaria help me’ ” or “… ‘In the name of the idols of Samaria’ ” or whatever the form of an oath is in the language of the translation.
In some languages the problem may be that “swearing by” is not an expression of loyalty or trust, as it is here. The translation should then be something like “those who follow/obey other gods, and therefore swear…” or even “those who rely on the idol of Samaria, and say ‘the God of Dan lives…’ ”
Ashimah (Hebrew: the guilt) of Samaria/the idols of Samaria. “The guilt of Samaria” is not found in the more recent English translations. Most of them interpret the Hebrew word for “guilt” as having slightly different vowels and so obtain the proper name Ashimah (Smith-Goodspeed, The Translator’s Old Testament) or, more clearly, “Ashimah, goddess of Samaria” (New English Bible). This goddess is known from 2 Kings 17.30, which tells of the different peoples whom the Assyrians allowed to settle in Samaria after the Israelites were captured. The people from Hamath in Syria brought their own goddess Ashimah with them.
However, “the guilt of Samaria” should probably be interpreted as a prophetic way of speaking about the sacred image of the bull in Bethel, or even in Samaria itself (compare Hos. 8.5-6): the image shows the guilt of the people. Moffatt speaks of the “god at Bethel,” but if the place reference is correct, it is better to speak of the idols of Samaria. Better yet is New American Bible: “the shameful idol of Samaria.”
Idols. See 5.26.
As thy god lives, O Dan/By the god of Dan. If it is not possible to quote an appropriate oath, the translation will have to be something like “swear, using the name of the god of Dan” or “they rely on the god of Dan.”
As the way of Beer-sheba lives/By the god of Beersheba. As the way of Beer-sheba lives makes little sense. Possibly the meaning is that people swear by the pilgrimage route to Beersheba in the same way that Arabs still swear by the pilgrimage route to Mecca. This is the way in which some of the ancient translations understood the Hebrew and in which it has been translated in New English Bible: “By the sacred way to Beersheba.” If people do swear by such things in the language of the translation, there might be reason to follow this interpretation.
However, this interpretation is still unsatisfactory, since a reference to a god would seem to be needed in this context. For that reason a slight change in the Hebrew consonants has often been suggested, and the resulting word has been interpreted in different ways. Such suggestions all refer to a god of Beersheba and are supported by one of the ancient translations which has “your god, O Beersheba.” So a translation By the god of Beersheba or “those who swear by the name of the god of Beersheba” is possible. This is a choice between what is improbable and what is uncertain.
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 .