Says the LORD/The LORD says. The LORD is speaking again after a section in which he has not been speaking. It may be useful to introduce the speaker immediately, as in Good News Translation.

O people of Israel/People of Israel. The position of this expression depends on what is natural in the receptor language.

Are you not like the Ethiopians to me … Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?/I think as much of the people of Sudan as I do of you. I brought the Philistines from Crete and the Syrians from Kir, just as I brought you from Egypt. The emotional force here is very strong. God is telling the people of Israel that they are not so special after all. He has done as much for other people as he has done for them. Israel is put on the same level as the most distant and despised people (the Ethiopians) and is grouped with its worst enemies (Philistines and Syrians). It is important to try to get this emotional force in the translation.

The Hebrew questions both require “Yes” as an answer. The meaning is given well in Good News Translation. On translating such rhetorical questions, see 3.3. Good News Translation has translated entirely as statements and changed the order to make the comparison easier. In some cases it would be good to use combinations like “I brought the Philistine people from Crete and the Syrians from Kir, didn’t I?” or to translate the first question as a statement: “To me you Israelites are no better than the Ethiopians.” Then the second question may be translated as a question (so The Translator’s Old Testament). Another possibility is “Are you anything more to me than the Ethiopians, you Israelites? Certainly I brought Israel up from Egypt! and I also brought the Philistines from Crete and the Syrians from Kir!” The translator should select what gives the most forceful translation. Furthermore, this verse should be translated in such a way that the relationship between it and the following verse is clear (see below).

Did I not bring up Israel/I brought you. The Hebrew represents God as though he were speaking about the people rather than to them. See the discussion of this in 4.11,12.

Ethiopians/people of Sudan. New English Bible takes over the Hebrew word as “Cushites,” but all other modern English translations (except Good News Translation) and some ancient translations use the more meaningful Ethiopians, which is approximately correct. Since the Nubian tribes of Northern Sudan are also included, it is possible (but not quite as correct) to translate people of Sudan.

Caphtor/Crete. Most translations use the Hebrew name, but the meaning is probably Crete (see also Moffatt), and that is what the translator should use.

Syrians from Kir. See 1.5.

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 .