As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned with his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him/It will be like a man who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like a man who comes home and puts his hand on the wall—only to be bitten by a snake. In many languages it is necessary to state exactly what is being compared. For some scholars the comparison is between the day of the LORD and the unlucky man. That is what Good News Translation does: It will be like a man …; another possibility: “For you it will be like when a man….” However, the comparison might also be between the hearers and the unlucky man. “You will be like a man…” (The Translator’s Old Testament).

But what seems to show the meaning of the Hebrew syntax best is that the as relates to the question in verse 20 in the following way: “Just as a man (has these experiences), will not the day of the LORD also bring darkness and not light?” In that case it also illustrates the meaning of darkness and light in verse 18.

The translator will have to make a decision on the basis of the possibilities in the receptor language and the level of translation which he intends. For the third solution he may need to indicate the comparison in verse 20, and start verse 19 simply with “A man…” or he may be able to tie the comparison directly to the end of verse 18: “like when a man….” In many languages the only solution may be a comparison in which men are compared with men: “In that day you will be like a man….”

A more important question is whether the verse makes two separate comparisons or only one in which the disasters happened one after the other. All modern English translations, except Moffatt, have two comparisons in spite of the fact that the overwhelming majority of scholars are in favor of only one comparison. So it is Moffatt‘s translation which should be used as a model: “a man runs from a lion, and a bear springs at him; he hides indoors, and, resting his hand on the wall, a serpent bites him.” It may be helpful to use an expression like “Then” between the two parts.

Lion. See 3.4. The Syrian bear may have been fiercer and more savage than the lion. In areas in which the bear is unknown the translator may use the name of another dangerous animal or simply state that “another wild/dangerous animal meets him” or “he meets another wild animal.”

In many languages it may be necessary to say why the man puts his hand on the wall. This is no doubt because he is exhausted (something which is not clear if there are two separate comparisons) and because he feels secure at home. “Leans on the wall to rest” is a possible translation.

The Hebrew word for snake is rather general and does not name any of the twenty kinds of poisonous snakes in Palestine. However, death is implied, and the translator should select a poisonous snake in the receptor language, if a more general term would not show this.

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 .