Do two walk together, unless they have made an appointment?/Do two men start traveling together without arranging to meet? In many languages the speaker will have to be indicated: “Amos said again,” “Another time, Amos said…,” etc.

Made an appointment/arranging to meet translates a Hebrew word which has two parts to its meaning: (a) “to arrange” and (b) “to meet.” Existing translations differ mainly as to the meaning they use. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation make both parts of the meaning clear. This seems to be the best solution. If only one meaning is translated, it should be “meet” and not “arrange,” in spite of all the English translations, since the emphasis is upon the meeting and not upon the arranging. Note that the Good News Translation can be understood in more than one way. The correct way is that the men arranged to meet before they started traveling together, not that they arranged to meet (again) after they started traveling together.

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 .