mourn

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “mourn” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “have one’s heart broken” or “have a bursting heart” (source: Newari Back Translation).

In Cherokee it is translated as “going around feeling badly” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).

complete verse (Amos 8:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Amos 8:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, I will make the earth shake so that all people can feel the consequences. The whole world/earth will tremble, the world/land/earth will move quickly and sink like the river Nile.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Does not the earth tremble because of it?
    Do not all who live in it lament?
    The earth will rise like the Nile River at flood time;
    it will heave up,
    then fall down again. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Because of this I will-cause- your (plur.) land -to-shake and you (plur.) will-cry/weep. Your (plur.) land will-shake very much, as-if like the high-tide and low-tide of the Nile River in Egipto.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Because of those evil things, your country will certainly soon be shaken,
    and all of you will mourn.
    It will be as though it will repeatedly rise and fall
    like the Nile River that gets full of water and overflows it banks
    and then settles back into its riverbed.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Amos 8:8

In Hebrew this verse consists of a question to which the answer should be “Yes.” In some cases the translation can make the first half of the verse a question and the second half a positive answer to the question, perhaps introduced by “Yes.” However, in many languages questions like shall not the land tremble are unusual or extremely difficult and should often be translated as direct statements, as in Good News Translation.

On this account (Hebrew: because of this)/And so. In Hebrew the connection between this verse and verse 7 is unusual and grammatically difficult. In this context this can best be taken as referring to all of 8.4-7. It may be best to translate “because of their evil deeds,” and so…, or “that is why…,” etc.

Shall not the land tremble/the earth will quake. See 1.1. The LORD causes this to happen, and some languages should say “I will make the earth quake…”

And all of it rise like the Nile (Hebrew: the river), and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt (Hebrew: river of Egypt)?/The whole country will be shaken; it will rise and fall like the Nile River. All of it refers back to land, and so, if a new sentence begins here, it may be necessary to say “All earth” (New English Bible) or The whole country. It may also be necessary to repeat: The whole country will be shaken, “The whole country will move,” etc. “The river” and “the river of Egypt” both refer to the Nile, and should sometimes be combined: it will rise and fall like the Nile River, “rising and falling like the Nile River,” etc. Be tossed about can be kept in the translation, as in most English translations, but it can also be left out (as in Moffatt) since it probably is an addition. The idea is already included in rise and fall.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Amos 8:8

8:8a Will not the land quake for this,

On account of ⌊the peoples’ evil behavior⌋ the land will shake,
-or-
The earth will surely quake, because of ⌊the evil they have done⌋ ,

8:8b and all its dwellers mourn?

and all who live on the land will cry.
-or-
and all ⌊the people⌋ who live on the earth will weep.

8:8c All of it will swell like the Nile;

The whole land will be shaken like the Nile ⌊river⌋ .
-or-
The whole land will rise like the Nile ⌊river when it floods⌋ .

8:8d it will surge

It will swirl around
-or-

⌊The whole land⌋ will be tossed about

8:8e and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.

and sink down like the river Nile ⌊sinks down⌋ .
-or-
and go down like ⌊the waters of⌋ the river of Egypt ⌊go down⌋ .

8:8c–e (combined)

The whole land will rise, be stirred/tossed, and go down just like the river Nile of Egypt.
-or-
The land will rise up like the Nile River at floodtime, toss about, and sink again.(New Living Translation (1996))

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