Amos 1:11

KJV1611 – Modern English

Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה עַל־שְׁלֹשָׁה֙ פִּשְׁעֵ֣י אֱד֔וֹם וְעַל־אַרְבָּעָ֖ה לֹ֣א אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ עַל־רָדְפ֨וֹ בַחֶ֤רֶב אָחִיו֙ וְשִׁחֵ֣ת רַחֲמָ֔יו וַיִּטְרֹ֤ף לָעַד֙ אַפּ֔וֹ וְעֶבְרָת֖וֹ שְׁמָ֥רָה נֶֽצַח׃

Transliteration

Thus ʾāmar YHWH for-šəlōšāh pišʿê ʾĕdôm and-for-ʾarbāʿāh not ʾăšîbenû for-rādpô with-ḥereb ʾāḥîw and-šiḥēt raḥămāyw and-yiṭrōp forever ʾappô and-ʿebrātô šəmārāh neṣaḥ

Grammar Details

• *ʾāmar*: perfect, 3rd masculine singular - said/has said
• *YHWH*: proper name - LORD/Yahweh
• *šəlōšāh*: cardinal number, masculine - three
• *pišʿê*: construct state, masculine plural - transgressions of
• *ʾĕdôm*: proper name - Edom
• *ʾarbāʿāh*: cardinal number, masculine - four
• *ʾăšîbenû*: imperfect, 1st singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - I will restore/turn back it
• *rādpô*: infinitive construct with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his pursuing
• *ḥereb*: feminine singular noun - sword
• *ʾāḥîw*: masculine singular noun with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his brother
• *šiḥēt*: perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he destroyed
• *raḥămāyw*: masculine plural noun with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his compassions
• *yiṭrōp*: imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he tears/rends
• *ʾappô*: masculine singular noun with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his anger
• *ʿebrātô*: feminine singular noun with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his fury
• *šəmārāh*: perfect, 3rd feminine singular - she kept
• *neṣaḥ*: masculine singular noun - perpetuity/forever

Word Meanings

• *pišʿê*: transgressions/rebellions/crimes
• *ʾăšîbenû*: I will not revoke/turn back/restore the punishment
• *rādpô*: his pursuing/chasing/persecuting
• *šiḥēt* *raḥămāyw*: he destroyed his compassions/stifled his mercy/suppressed his pity
• *yiṭrōp*: he tears/rends/ravages
• *ʾappô*: his anger/wrath/nose
• *ʿebrātô*: his fury/rage/wrath
• *šəmārāh* *neṣaḥ*: kept forever/maintained perpetually/preserved eternally

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  Thus says the LORD: 'For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and suppressed compassion. His anger tore continually, and his wrath remained forever.'

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  Thus saith{H559} Jehovah:{H3068} For three{H7969} transgressions{H6588} of Edom,{H123} yea, for four,{H702} I will not turn away{H7725} the punishment thereof; because he did pursue{H7291} his brother{H251} with the sword,{H2719} and did cast off{H7843} all pity,{H7356} and his anger{H639} did tear{H2963} perpetually,{H5703} and he kept{H8104} his wrath{H5678} for ever:{H5331}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  Thus saith{H559}{(H8804)} the LORD{H3068}; For three{H7969} transgressions{H6588} of Edom{H123}, and for four{H702}, I will not turn away{H7725}{(H8686)} the punishment thereof; because he did pursue{H7291}{(H8800)} his brother{H251} with the sword{H2719}, and did cast off{H7843}{(H8765)} all pity{H7356}, and his anger{H639} did tear{H2963}{(H8799)} perpetually{H5703}, and he kept{H8104}{(H8804)} his wrath{H5678} for ever{H5331}:

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  Thus sayeth the LORDE: For thre and foure wickednesses of Edom I wil not spare him, because he persecuted his brother with the swerde, destroyed his mothers wombe, bare hatred very longe, and so kepte indignacion allwaye by him.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Thus sayeth the Lord, For three transgressions of Edom, and for foure, I will not turne to it, because hee did pursue his brother with the sworde, and did cast off all pitie, and his anger spoyled him euermore, and his wrath watched him alway.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Thus sayth the Lord, For three wickednesses of Edom, and for foure I wil not spare him: because he pursued his brother with the sworde, and did cast of al pitie, and in his anger spoyled him continually, and his indignation he kept alwayes.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And cast off all pity, And his anger raged continually, And he kept his wrath forever;

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of his pursuing with a sword his brother, And he hath destroyed his mercies, And tear perpetually doth his anger, And his wrath -- he hath kept it for ever,

• American Standard Version (1901)

  Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:

• American Standard Version (1901)

  Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because his sword was turned against his brother, without pity, and his wrath was burning at all times, and he was angry for ever.

• World English Bible (2000)

  Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger raged continually, and he kept his wrath forever;

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  This is what the LORD says:“Because Edom has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them.

Referenced Verses

• Num 20:14-21 : 14 Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that has befallen us, 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers. 16 When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territories." 18 But Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword." 19 So the children of Israel said to him, "We will go by the highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, without doing anything else." 20 Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong army. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
• 2 Chr 28:17 : 17 For again the Edomites had come and struck Judah, and carried away captives.
• Jer 49:7-9 : 7 Concerning Edom, thus says the LORD of hosts: Is wisdom no longer in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? 8 Flee, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. 9 If grape gatherers come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, they would destroy until they had enough. 10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide himself: his descendants are spoiled, along with his brothers and his neighbors, and he is no more. 11 Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me. 12 For thus says the LORD: Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk; and are you the one who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes. 14 I have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent to the nations, saying, Gather and come against her, and rise up to battle. 15 For behold, I will make you small among the nations, and despised among men. 16 Your terribleness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says the LORD. 17 Also Edom shall be a desolation: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, nor shall a son of man reside in it. 19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swellings of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him flee away from her; and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who will appoint me the time? And who is that shepherd who will stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he will make their habitation desolate with them. 21 The earth is shaken at the noise of their fall, at the cry their noise was heard in the Red Sea. 22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be like the heart of a woman in her pangs.
• Ezek 25:12-14 : 12 Thus says the Lord GOD; Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; 13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord GOD.
• Ezek 35:1-9 : 1 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 And say to it, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you most desolate. 4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 5 Because you have had a perpetual hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: 6 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, even blood shall pursue you. 7 Thus I will make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him who passes out and him who returns. 8 And I will fill its mountains with its slain men: in your hills, and in your valleys, and in all your rivers, shall they fall who are slain with the sword. 9 I will make you perpetual desolations, and your cities shall not return: and you shall know that I am the LORD. 10 Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: 11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have used out of your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them, when I have judged you. 12 And you shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given to us to consume. 13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me: I have heard them. 14 Thus says the Lord GOD: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
• Mal 1:4 : 4 Though Edom says, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus says the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD has indignation forever.
• Joel 3:19 : 19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
• Obad 1:1-9 : 1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise, and let us rise up against her in battle. 2 Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are greatly despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, whose dwelling is high; who says in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? 4 Though you exalt yourself like the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the LORD. 5 If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, how you are cut off!—would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some grapes? 6 How Esau's things are searched out! How his hidden treasures are sought after! 7 All the men of your confederacy have driven you to the border; the men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have laid a trap under you. There is no understanding in him. 8 Shall I not in that day, says the LORD, even destroy the wise men from Edom, and understanding from the mountain of Esau? 9 And your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, so that everyone from the mountain of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. 10 For your violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were as one of them. 12 But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his calamity; nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress. 13 You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity; indeed, you should not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. 14 You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped; nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained in the day of distress.
• Mic 7:18 : 18 Who is a God like you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in mercy.
• Mal 1:2 : 2 I have loved you, says the LORD. Yet you say, How have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the LORD. Yet I loved Jacob,
• Isa 57:16 : 16 For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
• Isa 63:1-7 : 1 Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one who is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? It is I, who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2 Why are you red in your apparel, and your garments like one who treads in the winepress? 3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people, there was none with me: for I will tread them in my anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my clothing. 4 For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. 5 And I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold: therefore my own arm brought salvation for me; and my fury, it upheld me. 6 And I will tread down the people in my anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. 7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
• Ps 137:7 : 7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, Tear it down, tear it down, even to its foundation.
• Eccl 7:9 : 9 Do not be quick in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
• Isa 21:11-12 : 11 The prophecy concerning Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night? 12 The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night; if you will inquire, inquire; return, come.
• Isa 34:1-9 : 1 Come near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O people: let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that come forth from it. 2 For the LORD's indignation is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He has utterly destroyed them, He has delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall dissolve, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falls off the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. 5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 And the wild oxen shall come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion. 9 And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; its smoke shall ascend forever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. 11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl and the raven shall dwell in it: and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and brambles in its fortresses: and it shall be a habitation for dragons, and a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. 16 Seek out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall lack her mate: for my mouth has commanded, and His Spirit has gathered them. 17 And He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it forever, from generation to generation they shall dwell therein.
• Ps 83:3-8 : 3 They have taken crafty counsel against your people, and consulted against your hidden ones. 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be remembered no more. 5 For they have conspired together with one accord: they are allied against you: 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah.
• Ps 85:5 : 5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?
• Deut 2:4-8 : 4 And command the people, saying, You are to pass through the coast of your brethren, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you; take good heed to yourselves therefore. 5 Do not meddle with them; for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot's breadth, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the works of your hands; He knows your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. 8 And when we passed by from our brethren, the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath and from Ezion-geber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
• Deut 23:7 : 7 You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land.
• Lam 4:21-22 : 21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, who dwell in the land of Uz; the cup shall also pass to you, you shall become drunk and make yourself naked. 22 The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no longer carry you away into captivity; he will visit your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins.
• Eph 4:26-27 : 26 Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 Nor give place to the devil.
• Eph 5:1 : 1 Be therefore followers of God, as beloved children;
• Gen 27:40-41 : 40 And by your sword you shall live, and shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you shall have the dominion, that you shall break his yoke from off your neck. 41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.