(5) I will cut off the ruler (Hebrew: judge) from its midst, and I will slay all its princes (Hebrew: leaders) with him/I will kill the ruler of Moab and all the leaders of the land. The Good News Translation, with its prose restructuring, has combined I will cut off and I will slay, which will need to be done in many other languages as well. In most translations also, the word “judge” should not be translated literally, since in most cultures the work of judging and of ruling is quite different. Ruler is the meaning here. Where no general term like ruler is possible, some other more specific term may have to be used, but there is no clear indication as to the precise status of this ruler. From early times Moab had been a monarchy (Num 23.7; Judges 3.12ff; 2 Kgs 3.4ff; Jer 27.3; Mesha inscription 1.23), and the function of the ruler was certainly similar to that of a king or chief (Moffatt: “monarch”; Smith-Goodspeed: “chieftain”).

All the leaders of the land will, of course, sometimes be better translated “all its leaders.”

(6) Says the LORD. 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 .