Amo 2:1 | NET2full | STEP | This is what the Lord says : “ Because Moab has committed three crimes — make that four —I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime .

‏ Amos 2:1

1 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Moab has committed three crimes ^{▼▼tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.} —
make that four ^{▼▼tn Heb “Because of three violations of Moab, even because of four.”} ^{▼▼sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.} —I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ^{▼▼tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.}
They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. ^{▼▼sn The Moabites apparently desecrated the tomb of an Edomite king and burned his bones into a calcined substance which they then used as plaster (cf. Deut 27:2, 4). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 72. Receiving a proper burial was very important in this culture. Desecrating a tomb or a deceased individual’s bones was considered an especially heinous act.}