Amos 9:2-3

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BibleOld TestamentAmos

the serpent – הַנָּחָ֖שׁ

KJV

Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

RSV

“Though they dig into Sheol,
    from there shall my hand take them;
though they climb up to heaven,
    from there I will bring them down.
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
    from there I will search out and take them;
and though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
    there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. (RSV)

NET Bible

Even if they could dig down into the netherworld,
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
from there I would command the Sea Serpent to bite them.

The Jewish Study Bible Notes

'Serpent,' here a mythical sea-creature.

A Creation Text

The Nahash (נָחָשׁ) here is presumably Leviathan — but since this is an Appropriation of ANE mythology it is the poetical force of the imagery that matters, not the rejected polytheistic beliefs behind it. — Bruce