Amos 9:11-12, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Amos 9:11-12
David's Fallen Booth Raised for Edom and the Called Nations
In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David
After judgment and the promise not to erase Jacob, the LORD raises David's fallen booth, closes up the breaches, raises up ruins, and builds it as in days of old. Sukkat David is the collapsed Davidic order or dynasty in context. It is not a command to reproduce a music style, nonstop worship program, church brand, or modern political regime.
The promise sits after preservation, not instead of it. Restoration of David's booth does not authorize supersessionism or a real-estate program. Compositional date is debated; the final book still places hope after the sieve.
That they may possess the remnant of Edom
The Masoretic Hebrew speaks of possessing the remnant of Edom and all the heathen (nations) called by the LORD's name. The Greek tradition, cited in Acts 15, speaks of the remnant of humanity seeking the Lord with the called nations. Hebrew consonants behind Edom and adam (humanity) stand in that reception history. Both forms must remain visible.
Acts 15 uses the Greek wording to support receiving Gentiles without requiring circumcision. That is Gentile inclusion within Israel's restoration hope, not the church replacing Jews, and not a warrant to hide textual difference. Possessing Edom does not authorize conquest, colonialism, ethnic domination, or anti-Arab stigma. "Called by my name" marks divine claim, not absorption that erases the other.
How this should shape us
Welcome people across ethnic lines without erasing Jewish identity, hiding the Hebrew and Greek forms, or converting inclusion into domination. Teach Acts 15 beside Amos rather than flattening them. Do not use David's booth as a property deed, a worship trademark, or a regime blueprint.
Teach it back
Explain Amos 9:11-12 in your own words. Include its place in Amos's judgment-restoration movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Date and referent of David's booth, political or cultic nuance, Edom/humanity textual history, possess/seek verbs, Septuagint technique, and James's hermeneutic all receive serious alternatives; restoration and a called-nations horizon remain stable.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Amos 9:11-12, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 9:11-12
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1721-1722, translation and notes on 9:11-12
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 588-589, discussion of 9:11-12
Supports: Masoretic and Greek forms of Amos 9:11-12, Edom/humanity and possess/seek alternatives, and James's use in Acts 15.
Glenny, 'The Septuagint and Apostolic Hermeneutics: Amos 9 in Acts 15,' Bulletin for Biblical Research 22.1 (2012), pp. 1-26, especially pp. 5-23
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Amos 9:11-12, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Amos
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 9:11-12
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Amos with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1721-1722, translation and notes on 9:11-12
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Amos
Jennifer M. Dines
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Exact location: Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 588-589, discussion of 9:11-12
Open source ↗peer reviewed journal article
The Septuagint and Apostolic Hermeneutics: Amos 9 in Acts 15
W. Edward Glenny
Bulletin for Biblical Research 22.1, 2012
Supports: Masoretic and Greek forms of Amos 9:11-12, Edom/humanity and possess/seek alternatives, and James's use in Acts 15.
Exact location: Glenny, 'The Septuagint and Apostolic Hermeneutics: Amos 9 in Acts 15,' Bulletin for Biblical Research 22.1 (2012), pp. 1-26, especially pp. 5-23
Open source ↗