James R. Linville, «Visions and Voices: Amos 7–9», Vol. 80 (1999) 22-42

The final chapters of Amos are read synchronically to highlight the relationship between the divine voice, which demands that its hearers prophesy (Amos 3,8), the voice of Amos, and those of other characters. Amos’ intercessions soon give way to entrapping word-plays and these are related to the rhetorical “traps” in Amos 1–2. Divine and prophetic speech defy the wish of human authority that they be silent. The figure of Amos eventually disappears from the reader’s view, but not before the prophet has been used as a focal point for the readers’ projections of themselves into the literary world of the text. As the scenes change from ultimate destruction to restoration, the readers appropriate the prophetic voice themselves, especially in the final verse which ends with a declaration of security uttered by “your God”.

to admit that no solution is "perfect", as we simply do not know exactly what Kn) was. With the strong likelihood of multiple layers of symbolism in the material itself, not to mention the word-plays that can be made, any proposal is an over-simplification. What I propose here is a combination of two possible readings that take into account formal considerations.

        Perhaps the tin wall and the piece of tin in YHWH’s hand represent perishability because of the softness of the metal, and its uselessness if not alloyed²². Others conceive tin as a reference to the alloy bronze, the metal used to manufacture weapons²³. Yet, the significance of the vision is not totally dependent on determining the symbolic meaning of the metallic item itself. Rather, it is to be found in the shift in the meaning of the term provided by YHWH’s response to Amos’ answer. In this regard, the fourth vision (Amos 8,1-2) provides a close model²⁴. There, Amos identifies a basket of Cyq qays9 summer fruit only to have YHWH announce the end Cq qes9 of Israel. One, then, should expect a similar word-play in the third vision. The pronunciation of Kn) is similar to both xn) )anah9 "to sigh in grief" and qn) )anaq "to cry in distress"²⁵. By simply repeating the word uttered by Amos, YHWH plays on both other terms²⁶. The tin, then, stands as a metaphor of the suffering YHWH will inflict on Israel. Amos sees an object of tin, and YHWH declares that he will create cries of misery in the midst of Israel.