Lo-debar (Joshua 13:26; 2 Samuel 9:4–5; 2 Samuel 17:27) was an important border town in Gilead. The name is probably a derivation of a foreign word since it is spelled inconsistently in Hebrew in 2 Samuel 9:4–5, and 2 Samuel 17:27. Amos uses the ambiguity to make a play on words. The term lo
means no,
and debar
means thing.
Amos thus accuses them of rejoicing in nothing.
1
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar, who say, “Have we not by our own strength captured Karnaim for ourselves?”