AMOS (meaning in Hebrew "a burden") was ( Am 1:1) a shepherd of Tekoa, a small town of Judah, six miles southeast from Beth-lehem, and twelve from Jerusalem, on the borders of the great desert ( 2Ch 20:20; compare 2Ch 11:6). The region being sandy was more fit for pastoral than for agricultural purposes. Amos therefore owned and tended flocks, and collected sycamore figs; not that the former was a menial office, kings themselves, as Mesha of Moab ( 2Ki 3:4), exercising it. Amos, however (from Am 7:14, 15), seems to have been of humble rank.
Though belonging to Judah, he was commissioned by God to exercise his prophetical function in Israel; as the latter kingdom abounded in impostors, and the prophets of God generally fled to Judah through fear of the kings of Israel, a true prophet from Judah was the more needed in it. His name is not to be confounded with that of Isaiah's father, Amoz.
The time of his prophesying was in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judea, and Jeroboam II, son of Joash, king of Israel ( Am 1:1), that is, in part of the time in which the two kings were contemporary; probably in Jeroboam's latter years, after that monarch had recovered from Syria "the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain" ( 2Ki 14:25-27); for Amos foretells that these same coasts, "from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderness," should be the scene of Israel's being afflicted ( Am 6:14); also his references to the state of luxurious security then existing ( Am 6:1, 4, 13), and to the speedy termination of it by the Assyrian foe ( Am 1:5; 3:12, 15; 5:27; 8:2), point to the latter part of Jeroboam's reign, which terminated in 784 B.C., the twenty-seventh year of Uzziah's reign, which continued down to 759 B.C.
He was contemporary with Hosea, only that the latter continued to prophesy in reigns subsequent to Uzziah ( Ho 1:1); whereas Amos ceased to prophesy in the reign of that monarch. The scene of his ministry was Beth-el, where the idol calves were set up ( Am 7:10-13). There his prophecies roused Amaziah, the idol priest, to accuse him of conspiracy and to try to drive him back to Judah.
The first six chapters are without figure; the last three symbolical, but with the explanation subjoined. He first denounces the neighboring peoples, then the Jews, then Israel (from the third chapter to the end), closing with the promise or restoration under Messiah ( Am 9:11-15). His style is thought by JEROME to betray his humble origin; but though not sublime, it is regular, perspicuous, and energetic; his images are taken from the scenes in nature with which he was familiar; his rhythms are flowing, his parallelisms exact, and his descriptions minute and graphic. Some peculiar expressions occur: "cleanness of teeth," that is, want of bread ( Am 4:6); "the excellency of Jacob" ( Am 6:8; 8:7); "the high places of Isaac" ( Am 7:9); "the house of Isaac" ( Am 7:16); "he that createth the wind" ( Am 4:13).
HENGSTENBERG draws an able argument for the genuineness of the Mosaic records from the evidence in Amos, that the existing institutions in Israel as well as Judah (excepting the calves of Jeroboam), were framed according to the Pentateuch rules.
Two quotations from Amos occur in the New Testament (compare Ac 7:42, 43, with Am 5:25, 26; and Ac 15:16, 17, with Am 9:11).
PHILO, JOSEPHUS, MELITO'S catalogue, JEROME, JUSTIN MARTYR (Dialogue with Trypho, 22, quoting the fifth and six chapters of Amos as "one of the twelve minor prophets"), and the sixtieth canon of the Laodicean council support the canonicity of the book of Amos.
Am 1:1-15. GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON SYRIA, PHILISTIA, TYRE, EDOM, AND AMMON.
1. The words of Amos--that is, Amos' oracular
communications. A heading found only in
Jer 1:1.
among the herdmen--rather,
"shepherds"; both owning and tending sheep; from
an Arabic root, "to mark with pricks,"
namely, to select the best among a species of sheep and
goats ill-shapen and short-footed (as others explain
the name from an Arabic root), but distinguished by
their wool [MAURER]. God chooses "the weak things of
the world to confound the mighty," and makes a humble
shepherd reprove the arrogance of Israel and her king
arising from prosperity (compare
1Sa 17:40).
which he saw--in supernatural
vision (
Isa 1:1).
two years before the
earthquake--mentioned in
Zec 14:5. The earthquake occurred in Uzziah's
reign, at the time of his being stricken with leprosy for
usurping the priest's functions [J OSEPHUS,
Antiquities, 9:10.4]. This clause must have been
inserted by Ezra and the compilers of the Jewish canon.
2. will roar--as a lion (
Joe 3:16). Whereas Jehovah is there represented roaring
in Israel's behalf, here He roars against her (compare
Ps 18:13; Jer 25:30).
from Zion . . .
Jerusalem--the seat of the theocracy, from which ye have
revolted; not from Dan and Beth-el, the seat of your
idolatrous worship of the calves.
habitations . . .
mourn--poetical personification. Their inhabitants
shall mourn, imparting a sadness to the very
habitations.
Carmel--the mountain promontory north
of Israel, in Asher, abounding in rich pastures, olives,
and vines. The name is the symbol of fertility. When
Carmel itself "withers," how utter the
desolation! (
So 7:5; Isa 33:9; 35:2; Jer 50:19; Na 1:4).
3. Here begins a series of threatenings of vengeance
against six other states, followed by one against Judah,
and ending with one against Israel, with whom the rest of
the prophecy is occupied. The eight predictions are in
symmetrical stanzas, each prefaced by "Thus saith the
Lord." Beginning with the sin of others, which Israel
would be ready enough to recognize, he proceeds to bring
home to Israel her own guilt. Israel must not think
hereafter, because she sees others visited similarly to
herself, that such judgments are matters of chance; nay,
they are divinely foreseen and foreordered, and are
confirmations of the truth that God will not clear the
guilty. If God spares not the nations that know not the
truth, how much less Israel that sins wilfully (
Lu 12:47, 48; Jas 4:17)!
for three transgressions
. . . and for four--If Damascus had only sinned
once or twice, I would have spared them, but since, after
having been so often pardoned, they still persevere so
continually, I will no longer "turn away"
their punishment. The Hebrew is simply, "I
will not reverse it," namely, the sentence of
punishment which follows; the negative expression implies
more than it expresses; that is, "I will most
surely execute it"; God's fulfilment of His
threats being more awful than human language can express.
"Three and four" imply sin multiplied on
sin (compare
Ex 20:5; Pr 30:15, 18, 21; "six and seven,"
Job 5:19; "once and twice,"
Job 33:14; "twice and thrice," Margin;
"oftentimes," English Version,
Job 33:29; "seven and also eight,"
Ec 11:2). There may be also a reference to
seven, the product of three and four
added; seven expressing the full completion
of the measure of their guilt (
Le 26:18, 21, 24; compare
Mt 23:32).
threshed--the very term used of the
Syrian king Hazael's oppression of Israel under Jehu
and Jehoahaz (
2Ki 10:32, 33; 13:7). The victims were thrown before
the threshing sledges, the teeth of which tore their
bodies. So David to Ammon (
2Sa 12:31; compare
Isa 28:27).
4. Hazael . . . Ben-hadad--A black marble obelisk found in the central palace of Nimroud, and now in the British Museum, is inscribed with the names of Hazael and Ben-hadad of Syria, as well as Jehu of Israel, mentioned as tributaries of "Shalmanubar," king of Assyria. The kind of tribute from Jehu is mentioned: gold, pearls, precious oil, &c. [G. V. SMITH]. The Ben-hadad here is the son of Hazael ( 2Ki 13:3), not the Ben-hadad supplanted and slain by Hazael ( 2Ki 8:7, 15). The phrase, "I will send a fire," that is, the flame of war ( Ps 78:63), occurs also in Am 1:7, 10, 12, 14, and Am 2:2, 5; Jer 49:27; Ho 8:14.
5. bar of Damascus--that is, the bar of its gates (compare
Jer 51:30).
the inhabitant--singular for
plural, "inhabitants." HENDERSON, because
of the parallel, "him that holdeth the scepter,"
translates, "the ruler." But the parallelism is
that of one clause complementing the other, "the
inhabitant" or subject here answering to
"him that holdeth the scepter" or ruler
there, both ruler and subject alike being cut off.
Aven--the same as Oon or
Un, a delightful valley, four hours' journey from
Damascus, towards the desert. Proverbial in the East as a
place of delight [JOSEPHUS A BASSUS]. It is here parallel
to "Eden," which also means
"pleasantness"; situated at Lebanon. As JOSEPHUS
ABASSUS is a doubtful authority, perhaps the reference may
be rather to the valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon,
called El-Bekaa, where are the ruins of the Baal-bek
temple of the sun; so the Septuagint renders it
On, the same name as the city in Egypt bears, dedicated
to the sun-worship (
Ge 41:45; Heliopolis, "the city of the
sun,"
Eze 30:17, Margin). It is termed by Amos
"the valley of Aven," or "vanity," from
the worship of idols in it.
Kir--a region subject to Assyria (
Isa 22:6) in Iberia, the same as that called now in
Armenian Kur, lying by the river Cyrus which empties
itself into the Caspian Sea. Tiglath-pileser fulfilled this
prophecy when Ahaz applied for help to him against Rezin
king of Syria, and the Assyrian king took Damascus, slew
Rezin, and carried away its people captive to Kir.
6. Gaza--the southernmost of the five capitals of the five
divisions of Philistia, and the key to Palestine on the
south: hence put for the whole Philistine nation. Uzziah
commenced the fulfilment of this prophecy (see
2Ch 26:6).
because they carried away
. . . the whole captivity--that is, they left
none. Compare with the phrase here,
Jer 13:19, "Judah . . . carried captive
all of it . . . wholly carried
away." Under Jehoram already the Philistines had
carried away all the substance of the king of Judah, and
his wives and his sons, "so that there was never a son
left to him, save Jehoahaz"; and after Amos' time
(if the reference includes the future, which to the
prophet's eye is as if already done), under Ahaz (
2Ch 28:18), they seized on all the cities and villages
of the low country and south of Judah.
to deliver them up to
Edom--Judah's bitterest foe; as slaves (
Am 1:9; compare
Joe 3:1, 3, 6). GROTIUS refers it to the fact (
Isa 16:4) that on Sennacherib's invasion of Judah,
many fled for refuge to neighboring countries; the
Philistines, instead of hospitably sheltering the refugees,
sold them, as if captives in war, to their enemies, the
Idumeans.
7. fire--that is, the flame of war ( Nu 21:28; Isa 26:11). Hezekiah fulfilled the prophecy, smiting the Philistines unto Gaza ( 2Ki 18:8). Foretold also by Isa 14:29, 31.
8. Ashdod, &c.--Gath alone is not mentioned of the five chief Philistine cities. It had already been subdued by David; and it, as well as Ashdod, was taken by Uzziah ( 2Ch 26:6). Gath perhaps had lost its position as one of the five primary cities before Amos uttered this prophecy, whence arose his omission of it. So Zep 2:4, 5. Compare Jer 47:4; Eze 25:16. Subsequently to the subjugation of the Philistines by Uzziah, and then by Hezekiah, they were reduced by Psammetichus of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar, the Persians, Alexander, and lastly the Asmoneans.
9. Tyrus . . . delivered up the . . .
captivity to Edom--the same charge as against the
Philistines (
Am 1:6).
remembered not the brotherly
covenant--the league of Hiram of Tyre with David and
Solomon, the former supplying cedars for the building of
the temple and king's house in return for oil and corn
(
2Sa 5:11; 1Ki 5:2-6; 9:11-14, 27; 10-22; 1Ch 14:1; 2Ch
8:18; 9:10).
10. fire--(Compare Am 1:4, 7; Isa 23:1-18; Eze 26:1-28:26). Many parts of Tyre were burnt by fiery missiles of the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. Alexander of Macedon subsequently overthrew it.
11. Edom . . . did pursue his brother-- (
Isa 34:5). The chief aggravation to Edom's violence
against Israel was that they both came from the same
parents, Isaac and Rebekah (compare
Ge 25:24-26; De 23:7, 8; Ob 10, 12; Mal 1:2).
cast off all pity--literally,
"destroy compassions," that is, did suppress all
the natural feeling of pity for a brother in
distress.
his wrath for ever--As Esau kept up
his grudge against Jacob, for having twice supplanted him,
namely, as to the birthright and the blessing (
Ge 27:41), so Esau's posterity against Israel (
Nu 20:14, 21). Edom first showed his spite in not
letting Israel pass through his borders when coming from
the wilderness, but threatening to "come out against
him with the sword"; next, when the Syrians attacked
Jerusalem under Ahaz (compare
2Ch 28:17, with 2Ki 16:5); next, when Nebuchadnezzar
assailed Jerusalem (
Ps 137:7, 8). In each case Edom chose the day of
Israel's calamity for venting his grudge. This is the
point of Edom's guilt dwelt on in
Ob 10-13. God punishes the children, not for the sin of
their fathers, but for their own filling up the measure of
their fathers' guilt, as children generally follow in
the steps of, and even exceed, their fathers' guilt
(compare
Ex 20:5).
12. Teman--a city of Edom, called from a grandson of Esau
(
Ge 36:11, 15; Ob 8, 9); situated five miles from Petra;
south of the present Wady Musa. Its people were famed for
wisdom (
Jer 49:7).
Bozrah--a city of Edom (
Isa 63:1). Selah or Petra is not mentioned, as it had
been overthrown by Amaziah (
2Ki 14:7).
13. Ammon--The Ammonites under Nahash attacked
Jabesh-gilead and refused to accept the offer of the latter
to save them, unless the Jabesh-gileadites would put out
all their right eyes (
1Sa 11:1, &c.). Saul rescued Jabesh-gilead. The
Ammonites joined the Chaldeans in their invasion of Judea
for the sake of plunder.
ripped up . . . women
with-child--as Hazael of Syria also did (
2Ki 8:12; compare
Ho 13:16). Ammon's object in this cruel act was to
leave Israel without "heir," so as to seize on
Israel's inheritance (
Jer 49:1).
14. Rabbah--the capital of Ammon: meaning "the
Great." Distinct from Rabbah of Moab. Called
Philadelphia, afterwards, from Ptolemy
Philadelphus.
tempest--that is, with an onset swift,
sudden, and resistless as a hurricane.
day of the whirlwind--parallel to
"the day of battle"; therefore meaning "the
day of the foe's tumultuous assault."
15. their king . . . princes--or else, "their Molech (the idol of Ammon) and his priests" [GROTIUS and Septuagint]. Isa 43:28 so uses "princes" for "priests." So Am 5:26, "your Molech"; and Jer 49:3, Margin. English Version, however, is perhaps preferable both here and in Jer 49:3; see on Jer 49:3.
Am 2:1-16. CHARGES AGAINST MOAB, JUDAH, AND LASTLY ISRAEL, THE CHIEF SUBJECT OF AMOS' PROPHECIES.
1. burned . . . bones of . . . king of Edom into lime--When Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom, combined against Mesha king of Moab, the latter failing in battle to break through to the king of Edom, took the oldest son of the latter and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall ( 2Ki 3:27) [MICHAELIS]. Thus, "king of Edom" is taken as the heir to the throne of Edom. But "his son" is rather the king of Moab's own son, whom the father offered to Molech [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 9.3]. Thus the reference here in Amos is not to that fact, but to the revenge which probably the king of Moab took on the king of Edom, when the forces of Israel and Judah had retired after their successful campaign against Moab, leaving Edom without allies. The Hebrew tradition is that Moab in revenge tore from their grave and burned the bones of the king of Edom, the ally of Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, who was already buried. Probably the "burning of the bones" means, "he burned the king of Edom alive, reducing his very bones to lime" [MAURER].
2. Kirioth--the chief city of Moab, called also Kir-Moab
(
Isa 15:1). The form is plural here, as including
both the acropolis and town itself (see
Jer 48:24, 41, Margin).
die with tumult--that is, amid the
tumult of battle (
Ho 10:14).
3. the judge--the chief magistrate, the supreme source of justice. "King" not being used, it seems likely a change of government had before this time substituted for kings, supreme judges.
4. From foreign kingdoms he passes to Judah and Israel,
lest it should be said, he was strenuous in denouncing sins
abroad, but connived at those of his own nation.
Judah's guilt differs from that of all the others, in
that it was directly against God, not merely against man.
Also because Judah's sin was wilful and wittingly
against light and knowledge.
law--the Mosaic code in general.
commandments--or statutes, the
ceremonies and civil laws.
their lies--their lying idols (
Ps 40:4; Jer 16:19), from which they drew false hopes.
The order is to be observed. The Jews first cast off the
divine law, then fall into lying errors; God
thus visiting them with a righteous retribution (
Ro 1:25, 26, 28; 2Th 2:11, 12). The pretext of a
good intention is hereby refuted: the "lies"
that mislead them are "their (own) lies"
[C ALVIN].
after . . . which their
fathers . . . walked--We are not to follow the
fathers in error, but must follow the word of God alone. It
was an aggravation of the Jews' sin that it was not
confined to preceding generations; the sins of the sons
rivalled those of their fathers (
Mt 23:32; Ac 7:51) [CALVIN].
5. a fire--Nebuchadnezzar.
6. Israel--the ten tribes, the main subject of Amos'
prophecies.
sold the righteous--Israel's
judges for a bribe are induced to condemn in judgment him
who has a righteous cause; in violation of
De 16:19.
the poor for a pair of
shoes--literally, "sandals" of wood, secured on
the foot by leather straps; less valuable than shoes.
Compare the same phrase, for "the most paltry
bribe,"
Am 8:6; Eze 13:19; Joe 3:3. They were not driven by
poverty to such a sin; beginning with suffering themselves
to be tempted by a large bribe, they at last are so
reckless of all shame as to prostitute justice for the
merest trifle. Amos convicts them of injustice, incestuous
unchastity, and oppression first, as these were so
notorious that they could not deny them, before he proceeds
to reprove their contempt of God, which they would have
denied on the ground that they worshipped God in the form
of the calves.
7. pant after . . . dust of . . . earth
on . . . head of . . . poor--that is,
eagerly thirst for this object, by their oppression to
prostrate the poor so as to cast the dust on their heads in
mourning on the earth (compare
2Sa 1:2; Job 2:12; Eze 27:30).
turn aside . . . way of
. . . meek--pervert their cause (
Am 5:12; Job 24:4 [GROTIUS];
Isa 10:2).
a man and his father--a crime
"not so much as named among the Gentiles" (
1Co 5:1). When God's people sin in the face of
light, they often fall lower than even those who know not
God.
go in unto the same maid--from
Am 2:8 it seems likely "the damsel" meant is
one of the prostitutes attached to the idol Astarte's
temple: prostitution being part of her filthy
worship.
to profane my . . .
name--Israel in such abominations, as it were,
designedly seeks to insult God.
8. lay themselves . . . upon clothes laid to
pledge--the outer garment, which
Ex 22:25-27 ordered to be restored to the poor man
before sunset, as being his only covering. It aggravated
the crime that they lay on these clothes in an idol
temple.
by every altar--They partook in a
recumbent posture of their idolatrous feasts; the ancients
being in the habit of reclining at full length in eating,
the upper part of the body resting on the left elbow, not
sitting as we do.
drink . . . wine of the
condemned--that is, wine bought with the money of those
whom they unjustly fined.
9. Yet--My former benefits to you heighten your
ingratitude.
the Amorite--the most powerful of all
the Canaanite nations, and therefore put for them all (
Ge 15:16; 48:22; De 1:20; Jos 7:7).
height . . . like
. . . cedars-- (
Nu 13:32, 33).
destroyed his fruit . . .
above . . . roots . . . beneath--that
is, destroyed him utterly (
Job 18:16; Eze 17:9; Mal 4:1).
10. brought you up from . . .
Egypt--"brought up" is the phrase, as Egypt was
low and flat, and Canaan hilly.
to possess the land of the
Amorite--The Amorites strictly occupied both sides of the
Jordan and the mountains afterward possessed by Judah; but
they here, as in
Am 2:9, stand for all the Canaanites. God kept
Israel forty years in the wilderness, which tended to
discipline them in His statutes, so as to be the better
fitted for entering on the possession of Canaan.
11. Additional obligations under which Israel lay to God;
the prophets and Nazarites, appointed by Him,
to furnish religious instruction and examples of holy
self-restraint.
of your young men--It was a specimen
of Israel's highly favored state, that, of the class
most addicted to pleasures, God chose those who by a solemn
vow bound themselves to abstinence from all produce of the
vine, and from all ceremonial and moral defilement. The
Nazarite was not to shave (
Nu 6:2, &c.). God left nothing undone to secure the
purity of their worship and their faithfulness to it (
La 4:7). The same comes from a Hebrew root,
nazar, "to set apart." Samson, Samuel, and
John the Baptist were Nazarites.
Is it not even thus--Will any of you
dare to deny it is so?
12. Ye so despised these My favors, as to tempt the Nazarite to break his vow; and forbade the prophets prophesying ( Isa 30:10). So Amaziah forbade Amos ( Am 7:12, 13, 14).
13. I am pressed under you--so CALVIN (Compare Isa 1:14). The Margin translates actively, "I will depress your place," that is, "I will make it narrow," a metaphor for afflicting a people; the opposite of enlarging, that is, relieving ( Ps 4:1; Pr 4:12). MAURER translates, "I will press you down" (not as Margin, "your place"; so the Hebrew, Job 40:12; or Am 2:7 in Hebrew text). Amos, as a shepherd, appropriately draws his similes from rustic scenes.
14. flight shall perish from . . . swift--Even
the swift shall not be able to escape.
strong shall not strengthen his
force--that is, shall not be able to use his
strength.
himself--literally, "his
life."
16. flee . . . naked--If any escape, it must be with the loss of accoutrements, and all that would impede rapid flight. They must be content with saving their life alone.
Am 3:1-15. GOD'S EXTRAORDINARY LOVE, BEING REPAID BY ISRAEL WITH INGRATITUDE, OF NECESSITY CALLS FOR JUDGMENTS, WHICH THE PROPHETS ANNOUNCE, NOT AT RANDOM, BUT BY GOD'S COMMISSION, WHICH THEY CANNOT BUT FULFIL. THE OPPRESSION PREVALENT IN ISRAEL WILL BRING DOWN RUIN ON ALL SAVE A SMALL REMNANT.
1. children of Israel--not merely the ten tribes, but "the whole family brought up from Egypt"; all the descendants of Jacob, including Judah and Benjamin. Compare Jer 8:3, and Mic 2:3, on "family" for the nation. However, as the prophecy following refers to the ten tribes, they must be chiefly, if not solely, meant: they were the majority of the nation; and so Amos concedes what they so often boasted, that they were the elect people of God [C ALVIN], but implies that this only heightens their sins.
2. You only have I known--that is, acknowledged as My
people, and treated with peculiar favor (
Ex 19:5; De 4:20). Compare the use of "know,"
Ps 1:6; 144:3; Joh 10:14; 2Ti 2:19.
therefore I will punish--the greater
the privileges, the heavier the punishment for the abuse of
them; for to the other offenses there is added, in this
case, ingratitude. When God's people do not glorify
Him, He glorifies Himself by punishing them.
3-6. Here follow several questions of a parable-like kind,
to awaken conviction in the people.
Can two walk together, except they be
agreed?--Can God's prophets be so unanimous in
prophesying against you, if God's Spirit were not
joined with them, or if their prophecies were false? The
Israelites were "at ease," not believing that God
was with the prophets in their denunciations of coming ruin
to the nation (
Am 6:1, 3; compare
1Ki 22:18, 24, 27; Jer 43:2). This accords with
Am 3:7, 8. So "I will be with thy mouth" (
Ex 4:12; Jer 1:8; Mt 10:20). If the prophets and God
were not agreed, the former could not predict the future as
they do. In
Am 2:12 He had said, the Israelites forbade the
prophets prophesying; therefore, in
Am 3:3, 8, He asserts the agreement between the
prophets and God who spake by them against Israel
[ROSENMULLER]. Rather, "I once walked with you"
(
Le 26:12) as a Father and Husband (
Isa 54:5; Jer 3:14); but now your way and Mine are
utterly diverse; there can therefore be no fellowship
between us such as there was (
Am 3:2); I will walk with you only to "punish
you"; as a "lion" walks with his
"prey" (
Am 3:4), as a bird-catcher with a bird [TARNOVIUS]. The
prophets, and all servants of God, can have no fellowship
with the ungodly (
Ps 119:63; 2Co 6:16, 17; Eph 5:11; Jas 4:4).
4. The same idea as in
Mt 24:28. Where a corrupt nation is, there God's
instruments of punishment are sure also to be. The lion
roars loudly only when he has prey in sight.
Will a young lion cry out
. . . if he--the "lion," not the
"young lion."
have taken nothing?--The young lion
just weaned lies silent, until the old lion brings the prey
near; then the scent rouses him. So, the prophet would not
speak against Israel, if God did not reveal to him
Israel's sins as requiring punishment.
5. When a bird trying to fly upwards is made to fall upon
the earth snare, it is a plain proof that the snare is
there; so, Israel, now that thou art falling, infer thence,
that it is in the snare of the divine judgment that thou
art entangled [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU].
shall one take up a snare from
the earth, and have taken nothing--The bird-catcher does
not remove his snare off the ground till he has caught some
prey; so God will not withdraw the Assyrians, &c., the
instruments of punishment, until they have had the success
against you which God gives them. The foe corresponds to
the "snare," suddenly springing from the
ground and enclosing the bird on the latter touching it;
the Hebrew is literally, "Shall the snare
spring from the earth?" Israel entangled in
judgments answers to the bird "taken."
6. When the sound of alarm is trumpeted by the watchman in
the city, the people are sure to run to and fro in
alarm (Hebrew, literally). Yet Israel is not
alarmed, though God threatens judgments.
shall there be evil in a city, and the
Lord hath not done it?--This is the explanation of the
preceding similes: God is the Author of all the calamities
which come upon you, and which are foretold by His
prophets. The evil of sin is from ourselves; the evil of
trouble is from God, whoever be the instruments.
7. his secret--namely, His purpose hidden from all, until
it is revealed to His prophets (compare
Ge 18:17). In a wider sense, God's will is revealed
to all who love God, which it is not to the world (
Ps 25:14; Joh 15:15; 17:25, 26).
unto his servants--who being
servants cannot but obey their Lord in setting forth
His purpose (namely, that of judgment against Israel) (
Jer 20:9; Eze 9:11). Therefore the fault which the
ungodly find with them is groundless (
1Ki 18:17). It aggravates Israel's sin, that God is
not about to inflict judgment, without having fully warned
the people, if haply they might repent.
8. As when "the lion roars" (compare Am 1:2; Am 3:4), none can help but "fear," so when Jehovah communicates His awful message, the prophet cannot but prophesy. Find not fault with me for prophesying; I must obey God. In a wider sense true of all believers ( Ac 4:20; 5:29).
9. Publish in . . . palaces--as being places of
greatest resort (compare
Mt 10:27); and also as it is the sin of princes
that he arraigns, he calls on princes (the occupants of the
"palaces") to be the witnesses.
Ashdod--put for all Philistia. Convene
the Philistine and the Egyptian magnates, from whom I have
on various occasions rescued Israel. (The opposite formula
to "Tell it not in Gath," namely, lest the
heathen should glory over Israel). Even these idolaters, in
looking on your enormities, will condemn you; how much more
will the holy God?
upon the mountains of Samaria--on the
hills surrounding and commanding the view of Samaria, the
metropolis of the ten tribes, which was on a lower hill (
Am 4:1; 1Ki 16:24). The mountains are to be the
tribunal on which the Philistines and Egyptians are to sit
aloft to have a view of your crimes, so as to testify to
the justice of your punishment (
Am 3:13).
tumults--caused by the violence of the
princes of Israel in "oppressions" of the poor
(
Job 35:9; Ec 4:1).
10. know not to do--Their moral corruption blinds their
power of discernment so that they cannot do right (
Jer 4:22). Not simple intellectual ignorance; the
defect lay in the heart and will.
store up violence and robbery--that
is, treasures obtained by "violence and robbery"
(
Pr 10:2).
11. Translate, "An adversary (the abruptness produces
a startling effect)! and that too, from every side
of the land." So in the fulfilment,
2Ki 17:5: "The king of Assyria (Shalmaneser) came
up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria,
and besieged it three years."
bring down thy strength from
thee--that is, bring thee down from thy strength (the
strength on which thou didst boast thyself): all thy
resources (
Pr 10:15).
palaces shall be spoiled--a just
retribution in kind (
Am 3:10). The palaces in which spoils of
robbery were stored up, "shall be
spoiled."
12. shepherd--a pastoral image, appropriately used by Amos,
a shepherd himself.
piece of . . . ear--brought
by the shepherd to the owner of the sheep, so as not to
have to pay for the loss (
Ge 31:39; Ex 22:13). So if aught of Israel escapes, it
shall be a miracle of God's goodness. It shall be but a
scanty remnant. There is a kind of goat in the East the
ears of which are a foot long, and proportionally broad.
Perhaps the reference is to this. Compare on the image
1Sa 17:34, 35; 2Ti 4:17.
that dwell in Samaria in the corner of
a bed--that is, that live luxuriously in Samaria (compare
Am 6:1, 4). "A bed" means here the Oriental
divan, a raised part of the room covered with
cushions.
in Damascus in a couch--Jeroboam II
had lately restored Damascus to Israel (
2Ki 14:25, 28). So the Israelites are represented as
not merely in "the corner of a bed," as in
Samaria, but "in a (whole) couch," at Damascus,
living in luxurious ease. Of these, now so luxurious, soon
but a remnant shall be left by the foe. The destruction of
Damascus and that of Samaria shall be conjoined; as here
their luxurious lives, and subsequently under Pekah and
Rezin their inroads on Judah, were combined (
Isa 7:1-8; 8:4, 9; 17:3). The parallelism of
"Samaria" to "Damascus," and the
Septuagint favor English Version rather than
GESENIUS: "on a damask couch." The
Hebrew pointing, though generally expressing
damask, may express the city "Damascus"; and
many manuscripts point it so. Compare for Israel's
overthrow,
2Ki 17:5, 6; 18:9-12.
13. testify in the house, &c.--that is, against
the house of Jacob. God calls on the same persons as in
Am 3:9, namely, the heathen Philistines and the
Egyptians to witness with their own eyes Samaria's
corruptions above described, so that none may be able to
deny the justice of Samaria's punishment [M
AURER].
God of hosts--having all the powers of
heaven and earth at His command, and therefore One
calculated to strike terror into the hearts of the guilty
whom He threatens.
14. That--rather, "since," or "for."
This verse is not, as English Version translates,
the thing which the witnesses cited are to
"testify" (
Am 3:13), but the reason why God calls on the heathen
to witness Samaria's guilt; namely, in order to justify
the punishment which He declares He will inflict.
I will also visit . . .
Beth-el--the golden calves which were the source of all
"the transgressions of Israel" (
1Ki 12:32; 13:2; 2Ki 23:15, 16), though Israel thought
that by them their transgressions were atoned for and
God's favor secured.
horns of the altar--which used to be
sprinkled with the blood of victims. They were horn-like
projecting points at the corners of ancient altars. The
singular, "altar," refers to the great altar
erected by Jeroboam to the calves. The "altars,"
plural, refer to the lesser ones made in imitation
of the great one (
2Ch 34:5, compare with
1Ki 13:2; Ho 8:11; 10:1).
15. winter . . . summer house-- (
Jud 3:20; Jer 36:22). Winter houses of the great were
in sheltered positions facing the south to get all possible
sunshine, summer houses in forests and on hills, facing the
east and north.
houses of ivory--having their walls,
doors, and ceilings inlaid with ivory. So Ahab's house
(
1Ki 22:39; Ps 45:8).
Am 4:1-13. DENUNCIATION OF ISRAEL'S NOBLES FOR OPPRESSION; AND OF THE WHOLE NATION FOR IDOLATRY; AND FOR THEIR BEING UNREFORMED EVEN BY GOD'S JUDGMENTS: THEREFORE THEY MUST PREPARE FOR THE LAST AND WORST JUDGMENT OF ALL.
1. kine of Bashan--fat and wanton cattle such as the rich
pasture of Bashan (east of Jordan, between Hermon and
Gilead) was famed for (
De 32:14; Ps 22:12; Eze 39:18). Figurative for those
luxurious nobles mentioned,
Am 3:9, 10, 12, 15. The feminine, kine, or
cows, not bulls, expresses their effeminacy.
This accounts for masculine forms in the Hebrew
being intermixed with feminine; the latter being
figurative, the former the real persons meant.
say to their masters--that is, to
their king, with whom the princes indulged in potations
(
Ho 7:5), and whom here they importune for more wine.
"Bring" is singular, in the Hebrew
implying that one "master" alone is meant.
2. The Lord--the same Hebrew as "masters"
(
Am 4:1). Israel's nobles say to their master or
lord, Bring us drink: but "the Lord" of him and
them "hath sworn," &c.
by his holiness--which binds Him to
punish the guilty (
Ps 89:35).
he will take yon away--that is God by
the instrumentality of the enemy.
with hooks--literally,
"thorns" (compare
2Ch 33:11). As fish are taken out of the water by
hooks, so the Israelites are to be taken out of their
cities by the enemy (
Eze 29:4; compare
Job 41:1, 2; Jer 16:16; Hab 1:15). The image is the
more appropriate, as anciently captives were led by their
conquerors by a hook made to pass through the nose (
2Ki 19:28), as is to be seen in the Assyrian remains.
3. go out at the breaches--namely, of the city walls broken
by the enemy.
every cow at that which is
before her--figurative for the once luxurious nobles
(compare "kine of Bashan,"
Am 4:1) shall go out each one right before her;
not through the gates, but each at the breach before
him, not turning to the right or left, apart from one
another.
ye shall cast them into the
palace--"them," that is, "your
posterity," from
Am 4:2. You yourselves shall escape through the
breaches, after having cast your little children into the
palace, so as not to see their destruction, and to escape
the more quickly. Rather, "ye shall cast
yourselves into the palace," so as to escape from
it out of the city [CALVIN]. The palace, the scene of the
princes' riots (
Am 3:10, 15; 4:1), is to be the scene of their
ignominious flight. Compare in the similar case of
Jerusalem's capture, the king's escape by way
of the palace, through a breach in the wall (
Eze 12:5, 12). GESENIUS translates, "Ye shall be
cast (as captives) into the (enemy's) stronghold";
in this view, the enemy's stronghold is called
"palace," in retributive contrast to the
"palaces" of Israel's nobles, the store
houses of their robberies (
Am 3:10).
4. God gives them up to their self-willed idolatry, that
they may see how unable their idols are to save them from
their coming calamities. So
Eze 20:39.
Beth-el-- (
Am 3:14).
Gilgal-- (
Ho 4:15; 9:15; 12:11).
sacrifices every morning--as commanded
in the law (
Nu 28:3, 4). They imitated the letter, while violating
by calf-worship the spirit, of the Jerusalem
temple-worship.
after three years--every third year;
literally, "after three (years of) days" (that
is, the fullest complement of days, or a year);
"after three full years." Compare
Le 25:20; Jud 17:10, and "the days" for the
years,
Joe 1:2. So a month of days is used for a
full month, wanting no day to complete it (
Ge 29:14, Margin;
Nu 11:20, 21). The Israelites here also kept to the
letter of the law in bringing in the tithes of their
increase every third year (
De 14:28; 26:12).
5. offer--literally, "burn incense"; that is,
"offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with burnt
incense and with leavened bread." The frankincense
was laid on the meat offering, and taken by the priest from
it to burn on the altar (
Le 2:1, 2, 8-11). Though unleavened cakes were
to accompany the peace offering sacrifice of animals,
leavened bread was also commanded (
Le 7:12, 13), but not as a "meat offering"
(
Le 2:11).
this liketh you--that is, this is what
ye like.
6-11. Jehovah details His several chastisements inflicted
with a view to reclaiming them: but adds to each the same
sad result, "yet have ye not returned unto Me"
(
Isa 9:13; Jer 5:3; Ho 7:10); the monotonous repetition
of the same burden marking their pitiable obstinacy.
cleanness of teeth--explained by the
parallel, "want of bread." The famine alluded to
is that mentioned in
2Ki 8:1 [GROTIUS]. Where there is no food to masticate,
the teeth are free from uncleanness, but it is the
cleanness of want. Compare
Pr 14:4, "Where no oxen are, the crib is
clean." So spiritually, where all is outwardly smooth
and clean, it is often because there is no solid religion.
Better fighting and fears with real piety, than peace and
respectable decorum without spiritual life.
7. withholden . . . rain . . . three
months to . . . harvest--the time when rain was
most needed, and when usually "the latter rain"
fell, namely, in spring, the latter half of February, and
the whole of March and April (
Ho 6:3; Joe 2:23). The drought meant is that mentioned
in
1Ki 17:1 [GROTIUS].
rain upon one city . . . not
. . . upon another--Any rain that fell was only
partial.
8. three cities wandered--that is, the inhabitants of three cities (compare Jer 14:1-6). GROTIUS explains this verse and Am 4:7, "The rain fell on neighboring countries, but not on Israel, which marked the drought to be, not accidental, but the special judgment of God." The Israelites were obliged to leave their cities and homes to seek water at a distance [CALVIN].
9. blasting--the blighting influence of the east wind on
the corn (
Ge 41:6).
when . . . gardens
. . . increased--In vain ye multiplied your
gardens, &c., for I destroyed their produce. BOCHART
supports Margin, "the multitude of your
gardens."
palmer worm--A species of
locust is here meant, hurtful to fruits of trees, not
to herbage or corn. The same east wind which brought the
drought, blasting, and mildew, brought also the locusts
into Judea [BOCHART], (
Ex 10:13).
10. pestilence after the manner of Egypt--such as I
formerly sent on the Egyptians (
Ex 9:3, 8, &c.; Ex 12:29; De 28:27, 60). Compare
the same phrase,
Isa 10:24.
have taken away your
horses--literally, "accompanied with the captivity of
your horses"; I have given up your young men to be
slain, and their horses to be taken by the foe (compare
2Ki 13:7).
stink of your camps--that is, of your
slain men (compare
Isa 34:3; Joe 2:20).
to come up unto your nostrils--The
Hebrew is more emphatic, "to come up, and
that unto your nostrils."
11. some of you--some parts of your territory.
as God overthrew Sodom-- (
De 29:23; Isa 13:19; Jer 49:18; 50:40; 2Pe 2:6; Jude
7). "God" is often repeated in Hebrew
instead of "I." The earthquake here
apparently alluded to is not that in the reign of Uzziah,
which occurred "two years" later (
Am 1:1). Traces of earthquakes and volcanic agency
abound in Palestine. The allusion here is to some of the
effects of these in previous times. Compare the prophecy,
De 28:15-68, with Am 4:6-11 here.
as a firebrand plucked out of
. . . burning--(Compare
Isa 7:4; Zec 3:2). The phrase is proverbial for a
narrow escape from utter extinction. Though Israel revived
as a nation under Jeroboam II, it was but for a time, and
that after an almost utter destruction previously (
2Ki 14:26).
12. Therefore--as all chastisements have failed to make
thee "return unto Me."
thus will I do unto thee--as I have
threatened (
Am 4:2, 3).
prepare to meet thy God--God is about
to inflict the last and worst judgment on thee, the
extinction of thy nationality; consider then what
preparation thou canst make for encountering Him as thy foe
(
Jer 46:14; Lu 14:31, 32). But as that would be madness
to think of (
Isa 27:4; Eze 22:14; Heb 10:31), see what can be done
towards mitigating the severity of the coming judgment, by
penitence (
Isa 27:5; 1Co 11:31). This latter exhortation is
followed up in
Am 5:4, 6, 8, 14, 15.
13. The God whom Israel is to "prepare to meet"
(
Am 4:12) is here described in sublime terms.
wind--not as the Margin,
"spirit." The God with whom thou hast to do is
the Omnipotent Maker of things seen, such as the
stupendous mountains, and of things too subtle to be
seen, though of powerful agency, as the
"wind."
declareth unto man . . . his
thought-- (
Ps 139:2). Ye think that your secret thoughts escape My
cognizance, but I am the searcher of hearts.
maketh . . . morning
darkness-- (
Am 5:8; 8:9). Both literally turning the sunshine into
darkness, and figuratively turning the prosperity of the
ungodly into sudden adversity (
Ps 73:12, 18, 19; compare
Jer 13:16).
treadeth upon . . . high
places--God treadeth down the proud of the earth. He
subjects to Him all things however high they be (
Mic 1:3). Compare
De 32:13; 33:29, where the same phrase is used of
God's people, elevated by God above every other human
height.
Am 5:1-27. ELEGY OVER THE PROSTRATE KINGDOM: RENEWED EXHORTATIONS TO REPENTANCE: GOD DECLARES THAT THE COMING DAY OF JUDGMENT SHALL BE TERRIBLE TO THE SCORNERS WHO DESPISE IT: CEREMONIAL SERVICES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO HIM WHERE TRUE PIETY EXISTS NOT: ISRAEL SHALL THEREFORE BE REMOVED FAR EASTWARD.
1. lamentation--an elegy for the destruction coming on you. Compare Eze 32:2, "take up," namely, as a mournful burden ( Eze 19:1; 27:2).
2. virgin of Israel--the Israelite state heretofore
unsubdued by foreigners. Compare
Isa 23:12; Jer 18:13; 31:4, 21; La 2:13; may be
interpreted, Thou who wast once the "virgin daughter
of Zion." Rather, "virgin" as applied to a
state implies its beauty, and the delights on which it
prides itself, its luxuries, power, and wealth
[CALVIN].
no more rise--in the existing order of
things: in the Messianic dispensation it is to rise again,
according to many prophecies. Compare
2Ki 6:23; 24:7, for the restricted sense of "no
more."
forsaken upon her land--or,
"prostrated upon," &c. (compare
Eze 29:5; 32:4) [MAURER].
3. went out by a thousand--that is, "the city from
which there used to go out a thousand" equipped for
war. "City" is put for "the inhabitants of
the city," as in
Am 4:8.
shall leave . . .
hundred--shall have only a hundred left, the rest being
destroyed by sword and pestilence (
De 28:62).
4. Seek ye me, and ye shall live--literally, "Seek . . . Me, and live." The second imperative expresses the certainty of "life" (escape from judgment) resulting from obedience to the precept in the first imperative. If they perish, it is their own fault; God would forgive, if they would repent ( Isa 55:3, 6).
5. seek not Beth-el--that is, the calves at Beth-el.
Gilgal--(See on Am
4:4).
Beer-sheba--in Judah on the southern
frontier towards Edom. Once "the well of the
oath" by Jehovah, ratifying Abraham's covenant
with Abimelech, and the scene of his calling on "the
Lord, the everlasting God" (
Ge 21:31, 33), now a stronghold of idolatry (
Am 8:14).
Gilgal shall surely go into
captivity--a play on similar sounds in the Hebrew,
Gilgal, galoh, yigleh: "Gilgal (the place of
rolling) shall rolling be rolled away."
Beth-el shall come to naught--Beth-el
(that is, the "house of God"), called because of
its vain idols Beth-aven (that is, "the house of
vanity," or "naught,"
Ho 4:15; 10:5, 8), shall indeed "come to
naught."
6. break out like fire--bursting through everything in His
way. God is "a consuming fire" (
De 4:24; Isa 10:17; La 2:3).
the house of Joseph--the kingdom of
Israel, of which the tribe of Ephraim, Joseph's son,
was the chief tribe (compare
Eze 37:16).
none to quench it in Beth-el--that is,
none in Beth-el to quench it; none of the Beth-el idols on
which Israel so depended, able to remove the divine
judgments.
7. turn judgment to wormwood--that is, pervert it to most
bitter wrong. As justice is sweet, so injustice is bitter
to the injured. "Wormwood" is from a
Hebrew root, to "execrate," on account of its
noxious and bitter qualities.
leave on righteousness in
. . . earth--MAURER translates, "cast
righteousness to the ground," as in
Isa 28:2; Da 8:12.
8. the seven stars--literally, the heap or cluster
of seven larger stars and others smaller (
Job 9:9; 38:31). The former whole passage seems to have
been in Amos' mind. He names the stars well known to
shepherds (to which class Amos belonged), Orion as the
precursor of the tempests which are here threatened, and
the Pleiades as ushering in spring.
shadow of death--Hebraism for the
densest darkness.
calleth for the waters of the
sea--both to send deluges in judgment, and the
ordinary rain in mercy (
1Ki 18:44).
9. strengtheneth the spoiled--literally, "spoil"
or "devastation": hence the "person
spoiled." WINER, MAURER, and the best modern critics
translate, "maketh devastation (or
destruction) suddenly to arise," literally,
"maketh it to gleam forth like the dawn." Ancient
versions support English Version. The Hebrew
is elsewhere used, to make, to shine, to make glad:
and as English Version here (
Ps 39:13), "recover strength."
the spoiled shall
come--"devastation," or "destruction shall
come upon" [MAURER]. English Version expresses
that, strong as Israel fancies herself after the successes
of Jeroboam II (
2Ki 14:25), even the weakest can be made by God
to prevail against the strong.
10. him that rebuketh in the gate--the judge who
condemns their iniquity in the place of judgment (
Isa 29:21).
abhor him that speaketh uprightly--the
prophet telling them the unwelcome truth: answering
in the parallelism to the judge, "that rebuketh
in the gate" (compare
1Ki 22:8; Pr 9:8; 12:1; Jer 36:23).
11. burdens of wheat--burdensome taxes levied in
kind from the wheat of the needy, to pamper the
lusts of the great [HENDERSON]. Or wheat advanced in time
of scarcity, and exacted again at a burdensome interest
[RABBI SALOMON].
built houses . . . but not
dwell in them . . . vineyards, . . .
but not drink wine of them--according to the original
prophecy of Moses (
De 28:30, 38, 39). The converse shall be true in
restored Israel (
Am 9:14; Isa 65:21, 22).
12. they afflict . . . they take--rather,
"(ye) who afflict . . . take."
bribe--literally, a price with
which one who has an unjust cause ransoms himself
from your sentence (
1Sa 12:3, Margin;
Pr 6:35).
turn aside the poor in the
gate--refuse them their right in the place of
justice (
Am 2:7; Isa 29:21).
13. the prudent--the spiritually wise.
shall keep silence--not mere silence
of tongue, but the prudent shall keep himself quiet from
taking part in any public or private affairs which he can
avoid: as it is "an evil time," and one in which
all law is set at naught.
Eph 5:16 refers to this. Instead of impatiently
agitating against irremediable evils, the godly wise will
not cast pearls before swine, who would trample these, and
rend the offerers (
Mt 7:6), but will patiently wait for God's time of
deliverance in silent submission (
Ps 39:9).
14. and so--on condition of your "seeking
good."
shall be with you, as ye have
spoken--as ye have boasted; namely, that God is with you,
and that you are His people (
Mic 3:11).
15. Hate . . . evil . . . love
. . . good-- (
Isa 1:16, 17; Ro 12:9).
judgment in the gate--justice
in the place where causes are tried.
it may be that the Lord
. . . will be gracious--so,
"peradventure" (
Ex 32:30). Not that men are to come to God with an
uncertainty whether or no He will be gracious: the
expression merely implies the difficulty in the way,
because of the want of true repentance on man's part,
so as to stimulate the zealous earnestness of believers in
seeking God (compare
Ge 16:2; Joe 2:14; Ac 8:22).
the remnant of Joseph--(see
Am 5:6). Israel (represented by "Ephraim,"
the leading tribe, and descendant of Joseph) was, as
compared to what it once was, now but a remnant, Hazael of
Syria having smitten all the coasts from Jordan eastward,
Gilead and Bashan, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh (
2Ki 10:32, 33) [HENDERSON]. Rather, "the remnant
of Israel that shall have been left after the wicked have
been destroyed" [M AURER].
16. Therefore--resumed from
Am 5:13. God foresees they will not obey the
exhortation (
Am 5:14, 15), but will persevere in the unrighteousness
stigmatized (
Am 5:7, 10, 12).
the Lord--JEHOVAH.
the God of hosts, the Lord--an
accumulation of titles, of which His lordship over all
things is the climax, to mark that from His judgment there
is no appeal.
streets . . . highways--the
broad open spaces and the narrow streets
common in the East.
call the husbandman to mourning--The
citizens shall call the inexperienced husbandmen to
act the part usually performed by professional mourners, as
there will not be enough of the latter for the universal
mourning which prevails.
such as are skilful of
lamentation--professional mourners hired to lead off the
lamentations for the deceased; alluded to in
Ec 12:5; generally women (
Jer 9:17-19).
17. in all vineyards . . . wailing--where usually
songs of joy were heard.
pass through thee--taking vengeance
(
Ex 12:12, 23; Na 1:12). "Pass over"
and "pass by," on the contrary, are used of
God's forgiving (
Ex 12:23; Mic 7:18; compare
Am 7:8).
18. Woe unto you who do not scruple to say in irony,
"We desire that the day of the Lord would come,"
that is, "Woe to you who treat it as if it were a mere
dream of the prophets" (
Isa 5:19; Jer 17:15; Eze 12:22).
to what end is it for you!--Amos
taking their ironical words in earnest: for God often takes
the blasphemer at his own word, in righteous retribution
making the scoffer's jest a terrible reality against
himself. Ye have but little reason to desire the day of the
Lord; for it will be to you calamity, and not joy.
19. As if a man did flee . . . a lion, and a bear
met him--Trying to escape one calamity, he falls into
another. This perhaps implies that in
Am 5:18 their ironical desire for the day of the Lord
was as if it would be an escape from existing calamities.
The coming of the day of the Lord would be good news to us,
if true: for we have served God (that is, the golden
calves). So do hypocrites flatter themselves as to death
and judgment, as if these would be a relief from existing
ills of life. The lion may from generosity spare the
prostrate, but the bear spares none (compare
Job 20:24; Isa 24:18).
leaned . . . on the wall--on
the side wall of the house, to support himself from
falling. Snakes often hid themselves in fissures in a wall.
Those not reformed by God's judgments will be pursued
by them: if they escape one, another is ready to seize
them.
21. I hate, I despise--The two verbs joined without a
conjunction express God's strong abhorrence.
your feast days--yours; not
Mine; I do not acknowledge them: unlike those in Judah,
yours are of human, not divine institution.
I will not smell--that is, I will take
no delight in the sacrifices offered (
Ge 8:21; Le 26:31).
in your solemn assemblies--literally,
"days of restraint."
Isa 1:10-15 is parallel. Isaiah is fuller; Amos, more
condensed. Amos condemns Israel not only on the ground of
their thinking to satisfy God by sacrifices without
obedience (the charge brought by Isaiah against the Jews),
but also because even their external ritual was a mere
corruption, and unsanctioned by God.
22. meat offerings--flour, &c. Unbloody
offerings.
peace offerings--offerings for
obtaining from God peace and prosperity. Hebrew,
"thank offerings."
23. Take . . . away from me--literally,
"Take away, from upon Me"; the idea being
that of a burden pressing upon the bearer. So
Isa 1:14, "They are a trouble unto Me (literally,
'a burden upon Me'): I am weary to bear
them."
the noise of thy songs--The hymns and
instrumental music on sacred occasions are to Me nothing
but a disagreeable noise.
I will not hear--Isaiah substitutes
"prayers" (
Isa 1:15) for the "songs" and
"melody" here; but, like Amos, closes with
"I will not hear."
24. judgment--justice.
run down--literally, "roll,"
that is, flow abundantly (
Isa 48:18). Without the desire to fulfil righteousness
in the offerer, the sacrifice is hateful to God (
1Sa 15:22; Ps 66:18; Ho 6:6; Mic 6:8).
25, 26. Have ye offered? &c.--Yes: ye have. "But
(all the time with strange inconsistency) ye have borne
(aloft in solemn pomp) the tabernacle (that is, the
portable shrine, or model tabernacle: small enough
not to be detected by Moses; compare
Ac 19:24) of your Molech" (that idol is
"your" god; I am not, though ye go through
the form of presenting offerings to Me). The question,
"Have ye," is not a denial (for they did
offer in the wilderness to Jehovah sacrifices of the cattle
which they took with them in their nomad life there,
Ex 24:4; Nu 7:1-89; 9:1, &c.), but a strong
affirmation (compare
1Sa 2:27, 28; Jer 31:20; Eze 20:4). The sin of Israel
in Amos' time is the very sin of their forefathers,
mocking God with worship, while at the same time
worshipping idols (compare
Eze 20:39). It was clandestine in Moses' time, else
he would have put it down; he was aware generally of their
unfaithfulness, though not knowing the particulars (
De 31:21, 27).
Molech . . .
Chiun--"Molech" means "king" answering
to Mars [BENGEL]; the Sun [J ABLONSKI];
Saturn, the same as "Chiun" [M AURER]. The
Septuagint translates "Chiun" into
Remphan, as Stephen quotes it (
Ac 7:42, 43). The same god often had different names.
Molech is the Ammonite name; Chiun, the
Arabic and Persian name, written also Chevan. In an
Arabic lexicon Chiun means "austere"; so
astrologers represented Saturn as a planet baleful
in his influence. Hence the Phœnicians offered human
sacrifices to him, children especially; so idolatrous
Israel also. Rimmon was the Syrian name (
2Ki 5:18); pronounced as Remvan, or
"Remphan," just as Chiun was also
Chevan. Molech had the form of a king; Chevan, or
Chiun, of a star [GROTIUS]. Remphan was the Egyptian name
for Saturn: hence the Septuagint translator
of Amos gave the Egyptian name for the Hebrew, being
an Egyptian. [H ODIUS II, De Bibliorum Textibus
Originalibus. 4.115]. The same as the Nile, of which
the Egyptians made the star Saturn the
representative [HARENBERG]. BENGEL considers Remphan
or Rephan akin to Teraphim and
Remphis, the name of a king of Egypt. The Hebrews
became infected with Sabeanism, the oldest form of
idolatry, the worship of the Saba or starry hosts,
in their stay in the Arabian desert, where Job notices its
prevalence (
Job 31:26); in opposition, in
Am 5:27, Jehovah declares Himself "the God of
hosts."
the star of your god--R. ISAAC C ARO
says all the astrologers represented Saturn as the star
of Israel. Probably there was a figure of a star on the
head of the image of the idol, to represent the planet
Saturn; hence "images" correspond to
"star" in the parallel clause. A star in
hieroglyphics represents God (
Nu 24:17). "Images" are either a Hebraism for
"image," or refer to the many images made to
represent Chiun.
27. beyond Damascus--In Ac 7:43 it is "beyond Babylon," which includes beyond Damascus. In Amos' time, Damascus was the object of Israel's fear because of the Syrian wars. Babylon was not yet named as the place of their captivity. Stephen supplies this name. Their place of exile was in fact, as he states, "beyond Babylon," in Halah and Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes ( 2Ki 17:6; compare here Am 1:5; 4:3; 6:14). The road to Assyria lay through "Damascus." It is therefore specified, that not merely shall they be carried captives to Damascus, as they had been by Syrian kings ( 2Ki 10:32, 33; 13:7), but, beyond that, to a region whence a return was not so possible as from Damascus. They were led captive by Satan into idolatry, therefore God caused them to go captive among idolaters. Compare 2Ki 15:29; 16:9; Isa 8:4, whence it appears Tiglath-pileser attacked Israel and Damascus at the same time at Ahaz' request ( Am 3:11).
Am 6:1-14. DENUNCIATION OF BOTH THE SISTER NATIONS (ESPECIALLY THEIR NOBLES) FOR WANTON SECURITY--ZION, AS WELL AS SAMARIA: THREAT OF THE EXILE: RUIN OF THEIR PALACES AND SLAUGHTER OF THE PEOPLE: THEIR PERVERSE INJUSTICE.
1. named chief of the nations--that is, you nobles, so
eminent in influence, that your names are celebrated among
the chief nations [LUDOVICUS DE D IEU]. Hebrew,
"Men designated by name among the first-fruits of the
nations," that is, men of note in Israel, the people
chosen by God as first of the nations (
Ex 19:5; compare
Nu 24:20) [PISCATOR].
to whom . . . Israel
came--that is, the princes to whom the Israelites used to
repair for the decision of controversies, recognizing their
authority [MAURER]. I prefer to refer "which" to
the antecedent "Zion" and "Samaria";
these were esteemed "chief" strongholds among the
heathen nations "to whom . . . Israel
came" when it entered Canaan;
Am 6:2 accords with this.
2. Calneh--on the east bank of the Tigris. Once powerful,
but recently subjugated by Assyria (
Isa 10:9; about 794 B.C.).
Hameth--subjugated by Jeroboam II (
2Ki 14:25). Also by Assyria subsequently (
2Ki 18:34). Compare
Am 6:14.
Gath--subjugated by Uzziah (
2Ch 26:6).
be they better--no. Their so recent
subjugation renders it needless for Me to tell you they
are not. And yet they once were; still they
could not defend themselves against the enemy. How vain,
then, your secure confidence in the strength of
Mounts Zion and Samaria! He takes cities respectively east,
north, south, and west of Israel (compare
Na 3:8).
3. Ye persuade yourselves that "the evil day" foretold by the prophets is "far off," though they declare it near ( Eze 12:22, 27). Ye in your imagination put it far off, and therefore bring near violent oppression, suffering it to sit enthroned, as it were, among you ( Ps 94:20). The notion of judgment being far off has always been an incentive to the sinner's recklessness of living ( Ec 8:12, 13; Mt 24:48). Yet that very recklessness brings near the evil day which he puts far off. "Ye bring on fever by your intemperance, and yet would put it far off" [CALVIN].
4. (See
Am 2:8).
beds of ivory--that is, adorned, or
inlaid, with ivory (
Am 3:15).
stretch themselves--in luxurious
self-indulgence.
lambs out of the flock--picked out as
the choicest, for their owners' selfish gratification.
5. chant--literally, "mark distinct sounds and
tones."
viol--the lyre, or lute.
invent . . . instruments
. . . like David--They fancy they equal David in
musical skill (
1Ch 23:5; Ne 12:36). They defend their luxurious
passion for music by his example: forgetting that he
pursued this study when at peace and free from danger, and
that for the praise of God; but they pursue for
their own self-gratification, and that when God is angry
and ruin is imminent.
6. drink . . . in bowls--in the large
vessels or basins in which wine was mixed; not
satisfied with the smaller cups from which it was
ordinarily drunk, after having been poured from the large
mixer.
chief ointments--that is, the most
costly: not for health or cleanliness, but wanton
luxury.
not grieved for the affliction of
Joseph--literally, "the breach," that is, the
national wound or calamity (
Ps 60:2; Eze 34:4) of the house of Joseph (
Am 5:6); resembling in this the heartlessness of their
forefathers, the sons of Jacob, towards Joseph,
"eating bread" while their brother lay in the
pit, and then selling him to Ishmaelites.
7. Therefore . . . shall they go captive with the
first--As they were first among the people in rank (
Am 6:1), and anointed themselves "with the chief
ointments" (
Am 6:6), so shall they be among the foremost in going
into captivity.
banquet--literally, the
"merry-making shout of revellers"; from an
Arabic root, "to cry out." In the Hebrew,
marzeach; here, there is an allusion to mizraqu,
"bowls" (
Am 6:6).
them that stretched themselves--on
luxurious couches (
Am 6:4).
8. the excellency of Jacob-- (
Ps 47:4). The sanctuary which was the great
glory of the covenant-people [VATABLUS], (
Eze 24:21). The priesthood, and kingdom, and dignity,
conferred on them by God. These, saith God, are of no
account in My eyes towards averting punishment
[CALVIN].
hate his palaces--as being the
storehouses of "robbery" (
Am 3:10, 15). How sad a change from God's
love of Zion's gates (
Ps 87:2) and palaces (
Ps 48:3, 13), owing to the people's sin!
the city--collectively: both Zion and
Samaria (
Am 6:1).
all that is therein--literally,
"its fulness"; the multitude of men and of
riches in it (compare
Ps 24:1).
9. If as many as ten ( Le 26:26; Zec 8:23) remain in a house (a rare case, and only in the scattered villages, as there will be scarcely a house in which the enemy will leave any), they shall all, to a man, die of the plague, a frequent concomitant of war in the East ( Jer 24:10; 44:13; Eze 6:11).
10. a man's uncle--The nearest relatives had the duty
of burying the dead (
Ge 25:9; 35:29; Jud 16:31). No nearer relative was left
of this man than an uncle.
and he that burneth him--the uncle,
who is also at the same time the one that burneth
him (one of the "ten,"
Am 6:9). Burial was the usual Hebrew mode of disposing
of their dead. But in cases of necessity, as when the men
of Jabesh-gilead took the bodies of Saul and his three sons
from the walls of Beth-shan and burned them to save them
from being insulted by the Philistines, burning was
practised. So in this case, to prevent contagion.
the bones--that is, the dead
body (
Ge 50:25). Perhaps here there is an allusion in the
phrase to the emaciated condition of the body, which
was little else but skin and bones.
say unto him that is by the sides of
the house--that is, to the only one left of the ten in
the interior of the house [MAURER] (compare
Note, see on Isa
14:13).
Hold thy tongue . . . we may
not . . . mention . . . the Lord--After
receiving the reply, that none is left besides the one
addressed, when the man outside fancies the man still
surviving inside to be on the point, as was customary, of
expressing devout gratitude to God who spared him, the man
outside interrupts him, "Hold thy tongue! for there is
not now cause for mentioning with praise (
Jos 23:7) the name of Jehovah"; for thou
also must die; as all the ten are to die to the last man
(
Am 6:9; compare
Am 8:3). Formerly ye boasted in the name of Jehovah, as
if ye were His peculiar people; now ye shall be silent and
shudder at His name, as hostile to you, and as one from
whom ye wish to be hidden (
Re 6:16), [CALVIN].
11. commandeth, and he will smite--His word of command,
when once given, cannot but be fulfilled (
Isa 55:11). His mere word is enough to smite with
destruction.
great house . . . little
house--He will spare none, great or small (
Am 3:15). JEROME interprets "the great house"
as Israel, and "the small house" as Judah: the
former being reduced to branches or ruins, literally,
"small drops"; the latter, though injured with
"clefts" or rents, which threaten its fall, yet
still permitted to stand.
12. In turning "judgment (justice) into gall (poison), and . . . righteousness into hemlock" (or wormwood, bitter and noxious), ye act as perversely as if one were to make "horses run upon the rock" or to "plough with oxen there" [MAURER]. As horses and oxen are useless on a rock, so ye are incapable of fulfilling justice [GROTIUS]. Ye impede the course of God's benefits, because ye are as it were a hard rock on which His favor cannot run. "Those that will not be tilled as fields, shall be abandoned as rocks" [CALVIN].
13. rejoice in a thing of naught--that is, in your vain and
fleeting riches.
Have we not taken to us horns--that
is, acquired power, so as to conquer our neighbors (
2Ki 14:25). Horns are the Hebrew symbol of
power, being the instrument of strength in many animals
(
Ps 75:10).
14. from the entering in of Hamath--the point of entrance
for an invading army (as Assyria) into Israel from the
north; specified here, as Hamath had been just before
subjugated by Jeroboam II (
Am 6:2). Do not glory in your recently acquired city,
for it shall be the starting-point for the foe to afflict
you. How sad the contrast to the feast of Solomon attended
by a congregation from this same Hamath, the
most northern boundary of Israel, to the Nile, the
river of Egypt, the most southern boundary!
unto the river of the wilderness--that
is, to Kedron, which empties itself into the north bay of
the Dead Sea below Jericho (
2Ch 28:15), the southern boundary of the ten tribes (
2Ki 14:25, "from the entering of Hamath unto the
sea of the plain") [M AURER]. To the river
Nile, which skirts the Arabian wilderness and separates
Egypt from Canaan [G ROTIUS]. If this verse includes Judah,
as well as Israel (compare
Am 6:1, "Zion" and "Samaria"),
GROTIUS' view is correct; and it agrees with
1Ki 8:65.
Am. 7:1-9. The seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters contain VISIONS, WITH THEIR EXPLANATIONS. The seventh chapter consists of two parts. First ( Am 7:1-9): PROPHECIES ILLUSTRATED BY THREE SYMBOLS: (1) A vision of grasshoppers or young locusts, which devour the grass, but are removed at Amos' entreaty; (2) Fire drying up even the deep, and withering part of the land, but removed at Amos' entreaty; (3) A plumb-line to mark the buildings for destruction. Secondly ( Am 7:10-17): NARRATIVE OF AMAZIAH'S INTERRUPTION OF AMOS IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE FOREGOING PROPHECIES, AND PREDICTION OF HIS DOOM.
1. showed . . . me; and, behold--The same formula
prefaces the three visions in this chapter, and the fourth
in
Am 8:1.
grasshoppers--rather,
"locusts" in the caterpillar state, from a
Hebrew root, "to creep forth." In the autumn
the eggs are deposited in the earth; in the spring the
young come forth [MAURER].
the latter growth--namely, of grass,
which comes up after the mowing. They do not in the East
mow their grass and make hay of it, but cut it off the
ground as they require it.
the king's mowings--the
first-fruits of the mown grass, tyrannically exacted by the
king from the people. The literal locusts, as in Joel, are
probably symbols of human foes: thus the "growth"
of grass "after the king's mowings" will mean
the political revival of Israel under Jeroboam II (
2Ki 14:25), after it had been mown down, as it were, by
Hazael and Ben-hadad of Syria (
2Ki 13:3), [GROTIUS].
2. by whom shall Jacob arise?--If Thou, O God, dost not
spare, how can Jacob maintain his ground, reduced as
he is by repeated attacks of the Assyrians, and erelong
about to be invaded by the Assyrian Pul (
2Ki 15:19, 20)? Compare
Isa 51:19. The mention of "Jacob" is a plea
that God should "remember for them His covenant"
with their forefather, the patriarch (
Ps 106:45).
he is small--reduced in numbers and in
strength.
3. repented for this--that is, of this. The change was not
in the mind of God (
Nu 2:19; Jas 1:17), but in the effect outwardly. God
unchangeably does what is just; it is just that He should
hear intercessory prayer (
Jas 5:16-18), as it would have been just for Him to
have let judgment take its course at once on the guilty
nation, but for the prayer of one or two righteous men in
it (compare
Ge 18:23-33; 1Sa 15:11; Jer 42:10). The repentance of
the sinner, and God's regard to His own attributes of
mercy and covenanted love, also cause God outwardly to deal
with him as if he repented (
Jon 3:10), whereas the change in outward dealing is in
strictest harmony with God's own
unchangeableness.
It shall not be--Israel's utter
overthrow now. Pul was influenced by God to accept money
and withdraw from Israel.
4. called to contend--that is, with Israel judicially (
Job 9:3; Isa 66:16; Eze 38:22). He ordered to come at
His call the infliction of punishment by "fire"
on Israel, that is, drought (compare
Am 4:6-11), [MAURER]. Rather, war (
Nu 21:28), namely, Tiglath-pileser [GROTIUS].
devoured the . . .
deep--that is, a great part of Israel, whom he carried
away. Waters are the symbol for many people
(
Re 17:15).
did eat up a part--namely, all the
land (compare
Am 4:7) of Israel east of Jordan (
1Ch 5:26; Isa 9:1). This was a worse judgment than the
previous one: the locusts ate up the grass: the fire not
only affects the surface of the ground, but burns up the
very roots and reaches even to the deep.
7. wall made by a plumb-line--namely, perpendicular.
8. plumb-line in . . . midst of . . .
Israel--No longer are the symbols, as in the former two,
stated generally; this one is expressly applied to Israel.
God's long-suffering is worn out by Israel's
perversity: so Amos ceases to intercede (compare
Ge 18:33). The plummet line was used not only in
building, but in destroying houses (
2Ki 21:13; Isa 28:17; 34:11; La 2:8). It denotes that
God's judgments are measured out by the most exact
rules of justice. Here it is placed "in the
midst" of Israel, that is, the judgment is not to be
confined to an outer part of Israel, as by Tiglath-pileser;
it is to reach the very center. This was fulfilled when
Shalmaneser, after a three years' siege of Samaria,
took it and carried away Israel captive finally to Assyria
(
2Ki 17:3, 5, 6, 23).
not . . . pass by
. . . any more--not forgive them any more (
Am 8:2; Pr 19:11; Mic 7:18).
9. high places--dedicated to idols.
of Isaac--They boasted of their
following the example of their forefather Isaac, in
erecting high places at Beer-sheba (
Am 5:5; compare
Ge 26:23, 24; 46:1); but he and Abraham erected them
before the temple was appointed at Jerusalem--and to God;
whereas they did so, after the temple had been fixed as the
only place for sacrifices--and to idols. In the
Hebrew here "Isaac" is written with s,
instead of the usual ts; both forms mean
"laughter"; the change of spelling perhaps
expresses that their "high places of Isaac" may
be well so called, but not as they meant by the name; for
they are only fit to be laughed at in scorn.
Probably, however, the mention of "Isaac" and
"Israel" simply expresses that these names, which
their degenerate posterity boasted in as if ensuring their
safety, will not save them and their idolatrous
"sanctuaries" on which they depended from ruin
(compare
Am 8:14).
house of Jeroboam with . . .
sword--fulfilled in the extinction of Zachariah, son of
Jeroboam II, the last of the descendants of Jeroboam I, who
had originated the idolatry of the calves (
2Ki 15:8-10).
Am. 7:10-17. AMAZIAH'S CHARGE AGAINST AMOS: HIS DOOM FORETOLD.
10. priest of Beth-el--chief priest of the royal sanctuary
to the calves at Beth-el. These being a device of state
policy to keep Israel separate from Judah. Amaziah
construes Amos words against them as treason. So in the
case of Elijah and Jeremiah (
1Ki 18:17; Jer 37:13, 14). So the antitype Jesus was
charged (
Joh 19:12); political expediency being made in all ages
the pretext for dishonoring God and persecuting His
servants (
Joh 11:48-50). So in the case of Paul (
Ac 17:6, 7; 24:5).
in the midst of . . .
Israel--probably alluding to Amos' own words, "in
the midst of . . . Israel" (
Am 7:8), foretelling the state's overthrow to
the very center. Not secretly, or in a corner, but
openly, in the very center of the state, so as to
upset the whole utterly.
land is not able to bear all his
words--They are so many and so intolerable. A sedition will
be the result. The mention of his being "priest of
Beth-el" implies that it was for his own priestly
gain, not for the king or state, he was so keen.
11. Jeroboam shall die, &c.--Amos had not said this: but that "the house of Jeroboam" should fall "with the sword" ( Am 7:9). But Amaziah exaggerates the charge, to excite Jeroboam against him. The king, however, did not give ear to Amaziah, probably from religious awe of the prophet of Jehovah.
12. Also--Besides informing the king against Amos, lest
that course should fail, as it did, Amaziah urges the
troublesome prophet himself to go back to his own land
Judah, pretending to advise him in friendliness.
seer--said contemptuously in reference
to Amos' visions which precede.
there eat bread--You can earn a
livelihood there, whereas remaining here you will be
ruined. He judges of Amos by his own selfishness, as if
regard to one's own safety and livelihood are the
paramount considerations. So the false prophets (
Eze 13:19) were ready to say whatever pleased their
hearers, however false, for "handfuls of barley and
pieces of bread."
13. prophesy not again-- (
Am 2:12).
at Beth-el--Amaziah wants to be let
alone at least in his own residence.
the king's chapel--Beth-el was
preferred by the king to Dan, the other seat of the
calf-worship, as being nearer Samaria, the capital, and as
hallowed by Jacob of old (
Ge 28:16, 19; 35:6, 7). He argues by implication
against Amos' presumption, as a private man, in
speaking against the worship sanctioned by the king, and
that in the very place consecrated to it for the king's
own devotions.
king's court--that is, residence:
the seat of empire, where the king holds his court, and
which thou oughtest to have reverenced. Samaria was the
usual king's residence: but for the convenience of
attending the calf-worship, a royal palace was at Beth-el
also.
14. I was no prophet--in answer to Amaziah's
insinuation (
Am 7:12), that he discharged the prophetical office to
earn his "bread" (like Israel's mercenary
prophets). So far from being rewarded, Jehovah's
prophets had to expect imprisonment and even death as the
result of their prophesying in Samaria or Israel: whereas
the prophets of Baal were maintained at the king's
expense (compare
1Ki 18:19). I was not, says Amos, of the order of
prophets, or educated in their schools, and deriving a
livelihood from exercising the public functions of a
prophet. I am a shepherd (compare
Am 7:15, "flock"; the Hebrew for
"herdsman" includes the meaning, shepherd,
compare
Am 1:1) in humble position, who did not even think of
prophesying among you, until a divine call impelled me to
it.
prophet's son--that is, disciple.
Schools of prophets are mentioned first in First Samuel; in
these youths were educated to serve the theocracy as public
instructors. Only in the kingdom of the ten tribes is the
continuance of the schools of the prophets mentioned. They
were missionary stations near the chief seats of
superstition in Israel, and associations endowed with the
Spirit of God; none were admitted but those to whom the
Spirit had been previously imparted. Their spiritual
fathers travelled about to visit the training schools, and
cared for the members and even their widows (
2Ki 4:1, 2). The pupils had their common board in them,
and after leaving them still continued members. The
offerings which in Judah were given by the pious to the
Levites, in Israel went to the schools of the prophets (
2Ki 4:42). Prophecy (for example, Elijah and Elisha) in
Israel was more connected with extraordinary events than in
Judah, inasmuch as, in the absence of the legal hierarchy
of the latter, it needed to have more palpable divine
sanction.
sycamore--abounding in Palestine. The
fruit was like the fig, but inferior; according to PLINY, a
sort of compound, as the name expresses, of the fig and the
mulberry. It was only eaten by the poorest (compare
1Ki 10:27).
gatherer--one occupied with their
cultivation [MAURER]. To cultivate it, an incision was made
in the fruit when of a certain size, and on the fourth day
afterwards it ripened [PLINY, Natural History,
13.7,14]. GROTIUS from JEROME says, if it be not plucked
off and "gathered" (which favors English
Version), it is spoiled by gnats.
15. took me as I followed the flock--So David was taken (
2Sa 7:8; Ps 78:70, 71). Messiah is the antitypical
Shepherd (
Ps 23:1-6; Joh 10:1-18).
unto my people--"against"
[MAURER]; so
Am 7:16. Jehovah claims them still as His by
right, though slighting His authority. God would recover
them to His service by the prophet's ministry.
16. drop--distil as the refreshing drops of rain ( De 32:2; Eze 21:2; compare Mic 2:6, 11).
17. Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city--that is, shall
be forced by the enemy, while thou art looking on, unable
to prevent her dishonor (
Isa 13:16; La 5:11). The words, "saith THE LORD
are in striking opposition to "Thou
sayest" (
Am 7:16).
divided by line--among the foe.
a polluted land--Israel regarded every
foreign land as that which really her own land was now,
"polluted" (
Isa 24:5; Jer 2:7).
Am 8:1-14. VISION OF A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT SYMBOLICAL, OF ISRAEL'S END. RESUMING THE SERIES OF SYMBOLS INTERRUPTED BY AMAZIAH, AMOS ADDS A FOURTH. THE AVARICE OF THE OPPRESSORS OF THE POOR: THE OVERTHROW OF THE NATION: THE WISH FOR THE MEANS OF RELIGIOUS COUNSEL, WHEN THERE SHALL BE A FAMINE OF THE WORD.
1. summer fruit--Hebrew, kitz. In Am 8:2 "end" is in Hebrew, keetz. The similarity of sounds implies that, as the summer is the end of the year and the time of the ripeness of fruits, so Israel is ripe for her last punishment, ending her national existence. As the fruit is plucked when ripe from the tree, so Israel from her land.
2. end-- ( Eze 7:2, 6).
3. songs of . . . temple-- (
Am 5:23). The joyous hymns in the temple of Judah (or
rather, in the Beth-el "royal temple,"
Am 7:13; for the allusion is to Israel, not
Judah, throughout this chapter) shall be changed into
"howlings." GROTIUS translates,
"palace"; compare
Am 6:5, as to the songs there. But
Am 5:23, and Am 7:13, favor English
Version.
they shall cast them forth with
silence--not as the Margin, "be silent."
It is an adverb, "silently." There shall be such
great slaughter as even to prevent the bodies being buried
[C ALVIN]. There shall be none of the usual professional
mourners (
Am 5:16), but the bodies will be cast out in silence.
Perhaps also is meant that terror, both of God (compare
Am 6:10) and of the foe, shall close their lips.
4. Hear--The nobles needed to be urged thus, as hating to
hear reproof.
swallow up the needy--or, "gape
after," that is, pant for their goods; so the word is
used,
Job 7:2, Margin.
to make the poor . . . to
fail--"that they (themselves) may be placed alone in
the midst of the earth" (
Isa 5:8).
5. So greedy are they of unjust gain that they cannot spare
a single day, however sacred, from pursuing it. They are
strangers to God and enemies to themselves, who love market
days better than sabbath days; and they who have lost piety
will not long keep honesty. The new moons (
Nu 10:10) and sabbaths were to be kept without working
or trading (
Ne 10:31).
set forth wheat--literally, "open
out" stores of wheat for sale.
ephah--containing three seahs, or
above three pecks.
making . . . small--making
it below the just weight to purchasers.
shekel great--taking from purchasers a
greater weight of money than was due. Shekels used to be
weighed out in payments (
Ge 23:16). Thus they committed a double fraud against
the law (
De 25:13, 14).
6. buy . . . poor for silver . . . pair
of shoes--that is, that we may compel the needy for money,
or any other thing of however little worth, to sell
themselves to us as bondmen, in defiance of
Le 25:39; the very thing which brings down God's
judgment (
Am 2:6).
sell the refuse of . . .
wheat--which contains no nutriment, but which the poor eat
at a low price, being unable to pay for flour.
7. Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob--that is, by
Himself, in whom Jacob's seed glory [MAURER]. Rather,
by the spiritual privileges of Israel, the adoption as His
peculiar people [CALVIN], the temple, and its Shekinah
symbol of His presence. Compare
Am 6:8, where it means Jehovah's temple
(compare
Am 4:2).
never forget--not pass by
without punishing (
Am 8:2; Ho 8:13; 9:9).
8. the land . . . rise up wholly as a flood--The
land will, as it were, be wholly turned into a flooding
river (a flood being the image of overwhelming calamity,
Da 9:26).
cast out and drowned, &c.--swept
away and overwhelmed, as the land adjoining the Nile is by
it, when flooding (
Am 9:5). The Nile rises generally twenty feet. The
waters then "cast out" mire and dirt (
Isa 57:20).
9. "Darkness" made to rise "at noon" is the emblem of great calamities ( Jer 15:9; Eze 32:7-10).
10. baldness--a sign of mourning (
Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37; Eze 7:18).
I will make it as . . .
mourning of an only son--"it," that is, "the
earth" (
Am 8:9). I will reduce the land to such a state that
there shall be the same occasion for mourning as when
parents mourn for an only son (
Jer 6:26; Zec 12:10).
11. famine of . . . hearing the words of the Lord--a just retribution on those who now will not hear the Lord's prophets, nay even try to drive them away, as Amaziah did ( Am 7:12); they shall look in vain, in their distress, for divine counsel, such as the prophets now offer ( Eze 7:26; Mic 3:7). Compare as to the Jews' rejection of Messiah, and their consequent rejection by Him ( Mt 21:43); and their desire for Messiah too late ( Lu 17:22; Joh 7:34; 8:21). So, the prodigal when he had sojourned awhile in the "far-off country, began to be in want" in the "mighty famine" which arose ( Lu 15:14; compare 1Sa 3:1; 7:2). It is remarkable that the Jews' religion is almost the only one that could be abolished against the will of the people themselves, on account of its being dependent on a particular place, namely, the temple. When that was destroyed, the Mosaic ritual, which could not exist without it, necessarily ceased. Providence designed it, that, as the law gave way to the Gospel, so all men should perceive it was so, in spite of the Jews' obstinate rejection of the Gospel.
12. they shall wander from sea to sea--that is, from the
Dead Sea to the Mediterranean, from east to west.
from . . . north
. . . to . . . east--where we might
expect "from north to south." But so alienated
was Israel from Judah, that no Israelite even then would
think of repairing southward, that is, to Jerusalem
for religious information. The circuit is traced as in
Nu 34:3, &c., except that the south is omitted.
Their "seeking the word of the Lord" would not be
from a sincere desire to obey God, but under the pressure
of punishment.
13. faint for thirst--namely, thirst for hearing the words of the Lord, being destitute of all other comfort. If even the young and strong faint, how much more the infirm ( Isa 40:30, 31)!
14. swear by the sin of Samaria--namely, the calves (
De 9:21; Ho 4:15). "Swear by" means to
worship (
Ps 63:11).
The manner--that is, as "the
way" is used (
Ps 139:24; Ac 9:2), the mode of worship.
Thy god, O Dan--the other golden calf
at Dan (
1Ki 22:26-30).
liveth . . . liveth--rather,
"May thy god . . . live . . . may
the manner . . . live." Or, "As (surely
as) thy god, O Dan, liveth." This is their formula
when they swear; not "May Jehovah live!" or,
"As Jehovah liveth!"
Am 9:1-15. FIFTH AND LAST VISION.
None can escape the coming judgment in any hiding-place: for God is omnipresent and irresistible ( Am 9:1-6). As a kingdom, Israel shall perish as if it never was in covenant with Him: but as individuals the house of Jacob shall not utterly perish, nay, not one of the least of the righteous shall fall, but only all the sinners ( Am 9:7-10). Restoration of the Jews finally to their own land after the re-establishment of the fallen tabernacle of David; consequent conversion of all the heathen ( Am 9:11-15).
1. Lord . . . upon the altar--namely, in the
idolatrous temple at Beth-el; the calves which were spoken
of in
Am 8:14. Hither they would flee for protection from the
Assyrians, and would perish in the ruins, with the vain
object of their trust [H ENDERSON]. Jehovah stands here to
direct the destruction of it, them, and the idolatrous
nation. He demands many victims on the altar, but they are
to be human victims. CALVIN and FAIRBAIRN, and others, make
it in the temple at Jerusalem. Judgment was to
descend both on Israel and Judah. As the services of both
alike ought to have been offered on the Jerusalem
temple-altar, it is there that Jehovah ideally stands, as
if the whole people were assembled there, their
abominations lying unpardoned there, and crying for
vengeance, though in fact committed elsewhere (compare
Eze 8:1-18). This view harmonizes with the similarity
of the vision in Amos to that in
Isa 6:1-13, at Jerusalem. Also with the end of
this chapter (
Am 9:11-15), which applies both to Judah and
Israel: "the tabernacle of David," namely, at
Jerusalem. His attitude, "standing," implies
fixity of purpose.
lintel--rather, the sphere-like
capital of the column [MAURER].
posts--rather, "thresholds,"
as in
Isa 6:4, Margin. The temple is to be smitten
below as well as above, to ensure utter destruction.
cut them in the head--namely, with the
broken fragments of the capitals and columns (compare
Ps 68:21; Hab 3:13).
slay the last of them--their posterity
[HENDERSON]. The survivors [MAURER]. Jehovah's
directions are addressed to His angels, ministers of
judgment (compare
Eze 9:1-11).
he that fleeth . . . shall
not flee away--He who fancies himself safe and out of reach
of the enemy shall be taken (
Am 2:14).
2. Though they dig into hell--though they hide ever so
deeply in the earth (
Ps 139:8).
though they climb up to heaven--though
they ascend the greatest heights (
Job 20:6, 7; Jer 51:53; Ob 4).
3. Carmel--where the forests, and, on the west side, the
caves, furnished hiding-places (
Am 1:2; Jud 6:2; 1Sa 13:6).
the sea--the Mediterranean, which
flows at the foot of Mount Carmel; forming a strong
antithesis to it.
command the serpent--the sea-serpent,
a term used for any great water monster (
Isa 27:1). The symbol of cruel and oppressive
kings (
Ps 74:13, 14).
4. though they go into captivity--hoping to save their lives by voluntarily surrendering to the foe.
5. As Amos had threatened that nowhere should the Israelites be safe from the divine judgments, he here shows God's omnipotent ability to execute His threats. So in the case of the threat in Am 8:8, God is here stated to be the first cause of the mourning of "all that dwell" in the land, and of its rising "like a flood, and of its being "drowned, as by the flood of Egypt."
6. stories--literally, "ascents," that is, upper
chambers, to which the ascent is by steps [MAURER];
evidently referring to the words in
Ps 104:3, 13. GROTIUS explains it, God's royal
throne, expressed in language drawn from Solomon's
throne, to which the ascent was by steps (compare
1Ki 10:18, 19).
founded his troop--namely, all animate
creatures, which are God's troop, or host
(
Ge 2:1), doing His will (
Ps 103:20, 21; Joe 2:11). MAURER translates, "His
vault," that is, the vaulted sky, which seems
to rest on the earth supported by the horizon.
7. unto me--however great ye seem to yourselves. Do not rely on past privileges, and on My having delivered you from Egypt, as if therefore I never would remove you from Canaan. I make no more account of you than of "the Ethiopian" (compare Jer 13:23). "Have not I (who) brought you out of Egypt," done as much for other peoples? For instance, did I not bring "the Philistines (see on Isa 14:29, &c.) from Caphtor (compare De 2:23; see on Jer 47:4), where they had been bond-servants, and the Syrians from Kir?" It is appropriate, that as the Syrians migrated into Syria from Kir (compare Note, see on Isa 22:6), so they should be carried back captive into the same land (see on Am 1:15; 2Ki 16:9), just as elsewhere Israel is threatened with a return to Egypt whence they had been delivered. The "Ethiopians," Hebrew, "Cushites," were originally akin to the race that founded Babylon: the cuneiform inscriptions in this confirming independently the Scripture statement ( Ge 10:6, 8, 10).
8. eyes . . . upon the sinful kingdom--that is, I
am watching all its sinful course in order to punish it
(compare
Am 9:4; Ps 34:15, 16).
not utterly destroy the house of
Jacob--Though as a "kingdom" the nation is now
utterly to perish, a remnant is to be spared for
"Jacob," their forefather's sake (compare
Jer 30:11); to fulfil the covenant whereby "the
seed of Israel" is hereafter to be "a nation for
ever" (
Jer 31:36).
9. sift--I will cause the Israelites to be tossed about through all nations as corn is shaken about in a sieve, in such a way, however, that while the chaff and dust (the wicked) fall through (perish), all the solid grains (the godly elect) remain (are preserved), ( Ro 11:26; compare Note, see on Jer 3:14). So spiritual Israel's final safety is ensured ( Lu 22:32; Joh 10:28; 6:39).
10. All the sinners--answering to the chaff in the image in
Am 9:9, which falls on the earth, in opposition
"to the grain" that does not
"fall."
overtake . . .
us--"come on us from behind" [MAURER].
11. In that day--quoted by James (
Ac 15:16, 17), "After this," that is, in the
dispensation of Messiah (
Ge 49:10; Ho 3:4, 5; Joe 2:28; 3:1).
tabernacle of David--not "the
house of David," which is used of his affairs when
prospering (
2Sa 3:1), but the tent or booth,
expressing the low condition to which his kingdom and
family had fallen in Amos' time, and subsequently at
the Babylonian captivity before the restoration; and
secondarily, in the last days preceding Israel's
restoration under Messiah, the antitype to David (
Ps 102:13, 14; Jer 30:9; Eze 34:24; 37:24; see on Isa 12:1). The type is taken
from architecture (
Eph 2:20). The restoration under Zerubbabel can only be
a partial, temporary fulfilment; for it did not include
Israel, which nation is the main subject of Amos'
prophecies, but only Judah; also Zerubbabel's kingdom
was not independent and settled; also all the prophets end
their prophecies with Messiah, whose advent is the cure of
all previous disorders. "Tabernacle" is
appropriate to Him, as His human nature is the tabernacle
which He assumed in becoming Immanuel, "God with
us" (
Joh 1:14). "Dwelt," literally,
tabernacled "among us" (compare
Re 21:3). Some understand "the tabernacle of
David" as that which David pitched for the ark in
Zion, after bringing it from Obed-edom's house. It
remained there all his reign for thirty years, till the
temple of Solomon was built, whereas the "tabernacle
of the congregation" remained at Gibeon (
2Ch 1:3), where the priests ministered in sacrifices
(
1Ch 16:39). Song and praise was the service of
David's attendants before the ark (Asaph, &c.): a
type of the gospel separation between the sacrificial
service (Messiah's priesthood now in
heaven) and the access of believers on earth to
the presence of God, apart from the former (compare
2Sa 6:12-17; 1Ch 16:37-39; 2Ch 1:3).
breaches thereof--literally, "of
them," that is, of the whole nation, Israel as
well as Judah.
as in . . . days of old--as
it was formerly in the days of David and Solomon, when the
kingdom was in its full extent and undivided.
12. That they may possess . . . remnant of Edom,
and of all the heathen--"Edom," the bitter foe,
though the brother, of Israel; therefore to be punished (
Am 1:11, 12), Israel shall be lord of the
"remnant" of Edom left after the punishment of
the latter. James quotes it, "That the residue of
men might seek after the Lord, and all the
Gentiles," &c. For "all the heathen"
nations stand on the same footing as Edom: Edom is
the representative of them all. The residue or
remnant in both cases expresses those left after great
antecedent calamities (
Ro 9:27; Zec 14:16). Here the conversion of
"all nations" (of which the earnest was
given in James's time) is represented as only to be
realized on the re-establishment of the theocracy under
Messiah, the Heir of the throne of David (
Am 9:11). The possession of the heathen nations by
Israel is to be spiritual, the latter being the ministers
to the former for their conversion to Messiah, King of the
Jews; just as the first conversions of pagans were through
the ministry of the apostles, who were Jews. Compare
Isa 54:3, "thy seed shall inherit the
Gentiles" (compare
Isa 49:8; Ro 4:13). A remnant of Edom became Jews under
John Hyrcanus, and the rest amalgamated with the Arabians,
who became Christians subsequently.
which are called by my name--that is,
who belong to Me, whom I claim as Mine (
Ps 2:8); in the purposes of electing grace, God terms
them already called by His name. Compare the title,
"the children," applied by anticipation,
Heb 2:14. Hence as an act of sovereign grace,
fulfilling His promise, it is spoken of God. Proclaim His
title as sovereign, "the Lord that doeth this"
("all these things,"
Ac 15:17, namely, all these and such like acts of
sovereign love).
13. the days come--at the future restoration of the Jews to
their own land.
ploughman shall overtake
. . . reaper . . . treader of grapes
him that soweth--fulfilling
Le 26:5. Such shall be the abundance that the harvest
and vintage can hardly be gathered before the time for
preparing for the next crop shall come. Instead of the
greater part of the year being spent in war, the whole
shall be spent in sowing and reaping the fruits of earth.
Compare
Isa 65:21-23, as to the same period.
soweth seed--literally, "draweth
it forth," namely, from the sack in order to sow
it.
mountains . . . drop sweet
wine--an appropriate image, as the vines in Palestine were
trained on terraces at the sides of the hills.
14. build the waste cities-- ( Isa 61:4; Eze 36:33-36).
15. plant them . . . no more be pulled up-- (
Jer 32:41).
thy God--Israel's; this is the
ground of their restoration, God's original choice of
them as His.