Amos 2:7

That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: THAT PANT AFTER THE DUST OF THE EARTH ON THE HEAD OF THE POOR - i:e., they eagerly thirst for (so "pant" means to 'hasten,' margin, ) this object, namely, by their oppression to prostrate the poor, so as to cast the dust of the earth on their heads in mourning; or, they eagerly try to tread down on the earth, and sprinkle with the dust of their feet, the head of the poor (Mercer): or these creditors grudge to the poor debtor even the dust which, as a mourner, he strewed on his head, since it too was earth (Pusey). I prefer the first view as simplest (cf. ;...

Here Amos charges them first with insatiable avarice; they panted for the heads of the poor on the dust of the earth. This place is in my judgment not well understood. שאף, _shaph, _means to pant and to breathe, and is taken often metaphorically as signifying to desire: hence some render the words, “They desire the heads of the poor to be in the dust of the earth;” that is, they are anxious to see the innocent cast down and prostrate on the ground. But there is no need of many words to refute this comment; for ye see that it is strained. Others say, that in their cupidity they cast down the miserable into the dust; they therefore think that a depraved cupidity is connected with violence, and they put the lust for the deed itself. But what need there is of having recourse to these extraneous meanings, when the words of the Prophet are in themselves plain and clear enough? He says that the...

1-8 The evil passions of the heart break out in various forms; but the Lord looks to our motives, as well as our conduct. Those that deal cruelly, shall be cruelly dealt with. Other nations were reckoned with for injuries done to men; Judah is reckoned with for dishonour done to God. Judah despised the law of the Lord; and he justly gave them up to strong delusion; nor was it any excuse for their sin, that they were the lies, the idols, after which their fathers walked. The worst abominations and most grievous oppressions have been committed by some of the professed worshippers of the Lord. Such conduct leads many to unbelief and vile idolatry....

Verse Amos 2:7. Amos 2:6....

THAT PANT AFTER THE DUST OF THE EARTH - Literally, “the panters!” with indignation. Not content with having rent from him the little hereditary property which belonged to each Israelite, these creditors grudged him even the “dust,” which, as a mourner, he strewed on his head Job 2:12, since it too was “earth.” Covetousness, when it has nothing to feed it, craves for what is absurd or impossible. What was Naboth’s vineyard to a king of Israel with his “ivory palace?” What was Mordecai’s refusal to bow to one in honor like Haman? What a trivial gain to a millionaire? The sarcasm of the prophet was the more piercing, because it was so true. People covet things in proportion, not to their worth, but to their worthlessness. No one covets what he much needs. Covetousness is the sin, mostly not of those who have not, but of those who have. It grows with its gains, is the less s

EXPOSITION AMOS 2:1 Judgment on Moab. AMOS 2:1 MOAB. The prophet now denounces the other nation connected by ties of blood with Israel (see on Amos 1:13). Moab's hostility had been shown in the hiring of Balsam to curse the Israelites, and in seducing them to idolatry (Nu 22-25:3). He was their oppressor in the time of the Judges (Judges 3:12); and David had to take most stringent measures against him (2 Samuel 8:2). The Moabites joined in a league against Jehoshaphat ...

THAT PANT AFTER THE DUST OF THE EARTH ON THE HEAD OF THE POOR,.... Either were greedy after money, the dust of the earth, and even that small portion of it the poor were possessed of; they could not be easy that they should enjoy that little of it they did, but were desirous to get it out of their hands by oppression and injustice: or they were eagerly desirous of throwing the poor upon the earth, and trampling upon them, and dragging them through the dust of it, thereby filling their heads and covering their faces with it; and caused them to put their mouths in the dust, and be humble suppliants to them. Some think there is an allusion to an ancient custom, which Joseph ben Gorion r speaks of, that a guilty person should stand before the judges, clad in black, and his head covered with dust; and this these judges desired here might be done by the rich, that the poor might be accused by...

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. Moab (Amos 2:1) _ 2. Judah (Amos 2:4) 3. Israel (Amos 2:6) Amos 2:1. So fierce was the hatred of Moab that they dishonored the bones of the king of Edom. “Moab burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime” (see 2 Kings 3:26). The fire or judgment came upon Moab and her glory, too, departed like the glory of the other nations. Amos 2:4. While the measure was full of these nations, who had heaped transgressions upon transgressions, Judah and Israel were

THE SIN AND DOOM OF ISRAEL. Suddenly the prophet turns and confronts Israel. The benighted heathen nations have sinned and must be punished. What of Israel, God's chosen people? Why, just because they have been chosen and more privileged, failure to act up to their responsibilities and privileges deserves greater condemnation! Of this failure the prophet proceeds to give typical examples, and announces a punishment more severe even than that of Israel's neighbours. The Israelites (Amos 2:6) sell as slaves honest, unimpeachable men who refuse to bribe their judges, and poor men who incur trifling debts to the value of a pair of sandals. They trample to the dust of the earth the head of the poor (Amos 2:7 *). The rich and powerful callously crush the poor, and obstruct or divert from its natural course the simple path of the hum

PANT. crush. Hebrew. _shaaph_, _A Homonymyn,_ meaning (1) to gasp or long for (Job 7:2; Job 36:20; Psalms 119:131.Ecclesiastes 1:5.Jeremiah 2:24; Jeremiah 2:24); (2) to crush (like _shuph_. n. Genesis 3:15 Rendered "swallow up" in Amos 8:4.