Amos 4:3

And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. AND YE SHALL GO OUT AT THE BREACHES - namely, of the city walls broken through by the enemy. EVERY COW AT THAT WHICH IS BEFORE HER - as a herd of cows go one after the other through a gap in a fence. Figure for, 'the once luxurious nobles (cf. , kine of Bashan) 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. The image happily represents the confusion with which one should hurry after another, reckless and desperate. Calves had been their object of worship; so like calves they had become in their sensual animal life, and like calves or cows they should flee in disorder through the breaches....

The Prophet expresses now, in different words, what would be the future calamity of that kingdom; but he still speaks of the rich and the chief men. For though he threatened also the common people and the multitude, it was not yet needful expressly to name them, inasmuch as when God fulminates against the chief men, terror ought surely to seize also the humbler classes. The Prophet then designedly directs his discourse still to the judges and the king’s counselors_, Ye shall go forth at the breaches, every one of you. _We see that he continues as yet the same mode of speaking, for he counts not those pompous and haughty masters as men, but still represents them as cows, “Every one”, that is, every cow, he says, _shall go forth through the breaches over against it. _We know how strictly the rich observe their own ranks and also how difficult it is to approach them. But the Prophet says he...

1-5 What is got by extortion is commonly used to provide for the flesh, and to fulfil the lusts thereof. What is got by oppression cannot be enjoyed with satisfaction. How miserable are those whose confidence in unscriptural observances only prove that they believe a lie! Let us see to it that our faith, hope, and worship, are warranted by the Divine word....

Verse Amos 4:3. _AND YE SHALL GO OUT AT THE BREACHES_] Probably the metaphor is here kept up. They shall be caught by the _hooks_, or by the _nets_; and though they may make _breaches_ in the latter by their flouncing when caught, they shall be taken out at these very breaches; and cast, not in the _palace_, but into a reservoir, to be kept awhile, and afterwards be taken out to be destroyed. _Samaria_ itself is the _net_; your adversaries shall besiege it, and make _breaches_ in its walls. At those _breaches_ ye shall endeavour to _make your escape_, but ye shall be _caught_ and led into _captivity_, where most of you shall be destroyed. See _Houbigant_ on this passage....

YE SHALL GO OUT THROUGH THE BREACHES - Samaria, the place of their ease and confidence, being broken through, they should go forth one by one, “each straight before her,” looking neither to the right nor to the left, as a herd of cows go one after the other through a gap in a fence. Help and hope have vanished, and they hurry pell-mell after one another, reckless and desperate, as the animals whose life of sense they had chosen. AND YE SHALL CAST THEM INTO THE PALACE - Or, better, (since nothing has been named which they could cast) “cast yourselves.” The word may describe the headlong motion of the animal, and the desperate gestures of the hopeless. They should cast themselves from palace to palace, from the palace of their luxuries to the palace of their enemies, from a self-chosen life of sensuousness to he concubines in the harem. If the rulers are still included, it was reserved for...

EXPOSITION AMOS 4:1 _§ 2. Second address. The prophet reproves the voluptuous women of Samaria, and fortells their captivity _(Amos 4:1);_ with bitter irony he describes the people's devotion to idolatry _(Amos 4:4, Amos 4:5):_ he shows how incorrigible they have proved themselves under God's chastisements _(Amos 4:6);_ therefore they must expect further punishment, if so be that they will learn to fear the Lord _(Amos 4:12,...

AND YE SHALL GO OUT AT THE BREACHES,.... Not at the gates of the city, as they had used to do at pleasure; but at the breaches of the walls of it, made by the enemy, in order to make their escape, if possible; they who had broke down the fences of law and justice, and injured the poor and needy, shall now have the walls of their city broken down and they themselves exposed to the most imminent danger, and glad to get out of them to save their lives: EVERY [COW] AT THAT [WHICH IS] BEFORE HER; every woman, as Jarchi and Kimchi; or every great person, compared to the kine of Bashan, shall make up as fast as he can to the breach before him, to get out; shall follow one another as quick as they can, and clamber on one another's backs, as such cattle do, to get out first; which shows the hurry and confusion they should be in, upon the taking of their city Samaria: AND YE SHALL CAST [THEM] IN...

CHAPTER 4 The Second Discourse _ 1. Divine threatening and irony (Amos 4:1) _ 2. Yet have ye not returned unto Me (Amos 4:6) 3. Prepare to meet thy God (Amos 4:12) Amos 4:1. The prophet addresses them as “kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria.” The cows of Bashan were noted for their sleek and well-fed condition, feeding on the choicest of pasture. The term is descriptive of Israel's prosperous condition as well as their beastly character. They were selfish and cruel, for they oppressed the poor and crushed the needy. It seems that women are mostly here in view, which explains the fact that the comparison is with

THE WOMEN OF SAMARIA. Like Isaiah (Isaiah 31:6), Amos turns to denounce the extravagant and wicked frivolity of the women of the upper classes. He is not necessarily charging them with responsibility for the sins of the men; from those to whom much has been given (by Divine favour) much is required. The idle and pampered women of Samaria are described as kine of Bashan (_cf_. Deuteronomy 32:14; Psalms 22:12), or, as we should say, prize cows. They gratify their fads and fancies at the expense of the poor, since extravagance always involves injustice. The prophet may not intend to charge them with drunkenness, but rather, as Ehrlich suggests, with inducing their husbands to rob and wrong their poor neighbours i

COW, i.e. woman. AT THAT WHICH IS BEFORE HER. each woman through the breach [in the wall of Samaria]. BEFORE HER i.e. without turning to the left or right. Compare Joshua 6:5; Joshua 6:20. YE SHALL CAST THEM INTO THE PALACE. Palace, Hebrew. _harmon_ (see note on Amos 1:4). Here it is _haharmonah,_ which forms the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6) with 'arman (Amos 3:11). The clause is to be interpreted by Amos 3:11; Amos 3:12, end...