Amos 5:3

For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. THE CITY THAT WENT OUT BY A THOUSAND i:e., '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 . SHALL LEAVE AN HUNDRED - shall have only a hundred left, the rest being destroyed by sword and pestilence ()....

The Prophet now expresses more clearly what he had before said, — that the kingdom would perish and yet so that the Lord would preserve some remnants. Then as to the body of the people, Israel had fallen; but as to a few remnants they were saved; but they were a small numbers such as the Prophet mentions. We hence see that some hope of mercy was given to God’s chosen people, and that in the meantime destruction was denounced on the whole nation. We have already seen that their wickedness was past hope; it was therefore necessary to announce to them the sentence of final ruin; but it was so done, as not to drive to despair the faithful few, who remained hid among the multitude. _The city then, from which a thousand went forth, shall have a hundred remaining; and the city from which went forth a hundred, shall have ten. _Armies were wont formerly to be decimated, when any sedition had been...

1-6 The convincing, awakening word must be heard and heeded, as well as words of comfort and peace; for whether we hear or forbear, the word of God shall take effect. The Lord still proclaims mercy to men, but they often expect deliverance from such self-invented forms as make their condemnation sure. While they refuse to come to Christ and to seek mercy in and by him, that they may live, the fire of Divine wrath breaks forth upon them. Men may make an idol of the world, but will find it cannot protect....

Verse Amos 5:3. _THE CITY THAT WENT OUT BY A THOUSAND_] The city that could easily have furnished, on any emergency, a _thousand_ fighting men, can now produce scarcely one _hundred_-_one_ in _ten_ of the former number; and now of the _hundred_ scarcely _ten_ remain: so reduced was Israel when Shalmaneser besieged and took Samaria, and carried the residue into captivity....

THE CITY THAT WENT OUT BY A THOUSAND - (that is, probably that sent out a thousand fighting men, as the word “went out” is often used for, “went out” to fight,) “shall have” literally, “shall retain, an hundred.” She was to be decimated. Only, the tenth alone was to be reserved alive; the nine-tenths were to be destroyed. And this, alike in larger places and in the small. The city “that went forth an hundred shall retain ten.” Smaller places escape for their obscurity, the larger from their strength and situation. One common doom was to befall all. Out of all that multitude, one tithe alone was to he preserved , “dedicated to God,” that remnant which God always promised to reserve....

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-CH. 6:14 § 8. _Third address_:_ the prophet utters a lamentation over the fall of Israel_. (Amos 6:1.) He calls her to repentance, while he shows wherein she has declined from the right way. To make this plain, he contrasts God's power and majesty with the people's iniquity, instances of which he gives (Amos 6:4). The only condition of safety is amendment (Amo 6:13 -15); and as they refuse to reform, they shall have cause to lament (verses 16, 17). This threat is enforced by the two emphatic "woes" that follow, the first of which demonstrates the baselessness of their trust in their covenant relation to God (verses 18-27); the second denounces the careless lives of the chiefs, who, revelling in luxury, believed not in the coming judgment ...

FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... This is a reason why there were none to raise her up: since THE CITY THAT WENT OUT [BY] A THOUSAND SHALL LEAVE AN HUNDRED; that is, the city in which there were a thousand constantly going in and out; or which sent, caused to go out, or furnished, a thousand men upon occasion for war, had only a hundred persons left in it; or there remained but a hundred of the thousand they sent out, the rest being destroyed by one means or another: AND THAT WHICH WENT FORTH [BY] AN HUNDRED SHALL LEAVE TEN, TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL; where there were a hundred persons going out and coming in continually; or which sent out a hundred men to the army to fight their battles had now only ten remaining; to such a small number were they reduced all over the land, so that there were none, or not a number sufficient to raise up Israel to its former state and glory....

CHAPTER 5 The Third Discourse _ 1. The lamentation (Amos 5:1) _ 2. Seek the Lord and ye shall live (Amos 5:4) 3. The wailing (Amos 5:16) 4. The captivity announced (Amos 5:21) Amos 5:1. This chapter begins with a lamentation over the fallen daughter of Israel. “She shall no more rise” has been used as an argument against the future and literal restoration of Israel. The prophet has only the present government of God over that generation in view and does not deny at all a future rising as so abundantly predicted in the prophetic Word. “The

THE IMPENDING PUNISHMENT. The prophet gives his next few words the form of a dirge (_kî nah_,_ Amos 5:1_). This (Amos 5:2) is characterised by the peculiar _kî nah-metre_, consisting of three beats or stresses followed by two. In the prophetic vision Israel appears as already overthrown irretrievably. She lies forsaken on the ground, and nothing can raise her. How she has come to this pass is explained in the following verse (Amos 5:3). Her army is almost annihilated in war. This must inevitably happen if Israel will not take warning, but there is still time to seek Yahweh and live (Amos 5:4). Let the corrupt worship at Bethel and Beersheba be forsaken ...

THE LORD GOD. Hebrew. _Adonai Jehovah_. App-4. WENT OUT. goeth out [to war]. BY. THOUSAND. a thousand strong. Ref to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:30). App-92. BY AN HUNDRED. a hundred strong. TO. [belonging] to....