Amos 9:3

And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: THOUGH THEY HIDE THEMSELVES IN THE TOP OF CARMEL - where the forests, and, on the west side, the numerous caves furnished hiding-places (; ; ). THOUGH THEY BE HID FROM MY SIGHT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA - though they hide themselves in the bottom of the Mediterranean, which flows at the foot of mount Carmel, forming a strong antithesis to it. THENCE WILL I COMMAND THE SERPENT, AND HE SHALL BITE THEM - the sea-serpent, a term used for any great water monster ...

Now as to what he says, _I will command the serpent to bite them, _some understand by נחש, _nuchesh, _not a serpent on hand, but the whale, or some other marine animal, as the leviathan, which is mentioned in Scripture; and we may learn from other parts of Scripture that “nachash” means not only a serpent, but also a whale or some animal living in the sea. In a word, God intimates, that he would be armed everywhere, whenever he should resolve to punish his adversaries, and that in all elements are means in readiness, by which he can destroy the wicked, who seek to escape from his hand....

1-10 The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cast down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which makes escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lord looks for evil, and not for good. The Lord would scatter the Jews, and visit them with calamities, as the corn is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, seems here foretold. If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves, shall find that their profess...

Verse Amos 9:3. _THOUGH THEY HIDE THEMSELVES_] All these are metaphorical expressions, to show the impossibility of escape....

He had contrasted heaven and hell, as places impossible for man to reach; as I David says, “If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there: If l make my bed in hell, behold Thee” Psalms 139:8. Now, of places in a manner accessible, he contrasts Mount Carmel, which rises abruptly out of the sea, with depths of that ocean which it overhangs. Carmel was in two ways a hiding place. 1) Through its caves (some say 1,000 , some 2,000) with which it is perforated, whose entrance sometimes scarcely admits a single man; so close to each other, that a pursuer would not discern into which the fugitive had vanished; so serpentine within, that, “10 steps apart,” says a traveler , “we could hear each others’ voices, but could not see each other.” : “Carmel is perforated by a hundredfold greater or lesser clefts. Even in the garb of loveliness and richnes

EXPOSITION AMOS 9:1 § 6_. The fifth vision displays the Lord standing by the altar and _commanding the destruction of the temple (Amos 9:1). No one shall escape this judgment, flee whither he will (Amos 9:2); for God is Almighty (Amos 9:5, Amos 9:6). Their election shall not save the guilty Israelites; still they shall not be utterly destroyed (Amos 9:7). AMOS 9:1...

AND THOUGH THEY HIDE THEMSELVES IN THE TOP OF CARMEL,.... One of the highest mountains in the land of Israel; in the woods upon it, and caves in it: I WILL SEARCH AND TAKE THEM OUT FROM THENCE: by directing their enemies where to find them: so the Targum, "if they think to be hid in the tops of the towers of castles, thither will I command the searchers, and they shall search them:'' AND THOUGH THEY BE HID FROM MY SIGHT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA; get into ships, going by sea to distant parts; or make their escape to isles upon the sea afar off, where they may think themselves safe: THENCE WILL I COMMAND THE SERPENT, AND HE SHALL BITE THEM; the dragon that is in the sea, Isaiah 27:1; the great whale in the sea, or the leviathan, so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; and is that kind of whale which is called the "Zygaena", as

CHAPTER 9 The Passing of a Kingdom and the Coming of the Kingdom _ 1. The fifth vision: The passing of a kingdom (Amos 9:1) _ 2. The coming of the kingdom (Amos 9:11) Amos 9:1. In his fifth vision the prophet saw the Lord standing by the altar. He utters His word. The description of what is to take place is very vivid. He stands by the altar and the people are assembled before Him. He smites the lintel of the door, so that everything trembles and the building falls upon them, cutting all of them in the head and none can escape. Even if they break into sheol (not hell, but the world of spirits in the unknown regions), from thence His hand will take them; if they climb into heaven, He would bring them down. If t

THE VISION OF AN AVENGING GOD. The last vision impresses upon Amos the anger and omnipotence of the supreme ruler and judge. Yahweh is seen (Amos 9:1) stationed by or over the altar (_i.e._ of Bethel) or over an altar. The agents of His vengeance are bidden by the prophet to smite the Temple. The command goes forth to cut them (the pillars) off at the top of all of them. Those who escape the shattering of the Temple (the last of them) will fall by the sword. There will be no escape for them either in the superhuman heights and depths (Amos 9:2) or in the terrestrial thickets and caves of the almost inaccessible heights of Carmel (Amos 9:3), or in the bottom of the sea. The serpent, that terrible monster which was supposed to have its home in the s

Amos 9:1. The fifth vision, the smitten sanctuary. The people are all assembled for worship in their sanctuary: Jehovah is seen standing by the altar, and commanding the building to be so smitten that it may fall and destroy the worshippers: none, it is emphatically added, shall escape the irrevocable doom. The worshippers are manifestly intended to symbolize the entire nation....