This section of the prophecy falls naturally into three parts, Amos 5:1-27; Amos 6:1-14, each drawing out, in different terms, the moral grounds of Israel's impending ruin, and ending with a similar outlook of invasion, or exile. (1) Amos 5:1-17. Israel continuing to shew no signs of amendment, the... [ Continue Reading ]
_a_ DIRGE] Heb. _ḳînâh_, which signifies, not a spontaneous effusion of natural emotion, but a composition, longer or shorter as the case might be, constructed with some art in a definite poetical form, and chanted usually by women, whose profession it was to attend mourning ceremonies for the purpo... [ Continue Reading ]
_The virgin of Israel is fallen_, _she shall no more rise;_ She is CAST DOWN _upon her land_, there is _none to raise her up_. This is the -ḳînâh," written in a peculiar rhythm, which has been shewn (by Prof. K. Budde, now of Strassburg) to be that regularly used for Hebrew elegy. As a rule, in He... [ Continue Reading ]
The justification of the mournful anticipation of Amos 5:2: Jehovah has declared that the military strength of the nation will be reduced, by defeat or other causes, to one tenth of what it now is.... [ Continue Reading ]
Proof that Israel merits the fate which has just been pronounced against it: it has sought Jehovah by a ritual which He does not value, and it has spurned the virtues which He really prizes. _Seek ye me, and ye shall live_ The Heb. is more forcible and concise: -Seek ye me, and live": cf. Genesis 42... [ Continue Reading ]
But seek me not, as I am sought by the worshippers at Beth-el and your other sanctuaries: _their_end will be only destruction. _seek not Beth-el_ Here -seek" is used in the first of the two senses indicated on Amos 5:4: comp. (in connexion with a place) Deuteronomy 12:5. On -Beth-el" and -Gilgal,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seek_ JEHOVAH, &c. The exhortation of Amos 5:4 is repeated, and enforced with a fresh motive lest a fire, namely, kindled by Jehovah, advance irresistibly, and spread irretrievable destruction in Israel. _break out_ lit. _come mightily, advance forcibly_. It is the word used of the spirit of God co... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah demands righteousness: the prophet, with passion and indignation, declares abruptly how far Israel is from righteousness, and then proceeds to announce again the doom which it may in consequence confidently expect. As before (Amos 2:6-8; Amos 4:1), Israel's crying sin is neglect of civil jus... [ Continue Reading ]
Two verses, intended (like Amos 4:13) to remind the disobedient Israelites of the power and majesty of Him, whose will they defy, and whose judgements they provoke, the Creator and Ruler of the world. The verses are introduced abruptly, and interrupt somewhat violently the connexion between Amos 5:7... [ Continue Reading ]
_That strengthened the spoiled against the strong_&c. _that_ CAUSETH DEVASTATION TO FLASH FORTH (R.V. _marg.) upon the strong, so that_ DEVASTATION COMETH (R.V.) _upon the fortress_. From illustrations of Jehovah's power as displayed in the _physical_government of the world, the prophet passes to ex... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophet reverts to the subject of Amos 5:7, which was interrupted by Amos 5:8. _They hate him that_ REPROVETH _in the gate_, &c. They are heedless (Amos 5:7) of the claims of justice: they will not listen either to the exposure of wrong-doing or to the defence of innocence, in the public place o... [ Continue Reading ]
The penalty for such unjust oppression of the poor is the oppressors" own disappointment and spoliation: the houses and vineyards on which they lavished their money, and from which they expected much enjoyment, will be violently taken from them. THEREFORE, BECAUSE YE TRAMPLE _upon the poor_, AND TA... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I know_ HOW MANIFOLD ARE _your transgressions, and_ HOW MIGHTY ARE _your sins_ Jehovah's _knowledge_of what they imagine He is ignorant of (Psalms 73:11; Job 22:13), is the ground of the sentence expressed in Amos 5:11. _they afflict the just_ Amos 2:6; Amos 3:9 f., &c. _they take a bribe_ A R... [ Continue Reading ]
Israel's desperate moral condition, a justification of the sentence just pronounced upon it.... [ Continue Reading ]
In a time such as that, the prudent man will keep silence; a complaint, or accusation, or attempt to redress the wrongs which he sees about him, will be perilous to him, if he be in a good position, and will only add to his sufferings, if he be poor. _shall keep_ WILL _keep_, viz. if he is guided b... [ Continue Reading ]
Amos reiterates more earnestly the exhortation of Amos 5:4_; Amos 5:6_: if Israel will but amend its ways, perchance even yet there may be a remnant to which Jehovah will be gracious. _Seek_ The same word as Amos 5:4_; Amos 5:6_, but followed by an abstract object, in the sense of _be studious, anx... [ Continue Reading ]
The exhortation of Amos 5:14 is repeated in yet stronger terms: _Hate_the evil, and _love_the good. Cf. Isaiah 1:16 f. _establish judgment in the gate_ Rather, _set up firmly, set it standing_, opposed to _lay it on the ground_, Amos 5:7. Judgement, like righteousness in Amos 5:7, is pictured as a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore_ because of Israel's obduracy in wrong-doing. _wailing_ loud cries of grief: comp. Micah 1:8, "I will make a _mispçd_like the jackals" in allusion to their doleful cries. The Orientals, especially women, on occasions of grief, are very demonstrative, and the -wailing" is a public ceremony... [ Continue Reading ]
But Amos sees that his exhortation will not be listened to, and again therefore he draws a dark picture of the future to which the nation is hastening: so great will be the slaughter wrought by the foe (cf. Amos 5:27; Amos 2:14-16; Amos 4:2-3, &c.), that universal lamentation will prevail throughout... [ Continue Reading ]
The wailing will embrace even the vineyards, which, as the season of vintage came round, were annually the scenes of mirth and hilarity (Isaiah 16:10). _for I will pass through_ THE MIDST OF _thee_ viz. as a destroyer (cf. Exodus 12:12), guiding, as it were, the foe by whose agency Amos conceives t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto you that_ AH! THEY THAT. … The interjection _Hôy_(the same as that used in 1 Kings 13:30 &c. quoted on Amos 5:16) implies commiseration rather than denunciation. It is used frequently, as here, to introduce an announcement of judgement: Isaiah 1:4; Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 5:8; Isaiah 5:11; Isa... [ Continue Reading ]
Those who desire the "Day of Jehovah," as though it could be anything but an interposition in their favour, will find to their surprise that it is a day fraught with peril and disaster.... [ Continue Reading ]
Examples of a condition beset by perils, in which men escape from one danger, only to fall into another, perhaps worse. _a bear_ Bears are now found only in the far north of Palestine, about Mount Hermon, but they were once common in all parts of the country, and were dangerous both to human beings... [ Continue Reading ]
An emphatic repetition of the thought of Amos 5:18, after the illustration of Amos 5:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I hate, I_ REJECT _your feast_days] _your_ PILGRIMAGES, _ḥaggim_denoting not feasts or festivals in general, but in particular the three great annual feasts (viz. of Unleavened Cakes, Weeks, and Booths), which were accompanied by a pilgrimage to a sanctuary, and at which, according to the old law,... [ Continue Reading ]
Do you think to win Jehovah's favour by your religious services? On the contrary, He will have none of them: what He demands is not sacrifice, or even praise, but _justice_; in the wilderness your ancestors offered no sacrifices, without forfeiting Jehovah's regard; your mistake is a fatal one, and... [ Continue Reading ]
The commonest and most popular kinds of sacrifice are particularized as rejected by Jehovah. The _burnt_- and _peace_-offerings are often mentioned in the historical books, and were frequently sacrificed together (Exodus 20:24; Exodus 32:6; Judges 20:26; Judges 21:4; 1Sa 10:8; 1 Samuel 13:9; 2 Samue... [ Continue Reading ]
The songs and music accompanying the worship (cf. Amos 8:10; Isaiah 30:29 _a_) are rejected by Jehovah likewise. Of what nature these were in pre-exilic times, we do not precisely know: the descriptions in the Chronicles reflect the usage of a much later age, when the Temple music was more highly or... [ Continue Reading ]
Justice, between man and man, is what Jehovah demands: no ceremonial, however punctiliously observed, is a substitute in Jehovah's eyes for moral duties. The argument is exactly that of Isaiah 1, where Jehovah rejects similarly the entire body of ritual observances, celebrated at the Temple of Jerus... [ Continue Reading ]
DID YE BRING _unto me sacrifices_&c. The question evidently requires a negative answer; and the emphatic words in the sentence are not, as has been sometimes supposed, _unto me_(which hold in the Hebrew quite a subordinate position), but _sacrifices and offerings_(which follow immediately after the... [ Continue Reading ]
_But ye_ SHALL TAKE UP SAKKUTH YOUR KING, _and_ KAIWÂN _your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves;_ AND I WILL _cause you to go into_ EXILE _beyond Damascus, saith_ JEHOVAH] You and your idols (cf. Jeremiah 43:7 _b_, Jeremiah 49:3 _b_; Isaiah 46:1-2) will go into exile together:... [ Continue Reading ]