Amos 8:14

They that swear…; even they shall fall better, Who swear(connecting with Amos 8:13) …; and they shall fall&c.

swear by the Guilt of Samaria Men swearby that which they revere: the Israelite was commanded to swear byJehovah (Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 10:20); and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 4:2; Jeremiah 12:16) promises a blessing upon those who swear by Him faithfully. Idolatrous Israelites swore by "not-gods" (Jeremiah 5:7), or by Baal (Jeremiah 12:16), or Milcom (Zephaniah 1:5), &c. The -Guilt of Samaria" is probably the calf at Beth-el, which Hosea alludes to ironically as unworthy of the Israelites" regard (Hosea 8:5-6; Hosea 10:5): the golden calf which Aaron made is called "your sin" (Deuteronomy 9:21). Others suppose that the reference is to the Ashérah which was made by Ahab in Samaria, and which still stood there, at least in the days of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:6) [193]. The Ashérah (cf. Exodus 34:13, R.V. marg.) was a post or pole, regarded seemingly as the representative of the sacred tree, planted in the ground beside an altar, and venerated as a sacred symbol (see further W. R. Smith, Relig. of the Semites, p. 171 ff. (Exodus 2, p. 187 ff.); D.B[194][195], s.v.; or the writer's Commentary on Deuteronomy 16:21).

[193] So W. R. Smith, Proph., p. 140. Stade and Oort even suppose that guilt(אשמת) is an error for Ashérah(אשרת).

[194] .B.… Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Exodus 1, or (from A to J) Exodus 2.

[195] … Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Exodus 1, or (from A to J) Exodus 2.

and say, (As) thy God, O Dan, liveth The formula of an oath: cf. the common (As) Jehovah liveth(1 Samuel 14:39 &c.). Here the reference is to the calf set up by Jeroboam I. (1 Kings 12:29) at Dan, in the far North of Israel (now Tel el-Ḳaḍi), near the foot of Hermon, and not far from the principal source of the Jordan.

and, (As) the way of Beer-sheba liveth For Beer-sheba, see on Amos 5:5. The expression is an unusual one; and it has been doubted whether the text is correct. But probably the reference is to the road taken by the pilgrims to Beer-sheba, which must have been a clearly-marked, much frequented route [196] and which, being regarded by the worshippers as unalterable and permanent, might not unnaturally form the object appealed to in an oath. "Strange as it may appear to us to speak of the life of the lifeless, this often happens among the Semites. To-day Arabs "swear wa hyât, -by the life of," even of things inanimate; -By the life of this fire, or of this coffee" " (Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. 269). And as Amos here tells us that the Israelite pilgrims swore by the way to Beer-sheba, so do the Moslems affirm their oaths by the sacred way to Mecca [197] " (G. A. Smith, p. 186). Others understand -way" in the sense of usage, cult. Although therefore it remains possible that the title of a deity, "thy …," lies concealed under what is now read as -way," there seems to be no imperative necessity for questioning the correctness of the text.

[196] Comp. the Derb el Haj, or the route from Damascus to Mecca, a broad, clearly-marked track in the wilderness (Tristram, Moab, p. 170; P.E.F. Qu. St., 1895, p. 229).

[197] Baur, p. 424, who quotes Rückert's translation of Ḥariri, i. 189 f., "By the pilgrimage, and the height of Mina, where the pious host stone Satan."

shall fall, &c. Cf. Amos 5:2.