Amos 9:11-15

The Epilogue

Amos closes, as the prophets are wont to close their discourses, with the promise of a brighter future. The dynasty of David, though for the time humbled, will be reinstated in its former splendour and power (Amos 9:11); and the blessings of peace will be shared in perpetuity by the entire nation (Amos 9:13). On the question of the authenticity of the epilogue, see above, p. 119 ff.

In that day The day which the prophet has in his mind: here, the day of restoration, which is to succeed the catastrophe of Amos 9:8. The expression is a common one in the prophets, especially Isaiah, who use it for the purpose of introducing fresh traits in their pictures of the future (see e.g. Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 3:18; Isaiah 7:18; Isaiah 7:20-21; Isaiah 7:23).

will I raise up the fallen booth (or hut) of David, and fence up the breaches&c. The succâh, or "booth," was a rude hut properly one made of intertwinedbranches; and the word is used of a cattle-shed (Genesis 33:17), of the rough tents used by soldiers in war (2 Samuel 11:11), or by watchmen in a vineyard (Isaiah 1:8; Job 27:18), of the "booth" made by Jonah (Amos 4:5), and of the rude temporary huts, constructed of branches of trees, in which the Israelites dwelt during the Feast of Ingathering, or, as it is also called from this circumstance, the -Feast of Booths" (Leviticus 23:40; Leviticus 23:42; Deuteronomy 16:13). The term itself denotes consequently a very humble structure, which here, in addition, is represented as fallen. In the following words the figure of the booth is neglected; the -breaches" being those of a wall or fortress (cf. Amos 4:3; Isaiah 30:13). These expressions are evidently intended to represent the humbled state of the Davidic dynasty; though what the humiliation actually referred to is, is uncertain. According to some, the allusion is to the loss sustained by David's house through the revolt of the ten tribes [203] according to others, it is to the future ruin of Judah, which it appears from Amos 2:5 (cf. the words of rebuke in Amos 3:1; Amos 6:1) that Amos contemplated; others, again, suppose the reference to be to the actualoverthrow of David's dynasty by the Chaldaeans in 586 b.c., and infer accordingly that Amos 9:11-15 was an addition made to the original prophecy of Amos during (or after) the Babylonian exile. On the whole, the second view seems the best (cf. p. 122 f.).

[203] A reference to the blow inflicted upon Judah by Amaziah (2 Kings 14:13 f.) is doubtful, as this must have happened some 30 years previously, and under Uzziah Judah appears to have rapidly recovered itself.

ruins lit. things torn down. The cognate verb (hâras) is often applied to a wall or fortress (e.g. Micah 5:11; Ezekiel 26:12); it is the exact opposite of the following build(see Ezekiel 36:36; Malachi 1:4).

as in the days of old i.e. the age of David and Solomon. The expression used is a relative one, and may denote a period more or less remote according to the context; in Micah 7:14; Isaiah 63:11, for instance, it denotes the age of Moses, while in Isaiah 58:12; Isaiah 61:4 the same word (-ôlâm), rendered "of old," denotes merely the beginning of the Babylonian exile, viewed from its close.