THE FIRST ADDRESS 1-8. A call to attention. 9, 10. The oppressions practised by the powerful. 11-15. The disasters which should overtake them, their sanctuary and their palaces. 1. 'Race' would be a more correct word than FAMILY. Judah is included in the appeal, but immediately drops out of sigh... [ Continue Reading ]
BE AGREED] RV 'have agreed,' have made an appointment. If two people were seen walking together in the desolate regions with which Amos was familiar it might be assumed that they had not met by chance. Nothing happens by chance. There is a reason and cause for Israel's calamities. 4. 'Thicket' is p... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL _one_ TAKE UP A SNARE FROM THE EARTH? etc.] RV 'Shall a snare spring up from the ground?' etc. The SNARE is the bird-trap as a whole: the GIN (the word is a contraction of 'engine') is the mechanism by which the trap acts. But the trap does not go off till the bird starts it. The thought is th... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS SECRET is the purpose He has formed: cp. Genesis 18:17. 8. Luther said, at the Diet of Worms: 'Here I stand: I can do no other.'... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE PALACES] RM 'upon'; the proclamation is made from the flat roof: cp. Luke 12:3. Those who dwell in palaces are to be judged by their peers. Possibly Amos wrote, 'Asshur and Egypt,' the two great nations, Assyria and Egypt, the hammer and anvil, between which Israel lay. THE MOUNTAIN OF SAMARI... [ Continue Reading ]
BETH-EL had been a sanctuary prior to the Israelite occupation of the land. In the days of Amos it was the undisputed religious capital of the northern kingdom (Amos 7:13), whose subjects gathered there for seasons of special worship (Amos 4:1). No doubt the sacred pillar and post which we read of s... [ Continue Reading ]
WINTER and SUMMER HOUSE were in some cases distinct buildings, but in others were parts of the same structure differently situated (Judges 3:20; Jeremiah 3:22). The HOUSES OF IVORY remind us of Nero's 'Golden House' at Rome: 'The interior was decorated in the most lavish way, with gold, precious sto... [ Continue Reading ]