@Am 5:1-27. ELEGY OVER THE PROSTRATE KINGDOM: RENEWED EXHORTATIONS TO REPENTANCE: GOD DECLARES THAT THE COMING DAY OF JUDGMENT SHALL BE TERRIBLE TO THE SCORNERS WHO DESPISE IT: CEREMONIAL SERVICES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO HIM WHERE TRUE PIETY EXISTS NOT: ISRAEL SHALL THEREFORE BE REMOVED FAR EASTWARD.
1. lamentation--an elegy for the destruction coming on you. Compare @Eze 32:2, "take up," namely, as a mournful burden (@Eze 19:1 27:2).
2. virgin of Israel--the Israelite state heretofore unsubdued by
foreigners. Compare @Isa 23:12 Jer 18:13 31:4,21 La 2:13; may be
interpreted, Thou who wast once the "virgin daughter of Zion." Rather,
"virgin" as applied to a state implies its beauty, and the delights on
which it prides itself, its luxuries, power, and wealth
[CALVIN].
no more rise--in the existing order of things: in the Messianic
dispensation it is to rise again, according to many prophecies. Compare
@2Ki 6:23 24:7, for the restricted sense of "no more."
forsaken upon her land--or, "prostrated upon," &c. (compare
@Eze 29:5 32:4) [MAURER].
3. went out by a thousand--that is, "the city from which there used
to go out a thousand" equipped for war. "City" is put for "the
inhabitants of the city," as in @Am 4:8.
shall leave . . . hundred--shall have only a hundred left, the rest
being destroyed by sword and pestilence (@De 28:62).
4. Seek ye me, and ye shall live--literally, "Seek . . . Me, and live." The second imperative expresses the certainty of "life" (escape from judgment) resulting from obedience to the precept in the first imperative. If they perish, it is their own fault; God would forgive, if they would repent (@Isa 55:3,6).
5. seek not Beth-el--that is, the calves at Beth-el.
Gilgal--(See on Am 4:4).
Beer-sheba--in Judah on the southern frontier towards Edom. Once "the
well of the oath" by Jehovah, ratifying Abraham's covenant with
Abimelech, and the scene of his calling on "the Lord, the everlasting
God" (@Ge 21:31,33), now a stronghold of idolatry (@Am 8:14).
Gilgal shall surely go into captivity--a play on similar sounds in the
Hebrew, Gilgal, galoh, yigleh: "Gilgal (the place of rolling)
shall rolling be rolled away."
Beth-el shall come to naught--Beth-el (that is, the "house of God"),
called because of its vain idols Beth-aven (that is, "the house of
vanity," or "naught," @Ho 4:15 10:5,8), shall indeed "come to
naught."
6. break out like fire--bursting through everything in His way. God
is "a consuming fire" (@De 4:24 Isa 10:17 La 2:3).
the house of Joseph--the kingdom of Israel, of which the tribe of
Ephraim, Joseph's son, was the chief tribe (compare @Eze 37:16).
none to quench it in Beth-el--that is, none in Beth-el to quench it;
none of the Beth-el idols on which Israel so depended, able to remove
the divine judgments.
7. turn judgment to wormwood--that is, pervert it to most bitter wrong.
As justice is sweet, so injustice is bitter to the injured. "Wormwood"
is from a Hebrew root, to "execrate," on account of its noxious and
bitter qualities.
leave on righteousness in . . .
earth--MAURER translates, "cast righteousness to the ground," as in @Isa 28:2 Da 8:12.
8. the seven stars--literally, the heap or cluster of seven larger stars and others smaller (@Job 9:9 38:31). The former whole
passage seems to have been in Amos mind. He names the stars well known
to shepherds (to which class Amos belonged), Orion as the precursor of
the tempests which are here threatened, and the Pleiades as ushering in
spring.
shadow of death--Hebraism for the densest darkness.
calleth for the waters of the sea--both to send deluges in
judgment, and the ordinary rain in mercy (@1Ki 18:44).
9. strengtheneth the spoiled--literally, "spoil" or "devastation":
hence the "person spoiled." WINER,
MAURER, and the best modern critics
translate, "maketh devastation (or destruction)
suddenly to arise," literally, "maketh it to gleam forth like the
dawn." Ancient versions support English Version. The Hebrew is
elsewhere used, to make, to shine, to make glad: and as
English Version here (@Ps 39:13), "recover strength."
the spoiled shall come--"devastation," or "destruction shall come
upon" [MAURER].
English Version expresses that, strong as Israel
fancies herself after the successes of Jeroboam II (@2Ki 14:25),
even the weakest can be made by God to prevail against the strong.
10. him that rebuketh in the gate--the judge who condemns their
iniquity in the place of judgment (@Isa 29:21).
abhor him that speaketh uprightly--the prophet telling them the
unwelcome truth: answering in the parallelism to the judge, "that
rebuketh in the gate" (compare @1Ki 22:8 Pr 9:8 12:1 Jer 36:23).
11. burdens of wheat--burdensome taxes levied in kind from the
wheat of the needy, to pamper the lusts of the great
[HENDERSON]. Or
wheat advanced in time of scarcity, and exacted again at a burdensome
interest [RABBI
SALOMON].
built houses . . . but not dwell in them . . . vineyards, . . . but
not drink wine of them--according to the original prophecy of Moses
(@De 28:30,38,39). The converse shall be true in restored Israel
(@Am 9:14 Isa 65:21,22).
12. they afflict . . . they take--rather, "(ye) who afflict . . .
take."
bribe--literally, a price with which one who has an unjust cause
ransoms himself from your sentence (@1Sa 12:3, Margin; @Pr 6:35).
turn aside the poor in the gate--refuse them their right
in the place of justice (@Am 2:7 Isa 29:21).
13. the prudent--the spiritually wise.
shall keep silence--not mere silence of tongue, but the prudent shall
keep himself quiet from taking part in any public or private affairs
which he can avoid: as it is "an evil time," and one in which all law is
set at naught. @Eph 5:16 refers to this. Instead of impatiently
agitating against irremediable evils, the godly wise will not cast
pearls before swine, who would trample these, and rend the offerers
(@Mt 7:6), but will patiently wait for God's time of deliverance in
silent submission (@Ps 39:9).
14. and so--on condition of your "seeking good."
shall be with you, as ye have spoken--as ye have boasted; namely, that
God is with you, and that you are His people (@Mic 3:11).
15. Hate . . . evil . . . love . . . good--(@Isa 1:16,17 Ro 12:9).
judgment in the gate--justice in the place where causes are tried.
it may be that the Lord . . . will be gracious--so, "peradventure"
(@Ex 32:30). Not that men are to come to God with an uncertainty whether or no He will be gracious: the expression merely implies the
difficulty in the way, because of the want of true repentance on man's
part, so as to stimulate the zealous earnestness of believers in seeking
God (compare @Ge 16:2 Joe 2:14 Ac 8:22).
the remnant of Joseph--(see @Am 5:6). Israel
(represented by
"Ephraim," the leading tribe, and descendant of Joseph) was, as compared
to what it once was, now but a remnant, Hazael of Syria having smitten
all the coasts from Jordan eastward, Gilead and Bashan, Gad, Reuben, and
Manasseh (@2Ki 10:32,33)
[HENDERSON]. Rather, "the remnant of Israel
that shall have been left after the wicked have been destroyed"
[MAURER].
16. Therefore--resumed from @Am 5:13. God foresees they will not
obey the exhortation (@Am 5:14,15), but will persevere in the
unrighteousness stigmatized (@Am 5:7,10,12).
the Lord--JEHOVAH.
the God of hosts, the Lord--an accumulation of titles, of which His
lordship over all things is the climax, to mark that from His judgment
there is no appeal.
streets . . . highways--the broad open spaces and the
narrow streets common in the East.
call the husbandman to mourning--The citizens shall call the
inexperienced husbandmen to act the part usually performed by
professional mourners, as there will not be enough of the latter for the
universal mourning which prevails.
such as are skilful of lamentation--professional mourners hired to
lead off the lamentations for the deceased; alluded to in @Ec 12:5;
generally women (@Jer 9:17-19).
17. in all vineyards . . . wailing--where usually songs of joy were
heard.
pass through thee--taking vengeance (@Ex 12:12,23 Na 1:12). "Pass
over" and "pass by," on the contrary, are used of God's forgiving (@Ex 12:23 Mic 7:18; compare @Am 7:8).
18. Woe unto you who do not scruple to say in irony, "We desire that
the day of the Lord would come," that is, "Woe to you who treat it as if
it were a mere dream of the prophets" (@Isa 5:19 Jer 17:15 Eze 12:22).
to what end is it for you!--Amos taking their ironical words in
earnest: for God often takes the blasphemer at his own word, in
righteous retribution making the scoffer's jest a terrible reality
against himself. Ye have but little reason to desire the day of the
Lord; for it will be to you calamity, and not joy.
19. As if a man did flee . . . a lion, and a bear met him--Trying to
escape one calamity, he falls into another. This perhaps implies that in
@Am 5:18 their ironical desire for the day of the Lord was as if it
would be an escape from existing calamities. The coming of the day of
the Lord would be good news to us, if true: for we have served God (that
is, the golden calves). So do hypocrites flatter themselves as to death
and judgment, as if these would be a relief from existing ills of life.
The lion may from generosity spare the prostrate, but the bear spares none (compare @Job 20:24 Isa 24:18).
leaned . . . on the wall--on the side wall of the house, to support
himself from falling. Snakes often hid themselves in fissures in a wall.
Those not reformed by God's judgments will be pursued by them: if they
escape one, another is ready to seize them.
21. I hate, I despise--The two verbs joined without a conjunction
express God's strong abhorrence.
your feast days--yours; not Mine; I do not acknowledge them:
unlike those in Judah, yours are of human, not divine institution.
I will not smell--that is, I will take no delight in the sacrifices
offered (@Ge 8:21 Le 26:31).
in your solemn assemblies--literally, "days of restraint."
@Isa 1:10-15 is parallel. Isaiah is fuller; Amos, more condensed. Amos
condemns Israel not only on the ground of their thinking to satisfy God
by sacrifices without obedience (the charge brought by Isaiah against
the Jews), but also because even their external ritual was a mere
corruption, and unsanctioned by God.
22. meat offerings--flour, &c. Unbloody offerings.
peace offerings--offerings for obtaining from God peace and prosperity.
Hebrew, "thank offerings."
23. Take . . . away from me--literally, "Take away, from upon Me";
the idea being that of a burden pressing upon the bearer. So
@Isa 1:14, "They are a trouble unto Me (literally, 'a burden upon Me'): I am weary to bear them."
the noise of thy songs--The hymns and instrumental music on sacred
occasions are to Me nothing but a disagreeable noise.
I will not hear--Isaiah substitutes "prayers" (@Isa 1:15) for the
"songs" and "melody" here; but, like Amos, closes with "I will not
hear."
24. judgment--justice.
run down--literally, "roll," that is, flow abundantly (@Isa 48:18).
Without the desire to fulfil righteousness in the offerer, the sacrifice
is hateful to God (@1Sa 15:22 Ps 66:18 Ho 6:6 Mic 6:8).
25, 26. Have ye offered? &c.--Yes: ye have. "But (all the time with
strange inconsistency) ye have borne
(aloft in solemn pomp) the
tabernacle (that is, the portable shrine, or model tabernacle: small
enough not to be detected by Moses; compare @Ac 19:24) of your
Molech" (that idol is "your" god; I am not, though ye go through the
form of presenting offerings to Me). The question, "Have ye," is not a
denial (for they did offer in the wilderness to Jehovah sacrifices
of the cattle which they took with them in their nomad life there,
@Ex 24:4 Nu 7:1-89 9:1, &c.), but a strong affirmation
(compare
@1Sa 2:27,28 Jer 31:20 Eze 20:4). The sin of Israel in Amos' time
is the very sin of their forefathers, mocking God with worship, while at
the same time worshipping idols (compare @Eze 20:39). It was
clandestine in Moses' time, else he would have put it down; he was aware
generally of their unfaithfulness, though not knowing the particulars
(@De 31:21,27).
Molech . . . Chiun--"Molech" means "king" answering to Mars
[BENGEL]; the Sun
[JABLONSKI]; Saturn, the same as "Chiun"
[MAURER]. The Septuagint translates "Chiun" into Remphan, as
Stephen quotes it (@Ac 7:42,43). The same god often had different
names. Molech is the Ammonite name; Chiun, the Arabic and
Persian name, written also Chevan. In an Arabic lexicon Chiun means "austere"; so astrologers represented Saturn as a planet
baleful in his influence. Hence the Phoenicians offered human
sacrifices to him, children especially; so idolatrous Israel also.
Rimmon was the Syrian name (@2Ki 5:18); pronounced as
Remvan, or "Remphan," just as Chiun was also Chevan. Molech
had the form of a king; Chevan, or Chiun, of a star
[GROTIUS]. Remphan
was the Egyptian name for Saturn: hence the Septuagint translator of Amos gave the Egyptian name for the Hebrew, being an
Egyptian.
[HODIUS II,
De Bibliorum Textibus Originalibus. 4.115]. The same as the Nile, of
which the Egyptians made the star Saturn the representative
[HARENBERG].
BENGEL considers Remphan or Rephan akin to
Teraphim and Remphis, the name of a king of Egypt. The Hebrews
became infected with Sabeanism, the oldest form of idolatry, the
worship of the Saba or starry hosts, in their stay in the Arabian
desert, where Job notices its prevalence (@Job 31:26); in
opposition, in @Am 5:27, Jehovah declares Himself "the God of
hosts."
the star of your god--R. ISAAC
CARO says all the astrologers
represented Saturn as the star of Israel. Probably there was a
figure of a star on the head of the image of the idol, to represent the
planet Saturn; hence "images" correspond to "star" in the parallel
clause. A star in hieroglyphics represents God (@Nu 24:17). "Images"
are either a Hebraism for "image," or refer to the many images made to
represent Chiun.
27. beyond Damascus--In @Ac 7:43 it is "beyond Babylon," which includes beyond Damascus. In Amos time, Damascus was the object of Israel's fear because of the Syrian wars. Babylon was not yet named as the place of their captivity. Stephen supplies this name. Their place of exile was in fact, as he states, "beyond Babylon," in Halah and Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes (@2Ki 17:6; compare here @Am 1:5 4:3 6:14). The road to Assyria lay through "Damascus." It is therefore specified, that not merely shall they be carried captives to Damascus, as they had been by Syrian kings (@2Ki 10:32,33 13:7), but, beyond that, to a region whence a return was not so possible as from Damascus. They were led captive by Satan into idolatry, therefore God caused them to go captive among idolaters. Compare @2Ki 15:29 16:9 Isa 8:4, whence it appears Tiglath-pileser attacked Israel and Damascus at the same time at Ahaz' request (@Am 3:1).