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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Amos 4 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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<span class="accented">with bitter irony he describes the people's devotion to idolatry</span> (vers. 4, 5): <span class="accented">he shows how incorrigible they have proved <span class="accented">themselves under God's chastisements</span> (vers. 6-11); <span class="accented">therefore they must expect further punishment, if so be that they will learn to fear the Lord</span> (vers. 12, 13). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - The very women are leaders in dissoluteness and oppression. <span class="cmt_word">Ye kine of Bashan.</span> Fat and well liking, such as the rich pastures of Bashan produce. Some have supposed that by this term are meant the luxurious nobles of Samaria, who are called "cows" as being effeminate and licentious. This is possible; but such grandees would be called rather "bulls of Bashan," and the "masters" mentioned just below signify more naturally these women's husbands than the kings. Pussy notes that the genders in the sentence are interchanged. "Hear <span class="accented">ye</span>," "<span class="accented">your</span> Lord," "upon <span class="accented">you</span>," "they shall take <span class="accented">you</span>," being masculine; "<span class="accented">that</span> oppress," "<span class="accented">that</span> crush," "<span class="accented">that</span> say<span class="accented"></span>," "<span class="accented">your</span> posterity," "<span class="accented">ye</span> shall go out," "<span class="accented">each</span> before <span class="accented">her</span>," "<span class="accented">ye</span> shall cast," feminine. Evidently the prophet addresses his reproaches to the luxurious of both sexes, though he begins with the women. The land of Bashan extended from Hermon to the Jabbok, including Gaulonitis, Auronitis, Batauea, and Trachonitis. It was always famous for its pasturage, cattle, and oaks. The Vulgate takes the term as metaphorical, and has, <span class="accented">vaccae pingues.</span> So Symmachus, <span class="greek">βόες εὔτροφοι</span>, which translation Jerome adopts. <span class="cmt_word">Mountain of Samaria.</span> The hill of Shomer, on which Samaria was built (see note on ch. 3:9). <span class="cmt_word">Oppress the poor.</span> This they did in ministering, or getting their husbands to minister, to their luxury and debauchery. Apparently they urged their husbands to violence and fraud in order to obtain means to satisfy their extravagance. A bad woman is thoroughly unscrupulous (see the case of Ahab and Naboth, <a href="/1_kings/21-7.htm">1 Kings 21:7</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">Their masters;</span> <span class="accented">their lords</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> husbands (comp. <a href="/genesis/18-12.htm">Genesis 18:12</a>; <a href="/1_peter/3-6.htm">1 Peter 3:6</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Bring, and let us drink.</span> They invite their husbands to supply the means of debauchery and to join in their revels. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-2.htm">Amos 4:2</a></div><div class="verse">The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">By his holiness.</span> God swears by his holiness, which cannot tolerate iniquity, and which they had profaned (<a href="/amos/2-7.htm">Amos 2:7</a>; comp. <a href="/amos/6-8.htm">Amos 6:8</a>). That he will take you away. "That one, or they, shall take you away;" the enemy, the instrument of God's vengeance, is meant. <span class="cmt_word">With hooks;</span> <span class="accented">tsinnoth</span>; Septuagint, <span class="greek">ἐν ὅπλοις</span>: Vulgate, <span class="accented">in contis.</span> The translation, "with hooks," is correct, the idea being that the people shall be utterly helpless and taken for destruction, like fish caught with hooks (<a href="/jeremiah/16-16.htm">Jeremiah 16:16</a>; <a href="/habakkuk/1-15.htm">Habakkuk 1:15</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Your posterity;</span> <span class="accented">acharith</span> (<a href="/amos/9-1.htm">Amos 9:1</a>); better, <span class="accented">your residue</span>, those who have not been destroyed previously. The Septuagint and the Vulgate give quite a different notion to the passage. The former (according to the Vatican manuscript) has, <span class="greek">Καὶ τοὺς μεθ ὑμῶν</span> <span class="greek">εἰς λέβητας ὑποκαιομένους ἐμβαλοῦσιν ἔμπυροι</span> <span class="greek">λοιμοί</span>, "And fiery destroyers shall cast those with you into boiling caldrons;" the latter, <span class="accented">Et levabunt vos in contis, et reliquias vestras in ollis ferventibus.</span> (For the explanation of these versions, which arise from mistakes in the meanings of ambiguous words, see Schegg and Kuabenbauer.) </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-3.htm">Amos 4:3</a></div><div class="verse">And ye shall go out at the breaches, every <i>cow at that which is</i> before her; and ye shall cast <i>them</i> into the palace, saith the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">At the breaches</span> made in the city walls, as cattle hurry through gaps in a fence. Thus they should go forth when Samaria was taken. Every cow at that which is <span class="cmt_word">before her;</span> better, <span class="accented">each straight before her</span>, just where the opening offered itself (comp. <a href="/joshua/6-5.htm">Joshua 6:5, 20</a>). The LXX. inserts <span class="greek">γυμναί</span>, "naked." <span class="cmt_word">And ye shall cast them into the palace;</span> Septuagint, <span class="greek">Καὶ ἀποῥῤιφήσεσθε εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ Ῥομμάν</span>, (<span class="greek"> ῾ρεμμάν</span>, Alex.), "And ye shall be cast forth into the mountain Romman; Vulgate, <span class="accented">et projiciemini in Armon.</span> The Syriac and Arabic Versions, and Aquila, render, "unto Mount Armon;" the Chaldee paraphrast, "far beyond the mountains of Armenia." The Hebrew expression <span class="accented">haharmonah</span> occurs nowhere else. Our version takes it in the sense of <span class="accented">armon</span>, "a palace," intending probably a palace or citadel of the enemy, which certainly ought to have been expressed. Kimchi renders, "Ye shall cast yourselves into the palace of the king." The passage is probably corrupt. If the verb is taken as passive, the unusual word must be considered to denote the place of banishment. Thus, "Ye shall be cast forth into Harmon." Whether Harmon means Armenia, as many ancient commentators thought, or not, cannot be determined. Various opinions may be seen in Keil, Schegg, Trochon, and others; but the simplest explanation is that of Orelli and Ewald, viz. that each fugitive shall fling away her idol Rimmona (the wife of the god Rimmon, <a href="/2_kings/5-18.htm">2 Kings 5:18</a>), in order to be more free for flight (comp. <a href="/isaiah/2-20.htm">Isaiah 2:20</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-4.htm">Amos 4:4</a></div><div class="verse">Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, <i>and</i> your tithes after three years:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - The prophet now turns to Israel, and ironically bids them exhibit their zeal for idolatry, and thus increase their guilt. <span class="cmt_word">Bethel</span>; as the chief seat of idol worship (<a href="/amos/3-14.htm">Amos 3:14</a>). <span class="cmt_word">At Gilgal;</span> rather, <span class="accented">to Gilgal</span>, "come ye" being repeated in thought. Gilgal was a strong position in the plain of Jordan, three miles east of Jericho, taking its name probably from the stone circles erected for purposes of worship in very early times. Joshua (<a href="/joshua/5-9.htm">Joshua 5:9</a>) gave a new meaning to the old name. There is a large pool of water in this neighbourhood called Jil-julieh, about four miles from the Jordan, which is doubtless a corruption of the ancient name Gilgal. It seems to have been regarded as a holy place in Samuel's days or even before (see <a href="/judges/3-19.htm">Judges 3:19</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/7-16.htm">1 Samuel 7:16</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/10-8.htm">1 Samuel 10:8</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/11-14.htm">1 Samuel 11:14</a>, etc.; 1 Samuel 13:8, etc.); and later was appropriated to false worship, though we have no information as to the date of this declension. Gilgal and Bethel are associated together in idolatrous worship (<a href="/amos/5-5.htm">Amos 5:5</a> and in <a href="/hosea/4-15.htm">Hosea 4:15</a>; <a href="/hosea/9-15.htm">Hosea 9:15</a>; <a href="/hosea/12-11.htm">Hosea 12:11</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Bring your sacrifices every morning.</span> They were careful to maintain the outward semblance of the regular Levitical worship, even beyond the letter of the Law in some respects, though their service was all the time idolatry. As this and the following clause are still ironical, Amos is speaking, not of the daily-prescribed sacrifice (<span class="accented">olah</span>, <a href="/numbers/28-3.htm">Numbers 28:3</a>), but of the offerings (<span class="accented">zebach</span>) of individual Israelites which were not required to be presented every day. <span class="cmt_word">Your tithes after three years;</span> literally, <span class="accented">on the</span> <span class="accented">three of days</span>; <span class="accented">lishlosheth yamim</span>; Vulgate, <span class="accented">tribus diebus</span>; Septuagint, <span class="greek">εἰς τριημερίαν</span>, "every third day." Revised Version, "every three days." So Gesenius, Ewald, Keil, Schegg, Hitzig, Baur. The prophet bids them bring their tithes, not as the Law ordered, every year (<a href="/leviticus/27-30.htm">Leviticus 27:30</a>), or, as in the case of the second tithe, every three years (<a href="/deuteronomy/14-28.htm">Deuteronomy 14:28</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/26-12.htm">Deuteronomy 26:12</a>), but, by an ironical exaggeration, "every three days." Dr. Pusey defends the English Version on the ground of the idiomatic use of "days" for one circle of days, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> a year (<a href="/leviticus/25-29.htm">Leviticus 25:29</a>; <a href="/judges/17-10.htm">Judges 17:10</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/27-7.htm">1 Samuel 27:7</a>). But this loses the irony which is so marked in the whole passage. Keil, "If ye would offer slain sacrifices every morning, and tithe every three days, ye would only thereby increase your apostasy from the living God." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-5.htm">Amos 4:5</a></div><div class="verse">And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim <i>and</i> publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven;</span> more definitely, <span class="accented">offer by burning a thank offering of that which is leavened.</span> This is an alteration of the prescribed ritual in two particulars. The Law forbade leaven in any meat offering consumed by fire (<a href="/leviticus/2-11.htm">Leviticus 2:11</a>; <a href="/leviticus/7-12.htm">Leviticus 7:12</a>); and if it allowed cakes of leavened bread to be offered on one occasion, these were not to be placed on the altar and burned, but one was to be assigned to the officiating priest, and the rest eaten at the sacrificial meal (<a href="/leviticus/7-13.htm">Leviticus 7:13, 14</a>). The ironical charge to the Israelites is that in their unlicensed zeal they should not only burn on the altar that which was leavened, but, with the idea of being more bountiful, they should also offer by fire that which was to be set apart for other uses. The Septuagint Version can only be explained by considering the translators to have had a different reading, <span class="greek">καὶ ἀνέγνωσαν ἔγω</span> <span class="greek">νόμον</span>, "and they read the Law without." <span class="cmt_word">Proclaim... publish.</span> Make public proclamation that free will offerings are to be made, or else, like the Pharisees (<a href="/matthew/6-2.htm">Matthew 6:2</a>), announce with ostentation that you are about to offer. The essence of such offerings was that they should be voluntary, not of command or compulsion (<a href="/leviticus/22-18.htm">Leviticus 22:18</a>, etc.; <a href="/deuteronomy/12-6.htm">Deuteronomy 12:6</a>). Septuagint, <span class="greek">καὶ ἐπεκαλέσαντο ὁμολογίας</span>, "and called for public professions" (as <a href="/deuteronomy/12-6.htm">Deuteronomy 12:6, 17, 18</a>). <span class="cmt_word">This liketh you;</span> <span class="accented">this ye love</span>; Septuagint, "Proclaim ye that the children of Israel loved these things." Their whole heart was set on this will worship. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-6.htm">Amos 4:6</a></div><div class="verse">And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - In this and the five following verses God sets forth instances of the judgments which he had sent at various times to correct Israel; viz. famine, drought, blight, pestilence, earthquake; but all had been in vain. Five times recurs the sad refrain, "Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord." God's unwearied love had not conquered their rebellion. <span class="cmt_word">Cleanness of teeth;</span> Septuagint, <span class="greek">γομφιασμὸν ὀδόντων</span>, "dulness of teeth;" Vulgate, <span class="accented">stuporem dentium.</span> It is not "toothache" that is meant, but famine, as is seen by the parallel term, <span class="cmt_word">want of bread</span>; as Corn. a Lapide says, "Cum enim in fame et penuria dentes non habent quod mordeant et mandant, innocentes sunt et mundi." This is the first chastisement mentioned. It was threatened in the Law as a consequence of backsliding (see <a href="/leviticus/26.htm">Leviticus 26</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/28-48.htm">Deuteronomy 28:48, 57</a>). The famines to which Amos alludes are not recorded. Plainly they were not fortuitous, but were providential inflictions, in accordance with previous warnings <span class="cmt_word">Yet have ye not returned unto me.</span> Pusey notes that the words imply, not that they returned not at all, but that they did after a fashion return, but not so as to reach God, their repentance being a half-repentance and their worship a half-worship, and therefore unacceptable. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-7.htm">Amos 4:7</a></div><div class="verse">And also I have withholden the rain from you, when <i>there were</i> yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - The second punishment is drought, as predicted (<a href="/leviticus/26-19.htm">Leviticus 26:19</a>, etc.; <a href="/deuteronomy/28-23.htm">Deuteronomy 28:23</a>). <span class="cmt_word">When there were yet three months to the harvest,</span> and when rain was most necessary to swell the grain. The season meant is in February and March, when what was called "the latter rain" fell. In the south of Palestine the harvest commenced at the end of April, but in the northern parts it was some weeks later, so that it might be said in round numbers that it took place three months after the latter rain. <span class="cmt_word">I caused it to rain upon one city.</span> That they might not attribute this drought to the blind laws of nature, God caused it to be of a partial character, giving rain to one city while he withheld it from another. One piece. The portion of ground belonging to an individual is so called (<a href="/deuteronomy/33-21.htm">Deuteronomy 33:21</a>; <a href="/ruth/2-3.htm">Ruth 2:3</a>; <a href="/ruth/4-3.htm">Ruth 4:3</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-8.htm">Amos 4:8</a></div><div class="verse">So two <i>or</i> three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - This want of rain produced great dearth of water to drink, and persons had to go long distances to procure supplies. <span class="cmt_word">Wandered</span>; literally <span class="accented">trembled</span>, staggered, as spent and exhausted by thirst. The word is used in <a href="/psalms/59-15.htm">Psalm 59:15</a>; <a href="/psalms/109-10.htm">Psalm 109:10</a>. The supply thus used was soon exhausted, and brought no permanent relief. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-9.htm">Amos 4:9</a></div><div class="verse">I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured <i>them</i>: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - The third chastisement is occasioned by blight (<a href="/deuteronomy/28-22.htm">Deuteronomy 28:22</a>) and palmerworm (<a href="/deuteronomy/28-39.htm">Deuteronomy 28:39, 42</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Blasting</span>; the scorching east wind spoken of by Isaiah (<a href="/isaiah/27-8.htm">Isaiah 27:8</a>) and Ezekiel (<a href="/ezekiel/17-10.htm">Ezekiel 17:10</a>). Vulgate, <span class="accented">in vento urente</span>; Septuagint, <span class="greek">ἐν πυρώσει</span>, "with parching;" Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, <span class="greek">ἀνεμοφθρία</span>. <span class="cmt_word">Mildew</span>; <span class="accented">a blight</span>, under the influence of which the ears of corn turned yellow and became unfruitful. "Blasting and mildew" are mentioned together in Moses' curse (<a href="/deuteronomy/28-22.htm">Deuteronomy 28:22</a>) and in Solomon's dedication prayer (<a href="/1_kings/8-37.htm">1 Kings 8:37</a>; comp. <a href="/haggai/2-17.htm">Haggai 2:17</a>). The LXX. has, <span class="greek">ἐν ἰκτέρῳ</span>, "with jaundice." <span class="cmt_word">When your gardens... increased.</span> It is better to take this sentence as the English margin, "The multitude of your gardens... hath the palmerworm devoured." So the Vulgate, <span class="accented">Multitudinem hortorum tuorum</span>... <span class="accented">comedit eruca. Gardens</span> included orchards, herbaries, and pleasure grounds. <span class="cmt_word">The palmerworm;</span> <span class="accented">gazam</span>; <span class="accented">Se</span>ptuagint, <span class="greek">κάμπη</span>: Vulgate, <span class="accented">eruca.</span> The word occurs in <a href="/joel/1-4.htm">Joel 1:4</a>; <a href="/joel/2-25.htm">Joel 2:25</a>, and is taken by many commentators to mean some kind of locust; but it is more probable that the Greek and Latin translators are right in regarding it as "a caterpillar" (see Smith, 'Dict. of the Bible,' 2:696, etc.; 'Bible Educator,' 4:293). Amos seems to be referring to the visitation in Joel's time, if we take <span class="accented">gazam</span> ("biter") to be a kind of locust. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-10.htm">Amos 4:10</a></div><div class="verse">I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - The fourth visitation is pestilence and the sword (<a href="/leviticus/26-25.htm">Leviticus 26:25</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/28-60.htm">Deuteronomy 28:60</a>). <span class="cmt_word">After the manner of Egypt.</span> In the manner in which Egypt is stricken (comp. <a href="/isaiah/10-24.htm">Isaiah 10:24, 26</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/20-30.htm">Ezekiel 20:30</a>). There is here no reference to the plague of <a href="/exodus/9-3.htm">Exodus 9:3</a>, etc., or Exodus 12:29. The allusion is to the plague which was reckoned to be epidemic in Egypt, and to other loathsome diseases for which that country was notorious (see <a href="/deuteronomy/7-15.htm">Deuteronomy 7:15</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/28-27.htm">Deuteronomy 28:27, 60</a>) Sir G. Wilkinson notes that the plague used to occur about every ten years ('Handbook,' p. 7). <span class="cmt_word">Your young men have I slain with the sword.</span> Pestilence and wax are allied scourges in <a href="/leviticus/26-25.htm">Leviticus 26:25</a>. A reference may here be made to the wars with the Syrians, wherein the Israelites suffered heavy losses (<a href="/2_kings/6-25.htm">2 Kings 6:25</a>; <a href="/2_kings/8-12.htm">2 Kings 8:12</a>; <a href="/2_kings/13-3.htm">2 Kings 13:3, 7, 22</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And have taken away your horses;</span> rather, <span class="accented">together with your captive horses</span>, still under the regimen of "I have slain." The destruction of men and horses is mentioned in <a href="/2_kings/13-7.htm">2 Kings 13:7</a>. <span class="cmt_word">The stink of your camps.</span> These unburied caresses caused pestilence in the district. Septuagint, <span class="greek">Καὶ ἀνήγαγον ἐν πυρὶ</span> <span class="greek">τὰς παρεμβολὰς ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ ὑμῶν</span>, or, according to the Alexandrian manuscript, <span class="greek">παρεμβολὰς ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου</span>, "In my wrath against you I set fire to your camps." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-11.htm">Amos 4:11</a></div><div class="verse">I have overthrown <i>some</i> of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - The fifth visitation is the earthquake (<a href="/deuteronomy/29-23.htm">Deuteronomy 29:23</a>). <span class="cmt_word">I have overthrown.</span> This is the word used to describe the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (<a href="/genesis/19-25.htm">Genesis 19:25</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/20-16.htm">Jeremiah 20:16</a>), and it seems better to refer the occurrence mentioned to some such convulsions of nature which caused widespread destruction, than, as Keil and others, "to the utter confusion of the state by which Israel was brought to the verge of ruin." We do not know anything about the particular earthquake to which the prophet alludes. (For an exhaustive catalogue of the earthquakes in this country, see Pusey's notes on this verse.) <span class="cmt_word">As God overthrew.</span> The substitution of the name of God for the personal pronoun, when the Lord himself is speaking, is not uncommon in Hebrew. Here it rather takes the form of a quotation from Genesis. <span class="cmt_word">Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning</span> (<a href="/zechariah/3-2.htm">Zechariah 3:2</a>, where see note) - a phrase which implies, not only a narrow escape, but an escape accompanied with loss. The "brand" not wholly consumed is yet blackened and diminished by the burning (comp. <a href="/2_kings/13-5.htm">2 Kings 13:5</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-12.htm">Amos 4:12</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: <i>and</i> because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Therefore</span>. Because all previous judgments have been in vain, therefore will I send upon them something more terrible still. <span class="cmt_word">Thus</span>. God says not how; he leaves the nature of the coming chastisement in mysterious uncertainty, that the very suspense may work fear and repentance. <span class="cmt_word">Because I will do this</span> (pointing back to the mysterious "thus" above) <span class="cmt_word">unto thee;</span> because I am ready to bring on thee still heavier punishment. <span class="cmt_word">Prepare to meet thy God;</span> Septuagint, <span class="greek">Ἐτοιμάζου τοῦ ἐπικαλεῖσθαι</span> <span class="greek">τὸν Θεόν σου</span>, "Prepare to call upon thy God." Make ready to meet thy God in judgment, turning to him with changed heart, if perchance he may forgive thee and withdraw his heavy hand. Another explanation, derived from Symmachus and adopted by a Lapide, Schegg, and others, "Praeparare ut adverseris Deo tuo" - an ironical encouragement to them to withstand God - deprives the following verse of its suitability to the context. For the prophet would hardly invite them to this contest by expatiating upon God's almightiness. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/amos/4-13.htm">Amos 4:13</a></div><div class="verse">For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what <i>is</i> his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, <i>is</i> his name.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - The prophet enforces his threats by declaring God's power and omniscience. <span class="cmt_word">He that formeth the mountain;</span> <span class="greek">ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ</span> <span class="greek">στερεῶν βροντήν</span>, "I am he that strengtheneth thunder" (Septuagint, reading differently). The mountains are mentioned as the most solid and everlasting of his works; <span class="cmt_word">the wind,</span> as the subtlest and most immaterial of created things. <span class="cmt_word">Declareth unto man what is his thought;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> man's thought; reveals man to himself shows that he knows man's thought before man puts it into words. This he does sometimes by the stings of conscience, sometimes by inspiring his prophets to declare men's secret motives and the real state of their heart (see <a href="/jeremiah/17-9.htm">Jeremiah 17:9</a>, l0; and comp. <a href="/1_john/3-20.htm">1 John 3:20</a>). Vulgate, <span class="accented">Annuntians homini eloquium suum</span>, where <span class="accented">eloquium is</span> equivalent to <span class="accented">cognitatio</span>. The LXX., with some change of letters, has, <span class="greek">ἀπαγγέλλων εἰς</span> <span class="greek">ἀνθρώπους τὸν Ξριστὸν αὐτοῦ</span>, "proclaiming unto men his Christ" - a reading which supports the misinterpretation of "his thought" as meaning God's thought, Christ being regarded as the <span class="greek">Λόγος</span> of God. Many of the Fathers have seen here a prophesy of the Messiah. See Tirinus and Corn. a Lapide on this verse. <span class="cmt_word">That maketh the morning darkness.</span> Keil, after Calvin, takes these words as asyndeton for "the morning dawn and darkness." So the Septuagint, <span class="greek">ποιῶν ὅρθρον καὶ ὁμίχλην</span>, "making morning and gloom." This would be simply a further instance of God's creative power. The Vulgate gives, <span class="accented">faciens matutinam nebulam</span>; and it seems probable (comp. <a href="/amos/5-8.htm">Amos 5:8</a>; <a href="/amos/8-9.htm">Amos 8:9</a>) that the clause means that the Lord turns the dawn into darkness. This may refer to the action of clouds or an eclipse; or it may be said metaphorically of prosperity and adversity. <span class="cmt_word">Treadeth upon the high places of the earth.</span> An anthropomorphic representation of the might and majesty of God, who governs all things, and has the loftiest in perfect subjection (comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/32-13.htm">Deuteronomy 32:13</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/33-29.htm">Deuteronomy 33:29</a>; <a href="/job/9-8.htm">Job 9:8</a>; <a href="/micah/1-3.htm">Micah 1:3</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The Lord,</span> Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, covenant God, is he who in these things manifests himself, and therefore his threats are not to be despised (<a href="/amos/5-8.htm">Amos 5:8</a>). In the prophet's view the laws and powers of nature have their scope in executing God's commands. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 by <a href="//biblesoft.com">BibleSoft, inc.</a>, Used by permission<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../amos/3.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Amos 3"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Amos 3" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../amos/5.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Amos 5"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Amos 5" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/amos/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><br /><br /></td></tr></table></div></div></div> <div id="bot"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhpar.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></body></html>