Amos4
New International Version
1Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”
2The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.
3You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,” declares the Lord.
4“Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years.
5Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings— boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
6“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
7“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.
8People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
9“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
10“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
11“I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
12“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.”
13He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Amos 4.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Israel is reproved. (1–5). Their impenitence shown. (6–13).
vv1-5
What is got by extortion is commonly used to provide for the flesh, and to fulfil the lusts thereof. What is got by oppression cannot be enjoyed with satisfaction. How miserable are those whose confidence in unscriptural observances only prove that they believe a lie! Let us see to it that our faith, hope, and worship, are warranted by the Divine word.
vv6-13
See the folly of carnal hearts; they wander from one creature to another, seeking for something to satisfy, and labour for that which satisfies not; yet, after all, they will not incline their ear to Him in whom they might find all they can want. Preaching the gospel is as rain, and every thing withers where this rain is wanting. It were well if people were as wise for their souls as they are for their bodies; and, when they have not this rain near, would go and seek it where it is to be had. As the Israelites persisted in rebellion and idolatry, the Lord was coming against them as an adversary. Ere long, we must meet our God in judgment; but we shall not be able to stand before him, if he tries us according to our doings. If we would prepare to meet our God with comfort, at the awful period of his coming, we must now meet him in Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father, who came to save lost sinners. We must seek him while he is to be found.
Key Words
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
פָּרָה: a heifer
בָּשָׁן: Bashan (often with the article), a region East of the Jordan
הַר: a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)
שֹׁמְרוֹן: Shomeron, a place in Palestine
עָשַׁק: to press upon, i.e. oppress, defraud, violate, overflow
דַּל: properly, dangling, i.e. (by implication) weak or thin
רָצַץ: to crack in pieces, literally or figuratively
אֶבְיוֹן: destitute
Cross References
Amos 4Moses warns of Israel's luxury under the same figure: the fat cattle of Bashan.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Uses the 'bulls of Bashan' to represent proud, violent oppressors in high places.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Refers to the princes and mighty men metaphorically as fatlings of Bashan.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Amos satirizes their hypocritical zeal by referencing the law of the three-year tithe.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel to God swearing by His holiness, binding Him to execute His righteous judgment.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Uses the same vivid image of hooks to catch and drag away a rebellious nation.
Supported by JFB
Depicts God putting a hook in the nose of proud rulers, a literal Assyrian practice.
Supported by JFB
Hosea similarly condemns Gilgal and Beth-aven (Bethel) as centers of syncretistic idolatry.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel ironical command where God tells a rebellious people to serve their idols.
Supported by JFB
Fulfills the covenant curse of bringing 'the diseases of Egypt' upon disobedient Israel.
Supported by JFB
The historical standard of total divine destruction, to which Israel's narrow escape is compared.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Vividly describes a remnant saved from judgment as 'a brand plucked out of the fire.'
Supported by JFB
Depicts rulers fleeing desperately through breaches in the wall during a siege.
Supported by JFB
The law concerning leavened bread in peace offerings, which Israel hypocritically abused.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrastive proverb illustrating that 'clean' stalls/teeth signify a complete lack of food.
Supported by JFB