Amos9
World English Bible · Public Domain
1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake. Break them in pieces on the head of all of them. I will kill the last of them with the sword. Not one of them will flee away. Not one of them will escape.
2Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.
3Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out from there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
4Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.
5For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.
6It is he who builds his rooms in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth—Yahweh is his name.
7Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?” says Yahweh. “Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says Yahweh.
9“For behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.
10All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’
11In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old,
12that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” says Yahweh who does this.
13“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills.
14I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat their fruit.
15I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Amos 9.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The ruin of Israel. (1–10). The restoration of the Jews and the gospel blessing. (11–15).
vv1-10
The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cast down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which makes escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lord looks for evil, and not for good. The Lord would scatter the Jews, and visit them with calamities, as the corn is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, seems here foretold. If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves, shall find that their profession will not protect them.
vv11-15
Christ died to gather together the children of God that were scattered abroad, here said to be those who were called by his name. The Lord saith this, who doeth this, who can do it, who has determined to do it, the power of whose grace is engaged for doing it. Verses 13–15 may refer to the early times of Christianity, but will receive a more glorious fulfilment in the events which all the prophets more or less foretold, and may be understood of the happy state when the fulness both of the Jews and the Gentiles come into the church. Let us continue earnest in prayer for the fulfilment of these prophecies, in the peace, purity, and the beauty of the church. God marvellously preserves his elect amidst the most fearful confusions and miseries. When all seems desperate, he wonderfully revives his church, and blesses her with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. And great shall be the glory of that period, in which not one good thing promised shall remain unfulfilled.
Key Words
רָאָה: to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)
אֲדֹנָי: the Lord (used as a proper name of God only)
נָצַב: to station, in various applications (literally or figuratively)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
מִזְבֵּחַ: an altar
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
נָכָה: to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)
כַּפְתֹּר: a chaplet; but used only in an architectonic sense, i.e. the capital of acolumn, or a wreath-like button or disk on the candelabrum
סַף: a vestibule (as a limit); also a dish (for holding blood or wine)
רָעַשׁ: to undulate (as the earth, the sky, etc.; also a field of grain), particularly through fear; specifically, to spring (as a locust)
Cross References
Amos 9James explicitly quotes Amos 9:11-12 at the Jerusalem Council regarding the inclusion of the Gentiles.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Direct New Testament quotation and application of rebuilding the fallen tabernacle of David.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Poole notes David's elegant description of God's omnipresence (heaven, hell, sea) mirrors Amos's escape limits.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The shaking of the temple posts/thresholds strongly echoes Isaiah's vision in the temple.
Supported by JFB
JFB links building chambers in the heavens directly to the language of Psalm 104:3.
Supported by JFB
Confirms the historic origin of the Philistines from Caphtor as part of divine migration providence.
Supported by JFB
Historical fulfillment of the Syrians being carried back captive to Kir, their original home.
Supported by JFB
Direct verbal parallel regarding digging into hell or climbing up to heaven.
Supported by JFB
JFB identifies the sea-serpent commanded to bite them with the leviathan/serpent of Isaiah 27:1.
Supported by JFB
Repeats the judgment of the land rising and drowning like the flood of Egypt.
Supported by JFB
Identifies Caphtor as the place of origin for the Philistines who destroyed the Avims.
Supported by JFB
Connects Kir with Syrian military presence and ethnic origins.
Supported by JFB
Earlier prophecy in Amos that the Syrians would go captive back to Kir.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the impossibility of hiding in secret places from God's all-seeing presence.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Mosaic curse of being pursued by the sword even among the heathen nations.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explains God's 'troop' or 'host' founded in the earth as all animate creatures.
Supported by JFB
Highlights the Ethiopian comparison, illustrating Israel's stubbornness and loss of special standing.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the promise to correct with judgment but not utterly destroy the seed of Jacob.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Fulfillment of raising up David's throne and kingdom eternally in Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The blessing of agricultural abundance where threshing reaches to the vintage, symbolizing gospel plenty.
Supported by Matthew Henry