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Amos Chapter
Nine
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 9
This
chapter contains the fifth and last vision the prophet saw; which represents
the certain desolation of the land, city, and temple, and the slaughter of all
sorts of persons, high and low, none should escape it, Amos 9:1; be they
where they would, they should be found out, whether in hell or heaven, on the
tops of the highest mountains, or in the bottom of the sea, or in a foreign
land, since the eyes of the Lord were upon them for evil, Amos 9:2; nor could
they hope to escape, when they considered his greatness and his power, and what
he could do, and had done; and how they had behaved towards him, even though
they were the people he had brought out of Egypt, Amos 9:5; but
though the sinful kingdom should be destroyed, yet not utterly, a remnant
should be saved, Amos 9:8; and the
chapter is concluded with gracious promises of raising up the tabernacle of
David fallen down, and of the return of the people of Israel to their own land;
and of their settlement and continuance in it, never more to depart from it, Amos 9:11.
Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord
standing by the altar, and He said: “Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds
may shake, And break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of
them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away, And he who escapes
from them shall not be delivered.
YLT
1I have seen the Lord
standing by the altar, and He saith: `Smite the knob, and the thresholds shake,
And cut them off by the head -- all of them, And their posterity with a sword I
do slay, Not flee to them doth the fleer, Nor escape to them doth a fugitive.
And I saw the Lord standing upon the altar,.... Either
upon the altar of burnt offerings in the temple of Jerusalem, whither he had
removed from the cherubim; signifying his being about to depart, and that he
was displeased, and would not be appeased by sacrifice: so the Targum,
"said
Amos the prophet, I saw the glory of the Lord removing from the cherub, and it
dwelt upon the altar;'
and
the vision may refer to the destruction of the Jews, their city and temple,
either by the Chaldeans, or by the Romans: or rather, since the prophecy in
general, and this vision in particular, seems to respect the ten tribes only,
it was upon the altar at Bethel the Lord was seen standing, as offended at the
sacrifices there offered, and to hinder them from sacrificing them, as well as
to take vengeance on those that offered them, 1 Kings 13:1;
and he said; the Lord said, either to the prophet in vision, or to one of the
angels, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or to the executioners of his vengeance, the
enemies of the people of Israel:
smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake; the upper
lintel, on which pomegranates and flowers were carved, and therefore called
"caphtor", as Kimchi thinks; this was the lintel of the door, either
of the temple at Jerusalem, as the Jewish writers generally suppose; or rather
of the temple at Bethel, see 1 Kings 12:31;
which was to be smitten with such three, that the posts thereof should shake;
signifying the destruction of the whole building in a short time, and that none
should be able to go in and out thereat:
and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of
them with the sword; which shows that the lintel and doorposts are not to be taken
literally, but figuratively; and that the smiting and cutting of them intend
the destruction of men; by the "head", the king, and the princes, and
nobles, or the priests; and, by "the last of them", the common
people, the meanest sort, or those that were left of them, as Aben Ezra and
Kimchi:
he that fleeth of them shall not flee away; he that
attempts to make his escape, and shall flee for his life, shall not get clear,
but either be stopped, or pursued and taken:
and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered; he that does
get out of the hands of those that destroy with the sword shall not be
delivered from death, but shall die by famine or pestilence. The Targum is,
"and
he said, unless the people of the house of Israel return to the law, the
candlestick shall be extinguished, King Josiah shall be killed, and the house
destroyed, and the courts dissipated, and the vessels of the house of the
sanctuary shall go into captivity; and the rest of them I will slay with the
sword, &c.'
referring
the whole to the Jews, and to the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem.
Amos 9:2 2 “Though
they dig into hell,[a] From there
My hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will
bring them down;
YLT 2If they dig through into
sheol, From thence doth My hand take them, And if they go up the heavens, From
thence I cause them to come down.
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them,.... That is,
they that endeavour to make their escape from their enemies, though they seek
for places of the greatest secrecy and privacy; not hell, the place of the
damned; nor the grave, the repository of the dead; neither of which they chose
to he in, but rather sought to escape them; but the deepest and darkest
caverns, the utmost recesses of the earth, the very centre of it; which, could
they get into, would not secure them from the power and providence of God, and
from their enemies in pursuit of them, by his permission:
though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down; the summit of
the highest mountains, and get as near to heaven, and at as great a distance
from men, as can be, and yet all in vain. The Targum is,
"if
they think to be hid as it were in hell, from thence their enemies shall take
them by my word; and if they ascend the high mountains, to the top of heaven,
thence will I bring them;'
see
Psalm 139:8.
Amos 9:3 3 And
though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, From there I will search and take
them; Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, From there I
will command the serpent, and it shall bite them;
YLT
3And if they be hid in the
top of Carmel, From thence I search out, and have taken them, And if they be
hid from Mine eyes in the bottom of the sea, From thence I command the serpent,
And it hath bitten them.
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel,.... One of
the highest mountains in the land of Israel; in the woods upon it, and caves in
it:
I will search and take them out from thence: by directing
their enemies where to find them: so the Targum,
"if
they think to be hid in the tops of the towers of castles, thither will I
command the searchers, and they shall search them:'
and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea; get into
ships, going by sea to distant parts; or make their escape to isles upon the
sea afar off, where they may think themselves safe:
thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them; the dragon
that is in the sea, Isaiah 27:1; the
great whale in the sea, or the leviathan, so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech;
and is that kind of whale which is called the "Zygaena", as BochartF23Hierozoic.
par. 2. l. 5. c. 13. p. 747. thinks; and which he, from various writers,
describes as very monstrous, horrible, and terrible, having five rows of teeth,
and very numerous; and which not only devours other large fishes, but men
swimming it meets with; and, having such teeth, with great propriety may be
said to bite. It appears from hence that there are sea serpents, as well as
land ones, to which the allusion is. Erich Pantoppidan, the present bishop of
BergenF24Natural History of Norway, par. 2. p. 198, 199, 207. ,
speaks of a "see ormen", or sea snake, in the northern seas, which he
describes as very monstrous and very terrible to seafaring men, being of seven
or eight folds, each fold a fathom distant; nay, of the length of a cable, a
hundred fathom, or six hundred English feet; yea, of one as thick as a pipe of
wine, with twenty five folds. Some such terrible creature is here respected,
though figuratively understood, and designs some crafty, powerful, and cruel
enemy. The Targum paraphrases it, though hid
"in
the isles of the sea, thither will I command the people strong like serpents,
and they shall kill them;'
see
Psalm 139:9.
Amos 9:4 4 Though
they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the
sword, And it shall slay them. I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for
good.”
YLT
4And if they go into captivity
before their enemies, From thence I command the sword, And it hath slain them,
And I have set Mine eye on them for evil, And not for good.
And though they go into captivity before their enemies,.... Alluding
to the manner in which captives are led, being put before their enemies, and so
carried in triumph; see Lamentations 1:5;
though some think this refers to their going voluntarily into a foreign country,
in order to escape danger, as Johanan the son of Kareah with the Jews went into
Egypt, Jeremiah 43:5; in
whom Kimchi instances:
thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them; or them that
kill with the sword, as the Targum; so that though they thought by going into
another country, or into an enemy's country of their own accord, to escape the
sword of the enemy, or to curry favour with them, yet should not escape:
and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good: this is the
true reason, why, let them be where they will, they cannot be safe, because the
eyes of the omniscient God, which are everywhere, in heaven, earth, hell, and
the sea, are set upon them, for their ruin and destruction; and there is no
fleeing from his presence, or getting out of his sight, or escaping his hand.
The Targum is,
"my
Word shall be against them.'
Amos 9:5 5 The
Lord God
of hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, And all who dwell there mourn;
All of it shall swell like the River,[b] And
subside like the River of Egypt.
YLT
5And [it is] the Lord,
Jehovah of Hosts, Who is striking against the land, and it melteth, And mourned
have all the inhabitants in it, And come up as a flood hath all of it, And it
hath sunk -- like the flood of Egypt.
And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and
it shall melt,.... Which is another reason why it is impossible to escape the
hands of a sin revenging God, because he is omnipotent as well as omniscient;
he is the Lord of all the armies above and below; and if he but touch the land,
any particular country, as the land of Israel, it shakes and trembles, and
falls into a flow of water, or melts like wax; as when he toucheth the hills
and mountains they smoke, being like fuel to fire; see Psalm 104:32;
and all that dwell therein shall mourn; their houses
destroyed, their substance consumed, and all that is near and dear to them
swallowed up:
and it shall rise up wholly like a flood, and shall be drowned as by
the flood of Egypt; See Gill on Amos 8:8.
Amos 9:6 6 He
who builds His layers in the sky, And has founded His strata in the earth; Who
calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the face of the earth— The
Lord is His
name.
YLT
6Who is building in the
heavens His upper chambers; As to His troop, Upon earth He hath founded it, Who
is calling for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out on the face of the
land, Jehovah [is] His name.
It is he that
buildeth his stories in the heaven,.... The three elements,
according to Aben Ezra, fire, air, and water; the orbs, as Kimchi, one above
another; a word near akin to this is rendered "his chambers", which
are the clouds, Psalm 104:3;
perhaps the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, which are three stories high,
may be meant; we read of the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2;
and particularly the throne of God is in the highest heaven; and the
"ascents"F25מעלותיו
"ascensiones suus", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Tigurine version,
"gradus suo", Vatablus, Drusius, Cocceius. to it, as it may be
rendered. The Targum is,
"who
causeth to dwell in a high fortress the Shechinah of his glory:'
and hath founded his troop in the earth; this Kimchi
interprets of the three above elements. So the words are translated in the
Bishops' Bible in Queen Elizabeth's time,
"he
buildeth his spheres in the heaven, and hath laid the foundation of his globe
of elements in the earth.'
Aben
Ezra interprets it of animals; it may take in the whole compass of created
beings on earth; so Jarchi explains it of the collection of his creatures;
though he takes notice of another sense given, a collection of the righteous,
which are the foundation of the earth, and for whose sake all things stand.
Abarbinel interprets it of the whole of the tribe of Israel; and so the Targum
paraphrases it of his congregation or church on earth: he beautifies his elect,
which are "his bundle"F26אגדתו
"fasciculum suum", Montanus, Munster, Mercerus, Vatablus, Drusius,
Burkius. , as it may be rendered; who are bound up in the bundle of life with
the Lord their God, and are closely knit and united, as to God and Christ, so
to one another; and perhaps is the best sense of the wordsF1Schultens
in Observ. ad Genesin, p. 197, 198, observes, that "agad", with the
Arabs, signifies primarily to "bind", and is by them transferred to a
building firmly bound, and compact together; and so may intend here in Amos the
Lord's building, the church, which he hath founded in the earth; and so with
Golius and Castellus is a building firmly compacted together. אגדת is used for a bunch of hyssop, Exod. xii. 27. and in
the Misnic language for a handful or bundle of anything; see Buxtorf. Lex.
Talmud. rad. אגד. :
he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out
upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name; either to
drown it, as at the general deluge; or to water and refresh it, as he does by
exhaling water from the sea, and then letting it down in plentiful showers upon
the earth; See Gill on Amos 5:8; now all
these things are observed to show the power of God, and that therefore there
can be no hope of escaping out of his hands.
Amos 9:7 7 “Are
you not like the people of Ethiopia to Me, O children of Israel?” says the Lord. “Did I not
bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, The Philistines from Caphtor, And the
Syrians from Kir?
YLT
7As sons of Cushim are ye
not to Me? O sons of Israel -- an affirmation of Jehovah. Israel did I not
bring up out of the land of Egypt? And the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram
from Kir?
Are ye not as children of the
Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord,.... And
therefore had no reason to think they should be delivered because they were the
children of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; since they were no more to
God than the children of the Ethiopians, having behaved like them; and were
become as black as they through sin, and were idolaters like them; and so
accustomed to sin, and hardened in it, that they could no more change their
course and custom of sinning than the Ethiopian could change his skin, Jeremiah 13:23; The
Ethiopians are represented by Diodorus SiculusF2Bibliothec. l. 3. p.
143, 144. as very religious, that is, very idolatrous; and as the first that
worshipped the gods, and offered sacrifice to them; hence they were very
pleasing to them, and in high esteem with them; wherefore HomerF3Ibid.
1. l. 423. speaks of Jupiter, and the other gods, going to Ethiopia to an
anniversary feast, and calls them the blameless Ethiopians; and so LucianF4In
Jupiter Tragaedus. speaks of the gods as gone abroad, perhaps to the other side
of the ocean, to visit the honest Ethiopians; for they are often used to visit
them, and, as he wittily observes, even sometimes without being invited. Jarchi
suggests the sense to be, that they were as creatures upon the same foot, and
of the same descent, with other nations; and paraphrases it thus,
"from
the sons of Noah ye came as the rest of the nations.'
Kimchi
takes the meaning to be this,
"as
the children of the Ethiopians are servants so should ye be unto me.'
The
Targum is very foreign from the sense,
"are
ye not reckoned as beloved children before me, O house of Israel?'
the
first sense is best:
have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and therefore
it was ungrateful in them to behave as they have done; nor can they have any
dependence on this, or argue from hence that they shall be indulged with other
favours, or be continued in their land, since the like has been done for other
nations, as follows:
and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? that is, have
I not brought up the one from the one place, and the other from the other? the
Philistines and Caphtorim are mentioned together as brethren, Genesis 10:14; and
the Avim which dwelt in the land of Palestine in Hazerim unto Azzah were
destroyed by the Caphtorim, who dwelt in their stead, Deuteronomy 2:23;
from whom, it seems by this, the Philistines were delivered, who are called the
remnant of the country of Caphtor, Jeremiah 47:4. Aben
Ezra understands it as if the Israelites were not only brought out of Egypt,
but also from the Philistines, and from Caphtor: others take these two places,
Caphtor and Kir, to be the original of the Philistines and Syrians, and not
where they had been captives, but now delivered: so Japhet,
"ye
are the children of one father, God, who brought you out of Egypt, and not as
the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir, who were mixed together;'
and
R. Joseph Kimchi thus,
"from
Caphtor came destroyers to the Philistines, who destroyed them; and from Kir
came Tiglathpileser, the destroyer, to the Syrians, who carried them captive
there.'
Of
the captivity of the Philistines, and their deliverance from the Caphtorim, we
nowhere read; the captivity of the Syrians in Kir Amos prophesied of, Amos 1:5; and if he
speaks here of their deliverance from it, he must live at least to the times of
Ahaz; for in his times it was they were carried captive thither, 2 Kings 16:9.
Caphtor some take to be Cyprus, because it seems to be an island, Jeremiah 47:4; but
by it the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Arabic versions
understand Cappadocia; and the Cappadocians used to be called by the Greeks and
Persians Syrians, as HerodotusF5Clio, sive l. 1. 72. Terpsichore,
sive l. 5. c. 40. & Polymnia, sive l. 7. c. 72. Vid. Strabo. Geograph. l.
22. p. 374. and others, observe. BochartF6Phaleg. l. 4. c. 32. col.
291, 292. is of opinion that that part of Cappadocia is intended which is
called Colchis; and the rather since he finds a city in that country called
Side, which in the Greek tongue signifies a pomegranate, as Caphtor does in
Hebrew; and supposes the richness of the country led the Caphtorim thither,
who, having stayed awhile, returned to Palestine, and there settled; which
expedition he thinks is wrapped up in the fable of the Greek poets, concerning
that of Typhon out of Egypt to Colchis and from thence to Palestine; and indeed
the Jewish TargumistsF7Targum Onkelos, Jon. & Jerus. in Gen. x.
4. & Ben Uzziel in Jer. xlvii. 4. & in loc. every where render
Caphtorim by Cappadocians, and Caphtor by Cappadocia, or Caphutkia; but then by
it they understand a place in Egypt, even Pelusium, now called Damiata; for the
Jewish writers sayF8Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Cetubot, c. 13.
sect. 11. Caphutkia is Caphtor, in the Arabic language Damiata; so Benjamin of
Tudela saysF9Itinerarium, p. 125. , in two days I came to Damiata, this
is Caphtor; and no doubt the Caphtorim were in Egypt originally since they
descended from Mizraim; but CalmetF11Dictionary in tile word
"Caphtor". will have it that the island of Crete is meant by Caphtor;
and observes, theft, the Philistines were at first called strangers in
Palestine, their proper name being Cherethites, or Cretians, as in Ezekiel 25:16; as
the Septuagint render that name of theirs; and that the language, manners,
arms, religion and gods, of the Philistines and Cretians, are much the same; he
finds a city in Crete called Aptera, which he thinks has a sensible relation to
Caphtor; and that the city of Gaza in Palestine went by the name of Minoa,
because of Minos king of Crete, who, coming into that country, called this
ancient city by his own name. The Targum and Vulgate Latin version render Kir
by Cyrene, by which must be meant, not Cyrene in Africa, but in Media; so Kir
is mentioned along with Elam or Persia in Isaiah 22:6;
whither the people of Syria were carried captive by Tiglathpileser, as
predicted in Amos 1:5; and, as
the above writer observesF12Dictionary, in the word
"Cyrene". , not certainly into the country of Cyrene near Egypt,
where that prince was possessed of nothing; but to Iberia or Albania, where the
river Kir or Cyrus runs, which discharges itself into the Caspian sea; and
JosephusF13Antiqu. l. 9. c. 12. sect. 3. says they were transported
into Upper Media; and the above author thinks that the Prophet Amos, in this
passage, probably intended to comprehend, under the word "Cyr" or
"Kir", the people beyond the Euphrates, and those of Mesopotamia,
from whence the Aramaeans in reality came, who were descended from Aram the son
of Shem; and he adds, we have no certain knowledge of their coming in particular
out of this country, where the river Cyrus flows; and, upon the whole, it is
difficult to determine whether this is to be understood of the origin of these
people, or of their deliverance from captivity; the latter may seem probable,
since it is certain that the prophet speaks of the deliverance of Israel from
the captivity of Egypt; and it is as certain that the Syrians were carried
captive to Kir, and, no doubt, from thence delivered; though we have no account
of the Philistines being captives to Caphtor, and of their deliverance from
thence; however, doubtless these were things well known to Amos, and in his
times, he here speaks of. In some of our English copies it is read Assyrians
instead of Syrians, very wrongly; for "Aram", and not
"Ashur", is the word here used.
Amos 9:8 8 “Behold,
the eyes of the Lord God
are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the
earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord.
YLT
8Lo, the eyes of the Lord
Jehovah [are] on the sinful kingdom, And I have destroyed it from off the face
of the ground, Only, I destroy not utterly the house of Jacob, An affirmation
of Jehovah.
Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful
kingdom,.... God is omniscient, and his eyes are everywhere, and upon all
persons, good and bad, and upon all kingdoms, especially upon a sinful nation:
"the sinning kingdom"F14ממלכה החטאה "hoc regnum peccans", V. L. Junius &
Tremellius, Drusius, Mercerus; "peccatrix", Piscator. , or "the
kingdom of sin"F15"Regnum peccati", Pagninus,
Montanus. , as it may be rendered; that is addicted to sin, where it prevails
and reigns; every such kingdom, particularly the kingdom of Israel, Ephraim, or
the ten tribes, given to idolatry, and other sins complained of in this
prophecy; and that not for good, but for evil, as in Amos 9:4; in order
to cut them off from being a people:
and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth: so that it
shall be no more, at least as a kingdom; as the ten tribes have never been
since their captivity by Shalmaneser; though Japhet interprets this of all the
kingdoms of the earth, being sinful, the eyes of God are upon them to destroy
them, excepting the kingdom of Israel; so Abarbinel:
saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith
the Lord; and so it is, that though they have been destroyed as a kingdom,
yet not utterly as a people; there were some of the ten tribes that mixed with
the Jews, and others that were scattered about in the world; and a remnant
among them, according to the election of grace, that were met with in the
ministry of the apostles, and in the latter day all Israel shall be saved; see Jeremiah 30:10.
Amos 9:9 9 “For
surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain
is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
YLT
9For lo, I am commanding,
And I have shaken among all the nations the house of Israel, As [one] doth
shake with a sieve, And there falleth not a grain [to] the earth.
For, lo, I will command,.... What follows; which
is expressive of afflictive and trying dispensations of Providence, which are
according to the will of God, by his appointment and order, and overruled for
his glory, and the good of his people:
and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn
is sifted in a sieve; this is to be understood of spiritual Israel, of those who are
Israelites indeed, who are like to corns of wheat, first die before they live;
die unto sin, and live unto righteousness; grow up gradually, and produce much
fruit; or like to wheat for their choiceness and excellency, being the chosen
of God and precious, and the excellent in the earth; and their whiteness and
purity, as clothed with Christ's righteousness washed in his blood, and
sanctified by his Spirit; and for their substance and fulness, being filled out
of Christ's fulness, and with all the fulness of God, with the Spirit and his
graces, and with all the fruits of righteousness; and for weight and solidity,
not as chaff driven to and fro, but are firm and constant, settled and established,
in divine things; and yet have the chaff of sin cleaving to them, and have need
of the flail and fan of affliction; and this is the sieve the Lord takes into
his hands, and sifts them with; whereby sometimes they are greatly unsettled,
and tossed to and fro, have no rest and ease, but are greatly distressed on all
sides, and are thoroughly searched and tried, and the chaff loosened and
separated from them; and sometimes the Lord suffers them to be sifted by the
temptations of Satan, whereby they are brought into doubts and fears, and are
very wavering and uncomfortable, are sadly harassed and buffeted, and in great
danger, were it not for the grace of God, and the intercession of the Mediator,
Luke 22:31;
yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth; or, "the
least stone"F16צרור
"lapillus", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Munster, Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Cocceius; so Ben Melech. ; which is in the
spiritual building, and laid on the rock and foundation Christ; or the least
corn of wheat, so called because of its weight, solidity, and substance. The
meaning is, that the least true Israelite, or child of God, who is the least in
the kingdom of heaven, and has the least share of grace and spiritual
knowledge, that is even less than the least of all saints, shall not be lost
and perish; though they fall in Adam, yet they are preserved in Christ; though
they fall into actual sins and transgressions, and sometimes into gross ones,
and from a degree of steadfastness in the faith, yet not totally and finally,
or so as to perish for ever; no, not a hair of their head shall fall to the
ground, or they be hurt and ruined; see 1 Samuel 14:45; for
they are beloved of God with an everlasting love, ordained, by him to eternal
life, adopted into his family, justified by his grace, and are kept by his
power, according to his promise, which never fails; they are Christ's property,
given him of his Father, to whom he stands in the relation of Head and Husband;
are the purchase of his blood, closely united to him, and for whom he
intercedes, and makes preparations in heaven. The Spirit of God is their
sanctifier and sealer; he dwells in them as their earnest of heaven; and the
glory of all the divine Persons is concerned in their salvation; hence it is
that not one of them shall ever perish.
Amos 9:10 10 All
the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall
not overtake nor confront us.’
YLT
10By sword die do all sinners
of My people, Who are saying, `Not overtake, or go before, For our sakes, doth
evil.'
All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,.... By the
sword of the Assyrians, and of others, into whose countries they shall flee for
shelter, Amos 9:1; even all
such who are notorious sinners, abandoned to their lusts, obstinate and
incorrigible; live in sin, and continue therein; repent not of sin, disbelieve
the prophets of the Lord, and defy his threatenings, and put away the evil day
far from them:
which say, the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us; the evil
threatened by the prophet, the sword of the enemy, the desolation of their
land, and captivity in a foreign land; these evils, if they came at all, which
they gave little credit to, yet would not in their days; they would never come
so near them, or so close to their heels as to overtake them, and seize them,
or to get before them, and stop them fleeing from them; they promised
themselves impunity, and were in no pain about the judgments threatened them;
so daring and impudent, so irreligious and atheistical, were they in their
thoughts, words, and actions; and therefore should all and everyone of them be
destroyed.
Amos 9:11 11 “On
that day I will raise up The tabernacle[c] of David,
which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And
rebuild it as in the days of old;
YLT
11In that day I raise the
tabernacle of David, that is fallen, And I have repaired their breaches, And
its ruins I do raise up, And I have built it up as in days of old.
In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen,.... Not in
the day of Israel's ruin, but in the famous Gospel day, so often spoken of by
the prophets; and this prophecy is referred to the times of the Messiah by the
ancientF17Zohar in Exod. fol. 96. 2. Jews; and one of the names they
give him is taken from hence, "Barnaphli"F18T. Bab.
Sanhedrin, fol. 96. 2. , the Son of the fallen. R. Nachman said to R. Isaac,
hast thou heard when Barnaphli comes? to whom he said, who is Barnaphli? he
replied, the Messiah; you may call the Messiah Barnaphli; for is it not
written, "in that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen
down?" and they call him so, not because the son of Adam; but because he
was the son of David, and was to spring from his family, when fallen into a low
and mean condition; yea, they sometimes seem by the tabernacle of David to
understand the dead body of the Messiah to be raised, whose human nature is by
the New Testament writers called a tabernacle, Hebrews 8:2; see John 1:14; for,
having mentionedF19Zohar in Gen. fol. 53. 2. that passage in Jeremiah 30:9;
"they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King, whom I will
raise up unto them", add, whom I will raise up out of the dust; as it is
said, "I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen down";
but elsewhereF20Zohar in Exod. fol. 4. 2. it is better interpreted
of the Messiah's raising up Israel his people out of captivity; they say,
"her
husband shall come, and raise her out of the dust; as it is said, "I will
raise up the tabernacle of David", &c. in the day the King Messiah
shall gather the captivity from the ends of the world to the ends of it,
according to Deuteronomy 30:4;'
and
which they understand of their present captivity, and deliverance from it, as
in Amos 9:14. TobitF21Ch.
xiii. 10. seems to have reference to this passage, when he thus exhorts Zion,
"praise
the everlasting King, that his tabernacle may be built again in thee;'
and
expressesF23Ch. xiv. 7. his faith in it, that so it would be,
"afterwards
they (the Jews) shall return from all places of their captivity, and build up
Jerusalem gloriously; and the house of God shall be built in it, as the prophets
have spoken concerning it, for ever;'
agreeably
to which Jarchi paraphrases it,
"in
the day appointed for redemption;'
and
so the Apostle James quotes it, and applies it to the first times of the
Gospel, Acts 15:15. The
Targum interprets this "tabernacle" of the kingdom of the house of
David: this was in a low estate and condition when Jesus the Messiah came, he
being the carpenter's son; but it is to be understood of the spiritual kingdom
of Christ, the church; Christ is meant by David, whose son he is, and of whom
David was an eminent type, and is often called by his name, Ezekiel 34:23; and
the church by his "tabernacle", which is of his building, where he
dwells, and keeps his court; and which in the present state is movable from
place to place: and this at the time of Christ's coming was much fallen, and
greatly decayed, through sad corruption in doctrine by the Pharisees and
Sadducees; through neglect of worship, and formality in it, and the
introduction of things into it God never commanded; through the wicked lives of
professors, and the small number of truly godly persons; but God, according to
this promise and prophecy, raised it up again by the ministry of John the
Baptist, Christ and his apostles, and by the conversion of many of the Jews,
and by bringing in great numbers of the Gentiles, who coalesced in one church
state, which made it flourishing, grand, and magnificent; and thus the prophecy
was in part fulfilled, as the apostle has applied it in the above mentioned
place: but it will have a further and greater accomplishment still in the
latter day, both in the spiritual and personal reign of Christ: and though this
tabernacle or church of Christ is fallen to decay again, and is in a very
ruinous condition; the doctrines of the Gospel being greatly departed from; the
ordinances of it changed, or not attended to; great declensions as to the
exercise of grace among the people of God; and many breaches and divisions
among them; the outward conversation of many professors very bad, and few
instances of conversion; yet the Lord will raise it up again, and make it very
glorious: he will
close up the breaches thereof, and will raise up his ruins; the doctrines
of the Gospel will be revived and received; the ordinances of it will be
administered in their purity, as they were first delivered; great numbers will
be converted, both of Jews and Gentiles; and there will be much holiness,
spirituality, and brotherly love, among the saints:
and I will build it as in the days of old; religion
shall flourish as in the days of David and Solomon; the Christian church will be
restored to its pristine glory, as in the times of the apostles.
Amos 9:12 12 That
they may possess the remnant of Edom,[d] And all
the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the Lord who does this
thing.
YLT
12So that they possess the
remnant of Edom, And all the nations on whom My name is called, An affirmation
of Jehovah -- doer of this.
That they may possess the remnant or Edom, and of all the Heathen,
which are called by my name,.... Or that these may be possessed; that
is, by David or Christ, who shall have the Heathen given him for his
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, Psalm 2:8; when the
remnant, according to the election of grace, in those nations that have been
the greatest enemies to Christ and his Gospel, signified by Edom, shall be
converted, and call upon the name of the Lord, and worship him; and be called
by his name, Christians, and so become his inheritance and possession. The
Targum understands, by the Heathen or people, all the people of the house of
Israel; and Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Melech, think the words are to be
inverted, thus,
"that
all the people on whom my name is called, nay possess the remnant of Edom;'
and
the forager says, that all the Edomites shall be destroyed in the days of the
Messiah, but Israel shall inherit their land; and Aben Ezra says, that if this
prophecy is interpreted of the Messiah, the matter is clear; as it is in the
sense we have given, and as the apostle explains it; See Gill on Acts 15:17. Some
render the words, "that the remnant of Edom, and of all the Heathen, that
are" (that is, shall be) "called by my name, may possess me the
Lord"F24"Ut possideant reliquiae Edom", De Dieu. See
Bishop Chandler's Defence of Christianity, p. 172. . The truth and certainty of
its performance is expressed in the following clause,
saith the Lord, that doeth this: whose word is true,
whose power is great, whose grace is efficacious, to accomplish all that is
here promised and foretold.
Amos 9:13 13 “Behold,
the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall
overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains
shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.
YLT
13Lo, days are coming -- an
affirmation of Jehovah, And come nigh hath the ploughman to the reaper, And the
treader of grapes to the scatterer of seed, And the mountains have dropt juice,
And all the hills do melt.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... Or
"are coming"F25ימים באים "dies venientes", Montanus, Burkius. ; and
which will commence upon the accomplishment of the above things, when the
church of Christ is raised up and established, the Jews converted, and the
Gentiles brought in:
that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper; or "meet
the reaper"F26נגש הורש
בקוצר "et vel cum occurret arator
messori", Vatablus, Drusius; "attingent arator messorem",
Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "accedet arator ad
messorem", Cocceius. ; or come up to him, or touch him, as it may be
rendered; and so the Targum; that is, before the reaper has well cut down the
grain, or it is scarce gathered in, the ploughman shall be ready to plough up
the ground again, that it may be sown, and produce another crop:
and the treaders of grapes him that soweth seed; or
"draweth seed"F1מושך הזרע "trahentem semen", Montanus, Liveleus,
Drusius, Mercerus. ; out of his basket, and scatters it in the land; signifying
that there should he such an abundance of grapes in the vintage, that they
would continue pressing till seedtime; and the whole denotes a great affluence
of temporal good things, as an emblem of spiritual ones; see Leviticus 26:5;
where something of the like nature is promised, and expressed in much the same
manner:
and the mountains shall drop sweet wine; or "new
wine"F2עסיס "mustum",
Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Mercerus; "musto", Drusius, Cocceius. ;
intimating that there shall be abundance of vines grow upon the mountains,
which will produce large quantities of wine, so that they shall seem to drop or
flow with it:
and all the hills shall melt; with liquors; either
with wine or honey, or rather with milk, being covered with flocks and herds,
which shall yield abundance of milk; by all which, plenty of spiritual things,
as the word and ordinances, and rich supplies of grace, as well as of temporal
things, is meant; see Joel 3:18.
Amos 9:14 14 I
will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste
cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from
them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
YLT
14And I have turned back [to]
the captivity of My people Israel, And they have built desolate cities, and
inhabited, And have planted vineyards, and drunk their wine, And made gardens,
and eaten their fruit.
And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel,.... Which is
not to be understood of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and their return
from thence, with whom some of the ten tribes of Israel were mixed; for they
were not then so planted in their own land as no more to be pulled up again, as
is here promised; for they afterwards were dispossessed of it by the Romans,
and carried captive, and dispersed among the nations again; but the captivity
both of Judah and Israel is meant, their present captivity, which will be
brought back, and they will be delivered from it, and return to their own land,
and possess it as long as it is a land; see Jeremiah 30:3; as
well as be freed from the bondage of sit, Satan, and the law, under which they
have been detained some hundreds of years; but now shall be delivered into the
glorious liberty of the children of God, of Christians, with which Christ has
made them free:
and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; literally the
cities in Judea wasted by the Turks, and others; and mystically the churches of
Christ, of which saints are fellow citizens, and will be in a desolate
condition before the conversion of the Jews, and the gathering in the fulness
of the Gentiles; but by these means will be rebuilt, and be in a flourishing
condition, and fall of inhabitants:
and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they
shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them; which, as
before, will be literally true; and in a spiritual sense may signify the
churches of Christ, compared to vineyards and gardens, which will be planted
everywhere, and be set with pleasant and fruitful plants, and will turn to the
advantage of those who have been instruments in planting them; see Song of Solomon 6:2.
Amos 9:15 15 I
will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.
YLT
15And I have planted them on
their own ground, And they are not plucked up any more from off their own
ground, That I have given to them, said Jehovah thy God!
And I will plant them upon their land,.... The land
of Israel, as trees are planted; and they shall take root and flourish, and
abound with all good things, temporal and spiritual:
and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have
given them, saith the Lord thy God; by which it appears that
this is a prophecy of things yet to come; since the Jews, upon their return to
their own land after the Babylonish captivity, were pulled up again, and rooted
out of it by the Romans, and remain so to this day; but, when they shall return
again, they will never more be removed from it; and of this they may he
assured; because it is the land the Lord has, "given" them, and it
shall not be taken away from them any more; and, because he will now appear to
be the "Lord their God", the "loammi", Hosea 1:9, will he
taken off from them; they will be owned to be the Lords people, and he will be
known by them to be their covenant God; which will ensure all the above
blessings to them, of whatsoever kind; for this is either said to the prophet,
"the Lord thy God", or to Israel; and either way it serves to confirm
the same thing.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)