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| 1
¶ Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria,
which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters,
Bring, and let us drink.
2 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. 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. |
1
- Kine Cows. An interesting analogy. Notice in verse 3 that they
get out of the pasture through the breaks in the fence. Cf. am0911.
The rebuke is apparently for the leading men and women of the capital of
Israel.
1 - Bashan An area in NE Palestine, NE of the Sea of Galilee. See map. It had been prosperous de3214, ps02212, ez3918. 2 - Take you away The hooks draw attention to fish and to the Assyrian cruelty to their captives je1616, ha0114-17. 3 - Out at the breaches When Samaria would be attacked, the people would flee. |
| 4
Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring
your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. |
4 -
Come ... transgress Amos uses irony to point out their state of
sin.
4 - Three years Should be "three days." |
| 6 ¶ 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.
7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were 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. 8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. |
6 -
Cleanness of teeth Their teeth are clean because there is nothing
to eat.
7 - Rain withheld Rain may be compared to the gift of the Holy Spirit – being channels of God's message of salvation. Compare to the story of the ten virgins mt2501. |
| 9 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 them : yet
have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
10 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. 11 I have overthrown some 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. |
10
- Taken away ... horses See 2ki1307.
The camps stink apparently from dead bodies.
11 - As God overthrew Sodom "(De 29:23; Isa 13:19; Jer 49:18; 50:40; 2Pe 2:6; Jude 1:25) The earthquake here apparently alluded to is not that in the reign of Uzziah, which occurred "two years" later (Am 1:1). Traces of earthquakes and volcanic agency abound in Palestine. The allusion here is to some of the effects of these in previous times. Compare the prophecy, De 28:15-68;" (JFB) |
| 12
Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this
unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name. |
13 - High places This text explains of other uses of the term. Contrast to pagan high places. |
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