Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 3:15
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
15. the winter house ] See Jer 36:22.
with the summer house ] Eglon (Jdg 3:20) had a “cool upper story,” i.e. an additional apartment, built on the flat roof of the house, with latticed windows, allowing free circulation for the air (cf. Moore, Judges, pp. 96, 97 f.); but here separate buildings, such as the wealthy might be able to indulge in, appear to be intended. Both terms are to be understood collectively, and not confined to the royal palaces alone. An interesting illustration of the passage has been supplied recently by an almost contemporary inscription from Zinjirli, near Aleppo, in which Bar-rekb, king of Sham’al, vassal (lit. servant, 2Ki 16:7) of Tiglath-pileser ( ), says he has beautified his father’s house in honour of his ancestors, the kings of Sham’al (i.e. as a mausoleum), “and it is for them a summer-house and a winter-house [149] ” (i.e. for perpetual use).
[149] (Sachau in the Sitzungsberichte of the Berlin Academy, 22 Oct. 1896, p.1052).
houses of ivory ] i.e. houses of which the walls were panelled or inlaid with ivory (cf. Psa 45:8; also ch. Amo 6:4). Ahab (1Ki 22:39), it seems, had found imitators.
the great houses ] rather many houses (R.V. marg.): cf. Isa 5:9. “The desolation should be wide as well as mighty” (Pusey).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house – Upon idolatry, there follow luxury and pride. So wealthy were they, says Jerome, as to possess two sorts of houses, the winter house being turned to the south, the summer house to the north, so that, according to the variety of the seasons, they might temper to them the heat and cold. Yet of these luxuries, (so much more natural in the East where summer-heat is so intense, and there is so little provision against cold) the only instance expressly recorded, besides this place, is the winter house of Jehoiakim. In Greece and Rome , the end was attained, as with us, by north and south rooms in the same house. These, which Amos rebukes, were like our town and country houses, separate residences, since they were to be destroyed, one on the other. Ivory houses were houses, paneled, or inlaid, with ivory. Such a palace Ahab built 1Ki 22:39. Even Solomon in all his glory had but an ivory throne 1Ki 10:18. Else ivory palaces Psa 45:8 are only mentioned, as part of the symbolic glory of the King of glory, the Christ. He adds, and the great (or many) houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. So prosperous were they in outward show, when Amos foretold their destruction. The desolation should be wide as well as mighty. All besides should pass away, and the Lord alone abide in that Day. : What then shall we, if we would be right-minded, learn hence? How utterly nothing will all earthly brightness avail, all wealth, glory, or ought besides of luxury, if the love of God is lacking, and righteousness be not prized by us! For treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death Pro 10:2.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Amo 3:15
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.
The houses of ivory
A devout attention to the passing operations of providence is repaid abundantly in our increased knowledge of God, as a mans character is discerned by his deeds; and as We are wont to say, Actions speak louder than words, so the character of God is learned by His providence. A due attention to both revelations of God–in His Word and in His works–will be found of essential service to the better understanding and embrace of both. Gods works are the dramatic parable; the practical commentary upon His Word–they reflect light severally on each other. The obscurities of providence are elucidated by Scripture, and the declarations of Scripture are verified by providence. We are apt to be peculiarly affected at the spectacle of fallen greatness. When by calamity or death God calls upon princes to remember that they are but men, we are proportionably affected by their visitation. Let us earnestly pray that the Lord may make this voice of departed royalty a proclamation of warning to all our souls, that so the bereavement which has clothed the nation in the form of mourning may be the means of bringing real sorrow after a godly sort into our hearts. (Joseph B. Owen, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. I will smite the winter house with the summer house] I will not only destroy the poor habitations and villages in the country, but I will destroy those of the nobility and gentry as well as the lofty palaces in the fortified cities in which they dwell in the winter season, as those light and elegant seats in which they spend the summer season. Dr. Shaw observes that “the hills and valleys round about Algiers are all over beautified with gardens and country seats, whither the inhabitants of better fashion retire during the heats of the summer season. They are little white houses, shaded with a variety of fruit trees and evergreens, which beside shade and retirement, afford a gay and delightful prospect toward the sea. The gardens are all well stocked with melons, fruits, and pot herbs of all kinds; and (which is chiefly regarded in these hot countries) each of them enjoys a great command of water.”
And the houses of ivory] Those remarkable for their magnificence and their ornaments, not built of ivory, but in which ivory vessels, ornaments, and inlaying abounded. Thus, then, the winter houses and the summer houses, the great houses and the houses of uncommon splendour, shall all perish. There should be a total desolation in the land. No kind of house should be a refuge, and no kind of habitation should be spared. Ahab had at Samaria a house that was called the ivory house, 1Kg 22:39. This may be particularly referred to in this place. We cannot suppose that a house constructed entirely of ivory can be intended.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will smite; by the greatness of the desolation it shall appear that God did smite, though by the Assyrian; or perhaps it may refer to the earthquake foretold two years before it came, Amo 1:1.
The winter house; which probably was in the chief city, where the rich and great men retired in the winter time, as more for their delight than the country, horrid and cold, and stripped of its glory.
The summer house; the houses of pleasure, where the nobles and rich men of Israel spent the summer time.
The houses of ivory; not built with, but beautified with ivory, or the elephants tooth, called here and elsewhere, by way of eminency, the tooth.
Shall perish; by the violence of the enemies, these stately houses shall be ransacked first, and pulled down next, and left in rubbish.
The great houses; or many, for the word includes both. The magnificent palaces of princes and the nobles of Israel
shall have an end; shall cease for ever, either be utterly wasted, or cease to be theirs whose once they were.
Saith the Lord; all this shall infallibly come to pass and be fulfilled in due time.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. winter . . . summer house(Jdg 3:20; Jer 36:22).Winter houses of the great were in sheltered positions facing thesouth to get all possible sunshine, summer houses in forests and onhills, facing the east and north.
houses of ivoryhavingtheir walls, doors, and ceilings inlaid with ivory. So Ahab’s house(1Ki 22:39; Psa 45:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house,…. Both the one and, the other shall fall to the ground, being beat down by the enemy, or shook and made to fall by the earthquake predicted, Am 1:1; as Kimchi thinks: kings and great personages had houses in the city in the winter season, in which they lived for warmth; and others in the country in the summertime, to which they retired for the benefit of the air; or they had, in one and the same house, a summer and a winter parlour; see Jud 3:20; it signifies that the destruction should reach city and country, and deprive them of what was for their comfort and pleasure:
and the houses of ivory shall perish; or “of the tooth” l; the elephant’s tooth, of which ivory is made. Ahab made a house of ivory; and perhaps more were made by others afterwards, following his example, 1Ki 22:39; not that these houses were made wholly of ivory, only “covered” with it, as the Targum here paraphrases it; or they were cieled or wainscotted with it, or were inlaid and covered with it, and were reckoned very curious work; but should be demolished, and perish in the general ruin:
and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord; the houses of princes, nobles, and other persons of figure and distinction; houses great in building, or many in number, as Kimchi observes, and as the word m will bear to be rendered; these, which the builders and owners of them thought would have continued many ages, and have perpetuated their names to posterity, should now be thrown down, and be no more; of which they might assure themselves, since the Lord had said it.
l “domus dentis”, Montanus, Mercerus, Vatablus. m “aedes multi”, V. L. “domus multae”, Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Burkius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Amos shows again that in vain the great people trusted in their wealth and fortified places; for these could not hinder God from drawing them forth to punishment. As then abundance blinds men, and as they imagine themselves to be as it were inaccessible, especially when dwelling in great palaces, the Prophet here declares, that these houses would be no impediment to prevent God’s vengeance to break through; I will then destroy the winter-house together with the summer-house. Amos no doubt intended by this paraphrase to designate the palaces. The poor deem it enough to have a cottage both for winter and summer; for they change not the parts of their buildings, so as to inhabit the hotter in winter, and to refresh themselves in the colder during summer: no such advantage is possessed by the poor, for they are content with the same dwelling through life. But as the rich sought warmth in winter, and had their summer compartments, the Prophet says, that their large and magnificent buildings would be no protection to the rich, for God’s vengeance would penetrate through them; I will destroy then the winter with the summer house
And then he says, Fail shall the houses of ivory. We now see more clearly that the Prophet speaks here against the rich and the wealthy, who inhabited splendid and magnificent palaces. Perish then shall the houses of ivory and fail shall the great houses; some say, many houses, but improperly; for the Prophet continues the same idea; and as he had before mentioned houses of ivory so he now calls them great houses; for they were not only built for use and convenience, like common and plebeian houses, but also for show and display; for the rich, we know, are ever lavish and profuse, not only in their table and dress, but also in their palaces. This is the meaning. Now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) Houses.It is uncertain whether by winter and summer houses are meant two classes of royal abodes, or different chambers of the same house (Jdg. 3:20; Jer. 36:22, are compatible with either). Ivory houses mean mansions adorned with ivory. For great houses should be read many houses.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Amo 3:15. I will smite the winter-house, &c. See Jer 36:22. The Russian princes used to have their winter and summer palaces, that nation having had many of the eastern usages, and even much of their dress, before the new regulations of Peter the Great. But the winter and summer-houses spoken of by the prophets may be supposed hardly to differ so much from each other as those of the Russians. Probably the account which Dr. Shaw gives of the country-seats about Algiers, though not applied by him to the illustration of these texts, may better explain this affair. “The hills and valleys round Algiers are all over beautified with gardens and country-seats, whither the inhabitants of better fashion retire, during the heats of the summer-season. They are little white houses, shaded with a variety of fruit-trees and ever-greens; which, beside the shade and retirement, afford a gay and delightful prospect toward the sea. The gardens are all of them well stocked with melons, fruit and potherbs of all kinds; and (which is chiefly regarded in these hot climates) each of them enjoys a great command of water, &c.” These are the houses used for retirement from the heat; they might with the greater propriety, therefore, be called summer-houses. They are built in the open country, and are small, though belonging to people of fashion; and as such, do they not explain in the most simple manner the words of Amos? I will smite the winter-house;the palaces of the great, in fortified towns: with the summer-house, the small houses of pleasure used in the summer, to which any enemy can have access? And the houses of ivory shall perish; those remarkable for their magnificence; and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord; those that are distinguished by their amplitude as well as richness, built as they are in their strongest places, yet shall all perish like their country-seats. See on Nah 3:17.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The prophet solemnly awakens the attention of this stupid people, and calls on them to hear and tremble at the word that the Lord had spoken against them.
1. Their ingratitude will provoke him to punish them. Of all families of the earth, they had been distinguished by his peculiar favour: though so few when they went into Egypt, yet he had multiplied them exceedingly; and brought them up thence with a high hand; and therefore their rebellion against him was the more criminal, and would bring a heavier judgment on their heads. Note; None perish under deeper guilt than those who have abused distinguishing means and mercies.
2. In their state of apostacy, no communion can subsist between him and them. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? There must be reconciliation before there could be any renewed fellowship; and as they obstinately rejected every call to repent, the enmity must subsist, and their ruin be the consequence. Note; God is ready to be reconciled to sinners; but if they reject his mercy, they may expect his wrath.
3. The judgments that God threatened were not pretended, but real; nor should they be removed from them till they were effectually humbled by them. Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? &c. No: they only roar in sight of their prey, or when they have seized it. Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him? No: God hath really spread the snare of affliction for them, nor would take it up fruitless; they would assuredly be snared and taken; nor would the visitation be removed, till the end for which it was sent should be answered. Note; The terrors of the Lord are not phantoms raised to frighten the weak, the ignorant, or superstitious, but awful realities which must shortly come to pass.
4. The warnings that they received ought justly to alarm them; and in the sufferings which they were about to feel, God’s hand would visibly appear. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid of the approaching foe? or not run together, to consider how to avert the storm? Thus God, by his prophets, had spread the alarm; and it was at their peril if they disregarded them. Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? All attention comes from his appointing, permissive, or suffering will; and without it not a hair of our head falls. Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets, that before he strikes they may give fair warning to the guilty, and exhort them by a speedy humiliation to avert the impending wrath. The lion hath roared; who will not fear? The Lord hath denounced his vengeance against the impenitent; and abundant cause there is that they should tremble before him. The Lord God hath spoken; who can but prophesy? Who, that hath the glory of God and the good of men’s souls at heart, can refrain from speaking, when God stirs up his mind with holy zeal, and shews him the dreadful danger about which sinners appear so fearfully unconcerned. Note; (1.) In all our trials and troubles, God’s hand is to be acknowledged: it should silence every murmur, when we know that he hath done it or permitted it for our good. (2.) God is very gracious; he never strikes, till, having warned in vain, the sinner proves incorrigible. (3.) Necessity is laid upon those, whose spirit God inwardly moves with affecting views of the miseries of a world that lieth in wickedness, to labour to pluck, if possible, these brands from the burning.
2nd, The neighbouring nations, the princes of Philistia and Egypt, are summoned to hear the trial of Israel, that they may bear witness to the righteousness of the Lord, and in their punishments be themselves admonished. We have,
1. The crimes of which Israel is found guilty. (1.) Behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, the outrages committed in lawless riot, and passed off with impunity. (2.) Behold the oppressed in the midst thereof: injustice, oppression, rapine, and violence fill every street, and the injured groan without redress; for they know not to do right; they had no desire to do it, or by so long a course of wickedness their very judgment was perverted, and their reason blinded: they store up violence and robbery in their palaces, thus heaping up wrath against the day of wrath. Note; Sin is of so bewitching a nature, that by long practice it gains, as it were, a sanction in the mind; and the conscience utterly defiled yields consent and approbation.
2. The sentence pronounced upon Israel is terrible. An adversary, the Assyrian king, shall be raised up, who shall demolish their fortresses, and plunder their palaces of their ill-gotten wealth. The inhabitants shall be massacred and devoured, as a helpless sheep in a lion’s mouth; a wretched remnant only shall escape, like the two legs, or a piece of an ear, which the shepherd rescues from his consuming jaws; a few out of Samaria, in the corner of a bed, so poor that they have only part of a bed to lie on, or who ran thither to hide themselves;* and in Damascus in a couch, a mere handful, who fled thither when Samaria was taken; or when this city fell likewise, some few of them narrowly escaped. This sentence God’s prophets and priests are called upon faithfully to deliver to the house of Jacob, and to assure them that the day will come when he will visit their transgressions with deserved vengeance; when their idolatrous altars at Beth-el should fall, and the horns of them be cut off, nor afford the least refuge to those who fled thither, their idol-confidences utterly failing them. Their houses filled with oppression shall also be laid in the dust; their winter and summer-houses, many of them curiously adorned with ivory, and the structure superb and magnificent, shall be plundered and demolished by the invading foe. Note; (1.) Great houses afford no protection against God’s judgments; rather, when built by unrighteousness, maintained by oppression, or abused by pride and luxury, they provoke them more speedily and fearfully. (2.) They who make any creature their idol, will sooner or later be convinced of the folly and misery of their dependence thereon.
* See the notes for another interpretation of this passage.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Amo 3:15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
Ver. 15. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house ] Heb. upon the summer house, I will lay them both on one heap; they shall one dash against the other. To have change of houses or of rooms in one house fit for the several seasons is not unlawful, so we set them not up by wrong dealing, nor set our hearts upon them ( Haec sunt quae nos invitos faciunt mori ); for so we are apt to do (as Charles V, emperor, told the Duke of Venice, who had showed him his stately palace), and this brings a curse.
And the houses of ivory
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
winter house. Compare Jer 36:22.
summer house. Compare Jdg 3:20.
houses of ivory. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Whole), App-6, for the parts inlaid, paneled, or overlaid with ivory. Compare 1Ki 22:39. Psa 45:8.
the great = many.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the winter: Jer 36:22
the summer: Jdg 3:20
the houses: 1Ki 22:39
the great: Amo 3:11, Amo 6:11, Isa 5:9
Reciprocal: 1Ki 10:22 – ivory Psa 45:8 – ivory Hos 5:9 – Ephraim
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
Amo 3:15. Winter house and, summer house. The luxury-loving leaders had the two separate houses erected in sucli a manner and in such places as to give them eomfort at the various seasons. Houses of ivory were a part of the extravagancies indulged in by the pleasure-mad princes of Israel. Smiths Bible Dictionary says the following about this subject: “The ivory house of Ahab. 1Ki 22:39, was probably a patace, the walls of which were panelled with ivory, like the paiace of Menelaus, described by Homer’s Odyssy 4, 73. Beds inlaid or veneered with ivory were in use by (he Hebrews.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
God also promised to destroy the Israelites’ winter and summer homes. The fact that many Israelite families could afford two houses and yet were oppressing their poorer brethren proved that they lived in selfish luxury. They had embellished their great houses with expensive ivory decorations (cf. 1Ki 21:1; 1Ki 21:18; 1Ki 22:39; Psa 45:8). The two great sins of the Israelites, false religion (Amo 3:14) and misuse of wealth and power (Amo 3:15), would be the objects of God’s judgment. Even some ancient kings did not possess two houses. [Note: Pritchard, p. 655.]
"The enduring principle here is that God will destroy elaborate altars, expensive houses, and other accoutrements of an extravagant lifestyle when these items are acquired through oppression, fraud, and strong-arm tactics. The idolatry of the people led to their opulent lifestyles. Life apart from God may yield temporary material gain, but it will surely result in eternal loss." [Note: Smith, p. 83.]
The eternal loss for a Christian will not be loss of salvation but loss of reward at the judgment seat of Christ (cf. 1Co 3:15).