Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 5:17
And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.
17. The wailing will embrace even the vineyards, which, as the season of vintage came round, were annually the scenes of mirth and hilarity (Isa 16:10).
for I will pass through the midst of thee ] viz. as a destroyer (cf. Exo 12:12), guiding, as it were, the foe by whose agency Amos conceives the disaster to be accomplished.
(2) Amo 5:18-27. A rebuke, addressed to those who desired the “Day of Jehovah,” and trusted to the splendour and regularity of their religious services, to secure for them Jehovah’s favour. They have mistaken the principles upon which Jehovah acts: His ‘day,’ when it arrives, will be a day on which, so far from sparing them for their zealous discharge of ritual observances, He will consign them to exile for their disregard of moral obligations.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And in all vineyards shall be wailing – All joy should be turned into sorrow. Where aforetime was the vintage-shout in thankfulness for the ingathering, and anticipating gladness to come, there, in the source of their luxury, should be wailing, the forerunner of sorrow to come. it was a vintage, not of wine, but of woe.
For I will pass through thee – In the destruction of the firstborn in Egypt, God did not pass through but passed over them, and they kept, in memory thereof the feast of the Passover. Now God would no longer pass over them and their sins. He says, I will pass through thee, as He then said, I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn of the land of Egypt – and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment Exo 12:12. As God says by Hosea, I will not enter the city Hos 11:9, that is, He would not make His presence felt, or take cognizance, when to take cognizance would be to punish, so here, contrariwise, He says, I will pass through, taking exact and severe account, in judgment. Jerome further says, so often as this word is used in Holy Scripture, in the person of God, it denotes punishment, that He would not abide among them, but would pass through and leave them. Surely, it is an image of this, that, when the Jews would have cast our Lord headlong from the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, He passed through the midst of them Luk 4:30, so that they could not see Him nor know Him, and so went His way. And this, when He had just told them, that none of the widows of Israel were fed by Elias, or the lepers cleansed by Elisha, save the widow of Sarepta, and Naaman the Syrian. So should their leprosy cleave to them, and the famine of the word of God and of the oil of the Holy Spirit abide among them, while the Gentiles were washed by His laver and fed with the bread of life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. And in all vineyards shall be wailing] The places where festivity especially used to prevail.
I will pass through thee] As I passed, by the ministry of the destroying angel, through Egypt, not to spare, but to destroy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In all vineyards shall be wailing: in these places was usually the greatest jollity, and they gathered their vintage with joy; but now it is quite contrary, either vines are blasted, or eaten up, or destroyed of the enemy.
I will pass through thee, as an incensed God, punishing all, every where, who have sinned against him; and therefore every place now shall be full of sorrow, because every place hath been full of sin.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. in all vineyards . . .wailingwhere usually songs of joy were heard.
pass through theetakingvengeance (Exo 12:12; Exo 12:23;Nah 1:12). “Pass over“and “pass by,” on the contrary, are used of God’s forgiving(Exo 12:23; Mic 7:18;compare Am 7:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing,…. The vines being destroyed, and no grapes to be gathered, and put into the press; when there used to be great shoutings, and large expressions of joy, at the gathering in of the vintage, and pressing the grapes; but now there shall be a different tone; see Jer 48:32;
for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord; through their cities, towns, and country, fields and vineyards, and destroy all in his way, as he passed through Egypt when he destroyed their firstborn.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A reason is now added, why the whole country would be taken up with lamentation and mourning; for the Lord would pass through the whole land. Surely nothing was more to be desired, than that God should visit his own land; but he here declares that he would pass through as an enemy. As then an enemy runs through a country and spreads devastation wherever he comes, such would be the passing through, which the Prophet now threatens. “God, then, of whom ye boast, as dwelling in the midst of you, will come forth, lay waste, and consume the whole land, as when an enemy spreads ruin far and wide.”
But the Prophet seems to allude to the passing of God, described by Moses in Exo 11:0. The Lord then passed through the middle of Egypt; that is, his wrath pervaded the whole land; no corner was safe or tranquil, for God’s vengeance penetrated through every part of it. So also now the Prophet intimates, that the land of Israel would be like that of Egypt; for the Lord, who then testified his love towards the children of Abraham, would now, on the contrary, show himself an enemy to them, while passing through the midst of them. And the Prophet again indirectly ridicules the vain confidence by which the Israelites were blinded, while they used God’s name as a pretext, as it will more clearly appear from what follows, for he says —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Amo 5:17. For I will pass through thee “About to avenge mine own injuries; not, as before, sending the pestilence and famine.” To the same purpose it is said in the 12th verse of the former chapter, Prepare to meet thy God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Amo 5:17 And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.
Ver. 17. And in all vineyards shall be wailing ] Where used to be great jollity and revelry riot in time of vintage, Psa 4:7 . The calamity shall be common, the scourge overflowing; and all sorts shall have their share. See Joe 1:5 ; Joe 1:11 ; Joe 1:13 .
For I will pass through thee, saith the Lord
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
pass through. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 12:12). App-92.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
in: Isa 16:10, Isa 32:10-12, Jer 48:33, Hos 9:1, Hos 9:2
I will: Exo 12:12, Exo 12:23, Joe 3:17, Nah 1:12, Nah 1:15, Zec 9:8
Reciprocal: Exo 11:4 – About Exo 11:6 – General Exo 12:30 – and there was a great cry Jer 9:17 – call Mic 2:4 – and lament Rev 18:15 – shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Amo 5:17. There were two outstanding occupations in Palestine, the production of sheep and the growing of vineyards. It would therefore be a special cause of regret to be deprived of their vineyards.