Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 9:7
[Are] ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
7 10. An objection met. The Israelites were only too ready to argue (cf. Amo 3:2; Jer 7:1-15) that Jehovah, after the many marks of favour which He had bestowed upon His people, would never cast them off, as He had now declared that He would do (Amo 9:1-6). He replies, Is Israel, merely as Israel, apart from moral qualifications, more to Me than other nations? It is true, I led Israel out of Egypt, and gave them a home in Palestine: but I directed similarly the migrations of other nations, the Philistines, for example, and the Syrians: the sinful kingdom, whether it be Israel or any other nation, will perish before Me, the only limitation being that I will not absolutely annihilate the house of Jacob.
Are ye not as the sons of the Kushites unto me? ] The Kushites, or Ethiopians, are mentioned as a distant people, far removed from the grace and knowledge of God, despised on account of their dark colour (cf. Jer 13:23), and perhaps also on account of slaves being often drawn from them. Degenerate Israel is no more in Jehovah’s eyes than these despised Kushites. Kush is often named in the O.T. (e.g. Gen 10:6-7; Isa 11:11; Isa 18:1; Isa 20:3-5; Isa 37:9; Isa 43:3): it was the name (in Egyptian Inscriptions Ksh) borne by the people inhabiting the region to the south of Egypt (corresponding generally to the modern Soudan, i.e. the country of the Blacks (Arab, aswad, “black”). Their capital was Napata, on the Nile.
Did I not bring up Israel out of the land of Egypt? ] cf. Amo 2:10.
and the Philistines from Caphtor ] guiding them therefore not less than I guided Israel. Caphtor is in all probability Crete [200] . It is named elsewhere as the original home of the Philistines; see Deu 2:23 and Jer 47:4 (where the Philistines are called “the remnant of the isle [or coast-land] of Caphtor”). These passages make it probable that in the ethnographical table of Genesis 10, in Amo 9:14, “and the Casluhim, from whom the Philistines came forth, and the Caphtorim,” the clause respecting the Philistines is misplaced, and should be transposed to follow Caphtorim. A connexion with Crete is also rendered probable by the name Kerthim, which in other passages (Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5; cf. 1Sa 30:14) is that of a tribe closely associated, if not (Zep 2:5) identical, with the Philistines.
[200] Sayce formerly, with Ebers, identified it with the coast-land of the Delta; but he now ( Academy, Apr. 14, 1894, p. 314) regards this view as untenable.
and Aram from Kir ] See on Amo 1:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel! – Their boast and confidence was that they were children of the patriarch, to whom God made the promises. But they, not following the faith nor doing the deeds of Israel, who was a prince with God, or of Abraham, the father of the faithful, had, for Bene Israel, children of Israel, become as Bene Cushiim, children of the Ethiopians, descendants of Ham, furthest off from the knowledge and grace of God, the unchangeableness of whose color was an emblem of unchangeableness in evil. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil Jer 13:23.
Have I not brought up – (Did I not bring up) Israel out of the land of Egypt? Amos blends in one their plea and Gods answer. God by bringing them up out of Egypt, pledged His truth to them to be their to protect and preserve them. True! so long as they. retained God as their God, and kept His laws. God chose them, that they might choose Him. By casting Him off, as their Lord and God, they cast themselves off and out of Gods protection. By estranging themselves from God, they became as strangers in His sight. His act in bringing them up from Egypt had lost its meaning for them. It became no more than any Other event in His Providence, by which He brought up the Philistines from Caphtor, who yet were aliens from Him, and the Syrians from Kir, who, He had foretold, should be carried back there.
This immigration of the Philistines from Caphtor must have taken place before the return of Israel from Egypt. For Moses says, The Caphtorim, who came forth from Caphtor had at this time destroyed the Avvim who dwelt in villages unto Gazah, and dwelt in their stead Deu 2:23 An entire change in their affairs had also taken place in the four centuries and a half since the days of Isaac. In the time of Abraham and Isaac, Philistia was a kingdom; its capital, Gerar. Its king had a standing army, Phichol being the captain of the host Gen 21:22; Gen 26:26 : he had also a privy councillor, Ahuzzath Gen 26:26. From the time after the Exodus, Philistia had ceased to be a kingdom, Gerar disappears from history; the power of Philistia is concentrated in five new towns, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, Ekron, with five heads, who consult and act as one (see above, the note at Amo 1:6-8).
The Caphtorim are in some sense also distinct from the old Philistines. They occupy a district not co-extensive with either the old or the new land of the Philistines. In the time of Saul, another Philistine clan is mentioned, the Cherethite. The Amalekites made a marauding inroad into the south country of the Cherethites; 1Sa 30:14; which immediately afterward is called the land of the Philistines 1Sa 30:16. Probably then, there were different immigrations of the same tribe into Palestine, as there were different immigrations of Danes or Saxons into England, or as there have been and are from the old world into the new, America and Australia. They, were then all merged in one common name, as English, Scotch, Irish, are in the United States. The first immigration may have been that from the Casluhim, out of whom came Philistim Gen 10:14; a second, from the Caphtorim, a kindred people, since they are named next to the Casluhim Gen 10:14, as descendants of Mizraim. Yet a third were doubtless the Cherethim. But all were united under the one name of Philistines, as Britons, Danes, Saxons, Normans, are united under the one name of English. Of these immigrations, that from Caphtor, even if (as seems probable) second in time, was the chief; which agrees with the great accession of strength, which the Philistines had received at the time of the Exodus; from where the Mediterranean had come to be called by their name, the sea of the Philistines Exo 23:31 : and, in Moses song of thanksgiving, the inhabitants of Philistia are named on a level with all the inhabitants of Canaan Exo 15:14-15; and God led His people by the way of Mount Sinai, in order not to expose them at once to so powerful an enemy Exo 13:17.
A third immigration of Cherethim, in the latter part of the period of the Judges, would account for the sudden increase of strength, which they seem then to have received. For whereas heretofore those whom God employed to chasten Israel in their idolatries, were Kings of Mesopotamia, Moab, Hazor, Midian, Amalek, and the children of the East Judg. 310:5, and Philistia had, at the beginning of the period, lost Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron Jdg 1:18, to Israel, and was repulsed by Shamgar, thenceforth, to the time of David, they became the great scourge of Israel on the west of Jordan, as Ammon was on the east.
The Jewish traditions in the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and three Targums, agree that Caphtor was Cappadocia, which, in that it extended to the Black Sea, might be callad I, seacoast, literally, habitable land, as contrasted with the sea which washed it, whether it surrounded it or no. The Cherethites may have come from Crete, as an intermediate resting place in their migrations.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Amo 9:7-10
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel?
Sin dissolving the union between God and His people
1. These verses strike at the root of all Israels fancied security. They were the people of God, whom He had brought from Egypt and planted in Canaan, whose whole life had been passed under His peculiar guardian care. They thought that God would never execute final judgment on them, because He had so often spared them and blessed them. But sin dissolved this union at last.
2. The reason why this union was dissolved is given in the following verse. They are the sinful kingdom. Gods purpose had failed. No union between God and man can stand in the presence of sin–repeated and unrepented sin.
3. The effect of this separation between God and His people. They were destroyed off the face of the earth; every sinner perished by the sword.
(1) No relations are more blessed than those which exist between God and His people. His covenant is established with them, and it is a covenant of life and blessing. Providential help in all the forms that man may need: grace and truth to save the soul and to prepare for that home into which nothing unclean can enter. These are Gods gifts to His people.
(2) Sin is the only power which can sever this union. In the face of all persecution and trouble the good man can say with St. Paul: I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, etc.
(3) The results of the separation for us will be more fatal than for Israel. (J. Telford, B. A.)
And the Syrians from Kir.
Migrations from Kir
The most competent authorities teach us to conceive of successive waves of population issuing from the mountainous country near the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris, to which the narrative of Genesis points as the cradle of the human race, and to which the Mosaic accounts of the Deluge bring us back as the centre from which the children of Noah went forth again to people the earth. Of all the migrations from the land of Kir, to the regions that lay south-west of it, that which is of the greatest importance in the history of man, is undoubtedly the one which the Bible connects with the name of Terah. But this was so far from being the first of the movements in this direction, that it is much more likely to have been the last. The anthropomorphic language Of the Mosaic record is certainly not intended to hinder us from the quest of second causes for the change of abode, which it ascribes to the direct command of Deity. It was probably partly in consequence of the barrenness of the upper valley of the Euphrates, that rendered it little fitted for the home of a pastoral tribe; partly from the establishment of a powerful non-Semitic empire upon the banks of the Tigris, leading, according to an old tradition, which may be accepted in its general meaning, even if its details bear the stamp of later invention, to the persecution of those who clung to the purer faith, that the family of Abraham found its way into the more fertile and peaceful land of Canaan. But the same causes which had urged him on we may believe to have been powerful with kindred tribes. All evidence that we have confirms the supposition that, long before the days of Abraham, Semitic tribes had pressed along the path by which the Divine guidance was to lead him, to the land that should afterwards be possessed by his descendants, as the sand that is by the seashore for multitude. (A. S. Wilkins, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. Children of the Ethiopians] Or Cushites. Cush was the son of Ham, Ge 10:6; and his descendants inhabited a part of Arabia Petraea and Arabia Felix. All this stock was universally despised. See Bochart.
The Philistines from Caphtor] The island of Crete, the people of which were the Cherethim. See, 1Sa 30:14; Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5.
The Syrians from Kir?] Perhaps a city of the Medes, Isa 22:6. Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son of Shem, Ge 10:22. Part of his descendants settled in this city, and part in Aram Naharaim, “Syria of the two rivers,” viz., Mesopotamia, included between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
The meaning of the verse is this: Do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey. I have brought other nations, and some of your neighbours, who are your enemies, from comparatively barren countries, into fruitful territories; such, for instance, as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Are ye not, who glory in your descent from Abraham, and are in truth the natural descendants of Israel, and think very highly of yourselves on this account, slighting all other nations, and presuming that God neither will nor can, because of his covenant, destroy you, whatever prophets say,
as children of the Ethiopians? not that remote nation beyond Egypt, but those of Arabia Petrea, a wild, thievish, and servile nation, such as now inhabit those parts; base, bloody, and thievish Arabs, hated and despised of all their neighbours, and so by the Israelites their neighbours accounted at that day.
Unto me; I did make them as you, they are my creatures as you; wherein soever you excel them you owe it to me, who made you both as creatures, and have distinguished you by my free mercy and rich grace, giving most to you, of which you boast, and giving less to them, for which you despise them.
Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and whereas you boast my kindness to you, bringing you out of Egypt, and thereupon conclude God cannot leave you whom he hath so redeemed; you argue amiss, for these things aggravate your sin, and render you less capable of hoping or obtaining mercy since you abuse such grace. Remember Amo 3:2. You think I cannot, must not now root you out of your land, because I brought you out of Egypt, as if you were the only people that ever were brought out of bondage; but Moses tells you the Philistines were captivated by the Caphtorims, who dwelt in their land; yet the Philistines were restored, and you found them in the land when you came to possess it. Their expulsion you read Deu 2:23, though I remember no particular mention of their deliverance in any history, yet this hint is enough to assure us of the matter of fact. And the Assyrians, an ancient people, inhabiting a large country, and known by several distinct names,
from Kir; conquered by some potent enemies, probably the ancient Assyrians, and sent away to Kir, a city or country of Media, yet delivered at last. Should these nations, as you do, argue themselves to be out of danger of Divine justice and severe punishments, because I had done this for them? Certainly you would not allow such argument in them, nor will I allow it in you.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. unto mehowever great yeseem to yourselves. Do not rely on past privileges, and on Myhaving delivered you from Egypt, as if therefore I never would removeyou from Canaan. I make no more account of you than of “theEthiopian” (compare Jer13:23). “Have not I (who) brought you out of Egypt,”done as much for other peoples? For instance, did I not bring “thePhilistines (see on Isa 14:29, c.)from Caphtor (compare De 2:23see on Jer 47:4), where they hadbeen bond-servants, and the Syrians from Kir?” It isappropriate, that as the Syrians migrated into Syria from Kir(compare Note, see on Isa 22:6),so they should be carried back captive into the same land (see on Am1:15; 2Ki 16:9), just aselsewhere Israel is threatened with a return to Egypt whence they hadbeen delivered. The “Ethiopians,” Hebrew,“Cushites,” were originally akin to the race that foundedBabylon: the cuneiform inscriptions in this confirming independentlythe Scripture statement (Gen 10:6;Gen 10:8; Gen 10:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[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, Jer 13:23; The Ethiopians are represented by Diodorus Siculus b 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 Homer c speaks of Jupiter, and the other gods, going to Ethiopia to an anniversary feast, and calls them the blameless Ethiopians; and so Lucian d 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, Ge 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, De 2:23; from whom, it seems by this, the Philistines were delivered, who are called the remnant of the country of Caphtor, Jer 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, Am 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, 2Ki 16:9. Caphtor some take to be Cyprus, because it seems to be an island, Jer 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 Herodotus e and others, observe. Bochart f 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 Targumists g 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 say h Caphutkia is Caphtor, in the Arabic language Damiata; so Benjamin of Tudela says i, 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 Calmet k 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 Eze 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 Isa 22:6; whither the people of Syria were carried captive by Tiglathpileser, as predicted in Am 1:5; and, as the above writer observes l, 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 Josephus m 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.
b Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 143, 144. c Ibid. 1. l. 423. d In Jupiter Tragaedus. e Clio, sive l. 1. 72. Terpsichore, sive l. 5. c. 40. & Polymnia, sive l. 7. c. 72. Vid. Strabo. Geograph. l. 22. p. 374. f Phaleg. l. 4. c. 32. col. 291, 292. g Targum Onkelos, Jon. & Jerus. in Gen. x. 4. & Ben Uzziel in Jer. xlvii. 4. & in loc. h Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Cetubot, c. 13. sect. 11. i Itinerarium, p. 125. k Dictionary in tile word “Caphtor”. l Dictionary, in the word “Cyrene”. m Antiqu. l. 9. c. 12. sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Lord will pour out these floods upon sinful Israel, because it stands nearer to Him than the heathen do. Amo 9:7. “Are ye not like the sons of the Cushites to me, ye sons of Israel? is the saying of Jehovah. Have I not brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines out of Caphtor, and Aram out of Kir?” With these words the prophet tears away from the sinful nation the last support of its carnal security, namely, reliance upon its election as the nation of God, which the Lord has practically confirmed by leading Israel up out of Egypt. Their election as the people of Jehovah was unquestionably a pledge that the Lord would not cast off His people, or suffer them to be destroyed by the heathen. But what the apostle says of circumcision in Rom 2:25 applied to this election also, namely, that it was of benefit to none but those who kept the law. It afforded a certainty of divine protection simply to those who proved themselves to be the children of Israel by their walk and conduct, and who faithfully adhered to the Lord. To the rebellious it was of no avail. Idolaters had become like the heathen. The Cushites are mentioned, not so much as being descendants of the accursed Ham, as on account of the blackness of their skin, which was regarded as a symbol of spiritual blackness (cf. Jer 13:23). The expression “ sons (children) of the Cushites” is used with reference to the title “sons (children) of Israel,” the honourable name of the covenant nation. For degenerate Israel, the leading up out of Egypt had no higher signification than the leading up of the Philistines and Syrians out of their former dwelling-places into the lands which they at present inhabited. These two peoples are mentioned by way of example: the Philistines, because they were despised by the Israelites, as being uncircumcised; the Syrians, with an allusion to the threat in Amo 1:5, that they should wander into exile to Kir. On the fact that the Philistines sprang from Caphtor, see the comm. on Gen 10:14.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet shows here to the Israelites that their dignity would be no defense to them, as they expected. We have indeed seen in many places how foolish was the boasting of that people. Though they were more bound to God than other nations, they yet heedlessly boasted that they were a holy nation, as if indeed they had something of their own, but as Paul says, they were nothing. God had conferred on them singular benefits; but they were adorned with the plumes of another. Foolish then and absurd was their glorying, when they thought themselves to be of more worth in the sight of God than other nations. But as this foolish conceit had blinded them, the Prophet says now, “Whom do you think yourselves to be? Ye are to me as the children of the Ethiopians I indeed once delivered you, not that I should be bound to you, but rather that I should have you bound to me, for ye have been redeemed through my kindness.” Some think that the Israelites are compared to the Ethiopians, as they had not changed their skin, that is, their disposition; but this view I reject as strained. For the Prophet speaks here more simply, namely, that their condition differed nothing from that of the common class of men: “Ye do excel, but ye have nothing apart from me; if I take away from you what is mine, what will you have then remaining?” The emphasis is on the word, to me, What are ye to me? For certainly they excelled among men; but before God they could bring nothing, since they had nothing of their own: nay, the more splendidly God adorned them, the more modestly and humbly they ought to have conducted themselves, seeing that they were bound to him for so many of his favors. But as they had forgotten their own condition, despised all the Prophets and felicitated themselves in their vices, he says, Are ye not to me as the children of the Ethiopians, as foreign and the most alien nations? for what that is worthy of praise can I find in you? If then I look on you, what are ye? I certainly see no reason to prefer you even to the most obscure nations.”
He afterwards adds, Have I not made to ascend, or brought, Israel from the land of Egypt? Here the Prophet reminds them of their origin. Though they had indeed proceeded from Abraham, who had been chosen by God four hundred years before their redemption; yet, if we consider how cruelly they were treated in Egypt, that tyrannical servitude must certainly appear to have been like the grave. They then began to be a people, and to attain some name, when the Lord delivered them from Egypt. The Prophet’s language is the same as though he had said, “Look whence the Lord has brought you out; for ye were as a dead carcass, and of no account: for the Egyptians treated your fathers as the vilest slaves: God brought you thence; then you have no nobility or excellency of your own, but the beginning of your dignity has proceeded from the gratuitous kindness of God. Yet ye think now that ye excel others, because ye have been redeemed: God has also redeemed the Philistines, when they were the servants of the Cappadocians; and besides, he redeemed the Syrians when they were servants to other nations.”
Some take קיר, kir, to mean Cyrene; but as this is uncertain, I pass it by as doubtful. Whatever it was, there is no ground of dispute about the subject itself; for it is certain that the Israelites are here compared with the Philistines as well as with the Syrians, inasmuch as all had been alike redeemed by the Lord, and this favor was common to all of whom he speaks. As God then pitied in former ages other nations, it was certainly not peculiar to the race of Abraham, that they had been freed by God, and by means of extraordinary miracles: “Even the Philistine will say the same, and the Syrians will say the same; but yet ye say that they are profane nations. Since it is so, ye are now divested of all excellency, that is, there is nothing of your own in you, that ye should exalt yourselves above other nations.” This is the meaning. It now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
HOMILETICS
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Amo. 9:7. As children] No longer highly favoured Israelites, but acting like Cushites. Their election of no avail. They had become like the heathen, accursed as Ham, black as Ethiopians, whose skin symbolized spiritual darkness (Jer. 13:23). Brought up] Israels deliverance from Egypt no more than the bringing of Assyrians out of former dwelling-places.
Amo. 9:8.] Election therefore will not save the idolatrous nation. Gods eye turned upon them, watched in order to punish them (Psa. 34:14). Not utterly] Threatening is mitigated; grace saves a few.
GODS COVENANT DOES NOT INVALIDATE HIS WORD.Amo. 9:7-8
In these words Amos confirms the certainty of punishment. Israel were a sinful nation, and neither pious ancestors nor covenant relations could prevent their destruction.
I. Gods covenant may be undervalued and violated. Israel professed to be Gods people, and boasted of descent from holy progenitors. A noble ancestry is of no worth unless we follow their example. The piety of predecessors does not justify, but aggravates our sin. With good patterns before them men should live better. But they degenerate into heathens and idolaters. God values them no more than the most contemptible nations of the world. Their sins had made them like other people. The gold becomes dim; the children of Israel become children of the Ethiopians. We may boast of our election, and be esteemed by others for our profession; but if we break Gods covenant, we cannot expect Gods protection. What the Apostle says of circumcision applies to election. It is a benefit to none but those who keep the law (Rom. 2:25). It will not avail us to say Abraham is our Father, unless we do the works of Abraham (Joh. 8:39; Rom. 9:7-8).
II. Gods special providences in fulfilling his covenant may be abused. The plea was that God would not cast off his people; for he delivered them from bondage and pledged himself to be their God. True, God chose them that they might love him, and so long as they kept his law he protected and saved them. Special favours do not exempt from Divine justice. They lay us under greater obligation to obey; for those who have much will be punished more severely for their sins, and from them much will be required. Special deliverances may become common providences. Redemption from Egypt was no more to Israel than the leading of the Philistines and Syrians out of their former into their present dwelling-places. Those who neglect or abuse their privileges are guilty
1. Of great ingratitude.
2. Of great rebellion. When men abuse their mercies, and despise the God of mercy, it is only just with him to strip them of their honours and visit their sins.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
1. External privileges no ground for boasting before God. Others may possess them. They may be taken from us. What was designed as a favour may lose its result by our conduct.
2. External privileges do not preserve from degenerate conduct. Israel lost their character and were esteemed as heathens. Conventional Christians and corrupt Churches are as bad as Infidels and Turks.
3. External privileges are no guarantee against punishment for sin. God accounts sin under such circumstances all the baser. Instead of hiding the guilty, such gifts abused expose them to greater condemnation. If we live not up to the obligation of Gods mercies, we forfeit the honour of them.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Amo. 9:7. Ethiopians. Inconsistency has been execrated in every age, as the assassin of religious character and peace, introducing anarchy and confusion into the repose of Christian Churches, casting stains upon garments which ought to be kept unspotted from the world, and by evil influence directly and bad example indirectly, throwing a reproach upon the cause of Christianity, and making the tongues of its enemies to blaspheme [W. S. M.].
Likebut oh! how different [Wordsworth].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENTS PROPHESIEDDISRUPTION AND DISPERSION
TEXT: Amo. 9:7-10
7
Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8
Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the houses of Jacob, saith Jehovah.
9
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth.
10
All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.
QUERIES
a.
Why does God compare Israel to the Philistines and Syrians?
b.
What part of the house of Jacob will Jehovah not destroy?
c.
How will God sift Israel like grain in a sieve?
PARAPHRASE
What makes you think, O Israel, that you are any better in My eyes than the Philistines and the Syrians? Just because I brought you from Egypt and put in you this land is no reason to think that I will overlook your sin anymore than I do not overlook the sin of these other nations which I also established in their lands. I am no respecter of person for I am offended with sin in every man. I am fully aware of the sinfulness of the kingdom of Israel, and I will wipe that kingdom off the face of the earth. No, I will not totally destroy the entire house of Jacob for a very few are still righteous and god-fearing people and I will save that remnant. But I am going to give the command and the house of Israel will be disrupted and dispersed among all the nations like grain is shaken and sifted in a sieve. The solid, good grain remains but the trash falls to the ground. So it shall be with Israel. All those sinful, complacent people who say, Evil shall not come upon us, will die violently by the sword. The righteous shall be saved.
SUMMARY
God warns a complacent people that He is no respecter of person. The wicked shall die for their sins. The good shall be saved. God is going to obliterate the kingdom of Israel from the face of the earth.
COMMENT
Amo. 9:7-8 ARE YE NOT AS THE CHILDREN OF THE ETHIOPIANS UNTO ME, O CHILDREN OF ISRAEL . . . BEHOLD THE EYES OF THE LORD . . . ARE UPON THE SINFUL KINGDOM . . . . . . children of the Ethiopians is also translated sons of the Cushites, Hams posterity. This should pierce the pride of the Israelite as nothing else would doto liken them to the heathen. It certainly was intended to destroy the veneer of complacency with which they had deluded themselves. The bringing of Israel out of Egypt in a special way avails no more than the bringing of the Syrians and Philistines out of their former dwelling places. God did it all. With God it is not where you came from and what you were that countsit is what you are now and what you are becoming that counts! The sinful of Israel were depending upon their past heritage and special treatment by God. Jesus had to deal with the same complacency and pride with the Pharisees (cf. Joh. 8:31 ff). This trust in themselvesThen Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him, (Act. 10:34-35; cf. Rom. 10:12; Mat. 5:45). Special treatment is no license to sin! God is offended by sin in any people, and especially so in a people whom He has chosen and blessed above others! His eyes are upon the sinful kingdom!
Caphtor is probably Crete or perhaps refers to all the islands of the Aegean Sea. Kir is in the general direction of Elam (today it is Iran). For other details on the nations see our comments on Amos chapters one and two.
The word of Jehovah is that the kingdom of Israel, as a kingdom, will be totally obliterated from the face of the earth. The fulfillment of this is found in 2 Kings 17. That does not mean, of course, that God has violated His covenant with Jacob (named Israel). God has kept His covenant, even in judgment and destruction of the sinner. Man, the sinner, has not kept his covenant. Those few righteous of the northern kingdom who did keep Gods covenant terms were to become (with the righteous of Judahs dispersed) the seed of the messianic nation through which God was going to ultimately fulfill His covenant. Amos is gradually leading into the glorious climax of his prophecy in which he paints word pictures with figurative language of the future blessings of the Messianic age when God shall have fulfilled His promises in Christ and the Church.
Amo. 9:9-10 . . . WILL SIFT THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AMONG ALL THE NATIONS . . . YET SHALL NOT THE LEAST KERNEL FALL UPON THE EARTH . . . ALL THE SINNERS OF MY PEOPLE SHALL DIE . . . The heritage of Israel did not grant immunity from judgment, and physical descent from Jacob did not guarantee exemption from accountability. Love is neither blind, nor is it weak. Consequently, as Honeycutt observes, the wrath in Gods love and the love in Gods wrath should be equally recognized. Remember that one of the backgrounds upon which the prophets are to be read and interpreted is Judgment-Redemption. Judgment is never the last word in Gods scheme. There is a redemptive emphasis which is a result of judgment in history.
Amo. 9:9 definitely refers to the captivity and dispersion of the ten tribes of Israel which occurred about 722721 B.C. The Assyrian emperor transported the Jews and scattered them from one city to another in the vast Assyrian empire. He also imported foreigners into the former territory of Israel. These married the few poor and insignificant Jews left behind in Israel and became the Samaritans. The kingdom of Israel was never to be established again. But there is that righteous remnant still within this rotten nation. Not one of those shall fall upon the earth. This will be the holy seed-grain out of which the Lord will form a new and holy people (Christiansthe Church) and kingdom of God over which the son-king in Isaiah 9, 11 will reign. K & D likens the Gentile nations among whom the northern kingdom (and later the southern kingdom) was dispersed unto the sieveSuch a sieve are the nations of the world, through which Israel is puried from its chaff, i.e. from its ungodly members. It is true that among those of Judah who returned from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah were some of the ten tribes of Israel.
Sargon II (722705 B.C.) has left records of the fall of the northern kingdom. Many of the Israelites were deported to Upper Mesopotamia and Media and lost their identity there. Many of the people of Israel lost their national identity through assimilation during the centuries following their deportation. Others made their way southward to Judah, and remnants of them appear among the later Jews. Those who lost their identity are often referred to as the ten lost tribes of Israel. This is not altogether accurate. From the establishment of the Church until time shall cease, however, all Jews, as well as Gentiles, must appropriate the promises of God through Jesus Christ, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek. We shall amplify this in our next section.
QUIZ
1.
Is God a respecter of person? Prove it!
2.
When God destroyed Israel did He fail to keep His covenant?
3.
Who are the kernels which shall not fall to the ground?
4.
What finally happened to the kingdom of Israel and all its people?
5.
Are there ten lost tribes of Israel today?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(7) Ethiopians.Israel had presumed on the special favour of Jehovah. The prophet asks them whether, after all, they are better or safer than the Ethiopians, whom they despised. He who led Israel from Egypt also brought the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir. Caphtor is mentioned in the table of races, Gen. 10:14 (where the clause referring to the Philistines should probably be placed at the end of the verse). The LXX. followed by the Targums and Peshito interpret Caphtor as Cappadocia, probably from resemblance in form. R. S. Poole, art. Caphtor, in the Dictionary of the Bible, compares the Egyptian Kebtu or Koptos, and places the Caphtorim in Upper Egypt, while Ebers holds that they had their settlements in the Nile delta. But the identification of Caphtor with Crete is most probable. So Rosenmller, Ewald, Dillmann, &c. On Kir, probably E. of the Euphrates, see Note on Amo. 1:5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
JEHOVAH NOT A RESPECTER OF PERSONS, Amo 9:7-10.
Once before (Amo 3:1-2) Amos attempted to correct the misapprehension that Jehovah was partial to Israel, and that his choice of the nation could be regarded as a guarantee of its safety (see introductory remarks on Amo 3:1 to Amo 4:3). A false confidence, based upon this misapprehension, might destroy the effect of the message in Amo 9:1-6. To avoid this the prophet emphasizes once more the truth that Jehovah is interested in all the nations of the earth, and that any special favors granted to the Israelites must have their justification in the latter’s moral superiority. Since they have shown themselves a “sinful kingdom” they are unworthy of special favors; on the contrary, Jehovah is compelled to proceed against them in judgment. Nevertheless, he will “not utterly” destroy them; a faithful remnant will be preserved.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7. The universality of Jehovah’s government the prophet illustrates from the past history of several representative nations. The divine hand could be seen in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Amo 2:9-10); but it was not less visible in the movements of the other peoples.
Children of the Ethiopians Hebrew, “of the Cushites.” Cush was a district in Africa, immediately south of Upper Egypt (see on Zep 2:12; Nab. Amo 3:9). The inhabitants of this region, despised, perhaps, also on account of their color (Jer 13:23), are, in a sense, as dear to Jehovah as Israel.
Philistines See on Joe 3:4 (compare Amo 1:6-8). The reference to the Philistines would be startling. Could Jehovah care for Israel’s enemies?
Caphtor Mentioned also in other passages as the original home of the Philistines (Deu 2:23; Jer 47:4). Opinions still differ concerning the identification of Caphtor. Of the three most important locations suggested, the coast of the Nile Delta, the south coast of Asia Minor, and the island of Crete, the last named is the most probable, but it is quite possible that the other districts also were occupied, at some period, by people of the same race. In favor of this identification is the name Cherethites, applied to the Philistines in 1Sa 30:14 (compare Zep 2:5), because this name contains the same consonants as the word Crete.
Kir See on Amo 1:5.
After shattering the false hope of the people Amos repeats, in his own words, the threat of 1-6, but with an essential modification; he now holds out hope to a remnant, whereas before he announced complete annihilation.
The eyes are upon Or, against (see Amo 9:4; compare Psa 34:16).
The sinful kingdom Jehovah must punish every sinful kingdom, but the use of the article indicates that the prophet has in mind one particular nation, namely, Israel. On account of its wickedness it must be wiped from the face of the earth.
Saving that I will not utterly destroy As a kingdom and people Israel had forfeited the divine favor, but there always had been (1Ki 19:18) and there still was within the nation a “holy seed,” a remnant that continued faithful to Jehovah, out of which he might form a new people and kingdom of God. The divine righteousness and justice demanded the salvation of this remnant (compare on Amo 5:15).
House of Jacob Not Judah, as distinguished from Israel, or the whole nation, as distinguished from the northern kingdom, but a poetic variant for “house of Israel” (Amo 9:9; Amo 5:3-4; Amo 5:25, etc.), and “house of Joseph” (Amo 5:6), identical with “the sinful kingdom.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Amo 9:7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians Amos, to take away from the Israelites their false presumption, that the Lord was too much interested in their preservation to prevent their total ruin, says that, in consequence of their infidelity and revolt, God regards them no otherwise than as Ethiopians. “You have rendered yourselves unworthy the name of my people; you have renounced by your idolatry the privileges of that peculiar covenant which I entered into with your fathers; you have given up me, and I give you up in my turn. But, Lord, is it not thou who hast brought us out of Egypt? Yes, doubtless: but have I not also brought up the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Yet, are they the more my servants and my people on this account?” See Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Amo 9:7 [Are] ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
Ver. 7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me ] The emphasis lieth in this last word, “unto me,” who am no respecter of persons, “but in every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him,” Act 10:35 . Unto yourselves indeed you seem some great business, because Israelites; “to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants,” Rom 9:4 . To others also you seem a great nation, yea, a wise and understanding people, as having God so nigh unto you and so set for you, Deu 4:6-7 ; Deu 33:29 . But tell me, Quis te discrevit? Who made you to differ? and what have ye more than others that ye have not me to thank for? You look upon the Ethiopians with scorn, as an ignoble and servile people; as likewise upon the uncircumcised Philistines and unhallowed Syrians. But wherein are you beyond them, if you look back to your original, and consider my dealings with them and you? It is nothing else but self-love that maketh you thus insolent; and teacheth you to turn the glass to see yourselves bigger, others lesser than they are. You foolishly set up your counter for a thousand pound; and are in some sense like those Ethiopians, or Negroes, so much slighted by you; of whom it is said they paint the devil white, as being a colour contrary to their own. But much more to blame are you, that being God’s peculiar people, and partakers of such great privileges, you do no more change your evil manners than the Ethiopians do their black hue, Jer 13:23 , you are nowhere white but in your teeth, as they; good a little from the teeth outward. I am near in your mouths, but far from your reins, Jer 12:2 . Such a one was that stigmatic Cush the Benjamite, mentioned in the title of the seventh Psalm (perhaps Saul, the son of Kish the Benjamite, is intended), non tam cute quam corde Aethiopicus, of black and ill conditions; and therefore to God no better than an Ethiopian, or any other Pagan people.
Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt
Have not I also brought up the Philistines from Caphtor
And the Syrians from Kir
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Amo 9:7-10
7Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel? declares the LORD.
Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
8Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,
Declares the LORD.
9For behold, I am commanding,
And I will shake the house of Israel among all nations
As grain is shaken in a sieve,
But not a kernel will fall to the ground.
10All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’
Amo 9:7-8 UBS, A Translator’s Handbook on the Book of Amos, makes an interesting observation on the relationship between Amo 9:7-8. Amo 9:7 states very emphatically that Israel is not special, unique, or privileged, yet Amo 9:8 shows God’s special covenant care for her (cf. p. 181).
This same tension about God’s covenant people exists in the New Testament.
SPECIAL TOPIC: TENSIONS (Excerpted from Crucial Introductory Article to the Book Revelation)
Amo 9:7 Both the questions of Amo 9:7 expect a yes answer. Basically God is depreciating the covenantal uniqueness of Israel. The one and only God has led all nations to and from their current geographical locations (cf. Deu 32:8; and possibly implied in Deu 29:26). It must have been painful for Israel to be compared to Ethiopia, Philistia, and Syria. This is in sharp contrast to the election theology of Amo 3:2! Israel, like all nations, will answer for their sins!
Israel from the land of Egypt This is a reference to the Exodus, which was the beginning of Israel as a nation.
Caphtor This refers to the island of Crete, which may have been the ancestral home of the Philistines (sea people of the Aegean).
Kir This may refer to (1) a part of Mesopotamia near Elam (cf. Isa 22:6); (2) a word which means walls and stands for Nineveh; (3) a river in northern Armenia; or (4) a mountain range forming the northern boundary of Syria (cf. Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 4, p. 83).
Amo 9:8 Israel will be treated like all other nations that sin, except that YHWH will not totally destroy His people of promise (cf. Amo 5:4-7; Amo 5:14-15; Amo 9:11-15). A righteous remnant of the house of Jacob will be spared! This theme is often repeated in Jeremiah.
1. Judah will survive, Jer 4:27; Jer 5:10; Jer 5:18; Jer 33:16
2. Israel will survive, Jer 30:11; Jer 31:35-36
God’s eternal plan of redemption (i.e., the Messiah) depends on it!
the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful nation This idiom, the eyes of the Lord GOD, refers to His tender watchcare over His covenant people (cf. Deu 11:12). However, the addition of the phrase, the sinful nation, shows the dilemma. Maybe the best way to express this is as a parent’s pain at the poor life choices of a child (cf. Hosea 11). A truly loving parent must let the consequences of poor choices play out for the long term health, happiness, and maturity of the child, but it is very hurtful to both parties.
destroy This term (BDB 1029, KB 1552) is used three times in this verse. It means to annihilate, to destroy, to terminate. This is such a contrast to the use of this same term in Deu 33:26-29, where it refers to God destroying His people’s enemies.
Here they are now the enemy (Hiphil PERFECT). Yet even here there is a glimmer of hope, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob (Hiphil INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and a Hiphil IMPERFECT). Because of Amo 9:11 this could refer to Judah!
Amo 9:9-10 The Hebrew text is uncertain. Apparently this refers to some type of sifting process either for judgment (i.e., pebble) or for salvation (i.e., grain kernels). The context implies the righteous remnant will be spared and not one of them lost (i.e., Amo 9:9 d). But for the wicked, God will judge Israel like all other idolatrous nations (i.e., Amo 9:10).
The VERB shake (BDB 631, KB 681, Hiphil PERFECT) refers to grain which is shaken through a sieve to remove the stones or dirt clods that may be mixed in with the heads of grain. The word translated kernel (NASB, NJB, while NKJ has the smallest grain) can also mean pebble (cf. 2Sa 17:13, KB 459; NRSV). This term (BDB 865) is usually translated bundle, parcel, pouch, or bag. Here it refers to an object caught in the bundling (reaping) process of stacking and tying grain stalks together in the field.
Among all nations probably relates to Amo 9:4, where YHWH sends judgment even on those sinful Israelites who are taken into exile. Even in other nations God’s judgment will destroy His faithless covenant people (cf. Amo 9:10 b). There is no place to hide from God’s wrath (cf. Amo 5:19).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
children = sons.
saith the LORD [is] Jehovah’s oracle.
brought up Israel. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 13:3, Exo 13:9, Exo 13:14, Exo 13:16; Exo 33:1. Deu 5:15; Deu 6:21, &c.) App-92.
Caphtor = Crete. Ref, to Pentateuch (Deu 2:23). App-92.
Kir. Supposed to be Lower Mesopotamia.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Amo 9:7-10
DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENTS PROPHESIED-
DISRUPTION AND DISPERSION
TEXT: Amo 9:7-10
God warns a complacent people that He is no respecter of person. The wicked shall die for their sins. The good shall be saved. God is going to obliterate the kingdom of Israel from the face of the earth.
Amo 9:7-8 ARE YE NOT AS THE CHILDREN OF THE ETHIOPIANS UNTO ME, O CHILDREN OF ISRAEL . . . BEHOLD THE EYES OF THE LORD . . . ARE UPON THE SINFUL KINGDOM . . . . . . children of the Ethiopians is also translated sons of the Cushites, Hams posterity. This should pierce the pride of the Israelite as nothing else would do-to liken them to the heathen. It certainly was intended to destroy the veneer of complacency with which they had deluded themselves. The bringing of Israel out of Egypt in a special way avails no more than the bringing of the Syrians and Philistines out of their former dwelling places. God did it all. With God it is not where you came from and what you were that counts-it is what you are now and what you are becoming that counts! The sinful of Israel were depending upon their past heritage and special treatment by God. Jesus had to deal with the same complacency and pride with the Pharisees (cf. Joh 8:31 ff). This trust in themselves-Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him, (Act 10:34-35; cf. Rom 10:12; Mat 5:45). Special treatment is no license to sin! God is offended by sin in any people, and especially so in a people whom He has chosen and blessed above others! His eyes are upon the sinful kingdom!
Zerr: Amo 9:7. The children of Israel are named in a group with a number of heathen nations. That is for the purpose of showing the vast power of the Almighty, and to indicate the dependence of the whole world upon the independent God. Amo 9:8. The comparisons and figures of speech are dropped and the literal prediction of the fate of the nation of Israel is stated. Saving, etc., refers to the remnant that was to be left after the captivity was ended (Ezr 2:64).
Caphtor is probably Crete or perhaps refers to all the islands of the Aegean Sea. Kir is in the general direction of Elam (today it is Iran). For other details on the nations see our comments on Amos chapters one and two.
The word of Jehovah is that the kingdom of Israel, as a kingdom, will be totally obliterated from the face of the earth. The fulfillment of this is found in 2 Kings 17. That does not mean, of course, that God has violated His covenant with Jacob (named Israel). God has kept His covenant, even in judgment and destruction of the sinner. Man, the sinner, has not kept his covenant. Those few righteous of the northern kingdom who did keep Gods covenant terms were to become (with the righteous of Judahs dispersed) the seed of the messianic nation through which God was going to ultimately fulfill His covenant. Amos is gradually leading into the glorious climax of his prophecy in which he paints word pictures with figurative language of the future blessings of the Messianic age when God shall have fulfilled His promises in Christ and the Church.
Amo 9:9-10 . . . WILL SIFT THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AMONG ALL THE NATIONS . . . YET SHALL NOT THE LEAST KERNEL FALL UPON THE EARTH . . . ALL THE SINNERS OF MY PEOPLE SHALL DIE . . . The heritage of Israel did not grant immunity from judgment, and physical descent from Jacob did not guarantee exemption from accountability. Love is neither blind, nor is it weak. Consequently, as Honeycutt observes, the wrath in Gods love and the love in Gods wrath should be equally recognized. Remember that one of the backgrounds upon which the prophets are to be read and interpreted is Judgment-Redemption. Judgment is never the last word in Gods scheme. There is a redemptive emphasis which is a result of judgment in history.
Zerr: Amo 9:9. This verse has the same subject matter as the preceding one, only It is expressed In figurative language. The heathen nations are the sieve and God was going to use that means of separating many of the people of Israel. In literal actions a sieve retains the good grain, while the dwarfed and otherwise objectionable particles will drop through and fall to the ground. The prediction of the verse Is that none of the grain among the people of Israel would fall. Amo 9:10. The context will justify the insertion of a word between this and the preceding verse, making the present one read: But, all the sinners of my people, etc. The particular sinners referred to were the false prophets who belittled the idea that any danger was threatening the nation, and who were all the time preaching peace, peace; when there Is no peace” (Jer 6:14).
Amo 9:9 definitely refers to the captivity and dispersion of the ten tribes of Israel which occurred about 722-721 B.C. The Assyrian emperor transported the Jews and scattered them from one city to another in the vast Assyrian empire. He also imported foreigners into the former territory of Israel. These married the few poor and insignificant Jews left behind in Israel and became the Samaritans. The kingdom of Israel was never to be established again. But there is that righteous remnant still within this rotten nation. Not one of those shall fall upon the earth. This will be the holy seed-grain out of which the Lord will form a new and holy people (Christians-the Church) and kingdom of God over which the son-king in Isaiah 9, 11 will reign. K & D likens the Gentile nations among whom the northern kingdom (and later the southern kingdom) was dispersed unto the sieve-Such a sieve are the nations of the world, through which Israel is puried from its chaff, i.e. from its ungodly members. It is true that among those of Judah who returned from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah were some of the ten tribes of Israel.
Sargon II (722-705 B.C.) has left records of the fall of the northern kingdom. Many of the Israelites were deported to Upper Mesopotamia and Media and lost their identity there. Many of the people of Israel lost their national identity through assimilation during the centuries following their deportation. Others made their way southward to Judah, and remnants of them appear among the later Jews. Those who lost their identity are often referred to as the ten lost tribes of Israel. This is not altogether accurate. From the establishment of the Church until time shall cease, however, all Jews, as well as Gentiles, must appropriate the promises of God through Jesus Christ, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek. We shall amplify this in our next section.
Questions
1. Is God a respecter of person? Prove it!
2. When God destroyed Israel did He fail to keep His covenant?
3. Who are the kernels which shall not fall to the ground?
4. What finally happened to the kingdom of Israel and all its people?
5. Are there ten lost tribes of Israel today?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
ye not: Jer 9:25, Jer 9:26, Jer 13:23
Have not: Amo 2:10, Exo 12:51, Hos 12:13
the Philistines: Deu 2:23, Jer 47:4
the Syrians: Amo 1:5, 2Ki 16:9
Reciprocal: Gen 10:14 – Caphtorim 1Ch 1:12 – Caphthorim Psa 59:5 – the heathen Isa 1:10 – Sodom Isa 22:6 – Kir Jer 51:16 – there is
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Amo 9:7. The children of Israel are named in a group with a number of heathen nations. That is for the purpose of showing the vast power of the Almighty, and to indicate the dependence of the whole world upon the independent God.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Amo 9:7. Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians, &c. The prophet, to take away from the Israelites their false confidence, that the Lord was too much interested in their preservation to permit their total ruin, says, that in consequence of their idolatry and other sins, they were no more esteemed by him than the Ethiopians, a barbarous and cruel race of people: as if he had said, You have rendered yourselves unworthy the name of my people; you have renounced, by your idolatry, the privileges of my covenant; you have given up me, and I give you up in my turn. You may think my former kindness in delivering you out of the Egyptian bondage, and giving you the land of Canaan, obliges me still to continue to be your protector. But I have showed the like favour to other nations, particularly to the Philistines, who had their original from Caphtor, and afterward dispossessed the old inhabitants of Palestine, and dwelt in their stead; and to the Syrians, whom I brought from Kir; and yet against these very nations have I denounced my judgments for their sins.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:7 [Are] ye not as children of the Ethiopians {e} unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from {f} Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
(e) Am I more bound to you than to the Ethiopians, or other people? Yet I have bestowed upon you greater benefits.
(f) Read Jer 47:4 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The justice of His punishment 9:7-10
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Rhetorically Yahweh asked if Israel was not just like other nations. It was in the sense that it was only one nation among many in the world that lived under His sovereign authority. It was like them too in that it was full of idolaters. The Ethiopians (Cushites) were a remote people in Amos’ day, living on the edge of the earth from an ancient Near Easterner’s perspective, yet God watched over them. He had separated the Philistines from Caphtor (Crete; cf. Deu 2:23) and the Syrians (Arameans) from Kir in Mesopotamia (cf. Amo 1:5) just as He had led Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Philistines and Syrians were Israel’s enemies, but God had done for them what He had done for Israel. He could justly send the Israelites into another part of the world since He had formerly relocated these other nations. The Israelites considered themselves superior because of their election, but really they were no better or less accountable than any other nation.
By referring to the pagan nations at the end of the book, Amos came full circle having begun with oracles against these nations. Thus the emphasis on Yahweh’s universal sovereignty brackets the rest of the contents like bookends.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
3. THE VOICES OF ANOTHER DAWN
Amo 9:7-15
And now we are come to the part where, as it seems, voices of another day mingle with that of Amos, and silence his judgments in the chorus of their unbroken hope. At first, however, it is himself without doubt who speaks. He takes up the now familiar truth, that when it comes to judgment for sin, Israel is no dearer to Jehovah than any other people of His equal Providence.
“Are ye not unto Me, O children of Israel-tis the oracle of Jehovah-just like the children of Kushites?” mere black folk and far away! “Did I not bring up Israel from Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?” Mark again the universal Providence which Amos proclaims: it is the due concomitant of his universal morality. Once for all the religion of Israel breaks from the characteristic Semitic belief that gave a god to every people, and limited both his power and his interests to that peoples territory and fortunes. And if we remember how everything spiritual in the religion of Israel, everything in its significance for mankind, was rendered possible only because at this date it broke from and abjured the particularism in which it had been born, we shall feel some of the Titanic force of the prophet, in whom that break was achieved with an absoluteness which leaves nothing to be desired. But let us also emphasize that it was by no mere method of the intellect or observation of history that Amos was led to assert the unity of the Divine Providence. The inspiration in this was a moral one: Jehovah was ruler and guide of all the families of mankind, because He was exalted in righteousness; and the field in which that righteousness was proved and made manifest was the life and the fate of Israel. Therefore to this Amos now turns. “Lo, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the ground.” In other words, Jehovahs sovereignty over the world was not proved by Israels conquest of the latter, but by His unflinching application of the principles of righteousness, at whatever cost, to Israel herself.
Up to this point, then, the voice of Amos is unmistakable, uttering the doctrine, so original to him, that in the judgment of God Israel shall not be specially favored, and the sentence, we have heard so often from him, of her removal from her land. Remember, Amos has not yet said a word in mitigation of the sentence: up to this point of his book it has been presented as inexorable and final. But now to a statement of it as absolute as any that has gone before, there is suddenly added a qualification: “nevertheless I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob-tis the oracle of Jehovah.” And then there is added a new picture of exile changed from doom to discipline, a process of sifting by which only the evil in Israel, “all the sinners of My people,” shall perish, but not a grain of the good. “For, lo, I am giving command, and I will toss the house of Israel among all the nations, like” something “that is tossed in a sieve, but not a pebble shall fall to earth. By the sword shall die all the sinners of My people, they who say, The calamity shall not reach nor anticipate us.”
Now as to these qualifications of the hitherto unmitigated judgments of the book, it is to be noted that there is nothing in their language to lead us to take them from Amos himself. On the contrary, the last clause describes what he has always called a characteristic sin of his day. Our only difficulties are that hitherto Amos has never qualified his sentences of doom, and that the change now appears so suddenly that the two halves of the verse in which it does so absolutely contradict each other. Read them again, Amo 9:8 : “Lo, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are on the sinful nation, and I will destroy it from off the face of the ground-nevertheless destroying I shall not destroy the house of Jacob: tis the oracle of Jehovah.” Can we believe the same prophet to have uttered at the same time these two statements? And is it possible to believe that prophet to be the hitherto unwavering, un-qualifying Amos? Noting these things, let us pass to the rest of the chapter. We break from all shadows; the verses are verses of pure hope. The judgment on Israel is not averted; but having taken place her ruin is regarded as not irreparable.
“In that day”-the day Amos has threatened of overthrow and ruin-“I will raise again the fallen but of David and will close up its breaches, and his ruins I will raise, and I will build it up as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations upon whom My Name has been called”-that is, as once their Possessor-“tis the oracle of Jehovah, He who is about to do this.”
“The “fallen but of David” undoubtedly means the fall of the kingdom of Judah. It is not language Amos uses, or, as it seems to me, could have used, of the fall of the Northern Kingdom only. Again, it is undoubted that Amos contemplated the fall of, Judah: this is implicit in such a phrase as the whole family that brought up from Egypt.” {Amo 3:1} He saw then “the day” and “the ruins” of which Amo 9:11 speaks. The only question is, can we attribute to him the prediction of a restoration of these ruins? And this is a question which must be answered in face of the facts that the rest of his book is unrelieved by a single gleam of hope, and that his threat of the nations destruction is absolute and final. Now it is significant that in face of those facts Cornill (though he has changed his opinion) once believed it was “surely possible for Amos to include restoration in his prospect of ruin,” as (he might have added) other prophets undoubtedly do. I confess I cannot so readily get over the rest of the book and its gloom; and am the less inclined to be sure about these verses being Amos own that it seems to have been not unusual for later generations, for whom the daystar was beginning to rise, to add their own inspired hopes to the unrelieved threats of their predecessors of the midnight. The mention of Edom does not help us much: in the days of Amos after the partial conquest by Uzziah the promise of “the rest of Edom” was singularly appropriate. On the other hand, what interest had so purely ethical a prophet in the mere addition of territory? To this point we shall have to return for our final decision. We have still the closing oracle-a very pleasant piece of music, as if the birds had come out after the thunderstorm, and the wet hills were glistening in the sunshine.
“Lo, days are coming-tis the oracle of Jehovah when the ploughman shall catch up the reaper, and the grape-treader him that streweth the seed.” The seasons shall jostle each other, harvest following hard upon seed-time, vintage upon spring. It is that “happy contention of seasons” which Josephus describes as the perpetual blessing of Galilee. “And the mountains shall drip with new wine and all the hills shall flow down. And I-will bring back the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build” the “waste cities and dwell” in them, “and plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof, and make gardens and eat their fruits. And I will plant them on their own ground; and they shall not be uprooted any more from their own ground which I have given to them, saith Jehovah thy God.” Again we meet the difficulty: does the voice that speaks here speak with captivity already realized? or is it the voice of one who projects himself forward to a day, which, by the oath of the Lord Himself, is certain to come?
We have now surveyed the whole of this much-doubted, much-defended passage. I have stated fully the arguments on both sides. On the one hand, we have the fact that nothing in the language of the verses, and nothing in their historical allusions, precludes their being by Amos; we have also to admit that, having threatened a day of ruin, it was possible for Amos to realize by his minds eye its arrival, and standing at that point to see the sunshine flooding the ruins and to prophesy a restoration. In all this there is nothing impossible in itself or inconsistent with the rest of the book. On the other hand, we have the impressive and incommensurable facts: first, that this change to hope comes suddenly, without preparation and without statement of reasons, at the very end of a book whose characteristics are not only a final and absolute sentence of ruin upon the people, and an outlook of unrelieved darkness, but scornful discouragement of every popular vision of a prosperous future; and, second, that the prophetic books contain numerous signs that later generations wove their own brighter hopes into the abrupt and hopeless conclusions of prophecies of judgment.
To this balance of evidence is there anything to add? I think there is; and that it decides the question. All these prospects of the future restoration of Israel are absolutely without a moral feature. They speak of return from captivity, of political restoration, of supremacy over the Gentiles, and of a revived Nature, hanging with fruit, dripping with must. Such hopes are natural and legitimate to a people who were long separated from their devastated and neglected land, and whose punishment and penitence were accomplished. But they are not natural to a prophet like Amos. Imagine him predicting a future like this! Imagine him describing the consummation of his peoples history, without mentioning one of those moral triumphs to rally his people to which his whole passion and energy had been devoted. To me it is impossible to hear the voice that cried, “Let justice roll on like waters and righteousness like a perennial stream,” in a peroration which is content to tell of mountains dripping with must and of a people satisfied with vineyards and gardens. These are legitimate hopes; but they are the hopes of a generation of other conditions and of other deserts than the generation of Amos.
If then the gloom of this great book is turned into light, such a change is not due to Amos.