Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 3:14
That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
14. visit ] Cf. on Amo 3:2.
I will also visit ] I will visit: there is no ‘also’; the , by a common Hebrew idiom, merely introduces the verbal predicate.
the altars of Beth-el ] Beth-el, now Beitin, was in Amos’s day the principal sanctuary of the northern kingdom. It lay on the sloping side of a low hill about 10 miles N. of Jerusalem, on the right hand of the great route leading northwards to Shechem and Samaria. It must have been regarded as a sacred spot from very early times: its mabh, or sacred stone pillar, was connected by tradition with a memorable occasion in the life of the patriarch Jacob (Gen 28:10-22; cf. Gen 35:1-8; Hos 12:4; it is alluded to as a sanctuary in 1Sa 10:3); and its time-honoured sanctity, taken in conjunction with its situation at the extreme south of Jeroboam’s kingdom, on the immediate route to Jerusalem, no doubt led him to select it as one of his chief sanctuaries (1Ki 12:28-33). Here he established one of the two calves of gold, erected an altar, and instituted a priesthood to serve it ( ib.: cf. Amo 7:10). Amos represents Beth-el as being the most popular sanctuary of the northern kingdom: it was under the special patronage of the king (Amo 7:13); altars (in the plural) had taken the place of the single altar of Jeroboam I. (1Ki 13:1); the sanctuary was crowded with worshippers (Amo 9:1); an elaborate ritual was observed there (Amo 4:4-5), and the houses of the wealthy were numerous (Amo 3:15). Comp. also Amo 3:5; Hos 4:15; Hos 10:5; Hos 10:8; Hos 10:15. The altar and sanctuary of Beth-el were finally destroyed by Josiah (2Ki 23:15). At present Beth-el is nothing more than a poor village, containing, it is said, about 400 persons. See Rob. B.R [148] i. 448 f.; Stanley, S. and P. pp. 217 223; Memoirs of the P. E. F. Survey, ii. 295 f.; Moore, Comm. on Judges, pp. 40, 42, 433.
[148] .R. Edw. Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine (ed. 2, 1856).
the horns of the altar ] which conferred the right of asylum upon those who laid hold of them (see 1Ki 1:50-51; 1Ki 2:28): but even this refuge should fail Israel in the day of visitation, which Amos here foresees. On the ‘horns’ of the altar, see also Jer 17:1; Eze 43:15; Eze 43:20; Exo 27:2 (on the altar of burnt-offering); Exo 30:2 (on the altar of incense); Psa 118:27. They were an important adjunct to the altar: and at least in the ritual of the Temple at Jerusalem the ceremonial of atonement could in many cases only be completed upon them (Lev 4:7; Lev 4:18; Lev 4:25; Lev 4:30; Lev 4:34). A stel from Teima (S.E. of Edom), containing an interesting Aramaic inscription, shews the ‘horns’ rising from the corner of an altar, and curved like those of an ox (Perrot and Chipiez, Hist. of Art in Sardinia, Judaea, &c., i. 304).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
14 15. The thought of Amo 3:11 is further developed. The ruin will be complete: the idolatrous altars, and the sumptuous palaces, will alike be involved in it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In the day that I shall visit the transgression of Israel upon, him, I will also visit (upon) the altars of Bethel – Israel then hoped that its false worship of nature would avail it. God says, contrariwise, that when He should punish, all their false worship, so far from helping them, should itself be the manifest object of His displeasure. Again God attests, at once, His long-suffering and His final retribution. Still had He foreborne to punish, being slow to anger and of great goodness; but when that day, fixed by the divine Wisdom, should come, wherein He should vindicate His own holiness, by enduring the sin no longer, then He would visit their transgressions, that is, all of them, old and new, forgotten by man or remembered, upon them. Scripture speaks of visiting offences upon because, in Gods Providence, the sin returns upon a mans own head. It is not only the cause of his being punished, but it becomes part of his punishment.
The memory of a mans sins will be part of his eternal suffering. Even in this life, remorse, as distinct from repentance, is the gnawing of a mans own conscience for the folly of his sin. Then also God would visit upon the false worship. It is thought that God visits less speedily even grave sins against Himself, (so that man does not appeal falsely to Him and make Him, in a way, a partner of his offence,) than sins against His own creature, man. It may be that, All-Merciful as He is, He bears the rather with sins, involving corruption of the truth as to Himself, so long as they are done in ignorance, on account of the ignorant worship Act 17:23, Act 17:30; Act 14:16 of Himself, or the fragments of truth which they contain, until the evil in them have its full sway in moral guilt Rom. 1. Montanus: Wonderful is the patience of God in enduring all those crimes and injuries which pertain directly to Himself; wonderful His waiting for repentance. But the deeds of guilt which violate human society, faith, and justice, hasten judgment and punishment, and, as it were, with a most effectual cry call upon the Divine Mind to punish, as it is written, The voices of thy brothers blood crieth unto Me from the ground, And now cursed art thou, … Gen 4:10-11.
If then upon that very grave guilt against God Himself there be accumulated these other sins, this so increases the load, that God casts it out. However long then Israel with impunity, given itself to that vain, alien worship, this evinced the patience, not the approval, of God. Now, when they are to be punished for the fourth transgresston, they will be punished for the first, second and third, and so, most grievously; when brought to punishment for their other sins, they should suffer for their other guilt of impiety and superstition.
And the horns of the altar – This was the one great altar 1Ki 12:32-33; 1Ki 13:1-5 for burnt-offerings, set up by Jeroboam, in imitation of that of God at Jerusalem, whose doom was pronounccd in the act of its would-be consecration. He had copied faithfully outward form. At each corner, where the two sides met in one, rose the horn, or pillar, a cubit high , there to sacrifice victims, Psa 118:27, there to place the blood of atonement Exo 29:12. So far from atoning, they themselves were the unatoned sin of Jeroboam whereby 2Ki 17:21 he drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. These were to be cut off; hewn down, with violence. A century and a half had passed, since the man of God had pronounced its sentence. They still stood. The day was not yet come; Josiah was still unborn; yet Amos, as peremptorily, renews the sentence. In rejecting these, whereon the atonement was made, God pronounced them out of covenant with Himself. Heresy makes itself as like as it can to the truth, but is thereby the more deceiving, not the less deadly. Amos mentions the altars of Bethel, as well as the altar. Jeroboam made but one altar, keeping as close as he could to the divine ritual. But false worship and heresy ever hold their course, developing themselves. They never stand still where they began, but spread, like a cancer 2Ti 2:17. It is a test of heresy, like leprosy, that it spreads abroad Lev. 13, preying on what at first seemed sound. The oneness of the altar had relation to the Unity of God. In Samaria, they worshiped, they know not what Joh 4:22, not God, but some portion of His manifold operations. The many altars, forbidden as they were, were more in harmony with the religion of Jeroboam, even because they were against Gods law. Heresy develops, becoming more consistent, by having less of truth.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. In the day that I shall visit] When Josiah made a reformation in the land he destroyed idolatry, pulled down the temples and altars that had been consecrated to idol worship, and even burnt the bones of the priests of Baal and the golden calves upon their own altars. See 2Kg 23:15-16, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the day; in the appointed time, and within compass of a little time too; God will in his set time make quick work with them.
Visit the transgressions of Israel upon him; the many and great transgressions of the ten tribes, these God will, as he hath foretold by his prophets, severely punish, and in particular their idolatry.
The altars, erected unto the calves, and on which they Offered sacrifices to those idols by Jeroboams appointment at first, and by the continued commands of their idolatrous governors. It is possible there might be altars to other idols too: see 2Ch 34:4; Hos 8:11; 10:1.
Beth-el; anciently called Luz, but afterwards Jacob, on his comfortable vision, did change its name into Beth-el; it was in the tribe of Benjamin, and one of the two places Jeroboam first set up his idolatry in.
The horns of the altar; whether a more sacred part in their account I know not, but who fled to the altar, and laid hold on the horns of it, found them a sanctuary, 1Ki 2:28; but these now should not be safety to themselves.
Shall be cut off, the altars shall be pulled down,
and fall to the ground; be cast out as common, and trodden under foot with contempt.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Thatrather, “since,”or “for.” This verse is not, as English Versiontranslates, the thing which the witnesses cited are to “testify”(Am 3:13), but the reason whyGod calls on the heathen to witness Samaria’s guilt; namely, in orderto justify the punishment which He declares He will inflict.
I will also visit . . .Beth-elthe golden calves which were the source of all “thetransgressions of Israel” (1Ki 12:32;1Ki 13:2; 2Ki 23:15;2Ki 23:16), though Israel thoughtthat by them their transgressions were atoned for and God’s favorsecured.
horns of the altarwhichused to be sprinkled with the blood of victims. They were horn-likeprojecting points at the corners of ancient altars. The singular,“altar,” refers to the great altar erected by Jeroboam tothe calves. The “altars,” plural, refer to thelesser ones made in imitation of the great one (2Ch34:5, compare with 1Ki 13:2;Hos 8:11; Hos 10:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him,…. The three or four mentioned in the preceding chapter, the great multitude of them, their profaneness, uncleanness, and luxury, their injustice and oppression of the poor; when he should visit and punish for these sins, as he would by the hand of the Assyrian, he would not forget their idolatry; though no notice is taken of this before, in the appeal to the Heathen princes, who were likewise guilty of it:
I will also visit the altars of Bethel; where one of the calves Jeroboam made was set up and worshipped; and where was an altar erected, and sacrifice offered on it, 1Ki 12:28; and here the plural number is put for the singular; though it may be, that in process of time more altars might be set up as they increased in idolatry, and as seems from Ho 8:11; and now the Lord would show his resentment at them, and punish those that worshipped and sacrificed there. So the Targum,
“that worship at the altars in Bethel;”
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground; for it seems this altar was made after the form of that at Jerusalem, with four horns at the four corners of it; and which were reckoned the more principal parts of it, and the more sacred, where the blood of the sacrifices was poured, and to which persons in distress fled and laid hold of for refuge; but now these should be of no use unto them, since they would be entirely demolished by the enemy, and laid level with the ground.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Amos, I have no doubt, added this passage, to show that the superstitions, in which he knew the Israelites falsely trusted, would be so far from being of any help to them, that they would, on the contrary, lead them to ruin, because the people were by them provoking God’s wrath the more against themselves. When the Israelites heard that God was offended with them, they looked on their sacrifices and other superstitions, as their shield and cover: for thus do hypocrites mock God. But we know that the sacrifices offered at Bethel were mere profanations; for the whole worship was spurious. God had indeed chosen to himself a place where he designed sacrifices to be offered. The Israelites built a temple without any command, nay, against the manifest prohibition of God. Since then they had thus violated and corrupted the whole worship of God, strange was their madness to dare to obtrude on God their superstitions, as though they could thus pacify his displeasure! The Prophet then rebukes now this stupidity and says, In the day when God shall visit the sins of Israel, he will inflict punishment on the altars of Bethel By the sins, which the Prophet mentions, he means plunder, unjust exactions, robbery, and similar crimes; for there prevailed then, as we have seen, among the people, an unbridled cruelty, avarice, and perfidiousness.
Hence he says now, When God shall visit the sins of Israel; that is, when he shall punish avarice, pride, and cruelty; when he shall execute vengeance on pillages and robberies, he shall then visit also the altars of Bethel. The Israelites thought that God would be propitious to them while they sacrificed though they were wholly abandoned in their lives: they indeed thought that every uncleanness was purified by their expiations; and they thought that God was satisfied while they performed an external worship. Hence, when they offered sacrifices, they imagined that they thus made a compact with God, and presented such a compensation, that he dared not to punish their sins. Their own fancy greatly deceives them,” says Amos. For, as we know, this was, at the same time, their principal sin, — that they rashly dared to change the worship of God, that they dared to build a temple without his command; in short, that they had violated the whole law. God then will begin with superstitions in executing judgment for the sins of the people. We now then understand the Prophet’s design in saying, that God would visit the altars of Bethel when inflicting punishment on the sins of Israel.
But as it was difficult to produce conviction on this subject, the Prophet here invites attention, Hear ye, and testify, he says, in the house of Jacob. Having bidden them to hear, he introduces God as the speaker: for the Israelites, as we know they were wont to do, might have pretended that Amos had, without authority, threatened such a punishment. “Nothing is mine,” he says. We then see the design of this address, when he says, Hear: he shows God to be the author of this prophecy, and that nothing was his own but the ministration. Hear ye, then, and testify in the house of Jacob By the word testify, he seals his prophecy that it might have more weight, that they might not think that it was a mere mockery, but might know that God was dealing seriously with them, Then testify ye in the house of Jacob. And for the same purpose are the titles which he ascribes to God, The Lord Jehovah, he says, the God of hosts He might have used only one word, “Thus saith Jehovah,” as the prophets mostly do; but he ascribes dominion to him, and he also brings before them his power, — for what end? To strike the Israelites with terror, that vain flatteries might no longer, as heretofore, take possession of them; but that they might understand, that so far were they from doing anything towards pacifying God’s wrath by their superstitions, that they thereby the more provoked him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Amo 3:14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
Ver. 14. That in the day that I shall visit, &c. ] Tell them so from me, saith God: say to these wicked, Woe be unto them, it shall be ill with them! Isa 3:11 . The jealous Lord of hosts will surely visit the iniquity of idolatrous fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation, Exo 20:5 . See Jer 3:21-22 Eze 16:21 ; Eze 16:36 Hos 2:4 . As they have their day of defection, so hath he of visitation; his season, his harvest for judgment, Mat 13:30 . What then will they do when God riseth up: and when he visiteth, what will they answer him? Job 31:14 .
I will also visit the altars of Bethel
And the horns of the altar, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
in the day that, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 32:34). App-92.
ground = earth. Hebrew. erez.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
in the: Exo 32:34
visit the transgressions of Israel upon him: or, punish Israel for his transgressions
I will: Amo 9:1, 1Ki 13:2-5, 2Ki 23:15, 2Ch 31:1, 2Ch 34:6, 2Ch 34:7, Hos 10:5-8, Hos 10:14, Hos 10:15, Mic 1:6, Mic 1:7
Reciprocal: Exo 33:3 – lest I 2Ki 2:23 – Bethel Hos 5:9 – Ephraim Amo 4:4 – Come Amo 7:9 – the high
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4
Amo 3:14. Visit the transgressions means to bring judgment upon them for their transgressions, Those sins consisted in their sacrifices to idol gods, and Bethel is named because one of the idol calves was erected there (1Ki 12:29). Horns of the altar shall he cut off is a prediction of the destruction of idolatrous worship, which was to be accomplished by the captivity.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
God now promised to destroy the pagan altars that Jeroboam I had erected at Bethel at the same time He destroyed the people of Israel (cf. 1Ki 12:26-30). This altar, and the one at Dan, had taken the place of the one in Jerusalem for most of the Israelites. The one in Bethel was the most popular religious center in Israel. There the Israelites practiced apostate worship. The horns of this altar, symbolic of the strength of its deity, would be cut off and would fall to the ground, showing its impotence. The horns of an altar were also places of asylum in the ancient Near East (1Ki 1:50), so their cutting off pictures no asylum for the Israelites when God’s judgment came.