Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 9:13
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
13. A hyperbolical description of the fertility of the soil. So rapid will be the growth of the crops, that the ploughman will hardly have finished breaking up the ground for seed, when the corn will be ready for the reaper; so abundant will be the vintage, that before the grapes are all trodden out, the time will have arrived for sowing seed for the following year: mountains and hills, also, will flow with sweet wine. The time for ploughing would correspond to our October; seed was sown in November: barley and wheat would be ripe in April May; the vintage was gathered in Aug. Sept. There is a similar promise in Lev 26:5 “your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time” so abundant, namely, will be the crops.
Behold, days are coming ] See on Amo 4:2.
the treader of grapes ] The freshly gathered grapes were thrown into the “wine-press” ( gath) usually a trough excavated in the natural rock where they were “trodden” ( ) by the feet of men, and the expressed juice, as it ran down, was received into the “wine-fat” (i.e. the “wine- vat ”: Heb. yeb), generally another trough excavated similarly in the rock at a somewhat lower level (see O.C. Whitehouse, A Primer of Hebrew Antiquities, p. 99 f.). There are many allusions in the O.T. to this process of treading the grapes (as Jdg 9:27; Isa 63:2-3; Neh 13:15): it was an occasion of rejoicing, and the shouts or huzzahs ( hdd), with which those engaged at it enlivened their toil, supply the prophets with suggestive imagery (Isa 16:9-10; Jer 25:30; Jer 48:33; Jer 51:14).
him that soweth the seed ] Lit. that draweth out, or traileth, the seed: cf. (in the Heb.) Psa 126:6.
shall cause sweet wine to drop down ] sweet wine, as Joe 1:5; Joe 3:18, Isa 49:26 [204] ; Heb. ‘ss, from ‘sas, to tread or press down (Mal 4:3). LXX., here and Joe 3:18, ; in Isa 49:26 . The reference is probably to some kind of sweet wine ( or vinum dulce), such as was made by the ancients, by partially drying the grapes in the sun, and afterwards allowing the process of fermentation to continue in the juice only 5 7 days, instead of 9 (which was the usual time). See Pliny H.N. xiv. 9; and the Dict. of Classical Antiquities, s.v. Vinum.
[204] Also Son 8:2; but here it denotes a wine made from pomegranates (see D.B. s.v. Pomegranate).
shall melt ] more lit. dissolve themselves: so abundant will be the produce of the vineyards, that it will be “as though the hills dissolved themselves in the rich streams which they poured down.” Comp. Joel 3 (4):18, “The mountains shall drop with sweet wine, and the hills shall run with milk, and all the channels of Judah shall run with water”; also, for the hyperbole, the common description of Canaan as “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13 15. The prosperity and happiness to be enjoyed by Israel upon its own land in the future.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold the days are coming – The Day of the Lord is ever coming on: every act, good or bad, is drawing it on: everything which fills up the measure of iniquity or which hastens the accomplishment of the number of the elect; all time hastens it by. The plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. The image is taken from Gods promise in the law; Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time Lev 26:5; which is the order of agriculture. The harvest should be so copious that it should not be threshed out until the vintage: the vintage so large, that, instead of ending, as usual, in the middle of the 7th month, it should continue on to the seed-time in November. Amos appears purposely to have altered this. He describes what is wholly beyond nature, in order that it might the more appear that he was speaking of no mere gifts of nature, but, under natural emblems, of the abundance of gifts of grace. The plowman, who breaks up the fallow ground, shall overtake, or throng, the reaper. The plowman might throng, or join on to the reaper, either following upon him, or being followed by him; either preparing the soil for the harvest which the reaper gathers in, or breaking it up anew for fresh harvest after the in-gathering.
But the vintage falls between the harvest and the seed-time. If then by the plowmen thronging on the reaper, we understand that the harvest should, for its abundance, not be over before the fresh seed-time, then, since the vintage is much nearer to the seed-time than the harvest had been, the words, he that treadeth out the grapes, him that soweth the seed, would only say the same less forcibly. In the other way, it is one continuous whole. So vast would be the soil to be cultivated, so beyond all the powers of the cultivator, and yet so rapid and unceasing the growth, that seed-time and harvest would be but one. So our Lord says, Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest Joh 4:35. Four months ordinarily intervened between seed-time and harvest. Among these Samaritans, seed-time and harvest were one.
They had not, like the Jews, had teachers from God; yet, as soon as our Lord taught them, they believed. But, as seed time and harvest should be one, so should the vintage be continuous with the following seed-time. The treader of grapes, the last crowning act of the year of cultivation, should join on to him that soweth (literally, draweth forth, soweth broadcast, scattereth far and wide the) seed. All this is beyond nature, and so, the more in harmony with what went before, the establishment of a kingdom of grace, in which the pagan should have the Name of God called upon them. He had foretold to them, how God would send famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord Amo 8:11. Now, under the same image, he declares the repeal of that sentence. He foretells, not the fullness only of Gods gifts, but their unbroken continuance.
Jerome: All shall succeed one another, so that no day should be void of grain, wine, and gladness. And they shall not follow only on one another, but shall all go on together in one perpetual round of toil and fruitfulness. There shall be one unceasing inpouring of riches; no break in the heavenly husbandry; labor shall at once yield fruit; the harvest shall but encourage fresh labor. The end shall come swiftly on the beginning; the end shall not close the past only, but issue forth anew. Such is the character of the toils of the Gospel. All the works of grace go on in harmony together; each helps on the other; in one, the fallow-ground of the heart is broken up; in another, seed is sown, the beginning of a holy conversation; in another, is the full richness of the ripened fruit, in advanced holiness or the blood of martyrs. And so, also, of the ministers of Christ, some are adapted especially to one office, some to another; yet all together carry on His one work. All, too, patriarchs, prophets, Apostles, shall meet together in one; they who, before Christs coming , sowed the seed, the promises of the Blessed Seed to come, and they who entered into their labors, not to displace, but to complete them; all shall rejoice together in that Seed which is Christ.
And the mountains shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt – Amos takes the words of Joel, in order to identify their prophecies, yet strengthens the image. For instead of saying, the hills shall flow with milk, he says, they shall melt, dissolve themselves. Such shall be the abundance and super-abundance of blessing, that it shall be as though the hills dissolved themselves in the rich streams which they poured down. The mountains and hills may be symbols, in regard either to their height, or their natural barrenness or their difficulty of cultivation. In past times they were scenes of idolatry. In the time of the Gospel, all should be changed; all should be above nature. All should be obedient to God: all, full of the graces and gifts of God. What was exalted, like the Apostles should be exalted not for itself, but in order to pour out the streams of life-giving doctrine and truth, which would refresh and gladden the faithful. And the lesser heights, the hills, should, in their degree, pour out the same streams. Everything, heretofore barren and unfruitful, should overflow with spiritual blessing. The mountains and hills of Judaea, with their terraced sides clad with the vine were a natural symbol fruitfulness to the Jews, but they themselves could not think that natural fruitfulness was meant under this imagery. It would have been a hyperbole as to things of nature; but what, in naturl things, is a hyperbole, is but a faint shadow of the joys and rich delights and glad fruitfulness of grace.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Amo 9:13
Behold, The days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper.
A revival sermon
Gods promises are not exhausted when they are fulfilled, for when once performed they stand just as good as they did before, and we may await a second accomplishment of them.
I. Explain the text as a promise of revival.
1. Notice a promise of surprising ingathering.
2. The idea of amazing rapidity.
3. Notice the activity of labour which is mentioned in the text. One sign of a true revival is the increased activity of Gods labourers.
4. A time of revival shall be followed by very extraordinary conversion.
II. What is taught us by a revival? That God is absolute monarch of the hearts of men. God does not say here if men are willing, but He gives an absolute promise of a Messing. If it were net for this doctrine I wonder where the ministry would be. Adam Old is too strong for young Melanchthons.
III. The text should be a stimulus for further exertion. The duty of the Church is not to be measured by its success. It is as much the ministers duty to preach the Gospel in adverse times as in propitious seasons. Recollect that even when this revival comes an instrumentality will still be wanted. The ploughman is wanted even after the harvest. The ploughman shall never be so much esteemed as when he follows after the reaper, and the Sower of seed never so much valued as when he comes at the heels of those that tread the grapes. The glory which God puts upon instrumentality should encourage you to use it.
IV. A word of warning to those who know not Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. The ploughman shall overtake the reaper] All the seasons shall succeed in due and natural order: but the crops shall be so copious in the fields and in the vineyards, that a long time shall be employed in gathering and disposing of them; so that the seasons of ploughing, sowing, gathering the grapes, treading the wine-press, c., shall press on the heels of each other so vast will be the abundance, and so long the time necessary to gather and cure the grain and fruits. We are informed by travellers in the Holy Land, Barbary, c., that the vintage at Aleppo lasts from the fifteenth of September to the middle of November and that the sowing season begins at the close of October, and lasts through all November. Here, then, the ploughman, sower, grape-gatherer, and operator at the wine-press, not only succeed each other, but have parts of these operations going on at the same time. But great fertility in the land, abundance in the crops, and regularity of the seasons, seem to be the things which the prophet especially predicts. These are all poetical and prophetical images, by which happy times are pointed out.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here is another promise made literally for assurance of abundant plenty to the returned captives, and mystically, of abundant grace poured forth in gospel days. But of the letter and history.
Behold, mark well, ye poor captived Jews,
the days come; the time will certainly come, nay, it hasteth, and whoso lives to return shall see this word performed.
The ploughman, who breaks up the ground, and prepares it for sowing,
shall overtake the reaper; shall be ready to tread on the heels of the reaper, who shall have a harvest so large, that before he can gather it all in it shall be time to plough the ground and prepare it for the seed for next years crop. So God will take away the reproach of famine (in Ezekiels phrase) from the mountains of Israel.
And the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; so great shall their vintage be, that ere the treaders of grapes can have finished their work, the seedsman shall be sowing his seed against next harvest season.
The mountains: the Jews did plant the mountains and hills of Canaan with vines, Isa 5:1, there were their vineyards.
Shall drop sweet wine; the vineyards shall be so fruitful, and new wine so plentiful, as if it did, like trickling streams, run down from the mountains; and all the hills shall melt; or as if whole hills were melted into such liquors. See Joe 3:18. It is a lofty strain, and very elegantly expresseth the abundance of outward blessings promised to this people here spoken of. If any will object, It appears not that ever it was so. I answer, It is certain the sins of the returned captives did in very great degrees prevent these blessings, which are here promised under a tacit condition, which they never did fulfil.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. the days comeat thefuture restoration of the Jews to their own land.
ploughman shall overtake . .. reaper . . . treader of grapes him that sowethfulfilling Le26:5. Such shall be the abundance that the harvest and vintagecan hardly be gathered before the time for preparing for the nextcrop shall come. Instead of the greater part of the year being spentin war, the whole shall be spent in sowing and reaping the fruits ofearth. Compare Isa65:21-23, as to the same period.
soweth seedliterally,”draweth it forth,” namely, from the sack in order to sowit.
mountains . . . drop sweetwinean appropriate image, as the vines in Palestine weretrained on terraces at the sides of the hills.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,…. Or “are coming” y; and which will commence upon the accomplishment of the above things, when the church of Christ is raised up and established, the Jews converted, and the Gentiles brought in:
that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper; or “meet the reaper” z; or come up to him, or touch him, as it may be rendered; and so the Targum; that is, before the reaper has well cut down the grain, or it is scarce gathered in, the ploughman shall be ready to plough up the ground again, that it may be sown, and produce another crop:
and the treaders of grapes him that soweth seed; or “draweth seed” a; out of his basket, and scatters it in the land; signifying that there should he such an abundance of grapes in the vintage, that they would continue pressing till seedtime; and the whole denotes a great affluence of temporal good things, as an emblem of spiritual ones; see
Le 26:5; where something of the like nature is promised, and expressed in much the same manner:
and the mountains shall drop sweet wine; or “new wine” b; intimating that there shall be abundance of vines grow upon the mountains, which will produce large quantities of wine, so that they shall seem to drop or flow with it:
and all the hills shall melt; with liquors; either with wine or honey, or rather with milk, being covered with flocks and herds, which shall yield abundance of milk; by all which, plenty of spiritual things, as the word and ordinances, and rich supplies of grace, as well as of temporal things, is meant; see Joe 3:18.
y “dies venientes”, Montanus, Burkius. z “et [vel] cum occurret arator messori”, Vatablus, Drusius; “attingent arator messorem”, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “accedet arator ad messorem”, Cocceius. a “trahentem semen”, Montanus, Liveleus, Drusius, Mercerus. b “mustum”, Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Mercerus; “musto”, Drusius, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To the setting up of the kingdom and its outward extension the prophet appends its inward glorification, foretelling the richest blessing of the land (Amo 9:13) and of the nation (Amo 9:14), and lastly, the eternal duration of the kingdom (Amo 9:15). Amo 9:13. “Behold, days come, is the saying of Jehovah, that the ploughman reaches to the reaper, and the treader of grapes to the sower of seed; and the mountains drip new wine, and all the hills melt away. Amo 9:14. And I reverse the captivity of my people Israel, and they build the waste cities, and dwell, and plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and make gardens, and eat the fruit thereof. Amo 9:15. And I plant them in their land, and they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.” In the new kingdom of God the people of the Lord will enjoy the blessing, which Moses promised to Israel when faithful to the covenant. This blessing will be poured upon the land in which the kingdom is set up. Amo 9:13 is formed after the promise in Lev 26:5, “Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time;” but Amos transfers the action to the persons employed, and says, “The ploughman will reach to the reaper.” Even while the one is engaged in ploughing the land for the sowing, the other will already be able to cut ripe corn; so quickly will the corn grow and ripen. And the treading of the grapes will last to the sowing-time, so abundant will the vintage be. The second half of the verse is taken from Joe 3:18; and according to this passage, the melting of the hills is to be understood as dissolving into streams of milk, new wine, and honey, in which the prophet had the description of the promised land as a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo 3:8, etc.) floating before his mind. In the land so blessed will Israel enjoy unbroken peace, and delight itself in the fruits of its inheritance. On , see the exposition of Hos 6:11. That this phrase is not used here to denote the return of the people from captivity, but the turning of misfortune and misery into prosperity and salvation, is evident from the context; for Israel cannot be brought back out of captivity after it has already taken possession of the Gentiles (Amo 9:12). The thought of Amo 9:14, as attached to Amo 9:13, is the following: As the land of Israel, i.e., the territory of the re-erected kingdom of David, will no more be smitten with the curse of drought and failing crops with which the rebellious are threatened, but will receive the blessing of the greatest fertility, so will the people, i.e., the citizens of this kingdom, be no more visited with calamity and judgment, but enjoy the rich beneficent fruits of their labour in blessed and unbroken peace. This thought is individualized with a retrospective glance at the punishment with which the sinners are threatened in Amo 5:11, – namely, as building waste cities, and dwelling therein, and as drinking the wine of the vineyards that have been planted; not building houses for others any more, as was threatened in Amo 5:11, after Deu 28:30, Deu 28:39; and lastly, as laying out gardens, and eating the fruit thereof, without its being consumed by strangers (Deu 28:33). This blessing will endure for ever (Amo 9:15). Their being planted in their land denotes, not the settling of the people in their land once more, but their firm and lasting establishment and fortification therein. The Lord will make Israel, i.e., His rescued people, into a plantation that will never be torn up again, but strikes firm roots, sends forth blossom, and produces fruit. The words point back to 2Sa 7:10, and declare that the firm planting of Israel which was begun by David will be completed with the raising up of the fallen hut of David, inasmuch as no further driving away of the nation into captivity will occur, but the people of the Lord will dwell for ever in the land which their God has given them. Compare Jer 24:6. This promise is sealed by .
We have not to seek for the realization of this promise in the return of Israel from its captivity to Palestine under Zerubbabel and Ezra; for this was no planting of Israel to dwell for ever in the land, nor was it a setting up of the fallen hut of David. Nor have we to transfer the fulfilment to the future, and think of a time when the Jews, who have been converted to their God and Saviour Jesus Christ, will one day be led back to Palestine. For, as we have already observed at Joe 3:18, Canaan and Israel are types of the kingdom of God and of the church of the Lord. The raising up of the fallen hut of David commenced with the coming of Christ and the founding of the Christian church by the apostles; and the possession of Edom and all the other nations upon whom the Lord reveals His name, took its rise in the reception of the Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven set up by Christ. The founding and building of this kingdom continue through all the ages of the Christian church, and will be completed when the fulness of the Gentiles shall one day enter into the kingdom of God, and the still unbelieving Israel shall have been converted to Christ. The land which will flow with streams of divine blessing is not Palestine, but the domain of the Christian church, or the earth, so far as it has received the blessings of Christianity. The people which cultivates this land is the Christian church, so far as it stands in living faith, and produces fruits of the Holy Ghost. The blessing foretold by the prophet is indeed visible at present in only a very small measure, because Christendom is not yet so pervaded by the Spirit of the Lord, as that it forms a holy people of God. In many respects it still resembles Israel, which the Lord will have to sift by means of judgments. This sifting will be first brought to an end through the judgment upon all nations, which will attend the second coming of Christ. Then will the earth become a Canaan, where the Lord will dwell in His glorified kingdom in the midst of His sanctified people.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Full Kingdom Blessings For Restored Israel
Verses 13-15:
Verse 13 begins a description of millennial era conditions for Israel and for the world, as declared by the Lord, Lev 26:4-5. The production of sower and reaper at that time shall excel that of all human history. So rapid and abundant shall be the growth of grain and grapes that the reaper can barely finish until planting time has come again. There will be no place or time or need for war in that peaceful era, presided over by the Prince of Peace, Luk 1:31-32; Isa 65:21-23. The dropping of sweet wine from the mountain refers to the falling of vines, loaded with grapes, from the hillside terraces where they had been trained or tied to runners, designed to help hold them off the ground, Joe 3:18,
Verse 14 declares that God will bring His people Israel from captivity in that day and they shall rebuild and occupy the waste or destroyed cities, Isa 61:4; Eze 36:33-36. At that time they shall reap full rewards from their vineyards and gardens, as never before, with the blight of former days gone forever. Enemies shall no more live in their houses or eat the fruit of their plantings.
Verse 15 is a divine pledge to plant them (establish them, Israel) as a productive people on “their land,” given by a covenant landgrant to Abraham and his seed after him forever, Gen 13:14-17; Gen 15:17-18; Gen 17:1-8. Negatively, God swore that thereafter, they should never, ever, be pulled out of or separated from their land, any more, Isa 60:21; Jer 32:41; Eze 34:28; Joe 3:20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the Prophet describes the felicity which shall be under the reign of Christ: and we know that whenever the Prophets set forth promises of a happy and prosperous state to God’s people, they adopt metaphorical expressions, and say, that abundance of all good things shall flow, that there shall be the most fruitful produce, that provisions shall be bountifully supplied; for they accommodated their mode of speaking to the notions of that ancient people; it is therefore no wonders if they sometimes speak to them as to children. At the same time, the Spirit under these figurative expressions declares, that the kingdom of Christ shall in every way be happy and blessed, or that the Church of God, which means the same thing, shall be blessed, when Christ shall begin to reign.
Hence he says, Coming are the days, saith Jehovah, and the plowman shall draw nigh, or meet, the reaper The Prophet no doubt refers to the blessing mentioned by Moses in Lev 26:5 for the Prophets borrowed thence their mode of speaking, to add more credit and authority to what they taught. And Moses uses nearly the same words, — that the vintage shall meet the harvest, and also that sowing shall meet the plowing: and this is the case, when God supplies abundance of corn and wine, and when the season is pleasant and favorable. We then see what the Prophet means, that is, that God would so bless his people, that he would suffer no lack of good things.
The plowman then shall come nigh the reaper; and the treader of grapes, the bearer of seed. When they shall finish the harvest, they shall begin to plow, for the season will be most favorable; and then when they shall complete their vintage, they shall sow. Thus the fruitfulness, as I have said, of all produce is mentioned.
The Prophet now speaks in a hyperbolical language, and says, Mountains shall drop sweetness, and all the hills shall melt, that is, milk shall flow down. We indeed know that this has never happened; but this manner of speaking is common and often occurs in Scripture. The sum of the whole is, that there will be no common or ordinary abundance of blessings, but what will exceed belief, and even the course of nature, as the very mountains shall as it were flow down. It now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
RESULTS OF JUDGMENT PROPHESIEDFRUITFULNESS AND PROSPERITY RESTORED
TEXT: Amo. 9:13-14
13
Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14
And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
QUERIES
a.
What is the meaning of the plowman shall overtake the reaper?
b.
When did God bring back the captivity of . . . Israel?
PARAPHRASE
Lo: The days are coming, says the Lord, when there shall be one unceasing inpouring of spiritual harvest in the resurrected dynasty of David. It will be as if a plowman followed right on top of the reaper to prepare the field immediately for another crop! Or, it will be as if those who tread the grapes would have such a large harvest they would be treading the grapes right into the time normally set aside for reseeding the vineyards! Such shall be the abundance and super-abundance in this spiritual harvest of blessings, that it shall be as though the hills of Palestine are dissolving themselves in the rich streams of mercy and grace which they pour down. I will restore the fortunes of my covenant people. I will sustain them materially that they may serve Me to accomplish the restoration of Davids throne and the super-abundance of spiritual blessings.
SUMMARY
Jehovah, through Amos, continues speaking of the great purpose a purged and chastened people are to servethe restoration of Davids throne and fulfillment of the covenant in spiritual blessings.
COMMENT
Amo. 9:13 . . . THE PLOWMAN SHALL OVERTAKE THE REAPER . . . The prophet takes a phrase from the Law (Lev. 26:5) to describe a super-abundant harvest which is so wholly beyond the natural as to be supernatural. He is, therefore, speaking of the consequences of the restoration of the throne of David, i.e. the reigning of Jesus Christ upon that throne and the establishment of the church. Pusey says, All this is beyond nature, and so, the more in harmony with what went before, the establishment of a kingdom of grace, in which the heathen should have the name of God called upon them . . . There shall be one unceasing inpouring of riches; no break in the heavenly husbandry; labor shall at once yield fruit; the harvest shall but encourage fresh labor. The end shall come swiftly on the beginning; the end shall not close the past only, but issue forth anew. Such is the character of the toils of the Gospel. Compare the words of Jesus in Joh. 4:35-38! This restored dynasty of David has a glorious future filled with fruitfulness and prosperity! Just as the raising up of the tabernacle of David refers to the Gospel age, so this, in the same context, is explained by Paul in Eph. 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places of Christ . . . It should be very evident that the prophet is not speaking literally when we are told that the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. Pusey, again, Such shall be the abundance and super-abundance of blessing, that it shall be as though the hills dissolved themselves in the rich streams which they poured down . . . Everything, heretofore barren and unfruitful, should overflow with spiritual blessing. The mountains and hills of Judea, with their terraced sides clad with the vine were a natural symbol of fruitfulness to the Jews, but they themselves could not think that natural fruitfulness was meant under this imagery. It would have been a hyperbole as to things of nature; but what, in natural things, is a hyperbole, is but a faint shadow of the joys and rich delights and glad fruitfulness of grace.
Amo. 9:14 AND I WILL BRING BACK THE CAPTIVITY OF MY PEOPLE ISRAEL . . . The Revised Standard Version translates this phrase, I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel . . . K & D says this, That this phrase is not used here to denote the return of the people from captivity, but the turning of misfortune and misery into prosperity and salvation, is evident from the context; for Israel cannot be brought back out of captivity after it has already taken possession of the Gentiles. (Amo. 9:12) K & D interpret Amo. 9:14 thus: As . . . the territory of the re-erected kingdom of David . . . will receive the blessing of the greatest fertility, so will the citizens of this kingdom, be no more visited with calamity and judgment, but enjoy the rich beneficent fruits of their labor in blessed and unbroken peace. It is possible, though the context (as K & D say) does not seem to favor it, that Amos is using what Milton terms shortened perspective (see our introductory study of principles and interpretation) here. In other words, it may be that Amos is speaking of what God is going to do historically in restoring the Jews to Palestine in the time of Cyrus (536 B.C.) but that out of that shall come the future blessings in the Son of David, the Messiah. It could be that Amos perspective is so shortened that the beginning of Gods work in the restoration from the captivity is blended right into the eschatological fulfillment of it in the last days (the end of the Jewish age and the beginning of the Christian age). We must remind ourselves again and again that the prophets spoke primarily for their contemporaries. Whatever they would wish to convey of Gods ultimate blessings in fulfilling His covenant the prophets would have to couch in contemporary historical developments and contemporary modes of expression. So God promises here to restore, bless and sustain where He had formerly disrupted, dispersed and judged.
QUIZ
1.
How is Amo. 9:13 to be interpretedliterally or figuratively? Explain your reasons.
2.
What is the RSV translation of the first phrase of Amo. 9:14?
3.
What reasoning does K & D give to agree with the RSV translation?
4.
What do we mean by shortened perspective?
5.
Why is it necessary to remember that the prophets spoke for their contemporaries?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13) Shall overtake the reaper.So rapidly will the harvest follow the ploughing. These closing verses foreshadow the glories of the restored kingdom of David (comp. Hos. 3:5), wherein we see the germ of the great Messianic prophecies of Isaiah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13-15. The outward extension of the territory will be followed by internal peace and prosperity. Amo 9:13 promises extreme fertility of the soil (see on Hos 2:20-21; compare Joe 2:22 ff.; Lev 26:5). The translations of A.V. and R.V. are not quite accurate. Literally the verse reads, “Behold, the days are about to come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman and the reaper shall touch each other, as well as the treader of grapes and the sower of seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.” This rendering leaves it undecided whether the plowman is to overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes the sower, or the reaper the plowman and the sower the treader of grapes. Undoubtedly the latter is the thought. The ground will be so fertile that the plowman has hardly completed the work of plowing and sowing when the grain is ready for harvest, and the vintage will be so plentiful that it will not be completed when the time for plowing comes around again. Ordinarily the plowing in Palestine takes place in October, the sowing in November, the barley and wheat harvest in April and May, the vintage in August and September.
Treader of grapes The grapes were thrown into the winepress, where, in ancient times and even now in some cases they were pressed with the feet (for illustrations see Van Lennep, Bible Lands, p. 118; compare Joe 2:24). For 13b see Joe 3:18.
Melt The vintage will be so bountiful that it will seem as if the hills themselves were being dissolved into streams of wine.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Amo 9:13. Behold, the days come, &c. In the note on Neh 4:7 we have observed, that the Arabs frequently robbed the countryman of his seed-corn. They treat the fruit-trees after the same manner, and oblige the inhabitants of those countries to gather the fruits before they are ripe, when they apprehend any danger from these mischievous neighbours. Maillet, speaking of the province of Fioume, says, “It is surrounded with Arabs, who frequently make incursions into it, especially in the season in which the fruits begin to ripen, which that district produces in great abundance. It is to save them from the depredations of the Arabs, that the inhabitants of this country gather them before they come to maturity, sending them to Cairo, where they find no difficulty to dispose of them, though they are not ripe.” This circumstance may perhaps serve to explain the passage before us. Behold, the days come, &c.; that is to say, “The days shall come, when the grapes shall not be gathered, as they were wont before to be, in a state of immaturity, for fear of Arabs or other destroying nations; but they shall be suffered to hang even till the time of ploughing, so perfect shall be the security of those times; nor shall the ploughman have any thing to do, after committing the seed to the earth, but wait in undisturbed quiet for the time of reaping; no intervening labours of defence and war separating the harvest from the seed-time.” This explanation removes the difficulty which might otherwise arise here; for the rains falling in the beginning of November in the Holy Land, and the sowing following presently after, what would there be astonishing in the treader of grapes overtaking, or meeting with him that sowed seed? since the travels of Egmont and Heyman expressly affirm, that the vintage at Aleppo lasts from the 15th of September to the same day in November; and the vegetable productions of Judaea, Aleppo, and Barbary, are nearly contemporary. It is certain, that, according to those travellers, nothing is more common at Aleppo than this running of the vintage and summer season into one; since in the same page that they affirm the vintage lasted till the 15th of November, they say, the sowing season begins there towards the close of October, and lasts all November. The grape, however, ripens much sooner; for Dr. Shaw tells us, that in Barbary it is ready for the vintage in September, and ripens towards the latter end of July; and consequently, when surrounded with Arabs, Judaea, through fear of them, became obliged to hurry on the vintage. On the other hand, though the grapes of Judaea might be sufficiently ripened for the vintage in common by September; yet it being very well known, that their hanging long on the trees makes the wine much the richer, more generous and sweet, the delaying the time of treading the grapes there till the time of sowing, perfectly well answers the latter part of the verse, And the mountains shall drop sweet wine. Answerable to this, La Roque found the monks of Canubin, in mount Lebanon, absent from their monastery, for the most part, and busied in their vintage, when he was there, at the end of October, or beginning of November; who are noted for the richness and excellence of their wines. Amos then speaks of their perfect quiet and freedom from disturbances in that country, in those days to which the prophesy relates; whereas all commentators, so far as I have observed, suppose that this passage either expresses the temperateness of the season only, or the abundance of the productions of the earth in those times; neither of which is the complete thought of the prophet, though they may both be indirectly involved in his expression. The following words of building the waste cities, and inhabiting them, planting vineyards, and drinking the wine of them, &c. perfectly agree with this explanation. But it very ill suits with the opinion of those who suppose abundance only to be intended; and that the first part of the verse, in that view, only speaks of abundance of work, and long-continued ploughing, and says nothing of the plenty of the crop. See Observations, p. 54.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The judgments of God against a people devoted to destruction are here fearfully declared.
1. The awful command for the execution of these criminals is issued. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, at Beth-el probably, as about to stamp it into powder, and destroy the idols with their worshippers; and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake, intimating the demolition of the idol temples; and cut them in the head all of them, and I will slay the last of them with the sword, the king, princes, priests, and people who committed idolatry there.
2. All attempts to escape from God’s avenging arm will be fruitless: they shall be arrested in their flight, and no place afford them protection in this day of wrath. Could they dig into hell, it would not conceal them; or could they climb the heights of heaven, thence would he drag them down. The caves or thickets of Carmel could not hide them from his all-piercing eye, nor the depths of the sea cover them: God has even there his instruments of vengeance. Nay, when in a miserable captivity they might have hoped that the vengeance of God would rest, the sword should still pursue them, and make them exchange a wretched life for a more tormenting death. Note; When God is against us, it matters not who are for us; they can afford us neither help nor hope.
3. He that pronounces their doom is fully able to execute his threatenings. The Lord God of Hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt: a touch, a frown from him can dissolve the earth, or deluge it with waters; and all that dwell therein shall mourn in bitterness the loss of all their substance, and whatever is dear to them besides, swallowed up in the flood of his judgments. It is he, that great Creator of all, that buildeth his stories in the heaven, like a stately palace reared by his power and supported by his providence; and hath founded his troops in the earth, all things here below being the instruments of his pleasure, and ready to execute his commands: he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, to descend in tempests from the clouds, or burst from the bosom of the deep to punish guilty mortals: the Lord is his name, able to perform all the purposes of his will. As happy and safe as it is to have him for our friend, so miserable and fatal must it be to have him for our enemy.
4. Their iniquities had cut them off from their former honourable relation to this Almighty God. They were become, by their sins, like Ethiopians, spiritually black, guilty, and unholy; nor should they count upon the mercies which God had shewed in bringing them from Egypt, as if these were so peculiarly distinguishing, or insured his future favour; for he had brought the Philistines from Caphtor, the place of their nativity, or whither they had been carried captives; and the Assyrians from Kir, the land of their captivity, 2Ki 16:9. Yet neither of these nations would escape at last his judgments. For, behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, on every guilty land, especially on Israel, whose guilt was most aggravated; and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, as was done by Salmaneser. Note; When professors degenerate, and in spirit depart from God, their privileges will stand them in no stead, but rather aggravate their guilt beyond that of the vilest heathens.
5. A remnant of Israel, even those who have preserved their fidelity, shall be preserved amid the general ruin. I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord; his eyes behold the men that sigh, and cry for all the abominations of the land; and they shall be hid in the day of his fierce anger. For lo, I will command, by his over-ruling providence, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve; all the afflictions coming upon them shall be so ordered as to separate the precious from the vile; yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth, all the truly faithful shall be preserved; but all the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us, so daring in wickedness were they grown; but shall find, to their everlasting confusion, the vanity of their impious boasts. Note; When the sinner most confidently flatters himself with assurances of impunity, there is a lie in his right hand, and vengeance is at his heels.
2nd, With one bright beam of hope the prophesy closes, and, in the promised Messiah, still a glorious prospect remains of Israel’s restoration; for to him bear all the prophets witness.
1. In the Messiah shall the glory of David’s throne be restored. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the day of old; to what event this refers we can have no doubt, having an infallible interpreter for our guide; Act 15:16. When Christ came into the world, the church, the spiritual kingdom of our David, was apparently fallen as low as the royal family whence the Redeemer sprung; but in and by him the breaches were repaired, the gospel of the kingdom was preached at his command, and religion revived its drooping head, and shone more gloriously than in the brightest days of old. Nor were the higher privileges of grace now confined to one nation or people; but Gentiles, as well as Jews, became the happy subjects of Christ’s peculiar kingdomthe Christian church. A remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, will now become the church’s possession in this high and glorious sense, and be called by the name of Christ, admitted into the fellowship and privileges of the gospel, saith the Lord who doeth this, whose power and grace can and will accomplish what he hath promised for every faithful soul; and blessed be his name for what we have seen of the fulfilment hereof, and shall see daily, till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and all the faithful Israel of God be finally saved.
2. The most abundant measure of spiritual blessings in these last days will be diffused, signified by images of the most abundant plenty; the harvest and vintage being so vast, that it should continue till seed-time again, and the very mountains, as if dissolved, pour down streams of wine, and milk, and honey; the gifts, the graces, and consolations of the holy spirit in the times of the gospel, being bestrowed in a more eminent and extensive manner than ever before; but more especially in the last days, and during the glorious millennium, to which the conclusion of this chapter particularly refers.
3. The captivity of Israel will then be at an end; they shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, and help to build the walls of the spiritual temple; enjoying, as members of the church of Christ, that peace, prosperity, and plenty of heavenly blessings, which would be better than the fruit of gardens or vineyards: though this may also be well referred to the literal accomplishment of the prophesy, when the Jews converted to Christ in the latter day will be planted upon their own land, and enjoy all that outward prosperity here described.
4. This happy estate of God’s Israel during this blessed millennium shall suffer no interruption. They shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God; he will preserve them from corruptions within, as well as from their spiritual enemies without; God, their God, their covenant God, shall fulfil all his promises unto them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1196
THE MILLENNIAL STATE
Amo 9:13. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop street wine, and all the hills shall melt.
IT is gratifying to see what a harmony there is in all the prophets, in their descriptions of the glory of the latter day. The representations which heathen poets have given of what they call the golden age, are more than realized in their predictions. They appear indeed to speak of earthly things; but it is of heavenly things that they speak: and by earthly images they embody truth, and present it to our minds with incomparably greater force than it could by any other means be conveyed. The idea of fertility, for instance, in all its richest luxuriance, is calculated to make a strong impression on the imagination: it is tangible, as it were; and we can apprehend it; and, when it is set before us in glowing language, we can with ease transfer to spiritual things our perceptions with all their clearness, and our impressions with all their force. Most striking is the picture drawn by the Prophet Hosea. He represents the people uttering their complaints to the corn and wine and oil; and they to the earth; and the earth to the heavens; and the heavens to Jehovah: of them in succession conceding to the other the blessings solicited at their hands; Jehovah granting clouds to the heavens; they pouring out their contents upon the earth; the earth yielding its juices to the corn and wine and oil; and they nourishing the famished people [Note: Hos 2:21-23.]. The Prophet Joel goes further, and describes the effects produced, the mountains dropping down new wine, and the hills flowing with milk [Note: Joe 3:18.]; whilst the Prophet Amos proceeds yet further, and represents the productions of the earth as so abundant, that there will scarcely be time to gather them in; the plowman overtaking the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth the seed: in other words, that the successive operations of husbandry will, by reason of the abundance, press so closely upon each other, as almost to interrupt the regular execution of them.
It is with the spiritual import of these images that we are more immediately concerned. It seems indeed highly probable, that agreeably to the promise given by Moses [Note: Lev 26:5.], there will be, as nearly as possible, a literal accomplishment of these things in Palestine, after that the Jews shall have been restored to their own land; (for that event shall certainly take place in the appointed time [Note: ver. 14, 15.]:) but infinitely richer blessings await them in that day; for that period shall be distinguished by,
I.
Frequent ordinances
At the first establishment of the Christian Church, the people continued daily in the temple with one accord, and brake bread together from house to house, eating their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Thus also will it be in that blessed day, when apostolic piety shall again prevail throughout the Church: there will be no famine of the word, but frequent ordinances in every place:
[In public, ministers will then give themselves wholly to their work: they will be instant in season and out of season: they will live only to fulfil their ministry, and will count their lives dear to them for no other end. The people too will be as eager to receive instruction, as the ministers to convey it. As many followed our blessed Lord for days together to hear his word, and forgot, as it were, the very wants of nature through the insatiableness of their appetites for spiritual food; so, methinks, in that day the people will, as it were, dwell in the house of the Lord, that they may flourish in the courts of our God.
Then also will social ordinances abound. Friends, when they meet together, will then seek to edify each other in faith and love. In families, all will look for the returning seasons of divine worship, as much as for their regular meals. Parents will command their children to fear the Lord; and masters will universally adopt the resolution of Joshua, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
In private, too, men will delight in approaching to their God, and in pouring out their souls before the throne of grace. At morning, and at evening, and at noon-day will they pray, as David did in the times of old; yea, they will be ready to say with him, Seven times a day will I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments.
Thus in the public, social, and private ordinances there will be such a rapid succession, that the plowman will overtake the reaper; and he that treadeth out the grapes, the sower. Not that temporal things will be neglected: men will not be the more slothful in business, because they are fervent in spirit; but they will carry the fear and love of God into every thing, so that they will be in the fear of the Lord all the day long. The fire on their altar will never go out.]
From this state of things there will arise,
II.
Numerous converts
[Now ministers may fish all the day, and take scarcely any thing; but then the Lord will direct them where and how to cast their nets; which they shall scarcely be able to drag to land, by reason of the numbers that they shall catch. The days of Pentecost shall be revived. From a small handful of corn shall spring up a crop waving like the trees of Lebanon, and standing as close upon the ground as piles of grass upon the earth [Note: Psa 72:16.]. Fresh converts shall be continually hastening forwarsd, as doves flying to their windows; yea rather, they shall be like a majestic river flowing together to the goodness of the Lord, and that too, not as in an ordinary course, but upward, even to the mountain of the Lords house that shall be established on the top of the mountains [Note: Isa 2:2.]. The church itself shall be perfectly astonished at the increase; which will be so vast and so rapid, that places shall be wanting for their reception [Note: Isa 49:18-23.]. In a word, the fields will be always white ready to the harvest; and one crop will not be gathered in, before another is ripe for the sickle.]
Nor will Christianity be a mere profession then; for all who embrace it shall be distinguished for,
III.
Exalted virtues
[All will then live, not unto themselves, but unto their God; even to Him who died for them, and rose again. The fruit which individuals will then bear will not be thirty or sixty-fold, but an hundred-fold. It will appear as if all the most eminent saints that have ever lived had risen again; on which account it is called, The first resurrection [Note: Rev 20:5-6.]. So subdued will be all the evil passions of men in that day, that instead of the thorn will grow up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier will grow up the myrtle-tree [Note: Isa 55:13.]: for brass there will be gold; for iron, silver; for wood, brass; and for stones, iron [Note: Isa 60:17.]. It will be truly the reign of Christ upon earth: nothing but his will will be done; and it will be done on earth, in good measure, as it is done in heaven. Godliness will then be, not an act, but a habit; so that one act of piety will be only as a prelude to another; the very mountains dropping with sweet wine, and the hills melting into rivers of wine.]
Resulting from this state of piety, there will be,
IV.
Abundant consolations
[This is doubtless intimated in our text, as in the parallel passage in the Prophet Joel [Note: Joe 3:18.]. Truly God will then comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: joy and gladness will be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody [Note: Isa 51:3. See also 35:1, 2.]. The world at this time is only a vale of tears: but then there will be new heavens and a new earth: yea, God will make all things new [Note: Rev 21:1; Rev 21:5.]. What will be the state of mens minds at that time, may be gathered from the description given of it by the Prophet Isaiah [Note: Isa 12:3-6.] Blessed and glorious state! lthe peace of all will flow down as a river, and the joy of all be unspeakable and glorified [Note: Isa 35:6; Isa 35:10.] God will cause them universally and without ceasing to triumph in Christ [Note: 2Co 2:14.]; and to live as on the very confines of heaven itself.]
Improvement
Let us inquire,
1.
Whence it is that we are comparatively in so low a state?
[It is manifest that religion, though perhaps flourishing in comparison of what it was a century ago, is still but at a low ebb. If we look at the ordinances, public, private, and social, they are far from being attended with that life and power that they were in the apostolic age. And whence is this? Are we straitened in our God? No: we are straitened in our own bowels; we do not pant after the life and power of godliness, as the first converts did: and we have not, because we ask not. O that we were more earnest and constant in prayer, forgetting all that we have received, and pressing forward for higher attainments! ]
2.
How we may attain a greater measure of that prosperity which the saints will enjoy in the latter day?
[We must all begin with our own hearts. If all would labour for higher attainments in their own souls, the whole Church of God would revive and flourish But an attention to others also is most desirable. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt with incredible celerity, because all, women as well as men, repaired before their own doors [Note: Neh 3:10; Neh 3:12; Neh 3:23; Neh 3:28-29.]: and if we laboured, all of us in our own more immediate neighbourhood, what might we not effect! If only we had a mind to the work, the work of the Lord should prosper in our hands, and the kingdom of Christ should come with power in the midst of us.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Amo 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
Ver. 13. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman ] The gospel of peace brings with it the peace of the gospel, and with peace plenty, with the horn of salvation the horn of plenty, a confluence of outward comforts and contentments, as in Solomon’s days and Constantine’s (whom God prospered and blessed beyond all that he could have wished, saith Austin, Bonus Deus Constant tantis terrenis implevit muneribus quanta optare nullus auderet. De C. D. l. 5, 25), and Queen Elizabeth’s whom, for her care to propagate the gospel, he made to be the happiest woman that ever swayed sceptre, as her very enemies were forced to acknowledge: so liberal a paymaster is the Lord, that all his retributions are more than bountiful; and this his servants have not ex largitate, sed ex promisso, out of his general providences, but by virtue of a promise, which is far sweeter. The Masorites have observed, that in this verse are found all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet (as also in 26 more verses of the Old Testament), Hebrew Text Note to note, say the Calvinists, that in the kingdom of the Messiah ( In instauratione casulae Davidicae collapsae ) there shall be great abundance of all things, et plenum copiae cornu: or, if that should fail, yet plenty of all spiritual benedictions in heavenly things, Eph 1:3 , and contented godliness, 1Ti 6:6 , which hath an autarkeia, a self-sufficiency; so that having nothing, a man possesseth all things, 2Co 6:10 . This the prophet expresseth in the following words, by many excellent hyperboles, though (to say sooth) Christus et regnum eius non patiuntur hyperbolen. All words are too weak to set forth the worth of Christ and his kingdom.
The plowman shall overtake the reaper
And the treader of grapes, him that soweth seed
And the mountains shall drop sweet wine
And all the hills shall melt
– “ Subitis messor gaudebit aristis:
Rorabunt querceta favis stagnantia passim
Vina fluent oleique lacus. ” –
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Amo 9:13-15
13Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD,
When the plowman will overtake the reaper
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
When the mountains will drip sweet wine
And all the hills will be dissolved.
14Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel,
And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them;
They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15I will also plant them on their land,
And they will not again be rooted out from their land
Which I have given them,
Says the LORD your God.
Amo 9:13-15 The time element of this verse must be eschatological, for Israel will be subjugated again and again in history. This promise (political peace and agricultural abundance, cf. Deuteronomy 27-29, another eschatological text is Joe 3:18) is still conditional on covenant obedience. This is not specifically stated, but surely implied.
Amo 9:13 sweet wine See Special Topic: Biblical Attitudes Toward Alcohol and Alcoholism Abuse .
NASBall the hills will be dissolved
NKJV, NRSV,
TEV, NJBall the hills shall flow with it
The VERB (BDB 556, KB 555, Hithpolel IMPERFECT) means melt (i.e., God’s judgment, cf. Mic 1:4; Nah 1:5), but here it is a hyperbole of flowing grape juice by treading, a symbol of agricultural abundance!
Amo 9:14 This restoration is a reversal of Deu 28:38-40; Amo 5:11; Mic 6:15; Zep 1:13. God’s people will plant vineyards in His land and enjoy their fruit (i.e., a metaphor for security and longevity in the land, e.g., Jer 31:5; Eze 28:26).
Amo 9:15 Even this seemingly unconditional promise must be evaluated in light of the history of the Jewish people. Obviously it has both an eschatological aspect (cf. 2Sa 7:10; Jer 24:6; Jer 32:41; Jer 42:10) and a historical aspect.
the LORD your God The magnificent reversal (covenant – judgment – covenant) of status; they are covenant people again (cf. Hos 2:21-23).
the plowman, &c. This shows that the fulfilment of this prophecy is yet in abeyance, for these temporal blessings were postponed on the rejection of the call to repentance in Act 3:18-26. Compare Act 28:25-58. Note the reference to Pentateuch (Lev 26:5). App-92.
the mountains, &c. Compare Joe 3:18.
sweet wine = new wine. Hebrew. asis See App-27.
melt : i.e. dissolve into wine and oil. Figure of speech Hyperbole (App-6), for emphasis.
Amo 9:13-14
RESULTS OF JUDGMENT PROPHESIED-
FRUITFULNESS AND PROSPERITY RESTORED
TEXT: Amo 9:13-14
Jehovah, through Amos, continues speaking of the great purpose a purged and chastened people are to serve-the restoration of Davids throne and fulfillment of the covenant in spiritual blessings.
Amo 9:13 . . . THE PLOWMAN SHALL OVERTAKE THE REAPER . . . The prophet takes a phrase from the Law (Lev 26:5) to describe a super-abundant harvest which is so wholly beyond the natural as to be supernatural. He is, therefore, speaking of the consequences of the restoration of the throne of David, i.e. the reigning of Jesus Christ upon that throne and the establishment of the church. Pusey says, All this is beyond nature, and so, the more in harmony with what went before, the establishment of a kingdom of grace, in which the heathen should have the name of God called upon them . . . There shall be one unceasing inpouring of riches; no break in the heavenly husbandry; labor shall at once yield fruit; the harvest shall but encourage fresh labor. The end shall come swiftly on the beginning; the end shall not close the past only, but issue forth anew. Such is the character of the toils of the Gospel. Compare the words of Jesus in Joh 4:35-38! This restored dynasty of David has a glorious future filled with fruitfulness and prosperity! Just as the raising up of the tabernacle of David refers to the Gospel age, so this, in the same context, is explained by Paul in Eph 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places of Christ . . . It should be very evident that the prophet is not speaking literally when we are told that the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. Pusey, again, Such shall be the abundance and super-abundance of blessing, that it shall be as though the hills dissolved themselves in the rich streams which they poured down . . . Everything, heretofore barren and unfruitful, should overflow with spiritual blessing. The mountains and hills of Judea, with their terraced sides clad with the vine were a natural symbol of fruitfulness to the Jews, but they themselves could not think that natural fruitfulness was meant under this imagery. It would have been a hyperbole as to things of nature; but what, in natural things, is a hyperbole, is but a faint shadow of the joys and rich delights and glad fruitfulness of grace.
Zerr: Amo 9:13. The prosperity that was to return to Israel was to be prompt and great. The strong expressions of this verse are rather figurative, yet they are a true picture of the speed with which the blessings of God would come to the land.
Amo 9:14 AND I WILL BRING BACK THE CAPTIVITY OF MY PEOPLE ISRAEL . . . The Revised Standard Version translates this phrase, I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel . . . K & D says this, That this phrase is not used here to denote the return of the people from captivity, but the turning of misfortune and misery into prosperity and salvation, is evident from the context; for Israel cannot be brought back out of captivity after it has already taken possession of the Gentiles. (Amo 9:12) K & D interpret Amo 9:14 thus: As . . . the territory of the re-erected kingdom of David . . . will receive the blessing of the greatest fertility, so will the citizens of this kingdom, be no more visited with calamity and judgment, but enjoy the rich beneficent fruits of their labor in blessed and unbroken peace. It is possible, though the context (as K & D say) does not seem to favor it, that Amos is using what Milton terms shortened perspective (see our introductory study of principles and interpretation) here. In other words, it may be that Amos is speaking of what God is going to do historically in restoring the Jews to Palestine in the time of Cyrus (536 B.C.) but that out of that shall come the future blessings in the Son of David, the Messiah. It could be that Amos perspective is so shortened that the beginning of Gods work in the restoration from the captivity is blended right into the eschatological fulfillment of it in the last days (the end of the Jewish age and the beginning of the Christian age). We must remind ourselves again and again that the prophets spoke primarily for their contemporaries. Whatever they would wish to convey of Gods ultimate blessings in fulfilling His covenant the prophets would have to couch in contemporary historical developments and contemporary modes of expression. So God promises here to restore, bless and sustain where He had formerly disrupted, dispersed and judged.
Zerr: Amo 9:14. Bring again the captivity means that the captivity will be reversed, and the Lord’s people were to be brought out of it. They also were to be restored to tbelr own land to produce and enjoy the crops of the soil.
Questions
1. How is Amo 9:13 to be interpreted-literally or figuratively? Explain your reasons.
2. What is the RSV translation of the first phrase of Amo 9:14?
3. What reasoning does K & D give to agree with the RSV translation?
4. What do we mean by shortened perspective?
5. Why is it necessary to remember that the prophets spoke for their contemporaries?
plowman: Lev 26:5, Eze 36:35, Hos 2:21-23, Joh 4:35
soweth: Heb. draweth forth
the mountains: Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2, Isa 55:13, Joe 3:18, Joe 3:20
sweet wine: or, new wine
the hills: Amo 9:5, Jdg 5:5, Psa 97:5
Reciprocal: Deu 28:3 – in the field Psa 46:6 – earth Psa 107:37 – sow Isa 64:1 – that the Jer 31:31 – the days Eze 28:26 – build Eze 36:8 – ye shall Joe 2:19 – I will send Joe 2:24 – General Zec 8:12 – the seed Zec 9:17 – corn Mar 14:25 – new Act 3:19 – when 2Pe 3:10 – melt
THE CONTINUITY OF HARVEST
The plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed.
Amo 9:13
God does not merely allow man to live. Besides life, He bestows blessings. He gives man all that is needfulfood, clothing, and enjoyment. By an annual miracle He sends the products which provide sustenance and clothing, and contribute to mans pleasure. And yet, with all this, to hear a disobedient man whom God permits to live in the face of his disobedienceyea, to whom He gives the necessaries and comforts of life, to hear such an one complain, must fill us with wonder how God can strive with him and still bestow on him many mercies. Many, did I say? God does not merely give man many mercies, but He lavishes upon him abundant blessings. He gives not, as man gives, sparingly. God gives abundantly. Not merely what we ask or what we want, but more, far more than we need, and infinitely more than we deserve. This was the promise of old that there should be showers of blessingthat seedtime and harvest should not ceasethat the old store should not be consumed before the new had comethat the supply of our wants should be so rich and so abundant, that the ploughman should overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. Taking into account all thisthat man is permitted to live on earththat God supplies all his needs, yea, gives generously and abundantly, and that all the time man is an undeserving and disobedient sinnerwe ask, Can the language of complaint ever come from his lips? Complaint! nay, must it not be the language of the warmest gratitude, faith, and submission, and ought not the earth that has yielded up her harvest to be one great altar upon which this day the sacrifice of thanksgiving and the song of praise should ascend to Jehovahs throne? For has not God bestowed on us in unbroken succession the gifts of the earth, and have we not an earnest that as His blessings have been, so they will be, the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. For what is this but to say that the harvest shall be more than our wantsthat one supply shall come in before another is exhausted, that that which was first sown shall be ready to reap before the ploughman has finished his task, and that the vintage shall extend up to seedtime again; in short, that there shall be no gap in the abundance of the gifts God may bestow?
I. In material things this is so.The new always comes in before the old is eaten up. The ground was once cursed for the disobedience of the chosen parent of our race. It was once again blessed when God said He would no more curse it for mans sake, but would draw man by the bands of love and by the gracious influences of fruitful seasons; that while the earth remained, seedtime and harvest should not cease; that His sun should rise even upon the evil, and His rain fall on the just and unjust. Hence it has ever been that the product of one harvest has not been consumed until another has been reaped, that from the time of Noah until this time, the earth has yielded its increase in unbroken succession, and though one harvest may be scanty and another abundant, still, the ploughman has overtaken the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. There has been enough and more than enough, and ere the last years produce is consumed the present harvest yields its increase. How merciful and loving is our Heavenly Father then that without fail His good things flow to us in unbroken order,that year by year, day by day, comes to us our bread, that it may supply us with the refreshment nature requires, that so through Gods grace we may have strength to glorify Him by our resistance of sin, and our cleaving unto holiness. And what is this but to say that the continuity of harvest here is intended to be a means of preparing us for an eternal state hereafter, when earthly harvests will be unnecessary, and when body and soul will be continually strengthened and refreshed through Him Who loved useven Christ our life?
II. And what is true of the material harvest is no less true of the spiritual one.One supply comes in before another is exhausted. The treasures of heaven which He bestows upon earth are far more than our needs. Do we seek for pardon of sin? He not only bestows pardon, but the fatted calf is killed, the robe is put on us, and the ring is given. Do we long after a better knowledge of Him? He reveals Himself to us in various mercies and blessings, in ways and at times we thought not of. Do we pray for His Holy Spirit? He gives it to those who ask it, and whenever they ask it. Do we yearn for His love? He tells us He loves us with an everlasting love. There may be but a handful of meal and a little oil in the cruse, but before even that is consumed, the true Elijah whispers, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail. Whenever has God failed to supply us with the strength and courage of grace needful to our walk in life, and though the sky look dark and lowering, when has God failed to send the ray of sunshine to cheer our almost drooping spirits? All Gods spiritual gifts are abundant. Before one blessing is exhausted another is given.
If, then, Gods promise was that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seedthat His gifts and blessings shall come in unbroken orderthat before one is exhausted another shall be supplied; and the harvests of earthly and heavenly things shall be given to us in need, and without ever failing, shall not the language of complaint give place to that of heartfelt praise?
III. With Gods promise thus before uswith a tangible proof of it in the fruits of this harvestour duty becomes threefold, and at this season are we summoned to
(1) Gratitude. Our sinfulness and disobedience render us undeserving of the least of Gods mercieswe have no claim or right to the fruits of Gods earth, and whether the harvest be scanty or abundant it matters not as regards our duty. Sufficient it is that the new has come in before the old has been exhausted, and it is our work to accept the change with thankfulness. We are apt to complain if the harvest is not up to our standard. Unconsciously we find ourselves dictating what God ought to have done. It seems hard to see our corn or hay or crops destroyed, or their abundance checked, and we forget we deserve nothing but punishment for our worldliness and sin, and are not satisfied with sufficient for our wants. Can we return any of Gods benefits? Can we pay back in kind? Surely not. Then let us pay in the coin most easily rendered, let us praise Him in thought and word,let us hold Him in honour and reverencelet us acknowledge and receive His benefits with good feeling in all our poor earthly ways, and strive to show Him heartfelt gratitude. God looks for suchGod expects it. Refuse it!hear His Word: What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? I will take away the hedge thereof, and break down the wall thereof, and I will lay it waste (Isa 5:4-6).
(2) Confidence. That if His gifts have hitherto come in regular order we may sit down and rest in Gods loving guardianship of, and thought for, us. If the old is nearly exhausted, His promise remains true that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and God, humanly speaking, does all He can to engender this confidence, and we must fulfil our own tasks faithfully and industriously. What was the tabernacle in the wilderness but for the presence of God, that by being in Israels midst He might make them feel confident. What God has bestowed, let us have a sure confidence He still will continue to send us. Let us trust Him, that for His own glory and for our good, He will consummate many things that man does not deserve, until we arrive at fruition.
(3) Submission. Be satisfied with what you have, and be ready to give it up whenever newer harvests ripen. Conformity to the will of God is the first law of life. We cannot change that will, we cannot escape it; let us submit to it. However limited some products of this harvest may be, however abundant others, accept its fruits with resignation and cheerfulness, and freely permit God to keep back what He might have given. Newer harvests will yet ripen, newer and greater gifts will God yet bestowthe old shall pass away; new shall take its placeThe plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed. Corn of that harvest shall, in the true Bread of Life, satisfy us for everwine of that vintage shall, in the true Vine, be to us an everlasting fountain when earthly harvests shall be no more.
Rev. W. Fraser.
Illustrations
(1) The mountains and hills of Juda, with their terraced sides clad with the vine, were a natural symbol of fruitfulness to the Jews; but they themselves could not think that natural fruitfulness was meant under this imagery. It would have been a hyperbole as to things of nature, but what in natural things is a hyperbole, is but a faint shadow of the joys and delights and glad fruitfulness of grace.
(2) To the future prosperity of Israel belongs not only national power and greatness, but also a rich blessing upon the land and thus upon the people (Isa 5:13), in fulfilment of the promise in Lev 26:5. What is there said of the actionthe threshing shall reach unto the vintageis here transferred to the person who performs it. The ploughman reaches to the reaper, i.e. the ploughing will still continue in one place, although the reaping has begun in another, which however does not mean that the crop will grow and mature so quickly, but that so much is there to plough that it lasts to the harvest. This, at all events, is the meaning of the next clause, The treader of grapes [will reach] to the sower of seed=the vintage will last to the sowing time, so abundant is it.
Amo 9:13. The prosperity that was to return to Israel was to be prompt and great. The strong expressions of this verse are rather figurative, yet they are a true picture of the speed with which the blessings of God would come to the land.
Amo 9:13. Behold the days come Here we have another promise, literally to be understood of the abundant plenty which God would bestow on the returned captives, and mystically of the abundant grace given and blessings conferred in gospel days. That the ploughman shall overtake the reaper He who breaks up the ground, and prepares it for the seed, shall be ready to tread on the heels of the reaper; who shall have a harvest so large, that before he can gather it all in, it shall be time to plough the ground again. And the treader of grapes him that soweth seed This is to be understood in the same sense as the foregoing clause: so great shall their vintage be, that before the treaders of grapes can have finished their work, the seedsman shall be sowing his seed against the next season. And the mountains shall drop sweet wine The vineyards shall be so fruitful, and shall produce such abundance of grapes, that wine shall appear to be as plentiful as if it ran down from the mountains. And all the hills shall melt Hebrew, shall flow. The meaning is, that they should afford such plenty of rich feeding to the cattle, that they should in consequence thereof give a large quantity of milk. The parallel expression to this, in the prophecy of Joel, is, The hills shall flow with milk. As these predictions were not fulfilled in their literal sense between the time of the return of the Jews from Babylon and the coming of Christ, it is evident they are either to be figuratively understood of gospel blessings, or, if taken in their literal sense, they respect the happy state of things during the millennium, which may be supposed to begin after the future restoration of the Jews to their own country. See notes on Joe 3:18. The prophets, it may be observed, frequently describe the days of the Messiah in terms similar to those which the poets used in describing the golden age.
9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall {l} overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall {m} drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
(l) Signifying, that there will be great abundance of all things, so that when one type of fruit is ripe, another would follow, and every one in order; Lev 26:5 .
(m) Read Joe 3:18 .
The blessings of the restored kingdom 9:13-15
In contrast to the images of judgment that Amos had painted throughout this book, days were coming when these terrible conditions would be reversed. The land would become so productive that farmers planting seed for the next harvest would push reapers of the same fields to finish their work so they could plant the next crop. Normally the Israelites plowed their fields in October and the reaping ended in May, but in the future reaping would still be going on in October because of the huge harvests. Wine-makers would similarly push the farmers to plant more vines. The grape harvest took place in August, and farmers planted new vines in November. Harvests would be so abundant that the gathering of one crop would not end before it was time to begin the new crop.
The mountains would be so full of fruitful grapevines that they could be described as dripping with sweet (the best) wine. All the hills would be dissolved in the sense of flowing down with produce, perhaps even washing the soil away with grape juice. This verse pictures the reversing of the curse that God pronounced on the earth at the Fall (Gen 3:17-19). Instead of drought and famine (Amo 1:2; Amo 4:6-8) there would be abundant harvests (cf. Lev 26:3-5; Deu 28:4-5; Deu 28:8; Deu 28:11-12). Even though these may be hyperbolic images, the point is clear.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)