Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 9:5
And the Lord GOD of hosts [is] he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as [by] the flood of Egypt.
5. And the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, is he that toucheth the land, and it melteth, and all that dwell therein mourn ] In a thunderstorm, a cyclone, or an earthquake, for instance, spreading devastation upon the earth, and causing terror among its inhabitants. Cf. Psa 104:32 (“he toucheth the mountains and they smoke”); Psa 46:6 (“He uttereth his voice [viz. in thunder], the earth melteth”); Nah 1:5; also Psa 97:4-5. The last clause as in Amo 8:8.
and it riseth up, all of it, as the Nile, and sinketh (again), as the Nile of Egypt ] A hyperbolical description of an earthquake, repeated almost verbatim from Amo 8:8 b.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
5 6. Such a terrible announcement of judgement might seem to need confirmation: Amos therefore pauses, to describe, in two majestic verses, the power of the God who has been provoked, and who thus threatens His vengeance: all great movements in nature are due to Him ( Amo 9:5); He sits on high and can control the elements ( Amo 9:6).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And who is He who should do this? God, at whose command are all creatures. This is the hope of His servants; from where Hezekiah begins his prayer, Lord of hosts, God of Israel Isa 37:16. This is the hopelessness of His enemies. That toucheth the land or earth, and it shall melt, rather, hath melted. His Will and its fulfillment are one. He spake, and it was; He commanded and it stood fast Psa 33:9. His Will is first, as the cause of what is done; in time they co-exist. He hath no need to put forth His strength; a touch, the slightest indication of His Will, sufficeth. If the solid earth, how much more its inhabitants! So the Psalmist says, The pagan raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted Psa 46:6. The hearts of men melt when they are afraid of His presence; human armies melt away, dispersed; the great globe itself shall dissolve into its ancient chaos at His Will.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Amo 9:5-7
The Lord God is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt.
God as the administrator of justice
I. He does it with the greatest ease. The Almighty has no difficulty. Never can there be any miscarriage of justice with God. He bears it right home in every case.
II. He does it with all the powers of nature at His command. His throne is on high, above all the forms and forces of the universe, and all are at His call.
III. He does it disregardful of mere religious profession. Jehovah here repels the idea which the Israelites were so prone to entertain, that because He had brought them out of Egypt and given them the land of Canaan they were peculiarly the objects of His regard, and could never be subdued or destroyed. He now regarded and would treat them as the Cushites, who had been transplanted from their primal location in Arabia into the midst of the barbarous nations of Africa. The Almighty, in administering justice, is not influenced by the plea of profession. A corrupt Israelite to Him was as bad as an Ethiopian, though he calls Abraham his father.
IV. He does it with a thorough discrimination of character. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. There were some good people amongst the Israelites, men of genuine goodness; the Great Judge would not destroy them. I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, etc. He would burn up the chaff but save the wheat. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. The Lord God of hosts is he] So powerful is he that a touch of his hand shall melt or dissolve the land, and cause all its inhabitants to mourn. Here is still a reference to the earthquake. See Clarke on Am 8:8, where the same images are used.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The prophet having foretold such sad, universal desolations, miseries beyond what this secure people could think possible, and such as the atheists among them censured, and derided as impossibilities, as Amo 9:10; now in this and the following verses to the 10th the prophet confirms his word, and the certainty of these future judgments.
The Lord; Adonai, the sovereign Lord.
God; Jehovah, who speaks and doth, and need no more than will to work and accomplish; so he made, sustaineth, and disposeth of all.
Of hosts; all the creatures are his army, and do what he commands them to do against his enemies.
Is he that toucheth: a light touch of his hand, he needs not as man to take great pains to break and dissolve hard metals, a touch of his finger will do this.
The land; either the inhabitants, or rather the land itself in which they dwelt, the land of Canaan; or more likely the whole earth, how firm and hard soever it seem to be.
And it shall melt, as snow before the sun in its hottest influences, or as wax before a mighty fire. He who can do this, can do all that I have denounced against you, O Israel. The rest of the verse, see Amo 8:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. As Amos had threatened thatnowhere should the Israelites be safe from the divine judgments, hehere shows God’s omnipotent ability to execute His threats. So in thecase of the threat in Am 8:8,God is here stated to be the first cause of the mourning of “allthat dwell” in the land, and of its rising “like a flood,and of its being “drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord God of hosts [is] he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt,…. Which is another reason why it is impossible to escape the hands of a sin revenging God, because he is omnipotent as well as omniscient; he is the Lord of all the armies above and below; and if he but touch the land, any particular country, as the land of Israel, it shakes and trembles, and falls into a flow of water, or melts like wax; as when he toucheth the hills and mountains they smoke, being like fuel to fire; see Ps 104:32;
and all that dwell therein shall mourn; their houses destroyed, their substance consumed, and all that is near and dear to them swallowed up:
and it shall rise up wholly like a flood, and shall be drowned as [by] the flood of Egypt; [See comments on Am 8:8].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To strengthen this threat, Amos proceeds, in Amo 9:5, Amo 9:6, to describe Jehovah as the Lord of heaven and earth, who sends judgments upon the earth with omnipotent power. Amo 9:5. “And the Lord Jehovah of hosts, who toucheth the earth, and it melteth, and all the inhabitants of thereupon mourn; and the whole of it riseth like the Nile, and sinketh like the Nile of Egypt. Amo 9:6. Who buildeth His stories in heaven, and His vault, over the earth hath He founded it; who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out over the earth: Jehovah is His name.” This description of God, who rules with omnipotence, is appended, as in Amo 4:13 and Amo 5:8, without any link of connection whatever. We must not render it, “The Lord Jehovah of hosts is He who toucheth the earth;” but we must supply the connecting thought, “And He who thus directeth His eye upon you is the Lord Jehovah of hosts, who toucheth the earth, and it melteth.” The melting or dissolving of the earth is, according to Psa 46:7, an effect produced by the Lord, who makes His voice heard in judgments, or “the destructive effect of the judgments of God, whose instruments the conquerors are” (Hengstenberg), when nations reel and kingdoms totter. The Lord therefore touches the earth, so that it melts, when He dissolves the stability of the earth by great judgments (cf. Psa 75:4). “Israel could not fail to test the truth of these words by painful experience, when the wild hordes of Assyria poured themselves over the western parts of Asia” (Hengstenberg). The following words, depicting the dissolution of the earth, are repeated, with very inconsiderable alterations, from Amo 8:8; we have merely the omission of , and the kal substituted for the niphal . In Amo 9:6 there is evidently an allusion to the flood. God, who is enthroned in heaven, in the cloud-towers built above the circle of the earth, possesses the power to pour the waves of the sea over the earth by His simple word. Maaloth is synonymous with in Psa 104:3: upper rooms, lit., places to which one has to ascend. ‘Aguddah , an arch or vault: that which is called raqa , the firmament, in other places. The heaven, in which God builds His stories, is the heaven of clouds; and the vault, according to Gen 1:7, is the firmament of heaven, which divided the water above the firmament from the water beneath it. Consequently the upper rooms of God are the waters above the firmament, in or out of which God builds His stories (Psa 104:3), i.e., the cloud-tower above the horizon of the earth, which is raised above it like a vault. Out of this cloud-castle the rain pours down (Psa 104:13); and out of its open windows the waters of the flood poured down, and overflowed the earth (Gen 7:11). When God calls to the waters of the sea, they pour themselves over the surface of the earth. The waves of the sea are a figurative representation of the agitated multitude of nations, or of the powers of the world, which pour their waves over the kingdom of God (see at Amo 7:4).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet repeats here nearly the same words with those we explained yesterday: he used then the similitude of a flood, which he again mentions here. But as the first clause is capable of various explanations, I will refer to what others think, and then to what I deem the most correct view. This sentence, that the earth trembles, when it is smitten by God, is usually regarded as a general declaration; and the Prophets do often exalt the power of God in order to fill us with fear, and of this we shall see an instance in the next verse. Yet I doubt not but that this is a special threatening. The Lord Jehovah, then, he says, will smite the land, and it will tremble.
Then follows the similitude of which we spoke yesterday, Mourn shall all who dwell in it; and then, It will altogether ascend as a river Here he intimates that there would be a deluge, so that the face of the earth would not appear. Ascend then shall the land as a river. The ascent of the earth would be nothing else but inundation, which would cover its surface. He afterwards adds, “and it shall be sunk”; that is, every convenience for dwelling: this is not to be understood strictly, as I have said, of the land, but is rather to be referred to men, or to the use which men make of the earth. Sunk then shall it be as by the river of Egypt We have said that Egypt loses yearly its surface, when the Nile inundates it. But as the inundation of the river is given to the Egyptians for fertilizing the land and of rendering its produce more abundant, so the Prophet here declares that the land would be like the sea, so that there would no longer be any habitation. It now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Amo. 9:5.] God is omnipotent, able judgment. Toucheth] Dissolves the stability of the earth (Psa. 46:7; Psa. 75:4).
Amo. 9:6. Stories] Lit. steps, perhaps in allusion to Solomons throne (1Ki. 10:18-19). Troop] Lit. a band dividing the waters above from those beneath the heavens (cf. Gen. 7:11). Others, all the elements and living creatures, called the host (Gen. 2:1). God has bound the waters by perpetual decrees, and all creatures are subject to his control (Psa. 103:20-21).
GODS POWER A GUARANTEE OP HIS TRUTH.Amo. 9:5-6
These words confirm the threat in the preceding verses; describe the nature and the works of God; and present him in majesty and might, able and determined to administer justice.
I. He created the universe. He that buildeth his stories in the heaven.
1. He made the heavens. He arranged them in their place and fixed them in their distance. The clouds, the arial heavens, are balanced by his hand (Job. 37:16). He suspends, condenses, and pours out their contents at his pleasure. The starry heavens derive their glory from him. The heaven of heavens is the palace of the Great King. Like a stately building, God has reared (artistically and beautifully put in order, arranged, Heb. 11:3) the celestial spheres in stories one above another; the lowest, like steps, leads to the highest, the material to the spiritual, earth to heaven. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, &c.
2. He founded the earth. He drew the plan and prepared the place, provided the materials and laid the foundation. Thou hast also founded the earth, given it order, beginning, and firmness. The troop in the earth, all the elements of nature and all the creatures of the world, are linked together as bands of men (2Sa. 2:25), or yoked in submission to his will (Isa. 58:6). When I call unto them they stand up together.
II. He governs the universe. He sits above earth and heaven, ruling all creatures and directing all agencies. Men only see law in the evaporation of water from the sea, the electric agency which binds it in the cloud, and in the current of air which wafts it to the land. But God creates rain and disperses it over the earth. He calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth. He creates the earthquake and the flood. Fire and frost, thunder and lightning, promptly obey his command. He sendeth out his word and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
III. He can destroy the universe. The Lord God of Hosts, is he that toucheth the land.
1. The ability with which he executes his word. Threats are formidable according to the power of him that threatens. We laugh at impotence and fear omnipotence. The power which reared the world is irresistible. How hopeless the case of those who have the powers of all creation against them! Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
2. The ease with which he executes his word. He only touches the land and it melts; the lightness of the effort indicating the might of the power. The blast of Gods breath melts the mightiest armies like wax before the fire (Psa. 68:1-2). The highest and most solid parts of the earth feel his glance. He toucheth the hills, and they smoke. He merely breathes, and men perish (Job. 4:9). Sinai trembled; and should we be more insensible than material creation? With one touch the earth would reel before him, or return to chaos. He uttered his voice; the earth melted.
3. The method in which he executes his word. He turns the land into a sea by rain or inundations; drowns it like the deluge of Noah or the flood of Egypt. Think of the disaster in Chili in 1868. God, enthroned above, calleth for the waters of the sea. They rise at his bid. He pours them out upon the face of the earth, and all that dwell therein shall mourn. The prophet wonders why men do not fear God, whose power is displayed in heaven, earth, and sea, and with a word of his mouth can melt the wicked like snow before the sun. Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence? &c. (Jer. 5:22).
How dare they, then, offend, when God shall see;
That must alone both judge and jury be? [T. Randolf]
CREATION THE MIRROR AND THE MIND OF GOD
Men forget with whom they have to do and against whom they sin. The prophet therefore sets forth the majesty and power of God, who was able to do whatever he uttered against them. Sinners should fear to offend him, and speedily make their peace with him.
I. Creation reveals the nature of God. Every act of God is a manifestation of God; an egress of his nature. Power is seen in the creation and upholding of the universe in all its wonderful changes and combinations; wisdom, in its design and beauty, the adaptation of means to ends; benevolence, in its arrangements and enjoyments. Everywhere we have signs of the existence of a Being of intelligence and goodness. The heavens declare his glory, and the earth affirms his eternal power and Godhead. How strange to be unmindful of goodness beyond thought, and power Divine! Why not discern him,
Who plannd, and built, and still upholds a world
So clothed with beauty, for rebellious man?
II. Creation reveals the mind of God. It has been called Adams library. The prophet read the mind of God in the Book of Nature, and discovered laws for the guidance of man.
1. The works of God subserve the purpose of God. God is not merely present in laws, phenomena, or second causes. He does not govern the world by proxy, like ancient monarchs ruling their empires. All things are made to subserve the design for which they were created, never cease to obey his will and reflect his power and goodness. The earth trembles, the floods rise, and calamities happen to fulfil the ends of his administration.
2. The works of God reprove the indifference of man. Israel had despised the word of God, and are directed to the ways of God, to rouse attention to his will. Sensible evidence should affect us. God teaches us by signs in heaven above and earth beneath. We should be stirred up to praise him (Pro. 16:4), warned of the danger of offending him, and led to fear him. If he can alter the course of nature, and turn established laws into scourges for sin, we should not rebel against him. Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them and not build them up.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Amo. 9:5-6. \
1. Gods name.
2. Gods worksCreation and providence.
3. Gods judgmentsEarthquakes and floods.
4. Gods design. All that dwell therein shall mourn.
God not seen in his works. I. Great indifference exists. Men see, but do not observe. Like Hamlets ghost, they have no speculation in their eyes. Hence they know nothing of the grandeurs by which they are surrounded, and never rise from Nature up to Natures God. II. Defective knowledge abounds. God is seen by many in his wisdom and power, acknowledged to be the Creator and Governor of the world, but not as a God of truth and justice, rewarding virtue and punishing sin. Divine perfections cannot be separated. Power is linked with holiness, and justice with truth. The Creator is the Moral Governor of the universe. To think of him at a distance, or judge of his purpose by one attribute of his being, is unreasonable. We cannot shun his presence. We only escape his anger by forsaking sin which causes it. Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
Lessons.
1. God a Being of infinite perfection.
2. All things are under his control.
3. Nothing can hinder the accomplishment of his purpose.
4. It is ruinous to rebel against such a Being of almighty power and majesty.
5. It is blessed to have him for our Saviour and Friend.
Take heed: for God holds vengeance in His hand
To hurl upon their heads that break His law. [Shakespeare.]
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Amo. 9:5-6. Creation. How close does it bring the Creator to us, to regard him, not so much as having made the world, as still engaged in making it; i.e. by supplying the life on which its laws, and thus its being and incidents, depend. Depend upon it (says an eloquent preacher) it is not the want of greater miracles, but of the soul to perceive such as are allowed us still, that makes us push all the sanctities into the far spaces we cannot reach. The devout feel that wherever Gods hand is there is miracle; and it is simply an undevoutness which imagines that only where miracle is, there can be the real hand of God [Grindon].
Much of the glory of God in creation is hid by a train of second causes, through which few look to the first [Howe].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(5, 6) Accumulate in grand imagery the majesty, power, and irresistible resources of the Lord, who has at length become their enemy. The very world itself melts, as Sinai did, at His touch.
The word is should be omitted in the rendering. The predicate Jehovah (the Lord) is His name (Amo. 9:6) stands at the end of a series of attributive clauses.
Like a flood . . .The sentence should run thus: The whole of it rises like the Nile, and subsides (or sinks) like the Egyptian Nile. The future tenses should be replaced by presents. (Comp. Amo. 8:8.)
Storiesi.e., upper rooms (comp. Psa. 104:3). The word for troop is rightly rendered arch, or vault, from a root signifying to bind or compact together, the sky being regarded as a firmament, or solid extension, which rested on the earth as a foundation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5, 6. The people might think the prophet mad; hence he proceeds to disabuse their minds by informing them that it is Jehovah who makes the threats. Once more he depicts the divine majesty and omnipotence. The verses are similar in tone to Amo 4:13; Amo 5:8-9, and they serve the same purpose (see comments on those verses and Introduction, pp. 217ff.). They certainly add force to the preceding threats, and Harper is hardly justified in saying, “The proposed logical connection of this verse (5) with the preceding, ‘God is able to bring such punishment because he is the almighty one,’ is unnatural and far-fetched.”
The Lord Jehovah of hosts Compare Amo 4:13.
Toucheth the land In a thunderstorm.
Melt See on Mic 1:4; Nah 1:5.
Mourn See on Amo 1:2. Amo 5:5 b describes an earthquake; see on Amo 8:8 b, of which it is an almost verbatim repetition.
Stories R.V., “chambers”; literally, upper chambers; the dwelling place of Jehovah above the “firmament” (Psa 104:3; Psa 104:13).
Troop Better, R.V., “vault.” The “firmament” of Gen 1:6, which, to the eye ignorant of the truths of astronomy, seems to rest as a huge cupola upon the earth (Job 26:11).
Calleth for the waters poureth them out See on Amo 5:8.
Jehovah LXX. adds “of hosts” (compare Amo 4:13).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A Reminder Of Who It Is Who Will Do This ( Amo 9:5-6 ).
The Lord YHWH can do all this because he is Lord of earthquakes, and is the One Who has built His mansions in the heavens, and His cellars on the earth, while also controlling the raging of the sea, and turning it into rain and storm.
Amo 9:5
‘For the Lord, YHWH of hosts, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn, and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.’
The picture here is possibly one of earthquakes (compare Amo 1:1) and expresses His total control over the earth. Just as the Nile rises and falls under His control, so does the earth rise and fall when He brings His earthquakes, touching the land and causing it to melt, something which inevitably results in great mourning among those affected. While we may not today see YHWH as directly causing earthquakes on an individual basis, we are equally well aware that His creation has been established in such a way as to make earthquakes certain. They are part of His reminder, deliberately built into His creation, that His judgment is upon sin. His control is no less simply because He has regularised it.
On the other hand the picture could equally be that of an invading army, causing the earth to tremble. In inscriptions the great kings of the nations regularly used this kind of language to indicate the nations quaking as they advanced on them. If the approach of great kings could cause upheaval in the land, how much moreso the approach of the Lord YHWH.
‘The Lord, YHWH of hosts.’ This title, although comparable with what is found elsewhere is found in this particular form only here in Amos, possibly because it was part of the source on which he called (see excursus below).
Amo 9:6
‘He who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth, he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth, YHWH is his name.’
Furthermore YHWH has full control of heaven and earth. He has built His palace chambers in heaven, and sees the earth as His cellar, and has full control over the seas, pouring them out over the earth, both in life-giving rain, and in severe storm, vicious hurricane and deadly tidal wave.
The word for ‘chambers’ comes from the verb ‘to go up or ascend’, and indicates upper rooms, that which is ascended to. The word for ‘vault’ connects with the verb ‘to tie up, bring together’ which here involves bringing together in construction work so as to produce the cellars which are a part of the foundations.
Note how the second part of the verse parallels Amo 5:8 b. It is quite possible that Amos is calling on a hymnic source which he extracts and repeats as he will.
Brief Excursus On The Possible Hymnic Source Used By Amos.
It has been pointed out that there are certain seeming citations in Amos which possibly indicate a hymnic source, which could be either a hymn sung in the Jerusalem Temple, a hymn used by the sanctuary at Bethel, or a hymn written by Amos himself and used by such believers as presumably responded to his ministry. Alternately it may have been part of a kind of statement of faith used in worship, prepared by Amos himself for use with such believers.
Consider in this regard the following different possible citations in Amos, perhaps slightly altered in order to fit the context, which could be seen as coming together to form part of a hymn, as follows:
Amo 4:13
‘For lo, He Who forms the mountains, and creates the wind,
And declares to man what is His thought,
Who makes the morning darkness,
And treads on the high places of the earth.
YHWH the God of Hosts is His Name.
Amo 5:8
‘It is He Who makes the Pleiades and Orion,
And turns the deep darkness into the morning,
And makes the day dark with night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth
YHWH is His Name.
Amo 9:5
For YHWH the God of Hosts,
Is He Who touches the land and it melts,
And all who dwell in it will mourn,
And it will rise up wholly like the River,
And will sink again like the River of Egypt,
Amo 9:6
It is He Who builds His chambers in the heaven,
And has founded His vault on the earth,
He Who calls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth,
YHWH is His Name.
It will be noted that the verses contain similar themes and that two sections end with ‘YHWH is His Name’, one ends with ‘YHWH the God of hosts is His Name’, while Amo 9:5 commences with ‘For YHWH the God of Hosts –’. Furthermore lines four & five in Amo 5:8 parallel lines three & four in Amo 9:6, a repetition typical of a number of Psalms (e.g. Psa 107:8; Psa 107:15; Psa 107:21; Psa 107:31).
There is certainly no reason why Amos should not have used a hymn which was well known in order to reach the minds of his listeners, incorporating it into his prophetically inspired message.
End of excursus.
Amo 9:7
“Are you not as the children of the Cushites to me, O children of Israel?” says YHWH. “Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramaeans (Syrians) from Kir?”
Some see this as indicating that all nations are under YHWH’s care and control for good (compare Deu 32:8-9), which to some extent is certainly true, but such an interpretation does not fit in with the context. In context it appears rather to imply something undesirable. The Cushites (from around the Sudan area) were proverbially well known for not being easily changeable (see Jer 13:23), and the thought may therefore well be that Israel also had proved intractable, in spite of the fact that YHWH had delivered them from Egypt, indicating that YHWH saw them as incapable of repentance. Alternatively in mind may be the fact that the Cushites were a remote and far off people, with no connections with the land of promise. Thus to be like them was to be removed from any covenant relationship with YHWH of any kind whatsoever. Therefore, while they might think that they could claim special privileges as those who had been brought by YHWH out of Egypt, they should recognise the fact that in reality they were no different from their enemies against whom they boasted, for it was also YHWH Who had brought the Philistines from Caphtor (Crete), and the Aramaeans from Kir (contrast Amo 1:5). All were in the pot of YHWH’s judgment together (chapter 1). So He wanted them to recognise that in view of their disobedience to the covenant, (obedience to which would alone have made them special as His covenant people), they would receive no different treatment from the others. In choosing to withdraw from covenant responsibility they had cancelled their privilege by their behaviour. Once again we have here the clear implication that YHWH controls the whole earth and can do as He will.
Amo 9:8
“Behold, the eyes of the Lord YHWH are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says YHWH.’
The fact of Israel’s rejection by YHWH is here confirmed. The eyes of YHWH were on ‘the sinful kingdom’, seeing all that they did, and He would therefore destroy then from the face of the earth. He would not, however, totally destroy the ‘house of Jacob’. The righteous remnant would escape. This was partly because in Judah, members from all ‘the twelve tribes’ who had escaped there, or would subsequently escape there, would survive, thus preserving within Judah that remnant of ‘the house of Jacob’ which did not make up a part of the ‘sinful kingdom’, and partly because some of the poorest people, and some who fled to the mountains, would also survive, some to flee to Judah or Egypt, others to take over small parts of the land in order to scrape a living, once it was safe to do so, before becoming, at least to some extent, absorbed into the incoming population. Thus as in Isa 6:13 ‘the holy seed’ would survive.
Amo 9:9
“For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, in the same way as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet will not the least pebble fall on the earth.”
For Israel were shortly to be sifted among the nations, in the same way as grain was sifted in a sieve. The figure is a vivid one indicating the violent shaking of Israel in order to remove all that was merely ‘waste’. Not one pebble (compare 2Sa 7:13) would escape from the sieve and fall on the earth. There is here the hint that the righteous will escape, slipping like good grain through the sieve’s meshes, but the emphasis is on the certainty of judgment for the sinful. Not one would escape. This will be confirmed in Amo 9:10.
Some translate ‘pebble’ as ‘kernel’ (although in its only other usage it meant pebble – 2Sa 7:13). If this were the case it would indicate the total extinction of Israel from YHWH’s purposes. There would be no good grain which could escape.
Note that this was all at YHWH’s command. It would not happen by accident, but would be a consequence of His sovereign overlordship. However, as the purpose of sifting in a sieve was so that the good grain would fall through the mesh of the sieve, while the rubbish, such as pebbles, would remain in the sieve, it is more likely that we are to see in it the distinction between YHWH’s treatment of the righteous and the sinful.
‘Among all the nations.’ Amos has already declared that Israelites would be taken captive into foreign countries (Amo 4:2-3; Amo 5:11; Amo 5:27; Amo 6:7; Amo 7:11; Amo 7:17; Amo 8:12; Amo 9:4). Now we learn that it was to end for them in further judgment. They only had been ‘known’ by YHWH of ‘all the families on earth’ (Amo 3:2). Now those very nations would see their shame because they had failed in their response to His purpose for them.
Amo 9:10
“All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘The evil will not overtake or meet us.’ ”
All who were at present so complacent in their sinfulness, and so sure that Amos could not be right, confidently saying ‘evil will not overtake us’, would die by the sword. None would be left. It will be noted that there is an implied promise here that those few who were faithful to YHWH would in some way have His special hand on them, for they are excluded from the indictment.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Amo 9:5. And it shall rise up, &c. See on chap. Amo 8:8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Amo 9:5 And the Lord GOD of hosts [is] he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as [by] the flood of Egypt.
Ver. 5. And the Lord God of hosts is he, &c ] Here the prophet proveth what he had said in the foregoing verses, by an argument drawn from the wonderful power of God, which profane persons are apt to question, that they may harden their hearts against his fear. Consider, saith he, first, that he is the Lord God of hosts, and (as the Rabbis well observe) he hath the upper and lower troops ready pressed, as his horse and foot, to march against his enemies. Next, that he toucheth the land, as it were, with his little finger, and it shall melt, like the fat of lambs before the fire; it shall crumble to crattle, moulder away, and be moved, because he is wroth, Psa 18:7 : and shall men be unmoved? shall they be more insensible than the senseless earth? The people of Antioch, though many of them gave their hands for Chrysostom’s banishment, yet, terrified by an earthquake (which wrought in them a heartquake, as it had done in the jailer, Act 16:25-30 ), they immediately sent for him again. But, thirdly, the tremendous power of God appears in this, that
The land shall rise up wholly like a flood; and it shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Amo 9:5-6
5The Lord GOD of hosts,
The One who touches the land so that it melts,
And all those who dwell in it mourn,
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
6The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens
And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,
He who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth,
The LORD is His name.
Amo 9:5-6 This is the last of the three doxologies, hymns, or poems to YHWH as creator (cf. Amo 4:13; Amo 5:8-9).
Amo 9:5 This may be another reference to the earthquake, Amo 1:1; Amo 8:8-9; Amo 9:1 (i.e., the land, like the Nile River, rises and falls).
Lord GOD of hosts This title is found in Amo 3:13; Amo 4:13; Amo 5:14; Amo 5:16; Amo 5:27; Amo 6:8; Amo 6:14. See Special Topic: Lord of Hosts and brief note at Amo 5:14.
Amo 9:6 These are difficult-to-translate creation metaphors. They speak of God as creator of heaven and earth (cf. Genesis 1; Psalms 104). He is the controller of heavenly bodies and water, both salt and fresh (i.e., forces of nature).
It is possible to translate vaulted dome (BDB 8) as storehouse and if so, then Amo 9:6 a refers to God’s dwelling place and Amo 9:6 b refers to mankind’s dwelling place, both of which are created by YHWH (cf. Amo 9:5 a, 6d).
The LORD is His name See Special Topic: NAMES FOR DEITY .
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the Lord GOD, Hebrew. Adonai Jehovah. App-4. See note on Amo 1:8. dwell. The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version reads dwelleth”. flood. See notes on Amo 8:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
toucheth: Psa 46:6, Psa 144:5, Isa 64:1, Mic 1:3, Nah 1:6, Hab 3:10, Rev 20:11
and all: Amo 8:8, Jer 12:4, Hos 4:3
shall rise: Psa 32:6, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4, Isa 8:7, Isa 8:8, Mat 7:27
Reciprocal: Gen 7:11 – all Isa 51:15 – that divided Jer 47:2 – waters Dan 9:26 – with Dan 11:22 – with Hos 10:14 – shall a Amo 9:13 – the hills Mic 1:4 – the mountains Nah 1:8 – with 2Pe 3:10 – melt
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Amo 9:5. God of hosts means he is the God of armies and all other forces that could lie used in proper causes. The touch of His hand when administered in wrath will result in the overthrow of that land or other object that might be touched; will cause it to melt. Flood (“river”) of Egypt is explained at Amo 8:8.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Amo 9:5-6. And Or, for, the Lord toucheth the land, and it shall melt The least token of Gods displeasure is sufficient to put the whole frame of nature out of order. See the margin. And when Gods hand is visibly stretched out against a people, they become altogether dispirited; the stoutest men lose their courage, their hearts failing them for fear, and out of a dreadful expectation of the miseries which are coming upon them. See the explanation of the next clause, Amo 8:8. He that buildeth his stories in the heavens This is an awful description of Gods power, discovering itself in the works of the creation, particularly in his making several regions of the air as so many apartments which lead to the highest heavens, the seat of his glory. Archbishop Newcome renders it, He buildeth his upper chambers in the heavens; alluding to the circumstance of the chief and most ornamented apartments in the East being upper rooms. And hath founded his troop in the earth Or, as the old English translation renders the clause, And hath laid the foundation of his globe of elements in the earth; the word rendered troop being taken to signify the collection of elements and other creatures, which furnish the earth, expressed by the word , host, Gen 2:1. Many learned interpreters, however, render the word his storehouses, supposing that there is an allusion to repositories in the lower parts of houses, or to such as were sometimes dug in the fields. Thus Capellus: The heaven is, as it were, Gods place of dwelling, his principal apartment; the earth is that to him which the cellars are in a large house. He that calleth for the waters, &c. See on chap. Amo 5:8. The power and sure vengeance of the Deity, says Bishop Newcome, are very sublimely described in this and the four preceding verses.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The God who would punish 9:5-6
These verses describe the great God who would judge the Israelites. The section closes, "Yahweh is His name" (Amo 9:6). What precedes that clause is a revelation of His person (name).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The judge is sovereign Yahweh who controls and leads armies, both heavenly armies of angels and earthly armies of soldiers. As sovereign, He is the one to whom all people and nations are responsible, not just Israel. He is the one who simply with a touch can cause the earth to melt, a figure that recalls the effect on ice when a human finger presses on it. He has the power to alter the course of human affairs as well so everyone mourns, if that is His choice. He causes the earth and human affairs to rise and fall, to ebb and flow, like the waters of the mighty Nile River.