Bible Commentary

And they lay [themselves] down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned [in] the house of their god. 8. The self-indulgence, practised by the worldly-minded Israelites in the name of religion, and at the expense of the poor. upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:8”

That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the [same] maid, to profane my holy name: 7. That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:7”

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; 6. sold the righteous for sliver ] The venal Israelitish judges, for a bribe, pronounced the innocent guilty, i.e. ‘sold’ … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:6”

But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. 5. But I will send a fire upon Judah, &c.] hence, with verbal variations, Jer 17:27 b. In the case of Judah, Amos’s threat did not take effect for more than a century and a half: the ‘fire’ did … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:5”

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked: 4. despised ] R.V. rejected, as … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:4”

And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD. 3. the judge ] Why is the judge mentioned rather than, as would naturally be expected, the king? One answer is that Moab was at this time subject to Jeroboam II., and … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:3”

But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, [and] with the sound of the trumpet: 2. the palaces of Kerioth ] more exactly eriyyoth: named here and Jer 48:41 (cf. Jer 48:24) as a representative city of Moab, and … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:2”

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: 1. because he burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime ] A mark of unrelenting hate and vindictiveness: the Moabites … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 2:1”

And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD. 15. And their king shall go into captivity, &c.] into exile ( Amo 1:5). The verse is borrowed by Jeremiah, with slight changes, in his prophecy against the Ammonites (Jer 49:3), “For their king shall go into exile, his priests … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 1:15”

But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind: 14. But I will kindle a fire ] Varied from I will send of the other cases: see on Amo 1:4. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Amos 1:14”