For, behold, 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: Yahweh, the God of Armies, is his name.”
Parallel Translations
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For, behold, 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: Yahweh, the God of Armies, is his name.”
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For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
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For, lo, He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth; the LORD, the God of hosts, is His name.
Cross-references (29)
Passages linked to Amos 4:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Amos 5:8 seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
- Micah 1:3 For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
- Amos 9:6 It is he who builds his rooms 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 surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name.
- Isaiah 47:4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies is his name, is the Holy One of Israel.
- Psalms 65:6 By your power, you form the mountains, having armed yourself with strength.
- Daniel 2:28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
- Deuteronomy 33:29 You are happy, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.”
- Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
- Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to Yahweh your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it deep darkness.
- Exodus 10:22 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
- Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;
- Job 38:4-11 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? What were its foundations fastened on? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb, when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness, marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors, and said, ‘You may come here, but no further. Your proud waves shall be stopped here?’
- Jeremiah 10:16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
- Jeremiah 51:19 The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the former of all things; including the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
- Amos 3:13 “Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord Yahweh, the God of Armies.
- Amos 8:9 It will happen in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
- Zechariah 12:1 A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
- Exodus 14:20 It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night. One didn’t come near the other all night.
- Psalms 135:7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with the rain. He brings the wind out of his treasuries.
- Psalms 139:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
- Psalms 147:18 He sends out his word, and melts them. He causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
- Isaiah 5:30 They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.
- Isaiah 48:2 for they call themselves citizens of the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Armies is his name.
- Jeremiah 10:13 When he utters his voice, the waters in the heavens roar, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
- Jeremiah 51:16 When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
- Amos 5:27 Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.
- Amos 6:8 “The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
- Habakkuk 3:19 Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
- John 3:8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain We have explained the last verse of the fourth…
We have explained the last verse of the fourth chapter, except that there remains something to be said of the glorious representation given of God by the Prophet. He says first, that he had formed the mountains then that he had created the spirits, afterwards that he declares to man what is his thoughts, makes the morning and the darkness, and walks on the high places of the earth Such an accumulation of words might seem superfluous, only this main thing must be borne in mind, that it was necessary for men, whose minds were exceedingly torpid to be aroused that they might seriously consider what we have seen had been denounced on them. Hence the Prophet sought to shake off from the Israelites their thoughtlessness, by setting God before them in his greatness; for when his name only is announced, he is wholly neglected by the greatest part of men. It was therefore necessary that something should be added, that they who were asleep might be awakened, and understand how great and how fearful the power of God is. This is the design of all that we read here.
The word רוח, ruch, is interpreted in two ways. Some refer it to the wind, and others to the soul of man. If we take it for the wind, it will join suitably with the creation of mountains, for the winds emerge from them on account of their cavity. If you understand it of man’s soul, it will agree with the following clause. It appears to me more probable that the Prophet speaks of man’s soul; though one may possibly choose to connect both, so that there is an allusion to wind, and that yet Amos, about to speak of thought, first mentions the spirit.
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But what the Prophet says, that God announces to men what their thought is — this is done in various ways. We indeed know that the end of teaching is, that men may confess their guilt, who before flattered themselves; we know also that the word of God is like a two-edged sword, which penetrates into the bones and marrow, and distinguishes between thoughts and feelings, (Hebrews 4:12) God then thus draws men out of their recesses into the light; and he also convinces them without the word; for we know how powerful are the secret movements (instinctus — influences) of the Spirit. But the Prophet meant only here, that the Israelites had to do with God, who is the searcher of hearts, and from whom nothing is hid, however concealed it may be. Each one is to himself the best witness of his own thoughts; but the Prophet ascribes to God a higher degree, for he understands whatever any one conceives in his mind, better than he who seems to have all his own thoughts well understood. Since men therefore craftily hide themselves, the Prophet here reminds them that they cannot succeed, for God understands what they inwardly think better than they themselves. We now then perceive what he substantially means.
Some explain the words, that God makes the morning darkness, as if Amos had said, that he converts light into darkness; but we ought rather to consider a copulative to be understood; for he here declares the power of God, not only as displayed in once creating the world, but also in preserving the order of nature, and in minutely regulating the changes of times and seasons. Let us now proceed to the fifth chapter.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Amo 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains,…
Amo 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what [is] his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, [is] his name.
Ver. 13. For lo, he that formeth the mountains, &c.] q.d. If my mercy move thee not to a humble submission, let my majesty; and for that end consider and tremble at my Nomen Maiestativum, my transcendent excellencies as they are here displayed, descried, and described, for thy learning, with a great deal of solemnity and state; to the end that thou mayest not expect evils, but prevent them, as Demosthenes counselled his countrymen.
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He that formeth the mountains] At first, doubtless, with the rest of the universe (though some held they were cast up by Noah’s flood); see Psa 90:1-2; by his mere Fiat, without tool or toil, Isa 40:28. This the blind heathens saw, and thus hieroglyphically set forth: in Thebes, a town of Egypt, they worshipped a God, whom they acknowledged to be immortal. And how painted they him? In the likeness of a man blowing an egg out of his mouth; to signify that he made the round world by his word.
And createth the wind] The world’s besom (as Rupertus calleth it) wherewith God sweepeth his great house, and whereby he setteth forth his inexpressible power. See for this Psa 18:11; Psa 148:8 Job 28:25 Jer 10:12; Senec. lib. v. Nat. Quaest. cap. 18. And although we cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, Joh 3:8, yet can we with Cruciger contemplate the footsteps of God in this and other creatures; saying with Paul, that God is so near unto us, that he may almost be felt with our hands, ψηλαφησειαν, Act 17:29.
And declareth unto man what is his thought] What language he hath in his heart, what he talketh within himself ( quid sermocinetur, quidve cogitet, Drus.), as the rich fool did, Luk 12:17. Jesus knew the Pharisee’s thoughts; yea, "thou understandest my thought afar off," saith David, Psa 139:2, even before I conceive them. Jerome and Theodotion refer the affix to God, and renders it thus, Who declareth unto man his word and will therein revealed, Eloquium suum, τον λογον αυτου. The Seventy read thus, Who declareth unto man his Christ τον χριστον αυτου, sensu pio et egregio, saith Mercer, sed alieno; for Ma-sicho they read Meshicho; perperam. wrongly.
That maketh the morning darkness] As he did at Sodom, whereon the sun shone bright in the morning, but ere night there was a dismal change. So in Egypt, Exo 10:22; so in Jewry at Christ’s death, Mat 27:45. Let this teach us to bless God for the light both natural, Gen 1:4, and supernatural, 2Co 4:4-5, and to pray, that our gospel sun may not set at noon tide, nor our light be put out in obscure darkness; but rather that he would make our darkness morning (for so the words may be read here), by clearing up those truths to us that yet lie in part undiscovered. Oh, cry after Christ, as the poor man in the Gospel, "Lord, that mine eyes might be opened!" Oh that thou wouldest give me sight and light! Sun of righteousness, shine upon my dark soul.
And treadeth upon the high places of the earth] As being "higher than the highest," excelsus super excelsos, Ecc 5:8, "terrible to all the kings of the earth" (those dread sovereigns), Psa 76:12, "the most high God," Gen 14:18; Gen 14:22, that hath heaven for his throne and earth for his footstool; yea, those highest places of the earth, the tops of mountains, and rocks inaccessible. "But who is this King of glory?"
The Lord, the God of hosts is his name] "Give therefore unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness," &c.: "Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy," Psa 29:1-2; Psa 99:5.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To move them to act for their safety, the…
To move them to act for their safety, the prophet tells them how great and dreadful God is, the most dreadful and terrible enemy, but the most desirable friend.
He that formeth the mountains; when there was not a mountain or hill, or the least dust of either, thy God, O Israel, formed them; and it is wisdom to return to him, for he can remove difficulties and pressures were they as heavy as mountains, and so he can mend all with you quickly; and if your confidences in sinful ways were as strong as mountains, he can overthrow them: return therefore and repent.
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Createth; giveth being by an almighty will.
The wind; which for its instability seems of contrary nature to mountains, which doth shake them and overturn foundations; that wind which we feel and hear, though we see it not, that makes hideous noises, and works dreadful effects. The storms you are threatened with, O Israel, are like the wind, dreadful, irresistible; but, as the wind, raised and ruled by God, who can soon with one word lay them all asleep: return therefore to him.
And declareth unto man what is his thought: think not by any counsels to prevent what God determines against an impenitent and sinful nation, as his power is infinite in creating, his wisdom is infinite too and unsearchable, and he can and will take sinners in their incorrigible wickednesses and punish them: be wise, therefore, and return to him by repentance.
That maketh the morning darkness; can as easily turn outward prosperity into extreme adversity as he can turn a glorious morning into a dark, dismal, and overclouded day, and so will do against you if you repent not; and can turn a cloudy morning into brightness, and misery into happiness, if you repent.
And treadeth upon the high places of the earth; can tread under foot the idols that are worshipped on high places of the earth, and trample on high and mighty potentates, exalted above ordinary men as highest hills are above lowest valleys.
The Lord; who alone am the Lord, the eternal and mighty God.
The God of hosts is his name; whose sovereign power and command all creatures obey, and act for or against us as he willeth.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For, lo, he that formeth the mountains,.... These words…
For, lo, he that formeth the mountains,.... These words are a description of the glorious Person, "thy God" and Saviour, to be met; he is the Creator of all things, that formed the mountains, and so was before them, as in Pro 8:25; and able to surmount and remove all mountains of difficulties that lay in his way of working out salvation for his people:
and createth the wind; or "spirit"; not the Holy Spirit, which is uncreated; but either angels, whom he makes spirits; or the spirit and soul of man he is the Creator of; or rather the natural wind is meant, which is his creature, he holds in his fists, restrains and commands, at his pleasure, Mat 8:26;
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and declareth unto man what is his thought; not what is man's thought, though he knows what is in man without any information, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and can reveal them to men, and convince them that he knows them, Mat 9:4; but rather the thought of God, the meditation of his heart, concerning the salvation of men; his thoughts of peace, which are the deep things of God, and which Christ, lying in the bosom of his Father, was privy to, and has declared, Joh 1:18. The Septuagint and Arabic versions, reading the words wrong, render them, "declaring to men his Christ"; which, though true of God, is not the sense of this clause. The Targum is,
"what are his works (x)?''
his works of creation, providence, redemption, and grace:
that maketh the morning darkness; or "darkness morning", or "the morning out of darkness" (y); being the dayspring from on high, the morning star, the sun of righteousness, that, rising, made the Gospel day, after a long night of Jewish and Gentile darkness; and who made the same dispensation a morning to one, and darkness to another, Joh 9:39. The Septuagint version is, "making the morning and the cloud"; the Vulgate Latin version, "making the morning cloud"; his coming was as the morning, Hos 6:3;
and treadeth upon the high places of the earth; the land of Israel, which is Immanuel's land, is said by the Jews to be higher than other lands; Jerusalem higher than any part of Judea, and the mountain the temple was built on higher than Jerusalem: here Christ trod in the days of his flesh, and from the mount of Olives ascended to heaven, after he had trampled upon and spoiled principalities and powers, spiritual wickednesses in high places, and when he led captivity captive. Jarchi interprets it of humbling the mighty and proud, who are compared to the high places of the earth. The Targum is,
"to declared to men what are his works, to prepare light for the righteous as the morning light, who goes and prepares darkness for earth;''
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name; he is the Jehovah, the Lord our righteousness, the God and Governor of the armies of heaven the hosts of angels, and to whom all creatures on earth are subject; all power in heaven and earth belongs unto him; this is Israel's God, his Redeemer and Saviour he is called upon to prepare to meet.
(x) So Kimchi and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 4. 5. (y) "faciens obscuritatem auroram", Drusius.
Next: Amos Chapter 5
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Declareth - Knows the thoughts of all men. The…
Declareth - Knows the thoughts of all men. The God of hosts - Whose sovereign power all creatures obey, and acts for or against us as he willeth. Let us humble ourselves before this God, and give all diligence to make him our God. For happy are the people whose God he is, and who have all this power engaged for them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. He that formeth the mountains] Here is…
Verse 13. He that formeth the mountains] Here is a powerful description of the majesty of God. He formed the earth; he created the wind; he knows the inmost thoughts of the heart; he is the Creator of darkness and light; he steps from mountain to mountain, and has all things under his feet! Who is he who hath done and can do all these things? JEHOVAH ELOHIM TSEBAOTH, that is his name.
1. The self-existing, eternal, and independent Being.
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2. The God who is in covenant with mankind.
3. The universal Commander of all the hosts of earth and heaven. This name is farther illustrated in the following chapter. These words are full of instruction, and may be a subject of profitable meditation to every serious mind.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For lo, He that formeth the mountains - Their…
For lo, He that formeth the mountains - Their God whom they worshiped was but nature. Amos tells them, who “their God” is, whom they were to prepare to meet. He describes Him as the Creator of that, which to man seems most solid, to go furthest back in times past. Before the everlasting mountains were, God is, for He made them. Yet God is not a Creator in the past alone. He is a continual Worker. “And formeth the wind,” that finest subtlest creature, alone invisible in this visible world; the most immaterial of things material, the breath of our life, the image of man’s created immaterial spirit, or even of God’s uncreated presence, the mildest and the most terrific of the agents around us. But the thought of God, as a Creator or Preserver without, affects man but little. To man, a sinner, far more impressive than all majesty of Creative power, is the thought that God knows his inmost soul. So he adds; “and declareth unto man what is his thought,” that is, his meditation, before he puts it into words. God knows our thoughts more truly than we ourselves. We disguise them to ourselves, know not our own hearts, wish not to know them. God reveals us to ourselves. As He says, “The heart is deceitful above all things; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart; I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings” Jer 17:9-10. Man’s own conscience tells him that God’s knowledge of His inmost self is no idle knowledge. “If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things” 1Jo 3:20.
That maketh the morning darkness - If the light become darkness, how great that darkness! From the knowledge of man’s heart, the prophet goes on to retribution. Morning is the symbol of all which is beautiful, cheering, radiant, joyous to man; darkness effaces all these. Their God, he tells them, can do all this. He can quench in gloom all the magnificent beauty of His own creation and make all which gladdened the eyes of man, “one universal blot.” “And treadeth upon the high places of the earth.” He “treadeth” them, to tread them under. He humbleth all which exalteth itself. “God walketh, when He worketh. He is without all, within all, containeth all, worketh all in all. Hence, it is said, “He walketh on the wings of the wind Psa 104:3; He walketh on the heights of the sea Job 9:8; He walketh on the circuit of heaven” Job 22:14.
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Such was He, who made Himself “their God,” The Author of all, the Upholder of all, the Subduer of all which exalted itself, who stood in a special relation to man’s thoughts, and who punished. At His command stand all the hosts of heaven. Would they have Him for them, or against them? Would they be at peace with Him, before they met Him, face to face?
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Wind. Septuagint, "the Spirit, and announcing to man his…
Wind. Septuagint, "the Spirit, and announcing to man his Christ," (Haydock) or Cyrus. (Theodotion) --- But this version has read improperly. (Calmet) --- Some hence brought an argument against the divinity of the Holy Spirit. (St. Jerome) --- Mist. Septuagint, "the morning and the cloud," spreading light or darkness over man. --- Earth, on the wings of the wind, Psalm xvii. 11. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The God whom Israel is to "prepare to meet"…
The God whom Israel is to "prepare to meet" (Amo 4:12) is here described in sublime terms.
wind--not as the Margin, "spirit." The God with whom thou hast to do is the Omnipotent Maker of things seen, such as the stupendous mountains, and of things too subtle to be seen, though of powerful agency, as the "wind."
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declareth unto man . . . his thought-- (Psa 139:2). Ye think that your secret thoughts escape My cognizance, but I am the searcher of hearts.
maketh . . . morning darkness-- (Amo 5:8; Amo 8:9). Both literally turning the sunshine into darkness, and figuratively turning the prosperity of the ungodly into sudden adversity (Psa 73:12, Psa 73:18-19; compare Jer 13:16).
treadeth upon . . . high places--God treadeth down the proud of the earth. He subjects to Him all things however high they be (Mic 1:3). Compare Deu 32:13; Deu 33:29, where the same phrase is used of God's people, elevated by God above every other human height.
Next: Amos Chapter 5
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. A verse describing the majesty and omnipotence of…
13. A verse describing the majesty and omnipotence of the Judge, and suggesting consequently a motive why His will should be obeyed, and His anger averted. He is the Maker both of the solid mountains, and of the invisible yet sometimes formidable and destructive wind: He knows the secrets of man’s heart, and can, if He pleases, declare them to him; He can darken with the storm the brightness of heaven, and march in the thunder-cloud over the high places of the earth: Yahweh of Hosts is His name!
formeth the mountains] or fashioneth, the word used (yâẓar) denoting properly the work of the potter. It is often used figuratively of the Divine operation; e.g. Gen_2:7-8; Gen_2:19 (animals and man); Isa_45:18 (the earth); Isa_43:1; Isa_43:21; Isa_44:2; Isa_44:21; Isa_44:24 (the people of Israel); Isa_43:7, Jer_1:5 (an individual man); Jer_10:16 (the universe): and even of framing or planning in the Divine purpose, Isa_22:21; Isa_37:26; Isa_46:11; Jer_18:11; Jer_33:2.
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createth] bârâ means properly to cut (see Jos_17:15; Jos_17:18), and hence to fashion by cutting, to shape; but, in the conjugation here used, it is employed exclusively of God, to denote, viz., the production, in virtue of powers possessed by God alone, of something fundamentally new. The verb does not in itself express the idea of creatio ex nihilo (though it was probably in usage often felt to denote this); but it implies the possession of a sovereign transforming, or productive, energy, altogether transcending what is at the disposal of man. It is used chiefly of the formation of the material cosmos (or of parts of it), as Gen_1:1, Isa_40:28; Isa_45:12; Isa_45:18, and here; but it may also be applied to a nation, as Israel (Isa_43:1; Isa_43:15), or to an individual man (Isa_54:16), and figuratively to new conditions or circumstances, &c. beyond the power of man to bring about (Exo_34:10; Num_16:30; Jer_31:22; Isa_45:8; Isa_48:7; Isa_65:17). The idea expressed by the word was more frequently dwelt upon in the later stages of Israel’s religion; it is accordingly particularly frequent (in various applications) in Deutero-Isaiah. See further Schultz, O. T. Theol. ii. 180 ff. It is parallel, as here, to yâẓar, to form, in Isa_43:1; Isa_43:7; Isa_45:18.
and declareth unto man what is his thought] his musing, meditation. The word occurs only here: but one hardly different is found 1Sa_1:16 (“complaint,” lit. musing), 1Ki_18:27, Psa_104:34 al. The agency employed may be the prophet, declaring to man his secret purposes (cf. Act_5:3 f., 9), or conscience, suddenly revealing to him the true gist and nature of his designs. The pron. his might in the abstract refer to God (cf. Amo_3:7); but the word rendered musing does not seem one that would be used very naturally of the Divine purpose.
that maketh the morning darkness] viz. suddenly blackening the clear sky with the dark masses of storm-cloud. In the thunderstorm, the Hebrews conceived Jehovah to be borne along within the clouds (Psa_18:9-13; cf. on ch. Amo_1:2): the picture of Jehovah darkening the heavens with the gathering storm thus leads on naturally to the clause which follows.
and treadeth—or marcheth—upon the high places of the earth] viz. in the thunder-cloud, as it sweeps along the hills. For the expression, comp. (of Israel) Deu_32:13; Isa_58:14; (of Jehovah) Mic_1:3 : also Job_9:8 (“who marcheth upon the high places of the sea”).
Jehovah of hosts, is his name] The title is expressive of majesty and omnipotence: see on Amo_3:13. It stands in the same emphatic formula as here, Amo_5:27 (‘God of hosts’); Isa_47:4; Isa_48:2; Isa_51:15; Isa_54:5; Jer_10:16 (= Jer_51:19), Jer_31:35, Jer_32:18, Jer_46:18, Jer_48:15, Jer_50:34, Jer_51:57.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) God of hosts.—The Lord whom they have to…
(13) God of hosts.—The Lord whom they have to meet is no mere national deity, but the supreme Creator.
Createth the wind.—Not “spirit” (as margin). But the two ideas “wind” and “spirit” were closely associated in Heb. (as in Greek), being designated by the same word ruach (in Greek πνεῦμα, comp. Joh_3:8). Hence the transition in thought to the next clause is natural. This is curiously rendered in LXX. “and declareth to man his Christ” through a misunderstanding of the original.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The prophet enforces his threats by declaring God"s power…
The prophet enforces his threats by declaring God"s power and omniscience. He that formeth the mountain; ijdou ejgwn, "I am he that strengtheneth thunder" (Septuagint, reading differently). The mountains are mentioned as the most solid and everlasting of his works; the wind, as the subtlest and most immaterial of created things. Declareth unto man what is his thought; i.e. man"s thought; reveals man to himself shows that he knows man"s thought before man puts it into words. This he does sometimes by the stings of conscience, sometimes by inspiring his prophets to declare men"s secret motives and the real state of their heart. (see Jer_17:9, Jer_17:10; and comp. 1Jn_3:20) Vulgate, Annuntians homini eloquium suum, where eloquium is equivalent to cognitatio. The LXX, with some change of letters, has, ajpaggellwn eijv ajnqrwpouv ton Criston aujtou, "proclaiming unto men his Christ a reading which supports the misinterpretation of "his thought" as meaning God"s thought, Christ being regarded as the Logov of God. Many of the Fathers have seen here a prophesy of the Messiah. See Tirinus and Corn. a Lapide on this verse. That maketh the morning darkness. Keil, after Calvin, takes these words as asyndeton for "the morning dawn and darkness." So the Septuagint, poiwn orqron kaiclhn, "making morning and gloom." This would be simply a further instance of God"s creative power. The Vulgate gives, faciens matutinam nebulam; and it seems probable (comp. Amo_5:8 Amo_8:9) that the clause means that the Lord turns the dawn into darkness. This may refer to the action of clouds or an eclipse; or it may be said metaphorically of prosperity and adversity. Treadeth upon the high places of the earth. An anthropomorphic representation of the might and majesty of God, who governs all things, and has the loftiest in perfect subjection. (comp. Deu_32:13 Deu_33:29; Job_9:8; Mic_1:3) The Lord, Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, covenant God, is he who in these things manifests himself, and therefore his threats are not to be despised. (Amo_5:8) In the prophet"s view the laws and powers of nature have their scope in executing God"s commands.
The God with whom we have to do.
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God always acts in character. From the thing he is may be inferred the quality of the thing he will do. We see him here
I AS REVEALED BY HIS NAMES. Each Divine name and title is a Divine revelation; sets forth some one of God"s incomparable perfections.
1. Jehovah. "The Being;" "the Living One." In contradistinction to idols, having real existence. In contradistinction to created things, having eternal existence. In contradistinction to all outside himself, having necessary existence. Jehovah is the true God and alone claiming faith, the self-existent God and alone giving life, the eternal God and alone conferring immortality.
2. God. "The Adorable One." The Sum of all excellence. The Object of allworship. The Inspirer of all veneration. The Being who at once deserves and commands the heart s whole allegiance and devotion.
3. Of hosts. "God of the armies." The hosts are the heavenly bodies (Gen_2:1; Deu_4:19) the angels (Jos_5:14, Jos_5:15; 1Ki_22:19; Psa_103:21 Psa_148:2) and men. (Exo_12:41) All these he made, owns, keeps, controls, and uses. He is the universal Sovereign, and "doeth according to his will" everywhere, always, and without appeal. Such a Being it is no light thing to meet. Just as it is done will utter ruin or absolute safety result.
II AS REVEALED BY HIS WORKS. The worker puts something of himself into his work the author into his book, the painter into his picture, the mechanic into his machine. And so with God. (Psa_19:1)
1. He produces physical phenomena. Three kinds are enumerated:
(1) solid matter, "the mountains;
(2) gaseous matter, "the wind;
(3) ethereal matter, "dawn, darkness.
Matter in all forms is the creature of God. Its mutations are the doing of his power. Its elements are the instruments of his hand. He does to it and by it what his own moral excellence prompts. And thus it reveals him. We
View great Nature"s open eye, And see within it trembling lie The portrait of the Deity.
1. He reveals mental phenomena. "Maketh known to man what is his man"s thought." The power of introspection is peculiar to man of earthly creatures. He takes cognizance of what passes in his own mind; reads his thoughts, and analyzes the process of thinking. This is among the highest exercises of reason. It is a revelation of its marvellous powers, and so of the wisdom and power of him by whom the faculty was bestowed. If a man"s thoughts are open to himself, much more are they to God. The mind can do all this; what cannot the Maker of it do? (Jer_17:9, Jer_17:10)
2. He rules moral phenomena. "Goeth over the high places of the earth." The "high places" are the exalted people. All these he rules. The highest do his bidding. From prince to peasant all are but clay in the Potter"s hands. Who, then, shall strive with him? What can avail against his transcendent might? All natural forces, all creaturely existences, are but tools in his hand, and ministers that do his will. This is the God we must meet, and to meet whom we may well prepare.
The majesty of God.
This and several other passages in this book of prophecy prove to us that Amos was a man who lived much in communion with nature and nature"s God. A herdsman and a gatherer of figs, he passed his earlier years, not in towns, in palaces, in libraries, in schools, in the temple, but beneath the open sky, and in the presence of the solemnity, the grandeur, the sublimity, of the works of the Eternal. He had climbed the mountains of Judaea, had gazed upon the rugged ranges that closed in the Dead Sea, had scanned the desert of the south, and had delighted himself in the blue waters of the Mediterranean. He had out watched the stars and greeted the glorious dawn; he had bowed his head before the tempest, and heard the voice of the Almighty in the thunder"s crash. He had read the scroll which unfolds itself to every observant eye; he had listened to the language best heard in solitude and seclusion. His meditations concerning God as known, not by the book of the law, but by the book of nature, relate to
I GOD"S CREATIVE POWER. This he doubtless recognized wherever he turned, by day and by night, in the peaceful plain and upon the awful hills. He here refers to two instances of the Maker"s might, two proofs of his incomparable majesty. "He formeth the mountains. " The stability and the immensity of the mountains have ever possessed a charm and an inspiration for the sensitive and thoughtful student of nature. Little as Amos could have known of those processes by which the enduring hills have been fashioned, he was capable of appreciating their testimony to the Creator, and probably of recognizing their symbolism of Divine attributes. The wind is a phenomenon which has always impressed the observer of God"s works. Its immense power and its inscrutable mystery, its tenderness as it breathes through the forests at eventide, its awfulness when it roars upon the mountains, when it lashes into fury the mighty waves of the sea, are suggestive of the manifold operations of the all-comprehending Deity. And our Lord himself has reminded us of its symbolical significance as setting forth the wonderful, varied, and inexplicable manifestations of the presence and the working of the Divine Spirit.
II GOD"S SPIRITUAL INSIGHT. When the prophet describes God as "declaring unto man what is his thought," the language has sometimes been taken to refer to the Divine thought revealed to man; but it probably is to be interpreted of that omniscient energy by virtue of which the Eternal penetrates the spiritual nature of men and reads their thoughts afar off. That the creating Spirit is thus in perpetual and intimate contact with those created spirits into which he has breathed the breath of life, and which he has fashioned in his own likeness: this is reasonable enough. Yet the enunciation of this unquestionable truth should have two effects upon us. It should enhance our conception of God"s majesty, and so call forth our adoration and our praise; and it should make us concerned as to the moral quality of the thoughts of our minds, which the omniscient and holy God must surely estimate with justice, and by a standard infinitely lofty and pure.
III GOD"S PROVIDENTIAL RULE. If we take literally the language, "That maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth," then these clauses are additional acknowledgments of the Creator"s power and wisdom as displayed in nature. But coming after the preceding clause, which refers to men"s thoughts, they seem to invite another interpretation. God"s presence is to be recognized in the order of the world, in the tokens of moral government, in the workings of retributive law in a word, in the facts which are justly deemed providential.
IV GOD"S GLORIOUS NAME. To the Hebrew mind there was a very close connection between the nature and attributes and the Name of the Divine Ruler and Lord. He was Jehovah, i.e. the Self-existing and Eternal, whose Being accounts for all being beside. He was the Lord of hosts, i.e. supreme over all powers, possessed of all might, ordering all natures and all processes according to his own wisdom. The angelic hosts of unseen ministers and warriors, the armies of Israel and of the nations, the innumerable forces that obey the Divine behests and bring to pass the Divine purposes, all these are beneath the cognizance and the sway of the Eternal, all these are ever executing his authoritative commandments and establishing his universal and everlasting kingdom. In the presence of a Being so glorious, so mighty, so holy, what power attaches to the monition of Scripture, "Stand in awe, and sin not"! T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind.
Amo_4:13
He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind.
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Backgrounds and foregrounds
The mountains made, for the Hebrew, the background of every landscape in which they stand. The foreground of the plain-land rests upon the background of the hills. From them it gains its lights and shadows. The two depend on one another. The background and the foreground together make the complete landscape in the midst of which a human life is set. And this is also true in the world of inner life. There is a foreground and a background to every mans career. There are things that press themselves immediately upon our attention;--the details of life; these are the foreground of our living. And then, beyond them, there are the great truths which we believe, the broad and general consecrations of our life which we have made, the large objects of our desire, the great hopes and impulses which keep us at our work. These are the mountain backgrounds of our life. They are our reservoirs of power; out of them come down our streams of strength. In the perfect picture you cannot leave out the foreground of immediate detail, nor the background of established principle and truth. The danger of our life is not, ordinarily, lest the foreground be forgotten or ignored. The details of life command us and attract us. The backgrounds of life we are most likely to forget. To most men the actual immediate circumstances of life are so pressing that they forget the everlasting truths and forces by which those circumstances must be made dignified and strong. We are troubled by the superficialness and immediateness of living. There is a need of distance and of depth. And the distance and the depth are there, if men would only feel them.
1. Behind every foreground of action lies the background of character, on which the action rests, and from which it gets its life and meaning. It matters not whether it be an age, a nation, a Church, a man; anything which is capable both of being and of acting must feel its being behind its acting, must make its acting the expression of its being, or its existence is very unsatisfactory and thin. What is all your activity without you? How instantly the impression of a character creates itself, springs into shape behind a deed. If this were not so, life would grow very tame and dull. An engine has no background of character. Its deeds are simple deeds. Man, being character, will care for nothing which has not character behind it, finding expression through its life. Here is the value of reality, sincerity, which is nothing but the true relation between action and character. Expressed artistically, it is the harmony between the foreground and background of a life. What will be the rule of life which such a harmony involves? Will it not include both the watchfulness over character and the watchfulness over action, either of which alone is woefully imperfect? When will men learn that to feed the fountain of character, and yet never neglect the guiding of the streams of action, is the law of life? All the perplexing questions about the contemplative and active life, about faith and practice, about self-discipline and service of our fellow-men, have their key and solution hidden somewhere within this truth of the background and foreground. What culture is there by which the human life can be at once trained into character, and at the same time kept true in active duty? Only the culture of personal loyalty, admiration for a nature and obedience to a will opening together into a resemblance to Him whom we ardently desire, and enthusiastically obey. I recall what Jesus said, You must be born again,--that is His inexorable demand for the background of character. If ye love Me, keep My commandments,--that is His absolute insistence on the foreground of action. And the power of both of them--the power by which they both unite into one life--lies in the personal love and service of Himself. Closely related to the background of character, yet distinguishable from it is what I may call the background of the greater purpose. A mans purpose in life lies behind, and gives dignity and meaning to everything that the man does or says. The greater purpose may be bad or good, horrible or splendid. In the smaller world, it is a mans profession which makes the most palpable background of his life. But the great purpose is ruled by the man, as well as the man by the great purpose, and it is the complicated result of the mutual ruling that makes the life. Both the great purpose, and its immediate activities, are provided with their safeguards, that they may not be lost. A closing word upon another of the backgrounds of life. Prayer. The foreground of prayer is the intense, immediate desire for a certain blessing; the background of prayer is the quiet, earnest desire that the will of God, whatever it may be, should be done. What Christs prayer was, all true prayer must be. Remember that it is only in personal love and loyalty that life completes itself. Only when man loves and enthusiastically obeys God does the background of the universal and the eternal rise around the special and temporary, and the scenery of life become complete. Therefore it is that Christ, who brings God to us, and brings us to God, is the great background-builder. (Phillips Brooks.)
He declareth unto man what is his thought.
The Lord showing to man his thought
Our first inference from these words naturally is, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man. How little do we realise this truth, and, in consequence, how little restraint do we exercise over our thoughts! We may be careful in our doings, we may even try, by Gods help, to watch over our words, but our thoughts, the action of the highest part of man, the workings of the immortal soul, how often do we suffer them to wander ungoverned, to indulge in vanity, to exercise themselves in sin! What would our neighbours think of us could they read our thoughts, all our thoughts? All our thoughts are known to God. Many of us are earnestly trying, by the grace of God, to rule and govern our thoughts. The Christian may dare to lay open his thoughts before God, to call Gods attention to them, to sanctify them. The text reminds us that He who knows the thoughts of man also declares to man what they are. He teaches him to discern between good and evil thoughts, between those that are the fruits of the Spirit and such as proceed from the corrupt fountain of the human heart. And this He is pleased to do in different ways and for different purposes. God declares unto man his thought by His Holy Word, to produce conviction of sin, or to speak peace and comfort, according to his need. And God will declare unto man what are his thoughts at the last day. (F. J. Scott, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:13 This verse appears to be a hymn fragment,…
4:13 This verse appears to be a hymn fragment, possibly sung by the worshipers at Bethel (for other hymn fragments, see 5:8-9; 9:5-6). Israel had been treating God as a baal—a local god with limited power. But the God they professed to worship and whom they would face in judgment is all-powerful.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.