Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
Parallel Translations
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Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
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Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.
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Seek the LORD, and live — lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Bethel —
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Amos 5:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 55:6 Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.
- Ezekiel 20:47-48 Tell the forest of the South, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word: The Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree. The burning flame will not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north will be burned by it. All flesh will see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it. It will not be quenched.” ’ ”
- Ezekiel 33:11 Tell them, ‘ “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?” ’
- Genesis 48:8-20 Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?” Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see well. Joseph brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him. Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.” When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.” He blessed them that day, saying, “Israel will bless in you, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’ ” He set Ephraim before Manasseh.
- Amos 5:4 For Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live;
- Amos 5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.
- Zechariah 10:6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off: for I am Yahweh their God, and I will hear them.
- Mark 9:43-48 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire, ‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having your two feet to be cast into Gehenna, into the fire that will never be quenched— ‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ If your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out. It is better for you to enter into God’s Kingdom with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire, ‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’
- Exodus 22:6 “If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
- Joshua 18:5 They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall live in his borders on the south, and the house of Joseph shall live in their borders on the north.
- Judges 1:22-23 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city before that was Luz.)
- 2 Samuel 19:20 For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore behold, I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”
- 1 Kings 11:28 The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph.
- Isaiah 1:31 The strong will be like tinder, and his work like a spark. They will both burn together, and no one will quench them.”
- Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
- Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and will not be quenched.”
- Ezekiel 37:19 tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand.
- Amos 6:6 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He then adds, Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live…
He then adds, Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live This repetition is not superfluous: the Prophet confirms what I have already stated, that such was the opposition between the true and legitimate worship of God, and idolatry and superstition, that the people of Israel, as long as they retained their corruptions, proved that they had nothing to do with God, whatever they may have pretended with their mouths and by their ceremonies. Seek God, he says, and ye shall live; and this repetition was very useful for this end, that hypocrites might know that they were justly condemned, inasmuch as they did not consecrate themselves wholly to God; for they were ever ready to contend with God whenever they could. “Why does God deal so strictly with us? why does he not concede to us at least something? for we do not deny him every thing. But if we do what we think to be right, why does he not indulge us at least on this account?” But when God not only urges hypocrites by his doctrine, but visits them also with punishments then they become angry, and even raise a clamor. Hence the Prophet, the second time, calls them to this duty, Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; as though he said, “Ye will gain nothing by evasion; for if any one seeks God truly and from the heart, God will not disappoint him; he will receive him into favor and will bless him. That ye then pine away in your calamities, impute this to your own obstinacy and stubbornness: it is so, because ye do not truly seek God; for while ye retain your corruptions, as I have said before, ye do not seek him.”
But he adds Lest he pass on like a fire. צלח, tselach, means to pass on, to advance; it means also to break out, and sometimes to prosper; but, in this place, the Prophet no doubt meant what I have said. Then it is, Lest he advance like fire upon the house of Joseph and consume it, and there be none to extinguish it in Bethel. The kind of vengeance which God threatened is not here expressed, but it may be easily understood. There is, therefore, in the meaning no obscurity; for he declares, that if the Israelites hardened their hearts against God, a burning was nigh at hand, which would seize on them, devour, and consume them. There shall come then or shall advance, a fire upon the house of Joseph; some say, shall burst out, which amounts to the same thing. By the house of Joseph is meant Ephraim; for he was, we know, the second son of Joseph; and, by taking a part for the whole, the Prophets usually include the ten tribes, as it is well known, when they mention Ephraim; and the kingdom of Israel is sometimes called the house of Joseph. Lest then he ascend as fire into the house of Joseph, and consume it, and there be none to extinguish it: this was said, because the Israelites never thought that they should be thus consumed by a sudden burning. The fire then shall devour the house of Joseph, and there will be none to quench it.
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In the verse before I omitted one thing, to which I shall now advert. The Prophet said, that Bethel would be for a trouble, or be nothing. Bethel, we know, is called in another place Bethaven, the house of iniquity; and Aven means in Hebrew sometimes iniquity, sometimes grief or trouble, sometimes labor or difficulty, and sometimes nothing. It is not to be taken for iniquity in this place; this is certain: but Amos, on the contrary, speaks of punishment, which awaited that place, since it was abominable in the sight of God. As then he had said of Gilgal, that it would be rolled; so now he says of Bethel, that it would be for a trouble or grief, or be nothing. Either senses would be appropriate; — that Bethel, from which the Israelites hoped for a remedy to all their evils, would be to them a trouble, that is, the cause of their ruin, or that it would be nothing; as though he had said, that their hopes would be fallacious and empty in expecting any relief from Bethel. It afterwards follows —
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 5:6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live;…
Amo 5:6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour [it], and [there be] none to quench [it] in Bethel.
Ver. 6. Seek ye the Lord, and ye shall live] See Amo 5:4. Sic eadem saepe surdis et obstinatis inculcantur (Mercer). The continual pressing of a duty imports: 1. The excellency; 2. The necessity; 3. The difficulty of doing it: else what need so many words? Perquam durum est, sed ita lex scripts est, saith Ulpian. Hard or not hard, it must be done, or men are undone.
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Lest he break out like fire] Lest he go through you and burn you together, Isa 27:4, lest ye be "utterly burnt with fire in the same place," 2Sa 23:7, that is, in hell (as some expound it), which the prophet called tormenting Tophet, Isa 30:33, and Plato calleth πυριφλεγεθων, a fiery lake; so terrible, saith Bellarmine, that one glimpse of it were enough to make a man not only turn Christian and sober, but anchorite {a} and monk; to live after the strictest rule that may be.
{a} A person who has withdrawn or secluded himself from the world; usually one who has done so for religious reasons, a recluse, a hermit. ŒD
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 Seek the Lord, and ye shall life: the prophet…
Seek the Lord, and ye shall life: the prophet repeateth his exhortation to repentance with the repeated promise of a good issue hereon: see Amo 5:4.
Lest he break out: this is a new argument to persuade them to do their duty, for unless they do it God’s judgments will break out upon them.
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Like fire; suddenly, with strength and prevalence, as the Hebrew word here rendered break out importeth. In the house of Joseph; the kingdom of the ten tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim, who was the younger son of Joseph, and the first erecter of this kingdom was an Ephraimite, 1Ki 11:26.
And devour it; utterly consume it, as fire useth to do where it gets head and prevaileth.
And there be none to quench it in Beth-el; if once this fire break out from God, all your idols in Beth-el shall not be able to quench it; no tears from your eyes there shed, no blood of sacrifice there offered, shall quench it.
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 Seek the Lord, and ye shall live,.... This is,…
Seek the Lord, and ye shall live,.... This is, repeated to stir up unto it, because of their backwardness and slothfulness, and to show the importance and necessity of it. By the "Lord" may be meant the Messiah, Israel's God that was to come, and they were to prepare to meet, Amo 4:12; and the rather, since life spiritual and eternal is only to be had from him, and he is to be sought unto for it, and all the blessings of it, peace, pardon, righteousness, rest, and salvation as well as temporal deliverance, and all outward mercies:
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it; that is, lest his wrath and fury break out like fire as the Targum, by sending an enemy to invade the land, destroy it, and carry the inhabitants of it captive; even all the ten tribes, who frequently go by the name of Ephraim the son of Joseph, that being the principal tribe, and the first king of them being of it:
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and there be none to quench it in Bethel; the calf worshipped there, and the priests that officiated, would not be able to avert the stroke of divine vengeance, or turn back the enemy, and save the land from ruin. The Targum is,
"and there be none to quench it, because of your sins, who have been serving idols in Bethel.''
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 The house of Joseph - The kingdom of the…
The house of Joseph - The kingdom of the ten tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim, the son of Joseph. In Beth-el - If once this fire breaks out, all your idols in Beth-el shall not be able to quench it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live]…
Verse 6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live] Repeated from Am 5:4.
In the house of Joseph] The Israelites of the ten tribes, of whom Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph, were the chief.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Amo 5:6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live…
Amo 5:6. Seek the Lord, and ye shall live — He repeats his exhortation, and also the promise of a good issue on their complying with it. Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph — That is, the kingdom of the ten tribes, the chief whereof was Ephraim the son of Joseph. And there be none to quench it in Beth-el — As if he had said, If once this fire break out, all your idols in Beth-el shall not be able to quench it. A proper caution this to the Israelites, not to trust in their idolatrous worship for their safety, because it would be so far from averting the divine wrath, or saving them from God’s judgments, that it would provoke that wrath still more, and hasten the execution of his judgments.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Seek ye the Lord and ye shall live -…
Seek ye the Lord and ye shall live - Literally, “seek the Lord and live;” being united to Him, the Fountain of life. He reimpresses on them the one simple need of the creature, “seek God,” the one true God as He revealed Himself, not as worldly people, or the politicians of Jeroboam’s court, or the calf-priests, fabled of Him. “Seek Him.” For in Him is all; without Him, nothing.
Lest He break out like fire in Bethel - Formerly the Spirit of God came vehemently down upon Sansom Jdg 14:6, Jdg 14:19; Jdg 15:14 and Saul 1Sa 10:6; 1Sa 11:6 and David 1Sa 16:13, to fit them as instruments for God; as did the Evil spirit, when God departed from Saul 1Sa 18:10. So now, unless they repented, God Himself would suddenly show His powerful presence among them, but, as He had revealed Himself to be, “the, Lord thy God is a consuming Fire” Deu 4:24. “And devour” it, literally, “and it” (the fire) “shall devor, and” there be “none to quench” it “in” (better, “for”) Bethel.” Bethel, the center of their idol-hopes, so far from aiding them then, shall not be able to help itself, nor shall there be any to help it. The fire of God kindles around it, and there is none to quench it for her (as in Jer 4:4).
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Montanus: “The whole place treateth of mercy and justice. The whole ground of people’s punishment, calamities, condemnation is ascribed to their own fault and negligence, who neglect the deliverance often promised and offered them by God, and ‘love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil’ Joh 3:19. Whoever is not saved, the whole blame lies in their own will and negligence and malice. God, who ‘willeth not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ 2Pe 3:9, Himself unsought, seeks, entreats, ceases not to monish, exhort, set before them their guilt, that they may cease to prepare such evil for themselves. But they neither give Him entrance, nor hear His entreaties, nor admit the warnings of the divine mercy, which if they neglect, they must needs be made over to His justice. The goodness of God is lacking to no one, save those who are wanting to themselves. Wherefore, having often besought them before, He invites them yet again to salvation, putting forth that His Name, so full of mysteries of mercy; ‘Seek the Lord and live,’” seek Him who is, the Unchangeable. He who had willed their salvation, still willed it, for He “changes not” Mal 3:6. “He adds threatenings, that those whom He calls to life, He might either allure by promises, or scare from death through fear of the impending evil.”
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 Joseph. His two grandchildren gave name to the principle…
Joseph. His two grandchildren gave name to the principle tribes of the kingdom. --- Bethel. Septuagint, "Israel," which seems preferable. (Calmet) --- Yet Bethel may stand, as it denotes the apostate Israelites.
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 break out like fire--bursting through everything in His way.…
break out like fire--bursting through everything in His way. God is "a consuming fire" (Deu 4:24; Isa 10:17; Lam 2:3).
the house of Joseph--the kingdom of Israel, of which the tribe of Ephraim, Joseph's son, was the chief tribe (compare Eze 37:16).
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none to quench it in Beth-el--that is, none in Beth-el to quench it; none of the Beth-el idols on which Israel so depended, able to remove the divine judgments.
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 6. Seek Jehovah, &c.] The exhortation of Amo_5:4 is…
6. Seek Jehovah, &c.] The exhortation of Amo_5:4 is repeated, and enforced with a fresh motive—lest a fire, namely, kindled by Jehovah, advance irresistibly, and spread irretrievable destruction in Israel.
break out] lit. come mightily, advance forcibly. It is the word used of the spirit of God coming mightily upon Samson (Jdg_14:6; Jdg_14:19; Jdg_15:14), Saul (1Sa_10:6; 1Sa_11:6), and David (1Sa_16:13). The comparison of Jehovah to a fire, as Deu_4:24; Isa_10:17; cf. Deu_32:22; Jer_4:4 (“lest my fury go forth as fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it”; so Jer_21:12).
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house of Joseph] i.e. the Northern kingdom generally, Joseph being the ancestor of its most powerful tribe, Ephraim (which accordingly is used often by Hosea in the same sense). Son_5:15; Son_6:6; Oba_1:18; Zec_10:6; Psa_78:67; cf. Eze_37:16; Eze_37:19.
for Beth-el] named specially as the principal religious centre of Israel.
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 (6) Render, lest he rush down like fire on…
(6) Render, lest he rush down like fire on the house of Joseph (i.e., the Northern Kingdom). For “in Bethel” read “for Bethel.” Let the blending of mercy with judgment be here observed, “Seek Jehovah and live, lest this evil befall you.” The curse is still conditional.
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 Break out like fire. God is called "a consuming…
Break out like fire. God is called "a consuming fire" (Deu_4:24; Heb_12:29; comp. Jer_4:4) And devour it; Septuagint, Opwv mhmyh wJv pur oJ oikov jIwshf kaigh aujton, "Lest the house of Joseph blaze as fire, and he devour him;" Vulgate, Ne forte comburatur ut ignis domus Joseph, et devorabit. But it is best to take the last member of the sentence thus: "and it (the fire) devour." The house of Joseph. Ephraim, i.e. the kingdom of Israel, of which Ephraim was the distinguishing tribe. In Bethel; or, for Bethel. The LXX, paraphrasing, has, tw oikw jIsrahl, "for the house of Israel."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Seek Yahweh
Seek Yahweh
Here "Seek Yahweh" represents asking him for help. AT: "Ask Yahweh for help" or "Ask me, Yahweh, for help" (See: Metaphor)
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he will break out like fire
Here "break out like a fire" represents destroying things as fire destroys things. AT: "he will become like a fire that breaks out suddenly and destroys everything" or "he will destroy everything like a fire" (See: Simile)
the house of Joseph
This phrase is a metonym for the descendants of Joseph. Here it represents the northern kingdom of Israel, whose two largest tribes were the descendants of Joseph. AT: "the descendants of Joseph" or "Israel" (See: Metonymy and Synecdoche)
It will devour
The word "it" refers to the fire, and "devour" represents destroying everything. God destroying everything is spoken of as if a fire were to destroy everything. AT: "It will destroy everything" or "He will destroy everything" (See: Metaphor)
there will be no one to quench it
"there will no one to stop it" or "there will be no one to stop him from destroying everything"
turn justice into a bitter thing
Here "a bitter thing" represents actions that harm people, and "turn justice into a bitter thing" represents harming people rather than doing for them what is just. AT: "say that they are doing what is just, but instead they harm people" or "refuse to do what is just and harm people instead" (See: Metaphor)
throw righteousness down to the ground
This represents treating righteousness as if it were worthless. AT: "treat righteousness as though it were as unimportant as dirt" or "you despise what is righteous" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
fire
devour
quench
just
righteous
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:6 The northern kingdom of Israel (literally the house…
5:6 The northern kingdom of Israel (literally the house of Joseph) was dominated by the tribes of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (see study note on 5:15; see Hos 5:3, 5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.