Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?
Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of the stall;
who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive; and the feasting and lounging will end.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1–7 The Prophet now directs his discourse not only to…
The Prophet now directs his discourse not only to the Israelites, to whom he was especially given as an instructor and teacher, but includes the Jews also: and yet he addresses not all indiscriminately, but only the chief men, who were intent on their pleasures, as though they were exempt from the common miseries: for he does not, as many suppose, reprove here luxury and pride only; but we must remember a fact connected with their case, — that they were not awakened by God’s judgments; when God severely punished the sins of the people, the chief men remained ever heedlessly in their own dregs. This security is now condemned by our Prophet.
And this is a very common evil, as we may see, in the present day. For when the Lord afflicts a country with war or with famine, the rich make great gain of such evils. They abuse the scourges of God; for we see merchants getting rich in the midst of wars, inasmuch as they scrape together a booty from every quarter. For they who carry on war are forced to borrow money, and also the peasants and mechanics, that they may pay taxes; and then, that they may live, they are obliged to make unjust conditions: thus the rich increase in wealth. They also who are in authority, and in favor at the court of princes, make more gain in wars, in famine, and in other calamities, than during times of peace and prosperity: for when peace nourishes, the state of things is then more equable; but when the poor are burdened, the rest grow fat. And this is the evil now noticed by the Prophet.
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Hence he pronounces here a curse on the secure and those at ease; not that it is an evil thing, or in itself displeasing to God, when any one quietly enjoys his leisure; but, not to be moved, when the Lord openly shows himself to be displeased and angry, when his scourges are manifestly inflicted, but to indulge ourselves more in pleasures, — this is to provoke him, as it were, designedly. The secure, then, and the presumptuous the Prophet here condemns, for it became them to humble themselves when they saw that God was incensed against them. They were not indeed more just than the multitude; and when God treated the common people with such severity, ought not the chiefs to have looked to themselves, and have examined their own life? As they did not do this, but made themselves drunk with pleasures, and put far off every fear and thought that the scourges of God were nothing to them, — this was a contempt deservedly condemned by the Prophet. We see that God was in the same manner greatly displeased, as it is recorded in Isaiah: when he called them to mourning, they sang with the harp, and, according to their custom, feasted sumptuously and joyfully, (Isaiah 23:12) As then they thus persevered in their indulgences, the Lord became extremely angry; for it was, as though they avowedly despised him and scorned all his threatening.
We now observe the design of the Prophet, which interpreters have not sufficiently noticed. It behaves us indeed ever to keep in view these scourges of God, by which he began to visit the sins of the people. God can by no means endure, as I have said, such a contumacy as this, — that men should go on in the indulgence of their sins and never regard their judge and feel no guilt. Hence the Prophet says, Woe to you who are secure in Zion, who are confident, that is, who are without any fear, on the mount of Samaria He names here the mount of Zion and the mount of Samaria; for these were the chief cities of the two kingdoms, as we all know. The whole country had been laid waste with various calamities; the citizens of Jerusalem and of Samaria were, at the same time, wealthy; and then trusting in their strongholds, they despised God and all his judgments. This then was the security, full of contumacy, which is condemned by the Prophet.
He then mentions their ingratitude: he says that these mountains had been celebrated from the beginning of the nations, and that the Israelites entered into them. God here upbraids both the Jews and Israelites with having come to a foreign possession: for they had got those cities, not by their own valour, but the Lord drove out before them the ancient inhabitants. Seeing then that they perceived not that a safe dwelling was given them there by the Lord, that they might purely worship him and submit to his government, their ingratitude was inexcusable. The Prophet then, after having inveighed against the gross and heedless security, with which the chiefs of both kingdoms were inebriated, now mentions their ingratitude: “Ye are not natives, but ye have come in, for God did go before you, for it was his will to give you this land as your possession: why then are you now so inflated with pride against him? For before your time these cities were certainly well known and celebrated; and yet this was of no avail to the natives themselves. Why then do ye not now fear the Lord’s judgment and repent, when he threatens you? Yea, when he shows his scourges to you?” We now perceive the Prophet’s meaning in this verse. It now 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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 These two cities were famous by their first inhabitants…
These two cities were famous by their first inhabitants the Canaanites: and seeing beforetime they did nothing avail them that were there born, why should you look that they should save you which were brought in to dwell in other men’s possessions?
The Prophet threateneth the wealthy, which regarded not God’s plagues nor menaces by his Prophets.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–7 Amo 6:1 Woe to them [that are] at ease…
Amo 6:1 Woe to them [that are] at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, [which are] named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
Ver. 1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion] That lie sleeping on both sides ( In utramvis aurora dormiunt), and slighting the former menaces, as Leviathan doth the iron weapons, Job 41:27, that live as if ye were out of the reach of God’s rod; and as for all your enemies, ye puff at them, saying, We shall not be moved, we shall never be in adversity, Psa 10:5-6. To these sleepers in Zion God here sends forth his summons (the word Hoi signifieth as well Heus as Vae, ho as wo, Isa 55:1 Zec 2:6. Ho, ho, come forth), that were quiet and still, Zec 1:11, lulled asleep by Satan, or rather. cast into a dead lethargy: Samson-like their enemies are upon them, and they fast asleep the while; Ishbosheth-like they stretch themselves upon their beds of ivory, till they lose, not their precious lives only, but their immortal souls. Security ushereth in destruction; those that are at ease in Zion shall be raised by a dreadful woe rung in their ears, that shall make their hearts fall down, and their hairs stand upright. In the froth of carnal security and sensual delights is bred that worm of conscience that never dieth, Mar 9:44, and here begins to grub and gnaw; like as while the crocodile sleepeth with open mouth, the Ichneumon, or Indian rat, shoots himself into his bowels; after which he never is at ease, as having his entrails daily devoured; so that one while he will be in the water, and anon after on the land, till life fails him.
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And trust in the mountain of Samaria] Are carnally confident and secure (πεποιθοσιν. Septuag.), as when good David also gotten upon his strong mountain, Psa 30:6-7, but was soon confuted: "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." The best are apt by rest to contract rust; and being fully fed, to wax wanton, Deu 32:15. To affect more mundi delicias quam Christi divitias, as one saith, the world’s dainties than Christ’s comforts: to trust in uncertain riches than to rely upon the living God, who giveth them all things richly to enjoy, 1Ti 6:17. This must be looked to; for it hath a woe hanging at the heels of it, Jer 17:5-6 Psa 52:7; Psa 52:9.
Which are named chief of the nations] Heb. expressly named, declared, notified, celebrated,
chief] the head, or first-fruits, the head and height, principium, id est, praecipuum gentium. So Amalek is called the first of the nations, Num 24:20; haply they held themselves so: as the Egyptians afterwards boasted much of their antiquity, and the Chinese at this day do of their excellence and perspicuity above other nations. Many wicked ones are of great renown in this world, Psa 73:4; Psa 73:6, and stand much upon their titles and terms of honour; who yet in the next generation shall be utterly forgotten, Psa 109:13, for that their names are not written in heaven, Rev 17:8; and look how much they have glorified themselves, and lived deliciously, so much torment and ignominy shall be given them, Rev 18:7.
To whom the house of Israel came] The whole house of Israel, viz. the two tribes to Zion, the ten to Samaria, vel sacrorum causa, vel iudiciorum, saith Drusius, as to places of worship, and besides, courts of justice. Others sense it thus, The house of Israel came unto them, that is, the Israelites invaded those nations that once held Zion and Samaria, and succeeded them therein; not by any strength of their own, but by God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm, which they, ungrateful wretches, acknowledge not: but come in for themselves ( להם), so Ribera rendereth it, quasi sibi tantum nati, se solos esse aliquid, as if they were the only proprietaries, the sole owners of all; and owned no service to any chief lord. Such insolence grows from security. See Job 21:23.
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 On vv1–7 Woe! this compriseth many and great sorrows, all that…
Woe! this compriseth many and great sorrows, all that God intends against these sinners.
To them that are at ease; who live in abundance, eat, drink, sleep, and are secure, that think to-morrow shall be as this day, and neither fear nor believe the threatened judgments of God. Zion, by a synecdoche put for the kingdom of the two tribes, and principally the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Zion; the ten tribes were hitherto threatened, now the prophet warns the two tribes.
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And trust in the mountain of Samaria; woe to them also who rely upon the strength, wealth, and policy of the king, princes, cities, and kingdom of Samaria or Israel!
Which, which two cities, Zion and Samaria, are named chief of the nations; accounted chief cities among the known cities of that part of the world. Others refer this passage to the nobles, wise men, and great men of each place, men that were heads among their own people.
To whom the house of Israel came; to which places all Israel had recourse; so the two tribes went up to Zion, the ten tribes went to Samaria: or, to whom, i.e. to which nobles and rulers, the people of each kingdom did go on all occasions for judgment, counsel, or refuge.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 The first words of the chapter are the contents…
The first words of the chapter are the contents of these verses; but they sound very strangely, and contrary to the sentiments of a vain world: Woe to those that are at ease! We are ready to say, Happy are those that are at ease, that neither feel any trouble nor fear any, that lie soft and warm, and lay nothing to heart; and wise we think are those that do so, that bathe themselves in the delights of sense and care not how the world goes. Those are looked upon as doing well for themselves that do well for their bodies and make much of them; but against them this woe is denounced, and we are here told what their ease is, and what the woe is.
I. Here is a description of their pride, security, and sensuality, for which God would reckon with them.
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1. They were vainly conceited of their own dignities, and thought those would secure them from the judgments threatened and be their defence against the wrath both of God and man. (1.) Those that dwelt in Zion thought that was honour and protection enough for them, and they might there be quiet from all fear of evil, because it was a strong city, well fortified both by nature and art (we read of Zion's strong-holds and her bulwarks), and because it was a royal city, where were set the thrones of the house of David (it was the head-city of Judah, and therefore truly great), and especially because it was the holy city, where the temple was, and the testimony of Israel; those that dwelt there doubted not but that God's sanctuary would be a sanctuary to them and would shelter them from his judgments. The temple of the Lord are these, Jer 7:4. They are haughty because of the holy mountain, Zep 3:11. Note, Many are puffed up with pride, and rocked asleep in carnal security, by their church-privileges, and the place they have in Zion. (2.) Those that dwelt in the mountain of Samaria, though it was not a holy hill, like that of Zion, yet they trusted in it, because it was the metropolis of a potent kingdom, and perhaps, in imitation of Jerusalem, was the head-quarters of its religion; and by lapse of time the hill of Shemer became with them in as good repute as the hill of Zion ever was. They hoped for salvation from these hills and mountains. (3.) Both these two kingdoms valued themselves upon their relation to Israel, that prince with God, which they looked upon as masking them the chief of the nations, more ancient and honourable than any of them; the first-fruits of the nations (so the word is), dedicated to God and sanctifying the whole harvest. The house of Israel came to them, that is, was divided into those kingdoms, of which Zion and Samaria were the mother cities. Those that were at ease were the princes and rulers, the great men, that were chief of the nations, chief of those two kingdoms, and to whom, having their residence in Zion and Samaria, the whole house of Israel applied for judgment. Note, It is hard to be great and not to be proud. Great nations and great men are apt to overvalue themselves, and to overlook their neighbours, because they think they a little overtop them. But, for a check to their pride and security, the prophet bids them take notice of those cities that were within the compass of their knowledge, that had been as illustrious in their time as ever Zion or Samaria was, and yet were destroyed, Amo 6:2. "Go to Calneh (which was an ancient city built by Nimrod, Gen 10:10), and see what has become of that, it is now in ruins; so is Hamath the great, one of the chief cities of Syria. Sennacherib boasts of destroying the gods of Hamath. Gath was likewise made desolate by Hazael, and not long ago, Kg2 12:17. Now were they better than these kingdoms of Judah and Israel? Yes, they were, and their border greater than your border, so that they had more reason than you to be confident of their own safety; yet you see what has become of them, and dare you be secure? Art thou better than populous No?" Nah 3:8. Note, The examples of others' ruin forbid us to be secure.
2. They persisted in their wicked courses upon a presumption that they should never be called to an account for them (Amo 6:3): "You put far away the evil day, the day of reckoning, as a thing that shall never come, or you look upon it as at such a distance that it makes no impression at all upon you; you put it far away, and think you can still put it yet further, and adjourn it de die in diem - from day to day, and therefore you cause the seat of violence to draw near; you venture upon all acts of injustice and oppression, and have fellowship with the throne of iniquity, which frames mischief by a law, Psa 94:20. You cause that to come near, as if that would be your protection from these judgments which really ripens you for them." Note, Therefore men take sin to be near them, because they take judgment to be far off from them; but those deceive themselves who thus mock God.
3. They indulged themselves in all manner of sensual pleasures and delights, Amo 6:4-6. These Israelites were perfect epicures and slaves to their appetites. Their dignities (in consideration of which they ought to have been examples of self-denial and mortification), they thought, would justify them in their sensuality; the gains of their oppression and violence, they thought, would bear the charge of it; and they put the evil day at a distance, that they might give them no disturbance in it. That which they are here charged with is not in itself sinful (these things might be soberly and moderately used), but they placed their happiness in the gratification of their carnal appetites; and though they were men in office, that had business to mind, they gave themselves up to their pleasures, spent their time in them, and threw away their thoughts, and cares, and estates upon them. They were in these enjoyments as in their element. Their hearts were upon them; they exceeded all bounds in them, and this at a time when God in his providence was calling them to weeping and mourning, Isa 22:12, Isa 22:13. When they were under guilt and wrath, and the judgments of God were ready to break in upon them, they called for wine and strong drink, presuming that tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant (Isa 56:12), thus walking contrary to God and setting his justice at defiance. (1.) They were extravagant in their furniture. Nothing would serve them but beds of ivory to sleep upon, or to sit on at their meat, when sackcloth and ashes would have become them better. (2.) They were lazy, and humoured themselves in the love of ease. They did not only lie down, but stretched themselves upon their couches, when they should have stirred up themselves to their business; they were willingly slothful, and took a pride in doing nothing; they abound in superfluities (so the margin reads it), when many of their poor brethren wanted necessaries. (3.) They were nice and curious in their diet, must have every thing of the best and abundance of it: They ate the lambs out of the flock (lambs by wholesale) and the calves out of the midst of the stall, the fattest they could lay their hand on; and these perhaps not out of their own flock and their own stall, but taken by oppression from the poor. (4.) They were merry and jovial, and diverted themselves at their feasts with music and singing: They chant to the sound of the viol, sing and play in concert, and they invent new-fashioned instruments of music, striving herein, more than in any thing else, to excel their ancestors; they set their wits on work to contrive how to please their fancy. Some men never show their ingenuity but in their luxury; on that they bestow all their faculty of invention and contrivance. They invent instruments of music, like David, entertain themselves with that which formerly used to be the entertainment of kings only. Or it intimates their profaneness in their mirth; they mimicked the temple-music, and made a jest of that, because, it may be, it was old-fashioned, and they took a pride in bantering it as the Babylonians did when they urged the captives to sing to them the songs of Zion; such was Belshazzar's profaneness when he drank wine in temple-bowls, and such is theirs that sing vain and loose songs in psalm-tunes, on purpose to ridicule a divine institution. (5.) They drank to excess, and never thought they could pour down enough: They drank wink in bowls, not in glasses, or cups (as Jer 35:5); they hate to be stinted, and must have large draughts, and therefore make use of vessels that they can steal a draught out of. (6.) They affected the strongest perfumes: They anoint themselves with the chief ointments, to please the smell, and to make them more in love with their own bodies, and to guard against those presages of putrefaction which they carry about with them while they live. No ordinary ointments would serve their turn; they must have the chief, such as were far-fetched and dear-bought, when cheaper would have served as well.
4. They had no concern at all for the interests of the church of God, and of the nation, that were sinking and going to decay: They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; the church of God, including both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (which are called Joseph, Psa 80:1), was in distress, invaded, insulted, and broken in upon. As to their own kingdom which they were entrusted with the government of, the affairs of which they were directors of, the peace of which they were the conservators of, great breaches were made upon it, upon its peace and welfare; and they were so besotted that they were not aware of them, so indulgent of their pleasures that they never laid them to heart, and had such an aversion to the thing called business that they were in no care or concern to get them repaired. It is all one to them whether the nation sink or swim, so that they can but lie at ease and live in pleasure. Particular persons that belonged to Joseph were in affliction, and they took no cognizance of their case of the wrongs and hardships they sustained and the troubles they were in, nor took any care to relieve them, and right them, contrary to the temper of holy Job, who, when he was in prosperity, wept with him that was in misery and his soul was grieved for the poor, Job 30:25. Some think that, in calling the afflicted church Joseph, there is an allusion to the story of Pharaoh's butler, who, when he preferred to give the cup again into his master's hand, remembered not Joseph, but forgot him, Gen 40:21, Gen 40:23. Thus they drank wine in bowls, but were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Note, Those are commonly careless of the troubles of others who are set upon their own pleasures; and it is a great offence to God when his church is in affliction and we are not grieved for it, nor lay it to heart.
II. Here is the doom passed upon them (Amo 6:7): Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and shall fall into all the miseries that attend captives; and the banquet of those that stretched themselves upon their couches shall be removed. Their plenty shall be taken from them, and they from it, because they made it the food and fuel of their lusts. 1. Those who lived in luxury shall lose even their liberty; and by being brought into servitude shall be justly punished for the abuse of their dignity and dominion. 2. Those who trusted in the delights and pleasures of their own land shall be carried away into a strange land, and so made ashamed of their pride and confidence; they shall go captive. 3. Those who placed their happiness in the pleasures of sense, and set their hearts upon them, shall be deprived of those pleasures; their banquet shall be removed, and they shall know what it is to fare hard. 4. Those who stretched themselves shall be made to contract themselves, and to come into a less compass. 5. Those who put the evil day far from them shall find it nearer to them than it is to others; those shall go captive with the first who flattered themselves with hopes that if trouble did come they should be the last who should be seized by it. Those are ripening apace for trouble themselves who lay not to heart the trouble of others and of the church of God. Those who give themselves to mirth, when God calls them to mourning, will find it a sin that shall not go unpunished, Isa 22:14.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–7 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion,....…
Woe to them that are at ease in Zion,.... Or "secure" (c) there; which was a strong hold, the city of David, the seat of the kings of Judah; where their court was kept, and the princes and chief men resided and thought themselves safe, the place being well fortified with walls, towers, and bulwarks: or "at ease"; that is, in easy, prosperous, comfortable circumstances of life; as Job was before his troubles, and others he mentions, Job 16:12; though to be in such a state is not criminal, but a blessing of Providential goodness, for which men should be thankful, and make use of it aright: but "woe to the rich in Zion" (d), as the Vulgate Latin Version renders it, when they have nothing else but temporal riches; this is all their portion, and the whole of their consolation, Luk 6:24; when they trust in these uncertain riches, and consume them on their lusts, as described in the following verses; are unconcerned at the troubles of others, and give them no relief, but despise them, Job 12:5; and even are thoughtless about their own future state, and put away the evil day far from them, Luk 12:19; and such are they who like Moab are at ease from their youth as to their spiritual state, Jer 48:11; never had any true sight of sin, or sense of danger; never complain of a body of sin, or are concerned about sins of omission or commission; nor troubled with the temptations of Satan, and have no fears and doubts about their happiness; and such there be who yet are in Zion, or in a church state, which Zion often signifies; and being there, trust in it, and in the privileges of it, and so are secure, and at ease; such are the foolish virgins and hypocrites, who place their confidence in a profession of religion, in being church members, and in their submission to external ordinances, and so cry Peace, peace, to themselves, when, destruction is at hand: and are moreover at ease, and wholly unconcerned about the affairs of Zion, both temporal and spiritual, and especially the latter; they do not trouble themselves about the doctrines they hear, whether truth or error; and about the success of them, whether they are made useful for conversion and edification; and about the continuance of a Gospel ministry, and a succession in it; and about the discipline of the church of God, and the walk of professors; or about what trials and afflictions are like to come upon the churches; or about the judgments of God in the earth; and therefore such carnal secure persons are either called upon to awake out of their sleep, and come off of their beds of ease, and shake off their vain confidence and carnal security; for the word may be rendered "ho" (e), as a note of calling, as in Isa 55:1; or a threatening of calamity is denounced upon them, that the day of the Lord should come upon them as a thief in the night, or as a snare upon them that dwell on earth, and they be surprised with the midnight cry, and with the terrors of devouring flames, as the foolish virgins and hypocrite's in Zion will, Mat 25:6. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "who despise Zion", or "neglect" her; and the word is sometimes used of insolent persons, and to express their insolence; see Isa 37:29; and so may be understood, not of the Jews in Jerusalem, but of the ten tribes, as the following clause; who despised Zion, the city of solemnities, the temple; and, the worship of God there, and set up the calves at Dan and Bethel, and worshipped them; and therefore a woe is denounced upon them;
and trust in the mountain of Samaria; in the city of Samaria, built on a mountain, a strong fortified city, where they thought themselves safe; the royal city of the kings of Israel, the head of Ephraim, and the metropolis of the ten tribes, who here are intended: though the words may be rendered, and the sense given a little different from this, as woe to the "confident" ones that ate in Samaria (f); not that put their trust in Samaria, but dwell there; but, however, are confident in their own strength, wealth, and might. The Targum is,
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"that trust in the fortress of Samaria;''
see Kg1 16:24;
which are named the chief of the nations; the persons at ease in Zion, and trusted in Samaria, were the principal men of both nations, Judah and Israel; or these cities of Zion and Samaria were the chief of the said nations: Zion, Which was near Jerusalem, and includes it, was the metropolis of Judea; as Samaria was the head city of Ephraim, or the ten tribes. The Targum is, that
"put the name of their children, as the name of the children of the nations;''
as the Jews did in later times, giving their children the names of Alexander, Antipater, &c.
to whom the house of Israel came; meaning not to the seven nations, of which the two named cities were chief, into which Israel entered, and took possession of, and dwelt in; for Samaria never belonged to them, but was built by Omri king of Israel, long after the entrance of the Israelites into the land of Canaan, Kg1 16:24; but the cities of Zion and, Samaria, into which the whole house of Israel came, or had recourse unto, at certain times: the ten tribes came to Samaria, where their kings resided, the court was kept, and the seats of judgment were; and the two tribes came to Zion, to Jerusalem, to the temple there, to worship the Lord.
(c) "secure sedentibus", Munster; "securos", Mercerus, Castalio, Burkius. (d) "Opulentis", Tigurine version. (e) "heus", Piscator, Tarnovius, Burkius. (f) "confidentibus qui habitant in monte Samariae", Liveleus; "securis qui habitant in monte", Samariae, Drusius.
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 On vv1–7 The security of Israel and Judah, ver. 1-6. Their…
The security of Israel and Judah, ver. 1-6. Their punishment, ver. 7-14.
At ease - That neither fear nor believe the threatened judgments of God. In Zion - That is put for the kingdom of the two tribes, and principally the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Samaria - Woe to them also who rely upon the strength, wealth, and policy of the kingdom of Samaria or Israel. Which - Which two cities, Zion and Samaria. Named chief - Accounted the chief cities of that part of the world. To whom - To which place all Israel had recourse, the two tribes to Zion, the ten tribes to Samaria.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–7 The prophet reproves his people for indulging themselves in
CHAPTER VI
The prophet reproves his people for indulging themselves in
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luxurious ease, and forming alliances with their powerful
idolatrous neighbours, 1.
He asks if their lands or their lot be better than their
own, 2,
that they should choose to worship the gods of the heathen,
and forsake Jehovah. Then follows an amplification of the sin
which the prophet reproves, 3-6;
to which he annexes very awful threatenings, confirmed by the
oath of Jehovah, 7, 8.
He next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by
pestilence, 9-11;
by famine, or a drought that should harden the earth so that it
could not be tilled, 12;
and by the sword of the Assyrians, 14.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI
Verse 1. Wo to them that are at ease in Zion] For השאננים hashshaanannim, "who dwell at ease," it has been proposed to read השעננים hashshaanannim, "who confidently lean," the two words differing only in one letter, an ע ain for an א aleph. They leaned confidently on Zion; supposing that, notwithstanding their iniquities they should be saved for Zion's sake. Thus the former clause will agree better with the latter, "leaning upon Zion," and "trusting in the mountain of Samaria." Those that are at ease may mean those who have no concern about the threatened judgments, and who have no deep concern for the salvation of their own souls. Houbigant would read, "Wo to them who despise Zion, and trust in Samaria." So the Septuagint, reading שנאים soneim, hating, instead of שאננים shaanannim, being at rest, tranquil. Calmet first proposed this conjecture; Houbigant follows him.
Are named chief] Newcome renders, "That are named after the chief of the nations;" and observes, that the Hebrew word נקבי nekubey is an allusion to marking a name or character by punctures. See on Isa 44:5. They call themselves not after their ancestors, but after the chief of the idolatrous nations with whom they intermarry contrary to the law.
Perhaps the words here rather refer to the mountains and their temples, than to the people. The mountain of Zion, and the mountain of Samaria, were considered the chief or most celebrated among the nations, as the two kingdoms to which they belonged were the most distinguished on the earth.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 7 Amo 6:1. Wo to them that are at ease…
Amo 6:1. Wo to them that are at ease in Zion — Who are secure, as the margin reads, continuing in their sins, fearless of God’s judgments, and resolved to indulge themselves in that voluptuousness and ease which their riches give them an opportunity of enjoying, notwithstanding the evident tokens of God’s displeasure against the whole nation, both Israel and Judah. For these and the following words contain a threatening against both kingdoms, although the chief design of this prophecy is against the kingdom of Israel. Because the word שׁאננים, which our translation renders at ease, signifies also to be insolent, therefore the LXX. translate the clause, Ουαι τοις εξουθενουσι Σιων, Wo unto them that despise Zion, in which sense the words may fitly belong to the ten tribes, who despised Zion, and the temple, though God had chosen it to place his name there. And trust in the mountain of Samaria — In the strength of their capital city, built on the hill of Samaria. Which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came — “Zion, or Jerusalem, and Samaria, were the chief seats of the two kingdoms, whither there was the greatest resort of the whole nation. The Chaldee interprets it, ‘Who give names to their children, according to the names of the chief of the heathen, to whom the house of Israel apply themselves for protection.’ Thus, in later times, some of the Jews took the names of Alexander, Antipater, Agrippa, and the like, to compliment some great men among the Greeks or Romans of those names.” — Lowth.
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 On vv1–7 Woe to them that are at ease - The…
Woe to them that are at ease - The word always means such as are recklessly at their ease, “the careless ones,” such as those whom Isaiah bids Isa 32:9-11, “rise up, tremble, be troubled, for many days and years shall ye be troubled.” It is that luxury and ease, which sensualize the soul, and make it dull, stupid, hard-hearted. By one earnest, passing word, the prophet warns his own land, that present sinful ease ends in future woe. “Woe unto them that laugh now: for they shall mourn and weep” Luk 6:25. Rup.: “He foretells the destruction and captivity of both Judah and Israel at once; and not only that captivity at Babylon, but that whereby they are dispersed unto this day.” Luxury and deepest sins of the flesh were rife in that generation (see Joh 8:9; Rom 2:21-24; Luk 11:39, Luk 11:42; Mat 23:14, Mat 23:23, Mat 23:26), which killed Him who for our sakes became poor.
And trust in the mountain of Samaria - Not in God. Samaria was strong (see the note above at Amo 3:9), resisted for three years, and was the last city of Israel which was taken. “The king of Assyria came up throughout all the land and went up to Samaria, and besieged it 2Ki 17:5. Benhadad, in that former siege, when God delivered them 2Ki 7:6, attempted no assault, but famine only.
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Which are named the chief of the nations - Literally, “the named of the chief of the nations,” that is, those who, in Israel, which by the distinguishing favor of God were “chief of the nations,” were themselves, marked, distinguished, “named.” The prophet, by one word, refers them back to those first princes of the congregation, of whom Moses used that same word Num 1:17. They were “heads of the houses of their fathers Num 1:4, renowned of the congregation, heads of thousands in Israel Num 1:16. As, if anyone were to call the Peers, “Barons of England,” he would carry us back to the days of Magna Charta, although six centuries and a half ago, so this word, occurring at that time , here only in any Scripture since Moses, carried back the thoughts of the degenerate aristocracy of Israel to the faith and zeal of their forefathers, “what” they ought to have been, and “what” they were. As Amalek of old was “first of the nations” Num 24:20 in its enmity against the people of God , having, first of all, shown that implacable hatred, which Ammon, Moab, Edom, evinced afterward, so was Israel “first of nations,” as by God. It became, in an evil way, “first of nations,” that is, distinguished above the heat by rejecting Him.
To whom the house of Israel came, or have come - They were, like those princes of old, raised above others. Israel “came” to them for judgment; and they, regardless of duty, lived only for self-indulgence, effeminacy, and pride. Jerome renders in the same sense, “that enter pompously the house of Israel,” literally, “enter for themselves,” as if they were lords of it, and it was made for them.
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 On vv1–7 Wealthy. Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, "despisers of Sion." Hebrew…
Wealthy. Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, "despisers of Sion." Hebrew also, "who hate Sion." The prophecy wholly regards Israel. (Calmet) --- It is a great crime for the rich to neglect the poor; but still more so, when wealthy clergymen shew no compassion for the spiritual or corporal wants of their neighbours. (Worthington) --- State. Hebrew, "to whom the house of Israel comes" for judgment.
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Amos 6
Amos 6
4. Woe to the Secure who think that the Day of the Lord is far off
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1 Woe to the secure1 in Zion,
And to the careless in the mountain of Samaria!
To the princes of the first of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Pass over2 to Calneh and see,
And go thence to Hamath the great,
And go down to Gath of the Philistines;
Are they better than these kingdoms,
Or is their territory greater than your territory?
3 Ye who put far off the evil day,
And bring near the seat of violence;
4 Who lie upon beds of ivory
And stretch themselves upon their couches,
Who eat lambs out of the flock,
And calves from the fattening stall:
5 Who trill3 to the sound of the harp,
Like David, they invent string instruments,4
6 Who drink wine out of sacrificial bowls,5
And anoint themselves with the best oils,
And do not grieve for the hurt of Joseph.
7 Therefore now shall they go captive at the head of the captives,
And the shout6 of the revellers shall depart.
8 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself,
Saith Jehovah, God of hosts,
I abhor the pride of Jacob7
And hate his palaces,
And will give up the city and the fullness thereof.
9 And if ten men are left in one house they shall die.
10 And his cousin8 and his burier shall lift him up,
To carry his bones out of the house,
And shall say to the one in the inmost recess of the house,
“Is there still any one with thee?” and he says, “Not one,”
Then shall he say, “Be still,
For we must not call upon Jehovah’s name.”
11 For behold, Jehoyah commands, and men smite the great house9 into ruins
And the small house into pieces.
12 Do horses indeed run upon the rock,10
Or do men plough there with cattle,
That ye have turned justice into poison,
And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood?
13 Ye who rejoice in a thing of nought,11
Who say, “With our own strength we have taken to us horns.”
14 For, behold, I raise up over you, O house of Israel,
Saith Jehovah, God of hosts, a nation,12
And it shall oppress you from the entrance Hamath to the brook of the desert.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Amo_6:1-6. A sharp censure of the thoughtless revelry of the heads of the nation. The woe points back to the similar exclamation in Amo_5:18. There a woe was pronounced upon those who mistakenly desired the day of the Lord, as if it would bring to them prosperity. Here the question is of the confident who bestowed no thought at all upon that day. Amo_6:1, in Zion: shows that the rebuke includes Judah also, although the subsequent description refers especially to the great men “in the hill of Samaria.” And as these are the distinguished in the nation, so the nation itself is called the first or most exalted of all nations, naturally enough, since it was the chosen, peculiar people of God. These princes are further described as those to whom the house of Israel comes, i. e., for counsel and direction. Justly remarks Hengstenberg (Auth. Pent., i. 148), that thus “the chief men were reminded that they were the successors of those ‘princes of the tribes’ who were formerly thought worthy to be joined with Moses and Aaron in managing the affairs of the chosen people.”
Amo_6:2. How high they stood, is now shown by the fact that Israel, at whose head they were placed, was not inferior in prosperity or greatness to the mightiest heathen states. [He bids them look east, north, and west, and survey three neighboring kingdoms. Calneh (Calno in Isaiah, Calneh in Ezekiel), was built by Nimrod in the land of Shinar (Gen_10:10) but is not mentioned again in Scripture until this place. Afterwards it became celebrated under the name of Ctesiphon. Julian’s generals held it impregnable, being built on a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Tigris. Hamath the great was the capital of the Syrian kingdom of that name on the Orontes. Gath was one of the five chief cities in Philistia, and in David’s time the capital of the whole country.] Than these kingdoms, namely, Judah and Israel. Others say that the prophet speaks of destroyed cities, and that the Israelites are reminded of their fate as intimating that the same was in store for themselves (so Luther). This view would commend itself to favor, were it not opposed to the fair construction of the words. It might be allowed, if the double question, are they better, etc., admitted of an affirmative answer, namely, yes they are better. But this plainly cannot be. Bauer indeed sees this, and accordingly explains thus: “Observe these heathen states. Their lot is not better, their power not greater than yours; rather they have fallen while you by God’s grace still stand; if you apostatize from Jehovah, the same fate will befall you.” But how could any one speak of a power which was overthrown as “not greater” than one still standing? A comparison in respect to greatness can be made only with a still existing power. [Pusey adopts Bauer’s view, but Wordsworth and Keil agree with Schmoller in making the verse simply an expansion of the statement in Amo_6:1, that Israel is first of the nations, unexcelled by any of their heathen neighbors.]
Amo_6:3 begins the further explanation of the careless security charged in Amo_6:1. Regarding the evil day, i. e., day of judgment as far off, they cause violence to erect its throne nearer and nearer among them. [Pusey follows Jerome, Grotius, Newcome, and others in referring the throne of violence to the rule of Assyria, which the people brought nearer to them while they were thinking to put it far off. But the former reference is much more natural.]
Amo_6:4. To oppression they added luxurious sensuality (cf. Amo_2:8; Amo_3:12).
Amo_6:5. Like David they employed themselves in inventing musical instruments, but with a very different aim.
Amo_6:6. They used the best oils, at a time when there was abundant cause for mourning in the breach, i. e., the overthrow of Joseph. [The custom of anointing was usually suspended in time of mourning, 2Sa_14:2. But these so far from grieving employed the most costly unguents.]
2. Amo_6:7-10. These verses announce the punishment. The phrase at the head of the captives, contains a bitter irony. The princes should maintain their preëminence even in the procession of captives.
Amo_6:8. [The oath here is like that in Amo_4:2, except that it is by himself instead of by his holiness, but the sense is the same, for the nephesh of Jehovah, i. e., his inmost self or being, is his holiness. Keil.]
Amo_6:9-10. Ten, that is, many; but even of the many not one shall escape. This is made plainer by what follows.
Amo_6:10. When on the death of the ninth, a relative comes to the house to bury the dead, he will ask the last one, the tenth, who has retired into a remote corner to save his life, whether there is any one still with him, i. e., alive. On receiving the reply, None, he calls out to him, Silence! (literally ‘St), i. e., he interrupts him quickly lest he may utter Jehovah’s name, and by attracting Jehovah’s attention, bring down a judgment upon himself. The words, there must be no mention of the Lord’s name, are spoken, not by Amos but by the kinsman, and they do not express despair but fear. The deaths mentioned occur partly by the sword and partly by famine, both in consequence of the conquest and overthrow of the city.
[Amo_6:11. The For assigns the reason of the fearful destruction. It is the Lord’s command, and his arm reaches rich and poor alike, “regum turres ac pauperum tabernas.”]
3. Amo_6:12-14. Upon rocks can neither horses run nor man plough. What is the force of this comparison? Either the attempt to do one or the other of these things is represented as something preposterous, and the meaning is, Even so preposterous is your turning justice into poison, etc.; or it is represented as something impossible, and the sense is, Is then the impossible possible, that you turn justice, etc., and do you think you can escape unpunished, and even attain prosperity? That ye turn, etc., cf. Amo_5:7. Fruit of righteousness is said, because unrighteousness is compared with a bitter fruit.
Amo_6:13. With our strength, taken, as if the whole originated with themselves. Horns, the usual symbol of strength, here—means of over—coming foes.
Amo_6:14 contains Jehovah’s answer to this presumption. You are rejoicing in a thing of nought, for I will, etc. At the same time this verse resumes and confirms the threat in Amo_6:11, which begins with the same words, “For behold!” Assyria is plainly intended by a people, but as it was still in the distance, Amos nowhere mentions it by name. Perhaps, too, the omission was designed, in order to awaken the more attention. The entrance of Hamath, was the standing term for the northern boundary of Israel, Num_34:8; 2Ki_14:25. [For its exact place, see Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Amer. ed. p. 987]. The brook of the desert, the southern boundary, is the present Wady el-Ahsi, which separated Moab from Edom at the lower extremity of the Dead Sea. [Israel’s strength had of late been increasing steadily. Jehoash had thrice defeated the Syrians and recovered several cities. What he began, Jeroboam continued during a reign of forty-one years, until he had completely restored all the ancient boundaries of the kingdom. Amos here declares that the whole region of their triumphs should be one scene of affliction and woe. This was fulfilled after some forty-five years at the invasion of Tiglath Pileser. Pusey.]
DOCTRINAL AND MORAL
1. “Israel the first among the nations.” Again and again is the lofty position of Israel emphasized, i. e., its peculiar enjoyment of the divine favor, which was shown even in its outward relations, its power and influence as compared with surrounding nations. In these respects it could measure itself with any of them. This was not the highest motive of action, yet it should have sufficed to confirm them in fidelity to God. For the penalty of unfaithfulness was the loss of their position hitherto, a fall below other nations and a shameful end.
2. But alas, prosperity only led to self-will, and rendered them arrogant and secure. There is a striking picture in Amo_6:4-6 of an insolent, presumptuous community in which every thought of danger is drowned. The internal evils of the national life are not seen, nor is it observed how all tends steadily downward to destruction. Alas, the higher ranks here precede with their example. Instead of becoming pillars of the state by their position and culture, they help to undermine it. No wonder then that when the crash comes, they are most deeply affected and meet a frightful end.
3. The judgment which the prophet everywhere speaks of is conquest and overthrow by a foreign enemy. From this we may learn the right conception of war. It is natural to consider it a heavy calamity, since it involves the loss of fortune and life to thousands, and sometimes the downfall of entire states. But while it is true that on this account we must desire its general cessation, yet the declamations against it of the so called friends of peace are vain, proceeding, if not always yet generally, from a mind which comprehends little or nothing of the divine government of the world. In spite of all these well-meant performances, war neither will nor can cease in this world, i. e., so long as sin still exists. For it is necessary as a means of inflicting the divine chastisement upon sin. Through it God executes the judgments which, being required by his righteousness, are therefore indispensable and irresistible,—not so much upon individuals as upon nations and states which are considered as collective persons. Such acts are either processes of purification, or when the measure of iniquity is full and the time has come, works of destruction. On this ground even a war which subjectively is altogether wrong, as a war of conquest, may still be objectively justified, in so far as it is a means of executing God’s righteous wrath upon a people. On the other hand we can conceive how a war undertaken only in self-defense, and therefore righteous in itself, may yet fail of the issue one would expect. It comes as a judgment upon a people ripe for such a process, and therefore no defense avails. In other cases it does avail, and a deserved punishment overtakes the for eager for conquest. But even then the war, by the distress it causes and the sacrifices it requires, proves a serious time of sifting for the victor. Hence it is right and proper to maintain beforehand an earnest conflict against sin, lest such a heavy scourge as war should become necessary. But when such a point is reached, it becomes Christians not to utter empty declamations against war nor womanish complaints over it, but humbly to bow beneath God’s hand and patiently bear their sorrows, so that thus may spring up the fruit of a new spirit well pleasing to God. For even the destruction of a nation is so far stayed that at least “a remnant” is left to undertake a new life. And the more the kingdom of God prevails among men to the overthrow of sin, the less needful will be the frightful scourge of war; but the complete reign of peace will come only when the first earth and the first heavens are passed away and all things become new. The horrors of war may and should aid in keeping alive and intense our longing for that blissful period.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Amo_6:1. Woe to the secure. Security and vain confidence, the common faults of man! He is blind to his danger. He reels around the abyss without perceiving it, and at last would plunge headlong, were it not that God startles him with judgments. It is this that renders such strokes necessary. They are therefore to be deemed gracious acts, since they are intended to save from a total overthrow. But alas, how many refuse to heed them! First of nations. What an honor! But so much the worse if such a divine favor is not properly recognized, so much the greater the responsibility and the guilt. [The author applies this thought directly to his own nation, in view of God’s recent dealings with the German people. But surely it is equally applicable to our own favored land. If our territorial extent, our material development, our liberal institutions, our final welding together in the furnace of the war for the Union, have made us first of nations, this fact should not generate vain confidence and a stupid sensuality, but rather awaken a lively gratitude and a generous obedience to the Ruler of nations, the God of hosts.]
Amo_6:2. Pass over to Calneh, etc. A comparison with others less favored than ourselves is always wise when it prompts to humility and thankfulness. “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” Alas, often all the thanks God receives for giving us more than to others, is that we forget Him the more.
[Amo_6:3. Who put far off the evil day. The thought that the Lord has a day in which to judge man, frets or frightens the irreligious, and they use different ways to get rid of it. The strong harden themselves, and distort or disbelieve the truth. The weak and voluptuous shut their eyes to it, like the bird in the fable, as if what they dread would cease to be, because they cease to see it. (Pusev). Henderson quotes a parallel from Claudian, *In Entrop., ii. 50–54.
“Sed quam cœcus inest vitiis amor! omne futurum
Despicitur, suadentque brevem prœsentia fructum,
Et ruit in vetitum damni secura libido
Dum mora supplicii lucro, serumque quod instat,
Creditur.”
Amo_6:5. Who trill to the sound of the harp. An artificial effeminate music Which relaxes the soul, frittering the melody and displacing the power of divine harmony by tricks of art, is meet company for giddy, thoughtless, heartless versifying. Debased music is a mark of a nation’s decay, and promotes it. Like David they invent, etc. The same pains which David employed on music to the honor of God, they employed on their light, enervating, unmeaning music, and, if they were earnest enough, justified their inventions by the example of David. Much as people have justified our degraded, sensualizing, immodest dancing by the religious dancing of Holy Scripture. (Pusey.) See Bishop Sanderson, Lectures on Conscience, iii. § 13.
Amo_6:6. Drink wine out of sacrificial bowls. The first princes of the tribes (Num_7:13 ff.) showed their zeal for God by offering massive silver bowls for the service of the tabernacle; the like zeal had these princes for their own god, their belly, using the huge sacred vessels for their compotations. Like swine in the trough, they immersed themselves in their drink, “swimming in mutual swill.”13 (Ibid.) Anoint themselves, etc. In this crisis, when the divine wrath was about to break out upon the nation, and they ought to have been sitting in sackcloth and ashes, they were curious to procure the best ointment for their own use. Roman patricians, in Cicero’s days, cared only for their own fish-ponds that their tables might be well supplied with mullets and other fish, while their country was in danger of being overwhelmed with a flood; they “thought only of the cock-boat of their own fortunes when the vessel of the state was going to wreck.”.… Here is another prophetic warning for our selfish luxury. (Wordsworth.)
Grieve not for the hurt of Joseph. Joseph, the ancestor of Ephraim, the head of the ten tribes, was afflicted by his own brethren, who saw the anguish of his soul and were not moved by his tears; and when they had sold him to the Ishmaelites, sat down in heartless indifference “to eat bread” (Gen_37:23). So their descendants, the Jews, feasted at the Passover after they had killed the true Joseph (Joh_18:28). How many dwell in ceiled houses and sing to the sound of the harp and feast on the richest dainties, and care nothing for the sorrows of Christ and his Church! (Wordsworth.)
Amo_6:7. Go at the head of the captives. Preëminence in rank or wealth is often followed by preeminence in sorrow and shame. As the Wisd. of Sol. says (6:6): “For mercy will soon pardon the meekest, but mighty men shall be mightily tormented.”
Amo_6:8. The Lord hath sworn, etc. Our oaths mean, “As God is true and avenges untruth, what I say is true.” So God says, “As I am God, this is true.” God then must cease to be God if He did not hate oppression. (Pusey.)
Amo_6:9. Ten righteous men in Sodom would have saved that city. Here ten were left in one house after the siege was begun, but they did not turn to God; and therefore all were taken or destroyed.
Amo_6:10. We must not call upon Jehovah’s name. Things have come to a fearful pass when a man trembles at God’s name because he fears and must fear his wrath, and hence instead of turning to Him would rather flee away. This is a frightful exhibition of the power of an evil conscience. There must be a broken heart before a man can turn in prayer for forgiveness to the God whom his sins have offended. [He who has obstinately abused the intellectual powers given him by God, to cavil at God’s truth, will be forsaken by Him at last, and will not be able to utter his name. (Wordsworth.)]
Amo_6:11. Jehovah commands, and men smile, etc. When a people is ripe for judgment, a human conqueror acts only as a divine instrument. God’s judgment strikes equally the high and the low.
[Amo_6:12. Do horses run upon rocks, etc. It is more easy to change the course of nature, or the use of things of nature, than the course of God’s providence or the laws of his just retribution. They had changed the sweet laws of justice into the gall of oppression, and the healthful fruit of righteousness into the life-destroying poison of sin. Better to have ploughed the rock with oxen for food. For now where they looked for prosperity, they found not barrenness but death. (Pusey.)
Amo_6:13. Who rejoice in, etc. How striking, to rejoice in a non-thing! Yet this is the way with men. How much of that in which they trust is a mere nonentity! It seems to be something, and still is nothing. With our own strength, etc. Such is the language of arrogant self-confidence. But God alone is strength, and only through Him are we strong.
Amo_6:14. I raise up, etc. No foe could ever invade us, if the Lord did not raise Him up. War, therefore, is not an accident, but a providential dispensation. [Pharaoh, Hadad, Rezon, the Chaldees, are all expressly said to have been raised up by the Lord (Exo_9:16; 1Ki_11:14; 1Ki_11:23; Hab_1:6).]
Footnotes:
[1]Amo_6:1.—בֹטְהִים comes from the intransitive form, and is equivalent here to its use in Isa_32:9-11. Mount of Sam. is not the object of trust (as in E. V.) but the place where the careless security is cherished. נִקֻבֵי, a Mosaic word (Num_1:17), = specified by name, chosen, distinguished.
[2]Amo_6:2.—עִברוּ, Pass over, because the Euphrates must be crossed in going to Calneh.
[3]Amo_6:5.—הַכֹּרְטִים, ἁπ. λεγ. perhaps = פָרַד, to divide. According to Fürst it is here = to break out, especially in song. Keil interprets it to strew around, i. e., words, and thinks it describes the singing as frivolous nonsense. Meier renders it “to jingle.” [Pusey understands it as meaning “a hurried flow of unmeaning words in which the rhythm is everything, the sense nothing.” The rendering in the text, trill, is from Wordsworth.]
[4]Amo_6:5.—כְלֵי שִׁיר, lit., instruments of music, seems, from a comparison of 2Ch_34:12 with 2Ch_29:26-27, and 1Ch_23:5, to denote stringed instruments. [So Keil and Pusey.] הַשַׁב, to invent, devise.
[5]Amo_6:6.—מִזרָקִים, lit. sprinkling vessels, always elsewhere denotes bowls used in the temple service. Exo_38:3; Num_4:14; 2Ch_4:8.
[6]Amo_6:7.—מִרְזַח constr. of מַרְזֵחַ, a loud cry, here of joy. סְרוּחִים as in Amo_6:4, the stretched out, i.e., at a banquet = the revellers. Fürst assumes a second root of the same radicals, to which he gives the meaning, to be bad, to stink, and metaph., to be corrupt, and renders here, the degenerate. [This seems quite needless.]
[7]Amo_6:8.—גְּאוֹן, the pride of Jacob, i. e., everything of which he is proud. הְסִגִיר to give up, i. e., to the enemy. “The city,” means Samaria, and “its fullness,” whatever it contains.
[8]Amo_6:10.—דּוֹדוֹ, lit., uncle, here denotes any kinsman. מְסָֽרְפוֹ, lit., burner. As the Israelites were wont to bury and not burn their dead, it is supposed that the multitude of corpses compelled the latter course. עצָמִים, bones, here = body, as Exo_13:19; Jos_24:32; 2Ki_13:21.
[9]Amo_6:11.—הַבַּיִת, the singular is used indefinitely = every house, great and small. Cf. 3:15
[10]Amo_6:12.—Meier points בַּבְּקָרִים, thus, בַּבָּקָר יָם. Does man plough the sea with oxen? [But this is a mere conjecture].
[11]Amo_6:13.—לֹא־דָבָר a not-thing, somewhich which does not exist, namely, the strength mentioned in the next clause.
[12]Amo_6:14.—Few instances are found in Hebrew in which the object of a verb is so far removed from it, as גּוֹי is from טֵקְים. Henderson. הַעְַרָבָה is the well known Arabah, the deep and remarkable depression, now called the Ghor, which extends from the lake of Gennesareth to the Dead Sea.]
[13]Thomson, Autumn.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–7 Calneh--on the east bank of the Tigris. Once powerful,…
Calneh--on the east bank of the Tigris. Once powerful, but recently subjugated by Assyria (Isa 10:9; about 794 B.C.).
Hameth--subjugated by Jeroboam II (Kg2 14:25). Also by Assyria subsequently (Kg2 18:34). Compare Amo 6:14.
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Gath--subjugated by Uzziah (Ch2 26:6).
be they better--no. Their so recent subjugation renders it needless for Me to tell you they are not. And yet they once were; still they could not defend themselves against the enemy. How vain, then, your secure confidence in the strength of Mounts Zion and Samaria! He takes cities respectively east, north, south, and west of Israel (compare Nah 3:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v1 In Amo_6:1, the prophet turns once more to the…
WOE UPON THE LUXURIOUS, THE SELF-CONFIDENT, AND THE PROUD, 1-14.
In Amo_6:1, the prophet turns once more to the leaders of the people, who, reveling in wealth and luxury, were perfectly content with the present state of things, and were completely indifferent to the ruin threatening the people (Amo_6:1-6). Exile will be their punishment (Amo_6:7). The whole city and nation will be given over to destruction, because the inhabitants have perverted the truth and righteousness and have put their trust in their own resources (Amo_6:8-14).
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Condemnation of the nobles, Amo_6:1-7.
1. Woe — See on Amo_5:18.
That are at ease — Margin, “secure.” In a bad sense, those who are recklessly at ease, who are insensible to the dangers lurking on every side (Isa_32:9).
Zion — Jerusalem (Amo_1:2), the center of the southern kingdom. There is no reason for regarding this a later interpolation. While the commission of Amos was primarily to the north, it would be strange if, as a citizen of Judah, he would never make mention in his discourses of the home land; especially since conditions in Judah called for the same denunciation as those in the north. Nor is there any reason for giving to the clause a meaning different from that suggested by the English translation.
Trust — R.V., “are secure.” Not, who put their trust in the mountain of Samaria rather than in God, but identical in meaning with “are at ease” (Isa_32:9; Isa_32:11).
Which are named chief of the nations — R.V., “the notable men of the chief of the nations.” The Hebrew is ambiguous. A.V. connects chief with the subject of the preceding relative clauses. Those who live at ease and are secure are the chief, or leaders, of the nations, that is, of Israel and Judah. The Revisers understood the words differently. The first word in Hebrew, apparently entirely misunderstood by A.V., they took in apposition to the preceding relative clauses, at the same time connecting chief with nations. The first word means literally the marked ones, those who stand out prominently on account of wealth and position; therefore, notable, or, distinguished. These persons are further described as belonging to the chief of the nations, Israel, which, as the chosen people of Jehovah, occupied a unique place among the nations of the world (Exo_19:5). Some, with less probability, consider the expression ironical: Israel is the chief only according to the erroneous estimate of the people. In order to indicate even more clearly the responsibilities of the leaders and the guilt arising from their failure to meet them, the prophet adds, to whom the house of Israel came — For judgment and guidance. The house of Israel includes the inhabitants of both kingdoms.
The natural continuation of Amo_6:1 Isaiah 3 ff.; Amo_6:2 seems to interrupt the thought. For this and the additional reason that the verse is thought to contain historical allusions unsuitable in the time of Amos many commentators consider Amo_6:2 a later interpolation. The second reason is not conclusive, for the historical situation presupposed in Amo_6:2 is by no means certain (see below). Hence, other commentators see no sufficient reason for denying it to Amos, but they admit that it may not be in its original place. Still others, though conceding that the abruptness in transition is very marked, accept it as coming from Amos and retain it in its present position. In view of this divergence of opinion, it may be best, for the present, to retain the verse where it now stands and to interpret it as an utterance of Amos. But when this is done the interpretation still remains doubtful. In fact, two interpretations are possible: one connecting Amo_6:2 more closely with Amo_6:1, the other joining Amo_6:2-3 ff. If the former is accepted, the verse is an illustration of the superiority of Israel, justifying the designation “chief of the nations”; the localities named are examples of marked prosperity, which is, however, far inferior to that of Israel. By implication attention is directed to Israel’s greater ingratitude. The latter thought receives additional emphasis in Amo_6:3-6, leading up to the announcement of judgment in Amo_6:7. The other interpretation sees in the cities mentioned examples of fallen greatness and makes the verse a warning to Israel. These cities, once prominent, are now in ruin; therefore, let Israel take heed, for it may suffer a similar fate. To the first interpretation the objection may be made that the cities named, especially Calneh and Gath, were not among the most prominent cities of the eighth century B.C. Would not the prophet have selected more celebrated localities, had he desired to bring before the people examples of marked prosperity? Against the second it may be said that it is exceedingly doubtful that the three places were in ruin at the time of Amos. Gath, it is true, is not named in Amo_1:7-8, but the silence is not conclusive evidence of the city’s disappearance from the scene. On the whole, the first interpretation is preferable. If we knew more of the history of the places mentioned we might understand why Amos selected these rather than some that, judging from our present knowledge, appear to have been more prominent in his day.
Calneh — Not the Calneh of Gen_10:10, but the Calno of Isa_10:9. Where the place is to be sought is not quite certain.
Various identifications have been proposed; the most probable is that which connects Calneh with the Assyrian Kullani, mentioned in the Eponym Canon as having been conquered by Tiglath-pileser III in 738. Since in that year the latter was fighting in northern Syria, Kullani must have been located there; and it has sometimes been identified with the modern village Kullanhou, about six miles from Arpad, a little north of Aleppo. This identification is supported by Isa_10:9, where Calno and Arpad are named together.
Hamath — In ancient times a city and city state of great prominence (2Sa_8:9; 2Ki_23:33; 2Ki_25:21; Isa_10:9). It is mentioned frequently in the Assyrian inscriptions; its armies fought in the battle of Karkar in 854; Tiglath-pileser III annexed a large part of its territory to Assyria; in 720 Sargon reconquered the city and flayed its king alive. The present name of the city is Hama; it is located on the Orontes, about one hundred and fifty miles north of Dan. Its population at the present time is estimated variously from thirty thousand to sixty thousand.
From the far north they are to sweep down to the far south.
Gath — One of the five principal cities of Philistia (see on Amo_1:6-8). Its location is not altogether beyond doubt, though many scholars are inclined to identify it with the modern Tel-es-Safi, about eleven miles southeast of Ekron (Amo_1:8). The Tel-el-Amarna tablets bear witness to its great antiquity. In an inscription of Sargon, a city Gimtu Asdudim (Gath of Ashdod?) is mentioned, but it is not certain that this is the Gath of the Old Testament.
They — The cities enumerated.
These kingdoms — Israel and Judah.
Their border — The extent of their territory. Having named the cities, the prophet requests his hearers to compare their own resources with those of the three cities and to decide which is the more favored. The decision he expects to be in favor of Israel. But if Israel is the more favored, how base its ingratitude!
Amo_6:3 continues the condemnation of the reckless skepticism and luxury of the nobles.
Put far away — Not in reality, but in their own minds; they refuse to believe that it is near.
Evil day — As described in Amo_5:18-20.
Cause the seat (literally, sitting) of violence to come near — “They prepare in their very midst a place where, instead of justice, violence may sit enthroned.” Emendations are not necessary.
Amo_6:4 describes the luxury and self-indulgence.
Beds — Better, divans, or, couches.
Of ivory — With frames made of ivory, or whose frames were inlaid with pieces of ivory. These “ivory couches” are often mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions. Sennacherib claims to have received some as a part of the tribute paid by Hezekiah of Judah (Taylor Cylinder, III, 50. 36).
Stretch themselves — While eating. The ancient custom seems to have been to sit while eating (Jdg_19:6; 1Sa_20:5; 1Sa_20:24; 2Ki_4:10). Reclining is first mentioned in this passage; it may have been a foreign custom introduced by the self-indulgent nobles. The innovation would appear to the simple shepherd prophet an abomination. At a later period reclining at the table became the common custom (Mat_10:9). Another indication of wanton luxury is the eating of only the tenderest and most delicate meats.
Lambs — Not the common Hebrew word for lamb, but one implying choice quality (Deu_32:14; 1Sa_15:9).
Calves out of the midst of the stall — Kept there to be artificially fattened (Jer_46:21; Mal_4:2; compare Luk_15:23). The feasts were accompanied by excesses of every sort (5, 6).
Chant — R.V., “sing idle songs.” Various translations and interpretations of the verb have been suggested. That the reference is to music accompanying the feasts (Amo_5:23; Isa_5:12; Isa_24:9) cannot be doubted, but since the verb occurs only in this place in the Old Testament its exact meaning is uncertain. However, R.V. is probably correct.
Viol — See on Amo_5:23. Of uncertain meaning and subject to much discussion is also the last clause of the verse, in which LXX. differs considerably from the Hebrew.
Invent — Or, devise, the most natural meaning of the verb here.
Instruments of music, like David — Since no other canonical book speaks of David as the inventor of musical instruments, margin R.V. reads “like David’s,” that is, like those owned by David (1Sa_16:18). Cheyne changes the text so as to remove all reference to David and reads Amo_6:5, “who play on timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of song.” Marti reads, “who consider themselves equal to David in understanding songs.” There is no external evidence warranting these emendations. If the present text is original, whether we accept the usual or marginal translation, the passage is important in a discussion of the dates of the psalms and of the relation of David to the Psalter, as showing that even at this early date David enjoyed the reputation of possessing extraordinary musical skill, even though the allusion here is not to sacred hymns. For the reason mentioned above some commentators, thinking a reference to musical instruments out of place, translate the Hebrew “melodies of song” or “airs of song.” This translation, however, is contrary to the common usage of the word.
Drink wine in bowls — The noun is used commonly to designate the basin in which the sacrificial blood was received; but the emphasis is not on this fact; rather on the large size of the drinking vessels. Cups of ordinary size were too small, they substituted large bowls. Chief ointments [“oils”] — The finest and most expensive (see on Joe_1:10).
The thoughts of the nobles were entirely self-centered; their chief ambition was to satisfy their own lusts and fancies; others, even those whose guardians and protectors they should be, must look out for themselves.
Grieved — Literally, made sick. The present condition and prospects for the future were such as to make a sensitive person sick in heart and mind, but the selfish nobles had no concern.
Affliction — Literally, breach, or, wound. Including the present corruption, which was a sore in the body politic, and the coming calamity, which would inflict incurable wounds (Isa_1:5-6).
Joseph — See on Amo_5:6.
Amo_6:7 announces the inevitable judgment.
Therefore now — The force of the latter is logical, not temporal; the two should be read together, as in Hebrew, “Therefore now,” that is, because of the utter incompetence of the nobles.
Go captive — See on Amo_4:3; Amo_5:27; Amo_7:17.
With the first — Now they regard themselves superior to all; they will retain the lead when the calamity falls.
Banquet — Better, R.V., “revelry”; literally, loud noise.
Stretched themselves — The same word as in Amo_6:4 (see there).
Shall be removed — Lamentation (Amo_5:16) will take its place. The three Hebrew words of which Amo_6:7 b consists are very similar in sound; this paronomasia would make the utterance even more impressive.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–7 1. Woe to them that, &c.] Ah! they that.……
1. Woe to them that, &c.] Ah! they that.… and that, &c., as Amo_5:18. are at ease] Cf. Isa_32:9 (“rise up, ye women that are at ease”), Isa_32:11. The word (though it may be used in a good sense, ib. Isa_32:18; Isa_32:20) denotes, in such a context as die present, those who are recklessly at ease, and live on in tranquillity and contentment, insensible to real danger.
in Zion] For the allusion to Judah, cf. Amo_2:4-5.
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trust] are secure (R.V.), viz. without sufficient ground: in parallelism with ‘at ease,’ just as in Isa_32:9; Isa_32:11 (A.V., R.V., careless).
the men of mark of the first of the nations] i.e. the nobles of Samaria, who are described as the cream of a nation, which was itself (partly by its prosperity, partly by its theocratic privileges: cf. Jer_3:19; Eze_20:6; Eze_20:15) the first of the nations. But the expression first of the nations may be used in irony, to reflect Israel’s own opinion of itself: so Wellh. and G. A. Smith. Men of mark (R.V. notable men) is lit. marked, marked out: elsewhere the same verb is rendered expressed (sc. by name, opposed to the unnamed crowd); cf. Num_1:17, 1Ch_12:31; 1Ch_16:41, 2Ch_28:15 (in all “expressed by name”).
to whom the house of Israel come] viz. for judgement (Exo_18:16; 2Sa_15:4). They hold a position of responsibility, they are raised above their fellow-citizens, and have to administer justice to them, and yet they are heedless of the interests entrusted to them and live only for themselves (Amo_6:3 ff.).
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 On vv1–7 (1) Trust.—The word for “trust” is a participle, and…
(1) Trust.—The word for “trust” is a participle, and we should translate as the parallelism indicates: the confident (or complacent) dwellers in the mountain of Samaria; i.e., the upper luxurious classes, “the chief of the first of nations,” meaning the rulers, to whom Israel, the supreme and highly-favoured nation, comes up for judgment and for guidance in all civil affairs. These are now summoned to listen to the rebuke of the Divine Judge.
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 On vv1–7 Vers. 1-6. With a second woe the prophet denounces…
Vers. 1-6. With a second woe the prophet denounces the chiefs of the whole nation, who were quite satisfied with the present state of things, and, revelling in luxury, feared no coming judgment.
Them that are at ease in Zion; living in fancied security and self-pleasing (Isa_32:9, Isa_32:11; Zep_1:12) Judah is included in the denunciation, because she is equally guilty; the whole covenant nation is sunk in the same dangerous apathy. Septuagint, toiv ejxouqenousi Siwn, "them that set at naught Zion." The same rendering is found in the Syriac, and can be supported by a small change in the Hebrew. It may have been intended thus to confine the announcement to Israel alone, in conformity with the prophet"s chief scope. But he has introduced mention of Judah elsewhere, as Amo_2:4 Amo_6:5 Amo_9:11, and his sense of his own people"s careless ease may well lead him to include them in his warning . Trust in the mountain of Samaria. The city was deemed impregnable, and it kept the Assyrians at bay for three years before it was finally taken. (2Ki_18:9, etc.; see notes on Amo_3:9 and Amo_4:1) Another rendering, not so suitable, is, the careless ones upon the mountain of Samaria. The point, however, is the supposed impregnability of the city which occasioned a feeling of perfect security. Which are named chief of the nations; rather, to the notable men of the chief of nations; i.e. the principal men of Israel, which had the proud title of the chief of the nations because it was beloved and elected of God, and was designed to keep alive true religion, and to set an example to the rest of the world. (Num_1:17; Deu_4:20; 2Sa_7:23) Septuagint, ajpetroghsan ajrcav ejqnwn, "they plucked the chiefs of the nations," where the verb is a mistaken Tendering. To whom the house of Israel came; or, come. Resort for counsel and judgment, (2Sa_15:4) and who ought therefore to be patterns of righteousness and equity. The rendering of the Vulgate, ingredientes pompatice domum Israel, "entering with pomp into the house of Israel" (which does not agree with the present Hebrew text), implies that these chieftains carried themselves haughtily in the congregation of Israel.
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Vers. 1-7.
Wantonness the way to woe.
God"s thoughts are not as ours. He sees things all round; we see but one side of them. He sees the inner reality of things; we see but their outward semblance. He sees the tendency and ultimate result of things; we but guess their probable tendency, knowing nothing of distant results whatever. Hence, in their estimates of life and of good, "the wisdom of men is foolishness with God." The passage before us is an illustration of this The conditions of being desiderated by carnal wisdom are here declared utterly baneful, its calculations fallacious, and its canons of judgment false. We see here
I THE GREATNESS OF THE WICKED. This is no uncommon sight, (Psa_37:35) nor one whose lesson is hard to read. (Psa_92:7)
1. Israel was first of the nations. (Ver. 1.) In its palmy days, and even now, it would have compared favourably with the neighbouring heathen states (ver. 2). It had the power of unique knowledge. It had the greatness of a unique culture. It had the glory of a unique Divine connection. (2Sa_7:23) With an equal numerical, financial, and territorial strength, it held, in virtue of these advantages, a pre-eminence above any other people. Its wealth and magnificence were the admiration of even Oriental sovereigns; (1Ki 10) its armies, under normal circumstances, could hold their own with any of the time; (1Sa_15:1-8) and the white wings of its commerce gleamed on every sea. In spite of national unfaithfulness and rebellion and wickedness, God"s promise to Abraham to make of him "a great nation" had been, in the fullest sense, accomplished.
2. These were the chiefs of Israel. (Ver. 1.) They were magistrates, rulers, and judges of the people. They occupied the position of princes, and the house of Israel came to them for the regulation of its affairs. "They were the descendants of those tribe princes who had once been honoured to conduct the affairs of the chosen family along with Moses and Aaron, and whose light shone forth from that better age as brilliant examples of what a truly theocratical character was" (Hengstenberg), This was a proud position, and it had brought the usual amount of arrogance with it.
II THE SECURITY OF THE GREAT. "Woe to the secure!" Conscious strength makes men and nations feel secure. As to Israel:
1. They were secure in religious privilege. "In Zion." They presumed on their covenant relation. They ignored its sanctions, disregarded its responsibilities, and took it as a guarantee of immunity, even in sin. Religion is only good as a whole. To have its privileges without its spiritual character leads through carnal security to carnal indulgence, and so to a condition worse than to be destitute of both.
2. They were secure in strategic strength. "And to the careless upon the mountain of Samaria." Samaria was a strong place, a mountain fortress, situated in a rich valley. It held out against Benhadad, King of Syria, defying assault, and escaping reduction even by famine. (2Ki 7) To Shalmaneser, long afterwards, it only yielded after a three years" siege. (2Ki_17:5, 2Ki_17:6) Man naturally looks for victory to "the big battalion." This is reasonable in the case of a human enemy, but mere fatuity if the enemy be God.
3. They were secure in self-deception. "Put far away the evil day." Security, beaten out of one retreat, betakes itself to another. Trust in our earthly resources win ultimately fail. Security in external religious advantages will some day be broken also by a rude awaking. But the Fabian policy still prevails, and proves an almost impregnable last resort. "It cannot be for a long while yet" is an argumentative device that seldom fails to reassure.
III THE WANTONNESS OF THE SECURE. The idea of immunity is an encouragement to sin. Among Israel"s sins were:
1. Indolence. "Stretch themselves upon their couches." This is the first temptation of wealth. Work has ceased to be necessary, and the easily acquired habit of idleness very soon develops indolence of disposition. Having nothing to do leads to doing nothing, and when a man does nothing for a while he wants to go on with it.
2. Luxury. "Lie upon beds of ivory;" "Eat lambs," etc. Luxury is a direct result of indolence. Having nothing else to occupy their attention, men concentrate it on themselves. They make it the business of their life to coddle themselves, with the inevitable result of becoming harder to please. As the appetite is pampered it becomes more dainty, and must be tempted with luxury after luxury, if any measure of relish would be retained.
3. Effeminacy. "Who trill to the sound of the harp" (ver. 5). The tendency of luxury is to unman. On the discontinuance of manly exercises follows closely the loss of manly qualities. Pampering the body weakens body and mind both, and prepares the way for occupations that will be in character. Effeminacy grows fastest when nursed in the lap of luxury. The Israel that was too fastidious to lie on anything but an ivory couch, or too dainty to touch coarser fare than "the fatted calf," was too enervated in a little while for any manlier pastime than trilling to a harp.
4. Profanity. "Drink wine out of sacrificial bowls." "The pleasures of sin" are only "for a season." They quickly wear out. Zest and relish fail, and satiety and disgust follow. Hence the tendency of indulgence to become more and more extravagant and eccentric. It is an attempt to stimulate failing powers of enjoyment by presenting new sensations. Then the natural heart is essential enmity against God. Accordingly, in the case of a thoroughly perverted nature, when a sinful indulgence has ceased to give pleasure as indulgence, it will continue to do so as sin. Israel had now fallen so low as this. Sensual indulgence began to pall, and it took a fresh lease of enjoyableness by becoming sacrilegious.
5. Heartless egotism. "And do not grieve for the hurt of Joseph." Sin is essentially selfish, and the sin of self-indulgence supremely so. The happiness, and even the lives, of others are as nothing in the balance against lust. Let who may suffer, let what may happen, the sensualist will indulge. To such a person philanthropy and patriotism are alike impossible. He will "not grieve for the hurt of Joseph" even when he is himself responsible for it. He could play comfortably "while Rome burns.
6. Increasing violence. "And bring near the seat of violence." As destruction becomes more imminent, the violence that provokes it becomes more extreme. This is sometimes due to the blindness that will not see; sometimes to the recklessness that does not care; sometimes to the malignity that, forecasting overthrow, would do all the evil possible before it comes. In any case it is aggravated and judgment-hastening sin.
IV THE DOOM OF THE WANTON. Here, as elsewhere, punishment answers to crime, both as to degree and kind.
1. Cherished indulgence should be interrupted. "The shouting of the revellers will depart" (ver. 7). This is about the first step in retributive punishment. The criminal"s enjoyment comes to be centred in his sin, and to interrupt it is a sharp blow. The retributive measure to which lust is most of all amenable is to put a stop to indulgence. Deprive the oppressor of his power, the extortioner of his opportunity, the drunkard of his drink, and already the work of taking vengeance on him is well begun.
2. Apposite hardship should be inflicted. "Shall go captive." As captives they should endure oppression, not inflict it. For indulgence would be substituted privation in every form. They would make juster acquaintance with luxury by having the means of it wrung out of their own helplessness and misery. It is no doubt along these lines that eternal reward and punishment are arranged. Heaven will be the perfect exercise and enjoyment of all that is pure and spiritual in desire and taste. Hell, among other things, will be the cutting off forever of sinful sources of enjoyment, for which the wicked had learned to live.
3. Those who had been first among the nations should be first among thecaptives. This is only fitting. The guilt of any evil movement culminates in its ringleaders, and "first in transgression, first in punishment," is a maxim of natural justice. Those who organize and officer a wicked movement are those on whom justice will lay the earliest and the heaviest hand.
Sorrow dogging the secure.
Human life is proverbially uncertain. "We know not what shall be on the morrow," whether we ourselves shall be. "The unexpected" is always happening; and the lesson of this is take nothing for granted that is still future. In the religious sphere the application of this principle would put an end to carnal security, and at this object our text aims. As to the security denounced here, notice
I THE SPHERE OF IT. "In Zion." This is often in Scripture a name for the Church on earth. (Rom_9:33; see on Amo_1:2) The membership of this is mixed. (Mat_13:30, Mat_13:41) There are cold and hot and lukewarm among them. Some love God, some hate him; some are in equilibrio, having neither declared for him nor against him. Of the last two classes many are at ease. The ideal of spiritual life is watchfulness, activity, and self-suspicion; but these qualities need not be looked for in unspiritual men. Their fitness is not seen, nor the motives to them felt. Though in the Church, they are not of it; and the characters of their life are not those proper to the sincere believer.
II THE MEANING OF IT. There are principles at hand on which to account for it without difficulty.
1. Preoccupation. Spiritual things ought to get our first and best and continuous attention (Mat_6:33 Mat_26:41; Luk_13:24) But they do not. The careless "eats and drink, and marry, and are given in marriage", (Luk_17:27) and so events come on them unawares. The householder relaxes his vigilance, and as a result his house is broken into. (Mat_24:43) The wise virgins as well as the foolish sleep, (Mat_25:5) and the bridegroom comes on them unawares. The security is foolish in proportion to the interests involved, and criminal in proportion to the number and plainness of arousing circumstances.
2. Blindness. The natural man is blind in spiritual things. (1Co_2:14) He does not see the beauty of spiritual qualities, nor (Isa_53:2) the self-evidentness of spiritual principles, nor the inviolability of spiritual deliverances, nor the grounds of spiritual assurance, nor the evidences of approaching Divine action, He sees neither what has been, nor what is, nor what is coming. Accordingly, he is secure and at ease in the very teeth of danger.
3. Presumption. Men do not adequately realize sin as to either its guilt or danger. They live in it equably and calmly, as if it were the normal thing. They anticipate no evil and no disturbance. They reckon on being spiritual fixtures, and on the perpetual maintenance of the status quo. They do not mean to turn, nor take account of being disturbed; but assume that there will be "no changes" forevermore. Character is become stereotyped, conscience is silent, and the quiet of strong delusion is within them and around.
III THE VARIETIES OF IT. The secure in Zion are not all secure in the same degree or sense.
1. Some are secure in sin. They expect to sin on and suffer no evil. Either they do not recognize the inseparable connection between the two, or they trust to the chapter of accidents for something to intervene and stay proceedings before evil actually falls. (Isa_28:15)
2. Some are secure in morality. They trust in the arm of flesh. They persuade themselves that they are but little to blame. They view the coming judgments as provoked by, and meant for, others. They see nothing in their own life to provoke them; and they build on this as a ground of immunity from evil when the day of it shall come. And so they are secure; less guiltily, it may be, but no more reasonably than the secure in sin. (Jer_17:5; Rom_3:20)
3. Some are secure in ordinances. They locate spiritual power in Church forms. The sacraments, they say, contain and convey the grace they signify. Regeneration with them means a sprinkled face, and justification an elevated host, and sanctification an exhaustive observance of ordinances. Many are secure in the persuasion of these things. They put a hollow form of godliness for its spirit and power, and lull their souls to rest in its deep recesses.
IV THE OCCASIONS OF IT. There is an incongruity about it that seems to call for explanation. In the case of Israel, and others like it, one cause was:
1. Unvarying prosperity. "Because they have no changes they forget God." People calculate on uniformity. As life has been, so they easily assume it will be. A smiling world is a dangerous tranquillizer. Even the godly experience this, (Psa_119:67) and the direct tendency of adversity is to prevent it. (2Co_4:17, 2Co_4:18) An unbroken run of prosperity is most unfavourable to spiritual life and liveliness.
2. Luxurious living. (Ver. 4.) The course of religion in the soul is just the progress of a warfare between flesh and spirit. (Rom_7:23) To this warfare there is one uniform issue the triumph of the spiritual principle. But victory is not won without a struggle. The spiritual principle waxes strong only under culture. The flesh gets weak only By being crucified. If it be let alone it will grow strong, much more if it is indulged and fed. Hence "fulness of bread and abundance of idleness" (Eze_16:19) are a revealed occasion of spiritual declension; and God was lightly esteemed and forsaken when Jeshurun "waxed fat, and grew thick". (Deu_32:15) Luxury is leaving its mark on all the Churches in indolence and self-indulgence and a lowered spiritual tone.
1. Companionship of the ungodly. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise," etc. Character propagates itself begets character in its own likeness. Familiarity with sin breeds tolerance of it. A sinful example is a temptation to sin. So long as men not impeccable instinctively imitate each other, association with the wicked must, to a certain extent, corrupt. The corrupter any society is, the lower will be the spiritual tone of the Church in it. All Israel were not alike guilty, nor alike secure. Many were innocent, no doubt, of the special national sins; and there is no reason to suppose that they all were recklessly at ease in Zion. But it is certain that the security of many was due to the hardening influence of the sins become familiar to his mind.
2. Sin. This is not an occasion merely, but a cause, and the most fruitful cause of all. Sin both blinds and hardens. The more sin we commit the less do we see of its consequences, the less do we fear what we can see, and the further are we from an appreciative knowledge of God in those characters which lead inevitably to the punishment of it. The climax of security is more than likely to correspond to the extreme of wickedness. It was so with Israel. Never was she more corrupt, yet never was she more recklessly at ease, than when these words were spoken.
V THE EVIL OF IT. "Woe to them," etc.! Wherever the security is the woe is denounced.
1. With the godly it comes before a fall. They stand by faith. That faith is not an act merely; it is a habit of soul It is not maintained at normal strength without an effort. And the frame most favourable to its maintenance at par is evident from the injunction, "Be not high-minded, but. (Rom_11:20) In the perfect realization of our dependence on God is the condition of abiding faith, and in the maintenance of such faith is the condition of escaping a fall From the moment Peter soared in his own imagination, his fall was a foregone conclusion. (Mat_26:33, Mat_26:34)
0. With the ungodly it comes before destruction. Carnal security is in proportion to blindness, and blindness is in proportion to corruption. When a sinner is most secure he most of all deserves his doom, and is least of all on his guard against it. Hence, as the height of imagined safety is the depth of real danger. (1Th_5:3) No surer sign of destruction near than the cry, "Peace, peace!
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 1.
Religious indifference and false security.
Amos was a native of the southern kingdom, but his ministry was mainly to Israel. His impartiality appears in the censures and reproaches which he addresses, as in this passage, to both Judah and Samaria. But the description applies to professing Christians today as accurately as if it had just then been written, and had been explicitly applied to such. How many who are called to devotion and diligence are "at ease," are "confident," or "secure"!
I THE DISPOSITION AND HABIT HERE CONDEMNED. The following elements are to be recognized.
Self-satisfaction.. Self-indulgence.. Indifference.. Carelessness.. Negligence.
II THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH AGGRAVATE THE SIN OF INDIFFERENCE AND SECURITY. In the case of those here addressed we observe:
1. That they resided in places which were themselves a reminder of thecharacter of Jehovah and of his past "dealings" with the chosen people.
2. That they occupied positions fitted to inspire them with a sense ofpersonal responsibility. They were the distinguished chiefs of the nations the men to whom the people looked as their leaders, and in whom they might reasonably expect to find an example of piety, unselfishness, and zeal
3. That they lived in times when the judgments of God were abroad, andwhen insensibility to duty and religion were all the more inexcusably culpable.
III THE EVIL FOLLOWING UPON THE DISPOSITION AND HABIT HERE CONDEMNED.
1. Divine displeasure is prophetically declared against those who are atease when they should be at work, against those who are secure and confident when they should be examining and judging themselves, and beginning a new and better life.
2. Moral deterioration cannot but follow upon such a state of mind as ishere depicted. The slothful are the first to feel the ill effects of their sloth; the habit grows, and a religious, not to say a heroic, life becomes an impossibility.
3. National disaster and punishment are entailed by the indifference andunfaithfulness of those who are called to be a nation"s guides and rulers. T.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1-6.
Woeful ease.
to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!" etc. "This chapter embraces the character and punishment of the whole Hebrew nation. The inhabitants of the two capitals are directly addressed in the language of denunciation, and charged to take warning from the fate of other nations (vers. 1, 2). Their carnal security, injustice, self-indulgence, sensuality, and total disregard of the Divine threatenings are next described (vers. 3-6). After which the prophet announces the Captivity and the calamitous circumstances connected with the siege of Samaria, by which it was to be preceded (vers. 7-11). He then exposes the absurdity of their conduct, and threatens them with the irruption of an enemy that should pervade the whole country (vers. 12-14)" (Henderson). The words of our text (ver. 1) denounce a state of mind which most men desiderate Amidst the harassing cares, turmoils, and agitating events of life, men on all hands are crying out for ease. Like mariners that have long battled with tempests, they long for a calm sea in which to drop anchor and be at rest. But here there is a fearful "woe" denounced against ease. What is this ease?
I IT IS THE EASE OF PRIDE. These great nations, Judah and Israel, the one having its seat in Zion and the other in Samaria, because of their imaginary superiority as the chief of the nations, settled down in carnal security. Those that dwelt in Zion, or Jerusalem, felt themselves safe because of its historic grandeur, its temple, the dwelling place of the Almighty, and its mountain fortifications. Those that dwelt in Samaria the ten tribes had the same false confidence in their safety. The mountains of Samaria, the seat both of the religion and government of a strong people, they relied upon, free from all apprehension of dangers. It was the ease of pride and overrated power.
II IT IS THE EASE OF RUIN. "Pass ye unto Calneh this was an ancient city built by Nimrod and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great one of the chief cities of Syria: then go down to Gath of the Philistines the great city in Philistia." Remember these cities, be they better than these kingdoms? Are you who live at Zion and Samaria greater people than they were, more strong and invincible? Yet they are gone. Calneh gone, Hamath gone, Gath gone. All are in ruins, long, long ago. Why, then, should you feel yourselves safe and be at ease in Zion and Samaria? Their example condemns your false security and predicts your ruin. The ease here denounced is like the ease of stolid indifference or the ease of a torpid conscience, terribly general, fearfully criminal, and awfully dangerous. It must sooner or later be broken. The hurricanes of retribution must sooner or later lash the sleeping ocean into foaming fury. Souls are everywhere sleeping on the bosom of volcanoes. Oh for some voice from the heavens above or the earth beneath, to startle the men of this generation!
CONCLUSION. Learn from this subject:
1. That the mere feeling of security is no infallible proof of safety. Men are prone to deceive themselves. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Some men, like the drunkard whose vessel is going down, feel themselves safe because they are unconscious of the danger. Some men feel themselves safe because of the confidence they have in objects that are utterly unable to sustain them. The only feeling of security that warrants safety is that which springs from a conscious trust in God. Such as have this can say, "God is our Refuge and Strength," etc.
2. That great advantages may prove great curses. It was a great advantage for Judah to have Zion, and Israel to have Samaria great in many respects, national and religious. But these advantages, because they were overrated, trusted in, put in the place of God himself, proved to them most disastrous. So it ever is. Our civilization, our literature, our Churches, our Bibles, have proved curses to millions, and will perhaps to millions more. The Pharisee in the temple is an illustration of this.
3. That retributions which have overtaken others should be a warning tous. The prophet calls upon these men of Judah and Israel to remember Calneh, Hamath, Garb. "All these things," says Paul, "happened unto them for ensamples." Learn to read our fate in history. Ungodly nations, where are Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome? Ungodly Churches, where axe the Churches of Asia Minor? D.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 On vv1, 2, 3, 6 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion.
Amo_6:1
Woe to them that are at ease in Zion.
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The secure alarmed
There is something very agreeable and desirable in ease. Yet, strange as the declaration may appear, this tranquillity is too common; and to disturb it should be our design. For your peace may be a false peace. Before an earthquake the air is uncommonly serene. Ascertain precisely the characters whose delusions we wish to destroy.
I. Some are at ease in Zion from selfish insensibility. Such there were in the days of Amos. In a similar way to Amos, Isaiah upbraids the Jews. There are still many whose attention to their own indulgences regulates all their actions. Our dispositions ought always to correspond with the providence of God, and the purposes for which He placed us in the world. For the unfeeling wretch conscience has no kind office to perform. For him no orphan prays, no widow sings. For him the evil day comes on charged with every horror. He has no asylum in the feelings of the community, the happiness of whose members he never sought.
II. Some from infidel presumption. If there be any truth in the Scriptures, the dispositions of the generality of mankind are very unsuitable to their state and their destiny. What is this ease which flows from infidel persuasion?
1. It is obtained with difficulty.
2. It is partial, and liable to interruption.
3. The less liable it is to be disturbed, the more awful; for it is penal.
4. This ease is fatal. Its duration is momentary; it must end, and end in anguish and despair.
III. Some from vain confidence; relying on the goodness of their present state, and on the certainty of their future happiness. There is such a thing as spiritual self-flattery; there is such a thing as a delusive dependence on religion.
1. This confidence keeps them from looking after salvation. They are too good to be saved.
2. This course will terminate in woeful surprise and disappointment.
IV. Some prom practical indifference. You would much offend persons of this class, were you to inquire whether they believed the Scripture. These persons are not to be charged sentimentally with anti-nomianism or any other error. They know the Gospel in theory; but they are strangers to its Divine efficacy. Of all the various characters we have to deal with in our ministry, these are the most unlikely to insure success. We preach; you acknowledge, and admire,--but you discover no more concern to obtain the one thing needful we propose, than if you were persuaded we called you to follow a cunningly devised fable. Your life is a perpetual contradiction to your creed: you are not happy, and contrive not to be miserable. Inferences.
1. They are highly criminal, who countenance and promote a state of carnal ease.
2. Let none be troubled when they find their connections distressed and alarmed with a sense of their sin and danger.
3. Nothing is so much to be dreaded as false security in religion.
4. There is consolation for those who are distressed. We do not applaud all their doubts and dejections, but these painful scruples are easily accounted for, and they lie on the safe side. (William Jay.)
Carnal security
I. The state of mind that is reproved in this passage.
1. It includes carnal security (Amo_6:1).
2. It includes presumptuous unbelief (Amo_6:2-3).
3. It includes sensual indulgence (Amo_6:4-6, first clause).
4. It includes selfish indifference (Amo_6:6, last clause).
II. The justice of the woe denounced against it.
1. Such a state of mind indicates a lurking enmity against God.
2. Indicates insensibility to the claims of Jesus.
3. Indicates a deep-seated unbelief of coming judgments. (G. Brooks.)
The danger of indifference to spiritual things
I. The state condemned. Gods threatenings had been declared against the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, but the people confided in their fortifications and external advantages, or in their profession of being the people of God; thus they carelessly indulged themselves, and were heedless about consequences, though destruction impended over them. The application of the passage to the conduct of many under the means of grace is natural and easy. The state of mind condemned is--
1. Expressive of careless indifference.
2. It is expressive of false security.
The persons warned in the text were regarding themselves as secure on false and uncertain grounds. So many are now found perverting the doctrines of the Gospel, and promising to themselves security in such per version. Or they pretend that they arc waiting for Gods time, when He will afford them necessary help. They make their moral inability, or in other words, their unwillingness to receive Christ and His Gospel an excuse for their continued disobedience, and attribute their rebellion and unbelief to the want of Gods help, rather than to the state of their own hearts, to the love of sin, and to their unwillingness to yield submission to the Saviours authority. Others make their moral conduct a ground of hope. Their honesty, their kindness to their neighbours, and the propriety of their general deportment are substituted for faith in Christ, and a cordial reception of His Gospel.
3. It is expressive of a state of sloth. Many professors are thus at ease. Once they were anxious, inquiring, full of apparent desire after the favour of God and the blessings of salvation, and of activity in the Saviours cause. But their zeal, activity, and ardour have passed away. They are slumbering and sleeping.
II. Mark the place where this state of mind is exercised. If slothfulness and indifference are unseemly in other spheres, are they less so in Zion, in the house, in the Church of God? If they are injurious to our temporal concerns . . . are they less so to our spiritual and eternal interests? Restricting the term in Zion to the place where God is worshipped, to His sanctuary, we remark--
1. That in Zion the law of God is declared. Its purity, its justice, its spiritual character and extensive requirements are set forth. In Zion we are shown the harmony of the law with the Gospel, while it becomes the means of preparing us to receive salvation.
2. In Zion the Gospel is proclaimed. Here the most constant theme is salvation through the Saviour s blood. Here Jesus is evidently set forth as crucified among us. Can you be at ease in Zion, cold and insensible, with the Cross in view, and indifferent to the Saviours voice addressing us therefrom?
3. Zion is the special residence of Christ. Jesus is now represented as King in Zion, as the Ruler and Head of His Church.
III. The danger to which this state of mind exposes.
1. How opposed to all spiritual improvement.
2. How expressive of contempt for spiritual blessings.
3. How ruinous to our eternal interests. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Sinners in Zion described and doomed
I. Consider the persons here mentioned. They are described as being at ease in Zion. The temple was called Zion. The name was gradually extended to the worshippers, so that it came to embrace all who profess to know and worship God. To be in Zion means to be in a land where the true God is known and worshipped, where religious privileges, similar to those of the Jews, are enjoyed. Taking the word in a more limited sense, to be in Zion is to be among those who statedly meet for the purpose of religious worship. Or it may include only those who have made a public profession of religion. The ease here intended is ease not of body, but of mind; ease relating not to our temporal but to our religious or spiritual concerns. Persons are at ease when they feel neither sorrow nor alarm on account of their sins; when they are seldom troubled by the admonitions of conscience; when they arc not engaged in working out their salvation with fear and trembling, but feel quiet and secure. This unconcern respecting themselves is usually accompanied by at least equal unconcern respecting the salvation of others. Such persons are described as not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; that is, for the evils and calamities that afflict the Church. This body may be divided into several classes, corresponding with the various causes to which their ease is ascribed.
1. Those who deny that any punishment will be inflicted on sinners. This includes infidels of every description; those who deny Gods government of the world; those who contemn God; and the scoffers. In this class must also be placed those who believe that all men will be saved. False prophets who cry peace, peace, when there is no peace.
2. Those who allow that sinners will be punished, but who deny, or do not appear to believe, that they are sinners. They find, or fancy that they find none better than themselves, few so good, and very many worse. Hence they conclude that they arc in no danger, that they have nothing to fear, and of course feel easy and secure. Such persons are without the law. They know nothing of its spirituality, strictness, and extent. They have never tried themselves by this rule. They are like a man buried in sleep, totally unconscious of their true character and situation, insensible of their sins, and of the danger to which their sins expose them.
3. Those who acknowledge that they are sinners, and that sinners will be punished; and yet they are at ease, for they contrive in various ways to persuade themselves that though other sinners will be punished, they shall themselves escape. Such persons, though habitually, are not always at ease. They have times of anxiety and alarm. It is their way by promises and resolutions to put off the evil day. They trust to a future convenient season. There is perhaps no class of sinners whose situation is more dangerous. This class also includes all who entertain a false and groundless persuasion that they have already become pious, obtained the pardon of their sins, and secured the favour of God. The reasons why persons feel such a persuasion are various.
II. The woe which is denounced against them in our text. The doom is expressed in general terms; in terms which may include curses and threatenings of every kind. Why are such characters thought worthy of a punishment so severe?
1. Because the ease which they feel proves that they belong to the number of the wicked. All who are habitually at ease in Zion know nothing of true religion. They are either careless sinners or self-deluded hypocrites.
2. They are not only sinners, but sinners of no common stamp, sinners whose guilt and sinfulness are peculiarly aggravated, and whose punishment will therefore be peculiarly severe. He who is at ease in Zion must be deaf to Gods voice, blind to Gods glories, insensible to every spiritual object; he sins against light and against love.
3. There is little reason to hope that they will ever repent. On what grounds can we hope for the salvation of those who are at ease? If they cannot be roused, if their false peace cannot be disturbed, they must inevitably perish; and to rouse them, humanly speaking, seems impossible. (E. Payson, D. D.)
The Church warned against supineness
While Amos unveils the transgressions of Israel, he does not spare the sins of Judah.
I. The persons here referred to. Those who are in Zion. The class of persons spoken of are the members of the visible Church, the professing people of God. Regard the professing Church--
1. As solemnly devoted to holiness and God.
(1) They are so by the immediate and express purpose of God Himself. He has created them anew in Christ Jesus. And He has done this for His own glory.
(2) They are so by the intention of their Divine Redeemer. He has done and suffered much for them. To redeem and raise up a holy Church is the object which is the solace of all the Redeemers labours, the mead of all His sufferings.
(3) They are devoted to holiness in baptism. The ordinance of baptism is the expressive type and sign of the sprinkling of the efficacious blood.
(4) They are thus devoted by voluntary covenant. Every Christian is such by his free choice.
2. As the appointed instrument in the evangelisation of the world. The Church of Christ is designed to be a benevolent institution. They are appointed witnesses for God to an unbelieving and perishing world.
(1) They are eminently fitted for this. They are themselves awakened and alive to the dangerous condition of every unconverted man. They know too the way of deliverance. And
(2) they have the command.
3. As a mediator with God on behalf of a perishing world.
(1) The renovation of the moral world depends upon the agency and operation of the Holy Ghost. The Word of God itself con tains no inherent or independent efficacy to convert mankind.
(2) The bestow meat of the Spirit is frequently and distinctly promised, but always in answer to prayer.
(3) Hence prayer is made the Christians primary duty. Jesus both by precept and by example urged it upon His followers.
II. The sin charged upon them. They are at ease. Consider--
1. Their spiritual condition. They are devoted to holiness; are they holy? The spiritual state of Christians generally is not such as to warrant their being at ease. Every scriptural view of their character and duty involves the obligation of strenuous exertion.
2. The state of the world. The Gospel has now been preached over eighteen hundred years, and what is the result? Look at your own family and domestic circle. Look at the inhabitants of your town and neighbourhood. To how small a proportion of our race have even the tidings of the Gospel yet been conveyed.
3. Another reason for uneasiness is that the success of the Word must always arise from the agency of the Holy Spirit.
III. The judgment denounced. Under stand--
1. In the sense of a simple prophecy, as the prediction of a calamity likely and even certain to ensue.
2. It is the language of righteous retribution. That there is an equitable correspondence between sin and its consequences is testified by all experience.
3. It is the language of Divine denunciation. God is a just God, and a terrible. The sceptre of His mercy may become the rod of His wrath. If by our supineness, our unfaithfulness, our inconsistency, our sin, we have caused to be shed the blood of souls, shall we escape, think you, the just judgment of God? (John G. Avery.)
At ease in Zion
The text practically applies to all nominal and professing Christians.
I. What is meant by those who are at ease in Zion? Lazy Christians. Christianity is more than profession, it is even something more than faith. It is carrying into practice the truths we profess. The soul that is at ease sits down very contentedly on his mere profession, and mistakes earth for heaven.
II. What is the cause of being at ease in Zion?
1. There is ignorance of the nature of Christian life. Christianity is not ease, but labour. It is a daily struggle against unbelief and sin. The man at ease does his religion by deputy, or trusts entirely to the mercy of God, or relies on outward service and participation in form and ceremonies.
2. There is a dislike of the duties to be undertaken. Self-denial is not congenial to the natural heart. Labour is hateful, conflict repulsive, and therefore men sit down and dream away their opportunities.
3. Self-confidence. Disaster seems so unlikely. We fancy we are so secure that nothing can move us. Our prosperity, our privileges, our apparent tranquillity deceive the heart and lure the soul to sleep.
III. The result of being at ease in Zion.
1. It generates sin.
2. It merits the displeasure of God.
3. It will end in entire destruction. (G. Wood, M. A.)
The policy of drift easy
Unless you make for the great things of your life, for I am not talking about the little things of life, many of which are best deter mined by circumstances--unless you make for the great things of life, the deliberate choice of the better part, you have in effect made the disastrous choice of the worst. The policy of drift always ends in ruin for a nation, for an army, for an individual. And it is plain enough that it is so, because, to the superficial observer, it is a great deal easier, and a great deal pleasanter, to take the low levels than to climb; and there are far more, and very clamant voices calling to us from out of worldly things to eat, and drink, and take our ease and be merry, and let ideals alone, than there are summoning us to the loftier, harder, more heroic, Christlike course of life. It is hard work taking a great junk up the Yang tse-Kiang. Hundreds of trackers have to strain every nerve and muscle as they go stumbling over the rocks on the bank, with great cables on their shoulders, and slow progress is made. It would take a week to get as far up as they can travel coming downwards in a day, without any trouble. Ay, and what is that that the idle crew begin to hear, as they lie half somnolent on the deck, enjoy ing the repose? A groaning sound, the roar of the rapids. To go down stream is easy, but there is a Niagara at the far end. You choose the worse when you do not deliberately choose the better. That is true all round. If you do not coerce, by a deliberate act, your will, or your inclination, the baser sort of them will get the upper hand of you. Take away the police, and the mob will loot and riot. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The inner life of a nation determines its destiny
It is not the increase of the outer man and his surroundings and possessions, but the renewal of the inner life and spirit which makes the net profit and abiding wealth. It is the inner life of a nation that determines all things, not the visible, but the more or less invisible, not what can be arrayed in figures and statistics, but what no figures can express--not the show and splendour of prosperous times, the glare of wealth, the blaze of knowledge, the surfeit of luxuries, the pomp of pride, the flaunting of power, but the hidden qualities of patience, faith, self-mastery, courage, righteousness, and purity which lie underneath all this external display. It is the soul of a nation that makes a nation, not its body. If the soul is not sound, the body soon becomes a mass of weakness and decay. France is wealthier than it ever was before. It has more splendid cities, larger armies, greater intellectual resources and material resources than ever before; the outward man was never so fair and strong as now. What of all that if the heart has ceased to beat with honest purpose, if its ideals are lost, if the inner life has become diseased, defiled, corrupt? The outward show slowly rots away, when the inspiring force within degenerates and disappears. It is the continued renewal of the inner man that saves all. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)
Degrading moral transitions
The phases of transition in the moral temper of the falling Venetians, during their fall, were from pride to infidelity, and from infidelity to the unscrupulous pursuit of pleasure. During the last years of the existence of the State, the minds both of the nobility and the people seem to have been set simply upon the attainment of the means of self-indulgence. There was not strength enough in them to be proud, nor forethought enough to be ambitious. One by one the possessions of the State were abandoned to its enemies; one by one the channels of its trade were forsaken by its own languor, or occupied and closed against it by its more energetic rivals; and the time, the resources, and the thoughts of the nation were exclusively occupied in the invention of such fantastic and costly pleasures as might best amuse their apathy, lull their remorse, or disguise their ruin. It is as needless, as it is painful, to trace the steps of her final ruin. That ancient curse was upon her, the curse of the cities of the plain, Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness. By the inner burning of her own passions, as fatal as the fiery rain of Gomorrah, she was consumed from her place among the nations; and her ashes are choking the channels of the dead salt sea. (John Ruskin.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Amos 6
3. "AT EASE IN ZION"
Amos 6
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The evil of the national worship was the false political confidence which it engendered. Leaving the ritual alone, Amos now proceeds to assault this confidence. We are taken from the public worship of the people to the private banquets of the rich, but again only in order to have their security and extravagance contrasted with the pestilence, the war, and the captivity that are rapidly approaching.
"Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion"-it is a proud and overweening ease which the word expresses-"and that trust in the mount of Samaria! Men of mark of the first of the peoples"-ironically, for that is Israels opinion of itself-"and to them do the house of Israel resort! Ye that put off the day of calamity and draw near the sessions of injustice"-an epigram and proverb, for it is the universal way of men to wish and fancy far away the very crisis that their sins are hastening on. Isaiah described this same generation as drawing iniquity with cords of hypocrisy, and sin as it were with a cart-rope! "That lie on ivory diwans and sprawl on their couches"-another luxurious custom, which filled this rude shepherd with contempt-"and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall"-that is, only the most delicate of meats-"who prate" or "purr" or "babble to the sound of the viol, and as if they were David" himself "invent for them instruments of song; who drink wine by ewerfuls-waterpot-fuls-and anoint with the finest of oil-yet never do they grieve at the havoc of Joseph!" The havoc is the moral havoc, for the social structure of Israel is obviously still secure. The rich are indifferent to it; they have wealth, art, patriotism, religion, but neither heart for the poverty nor conscience for the sin of their people. We know their kind! They are always with us, who live well and imagine they are proportionally clever and refined. They have their political zeal, will rally to an election when the interests of their class or their trade is in danger. They have a robust and, exuberant patriotism, talk grandly of commerce, empire, and the national destiny; but for the real woes and sores of the people, the poverty, the overwork, the drunkenness, the dissoluteness, which more affect a nations life than anything else, they have no pity and no care.
"Therefore now"-the double initial of judgment "shall they go into exile at the head of the exiles, and stilled shall be the revelry of the dissolute"-literally "the sprawlers," as in Amo_6:4, but used here rather in the moral than in the physical sense. "Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by Himself-tis the oracle of Jehovah God of Hosts: I am loathing the pride of Jacob, and his palaces do I hate, and I will pack up a city and its fullness. For, behold, Jehovah is commanding, and He will smite the great house into ruins and the small house into splinters." The collapse must come, postpone it as their fancy will, for it has been worked for and is inevitable. How could it be otherwise?" Shall horses run on a cliff, or the sea be ploughed by oxen-that ye should turn justice to poison and the fruit of righteousness to wormwood! Ye that exult in Lo-Debar and say, By our own strength have we taken to ourselves Karnaim." So Gratz rightly reads the verse. The Hebrew text and all the versions take these names as if they were common nouns-Lo-Debar, "a thing of naught"; Karnaim, "a pair of horns"-and doubtless it was just because-of this possible play upon their names, that Amos selected these two out of all the recent conquests of Israel. Karnaim, in full Ashteroth Karnaim, "Astarte of Horns," was that immemorial fortress and sanctuary which lay out upon the great plateau of BaShan towards Damascus; so obvious and cardinal a site that it appears in the sacred history both in the earliest recorded campaign in Abrahams time and in one of the latest under the Maccabees. Lo-Debar was of Gilead, and probably lay on that last rampart of the province northward, overlooking the Yarmuk, a strategical point which must have often been contested by Israel and Aram, and with which no other Old Testament name has been identified. These two fortresses, with many others, Israel had lately taken from Aram; but not, as they boasted, "by their own strength." It was only Arams preoccupation with Assyria, now surgent on the northern flank, which allowed Israel these easy victories. And this same northern foe would soon overwhelm themselves. "For, behold, I am to raise up against you, O house of Israel-tis the oracle of Jehovah God of the hosts-a Nation, and they shall oppress you from the Entrance of Hamath to the Torrent of the Arabah." Everyone knows the former, the Pass between the Lebanons, at whose mouth stands Dan, northern limit of Israel; but it is hard to identify the latter. If Amos means to include Judah, we should have expected the Torrent of Egypt, the present Wady el Arish; but the Wady of the Arabah may be a corresponding valley in the eastern watershed issuing in the Arabah. If Amos threatens only the Northern Kingdom, he intends some wady running down to that Sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, which is elsewhere given as the limit of Israel.
The Assyrian flood, then, was about to break, and the oracles close with the hopeless prospect of the whole land submerged beneath it.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 7 CRITICAL NOTES.] Second woe denounced. Ease] Recklessly and carelessly.…
HOMILETICS
CRITICAL NOTES.] Second woe denounced. Ease] Recklessly and carelessly. Mount.] not in God. Sam.] Strong, which resisted for 3 years, and was the last city of Israel taken (2Ki_17:5-6). Chief] in influence and office, Heb. men designated (Num_1:17; 1Ch_12:31). Came] for decision and help. Israel was the chief of nations, and these princes the distinguished of Israel. Sadly degenerate now!
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AT EASE IN ZION.—Amo_6:1
In the first part of this chapter woe is uttered against the careless chiefs of the nation, for profane security, contempt of Divine judgments, and heartless oppression. Special allusion is made to the leaders, but the whole nation had sunk into godless conduct and shameful debauchery.
I. At ease in eminent responsibility. “At ease in Zion.” Israel was exalted as a nation above others. Israel’s princes were men of rank and authority; “renowned of the congregation,” and consulted by the people. All were blessed with eminent privileges and great responsibility. But the honour was not recognized. The highest motive to action did not confirm them in fidelity to God. They carelessly indulged themselves and forgot their responsibilities. Where much is given, much will be required. To be “at ease in Zion,” in the midst of religious ordinances and gospel light, is especial danger. If we neglect or despise our eminent position, we aggravate our guilt, and increase the greatness of our downfall—“Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida!” &c.
II. At ease in carnal security. “And trust in the mountain of Samaria.” Zion, the centre of religion, and Samaria, the metropolis of a powerful kingdom, were the security of Israel. Our own strength and resources will prove a broken reed. Men may boast of the places in which they live, glory in their eminence, and secure themselves in ease; but vain confidence in the means of grace will awfully disappoint. We must trust to no great men, no high hills. “Our help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”
III. At ease in great pride. Connected with ease and carnal security was a haughty spirit. Israel prided themselves in their relation to God, and disdained other nations. “The chief of the nations to whom the house of Israel came” would think themselves, and expect others to call them, great men. “Haughty because of my holy mountain.” Many are puffed up with pride, and rock themselves to sleep in religious privileges. They cry “The temple of the Lord are we” (Jer_7:4), and doubt not but God’s sanctuary will secure them from judgments to come. But pride never gives true rest, and those who delude themselves in superior holiness and distinguished titles shall be utterly forgotten (Psa_109:13). The greater their glory, the more shameful their punishment. “How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her.”
IV. At ease in threatened judgments. “Woe to them.” When God is angry men have no reason to sleep. Reckless indifference, in business and religion, is a forerunner of certain ruin. Careless sinners, sleepers in Zion, are in danger of eternal destruction. When they rouse not at the call of the gospel, when deaf to the thunders of Divine judgments, they sleep where God will come first and be most severe; where the calls are loudest and the doom most hopeless. Wake up at the sound of “Woe,” before you feel its dreadful reality. “What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise and call upon thy God.”
SCOURGE FOR SLUMBERING SOULS
In itself considered it is no ill thing, but a great blessing, to be at ease in Zion, in a healthy sense of the word. But there is an ill sense in which it is used, “Woe to them,” &c: the ease of one grown callous, hardened, and sullen, a sleep which if not broken will bring to the bed of hell.
I. First, to rouse the many at ease in Zion, we will call out their names—which are found in the chapter before us. The name of the first sleeper in Zion is Presumptuous. His character is described in the first verse, “They trust in the mountain,” &c.—boast of their morality and self-righteousness. “I am rich and increased in good,” &c. A second is Not-now, or Procrastination. “Ye that put far away the evil day” (Amo_6:3). The third name is Evil-doer, or Sin-lover. “They cause the seat of violence to come near.” The next is Love-self. “They lie upon beds of ivory,” &c. Among those at ease was one called Careless, an individual who belongs to a large family. We may give him another name, giddy, light-hearted. “That chant to the sound of the viol.” The last name is Crossless. “They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.” II. Now having mentioned their names we shed some light upon these sleepers’ eyes. A hopeless errand! for they sleep with the sun of heaven shining upon their eyelids. “At ease in Zion.’ Not in Ethiopia, where they have never heard the gospel; not in Sheba or the ends of the earth, where no warning prophets had been sent. In the first place you are asleep, but you know your danger. You have frequent arousings. Everything in this place cries out against you. To be at ease when the House, the Gospel, and the Sabbath are crying out against us, is to be at ease while God is making ready his sword against us. III. The last point is, to sound the trumpet in the ears of the sleepers. My trumpet has but one note, “Woe! woe! woe!” Not a living man knows the full meaning of that word. Bring out the gentler parts of the note; and first, woe to you, for now is it at all likely that you ever will be saved? In the innumerable cases in this place of conversion the majority were persons who had not long heard the word. I think Christmas Evans used the simile of the blacksmith’s dog, which was very frightened with the sparks at first, but at last got so accustomed to them that he went to sleep under the anvil. “And so,” said the good preacher, “there be many that go to sleep under the gospel, with the sparks of damnation flying about their nostrils.” Remember you are asleep in a place where Justice deals its heaviest blow. Do you tremble? You are saved the moment you believe in Christ. “There is therefore now no condemnation,” &c. [Spurgeon].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Amo_6:1. Ease. This is carnal ease, a fleshly security; it is not the confidence of a man who is pardoned, but the ease of a hardened wretch who has learned to despise the gibbet. It is not the calm of a soul at peace with God, but the ease of a madman, who because he has hidden his sin from his own eyes, thinks he has concealed it from God [Spurgeon].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v1 Amo 6:1 - Amo 6:8.
Amos
THE CARCASS AND THE EAGLES
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Amo 6:1 - Amo 6:8.
Amos prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. Jeroboam’s reign was a time of great prosperity for Israel. Moab, Gilead, and part of Syria were reconquered, and the usual effects of conquest, increased luxury and vainglory, followed. Amos was not an Israelite born, for he came from Tekoa, away down south, in the wild country west of the Dead Sea, where he had been a simple herdsman till the divine call sent him into the midst of the corrupt civilisation of the Northern Kingdom. The first words of his prophecy give its whole spirit: ‘The Lord will roar from Zion.’ The word rendered ‘roar’ is the term specially used for the terrible cry with which a lion leaps on its surprised prey {Amo 3:4, Amo 3:8}. It is from Zion, the seat of God’s Temple, that the ‘roar’ proceeds, and Amos’s prophecy is but the echo of it in Israel.
The prophecy of judgment in this passage is directed against the sins of the upper classes in Samaria. They are described in verse 1 as the ‘notable men . . . to whom the house of Israel come,’ which, in modern language, is just ‘conspicuous citizens,’ who set the fashion, and are looked to as authorities and leaders, whether in political or commercial or social life. The word by which they are designated is used in Num 1:17: ‘Which are expressed by name.’ The word ‘carried back the thoughts of the degenerate aristocracy of Israel to the faith and zeal of their forefathers’ {Pusey, Minor Prophets, on this verse}. Israel, Amos calls ‘The first of the nations.’ It is singular that such a title should be given to the nation against whose corruption his one business is to testify, but probably there is keen irony in the word. It takes Israel at its own estimate, and then goes on to show how rotten, and therefore short-lived, was the prosperity which had swollen national pride to such a pitch. The chiefs of the foremost nation in the world should surely be something better than the heartless debauchees whom the Prophet proceeds to paint. Anglo-Saxons on both sides of the Atlantic, who are by no means deficient in this same complacent estimate of their own superiority to all other peoples, may take note. The same thought is prominent in the description of these notables as ‘at ease.’ They are living in a fool’s paradise, shutting their eyes to the thunder-clouds that begin to rise slowly above the horizon, and keeping each other in countenance in laughing at Amos and his gloomy forecasts. They ‘trusted in the mountain of Samaria,’ which, they thought, made the city impregnable to assault. No doubt they thought that the Prophet’s talk about doing right and trusting in Jehovah was very fanatical and unpractical, just as many in England and America think that their nations are exalted, not by righteousness, but by armies, navies, and dollars or sovereigns.
Amo 6:2 is very obscure to us from our ignorance of the facts underlying its allusions. In fact, it has been explained in exactly opposite ways, being taken by some to enumerate three instances of prosperous communities, which yet are not more prosperous than Israel, and by others to enumerate three instances of God’s judgments falling on places which, though strong, had been conquered. In the former explanation, God’s favour to Israel is made the ground of an implied appeal to their gratitude; in the latter, His judgments on other nations are made the ground of an appeal to their fear, lest like destruction should fall on them.
But the main points of the passage are the photograph of the crimes which are bringing the judgment of God, and the solemn divine oath to inflict the judgment. The crimes rebuked are not the false worship of the calves, though in other parts of his prophecy Amos lashes that with terrible invectives, nor foul breaches of morality, though these were not wanting in Israel, but the vices peculiar to selfish, luxurious upper classes in all times and countries, who forget the obligations of wealth, and think only of its possibilities of self-indulgence. French noblesse before the Revolution, and English peers and commercial magnates, and American millionaires, would yield examples of the same sin. The hardy shepherd from Tekoa had learned ‘plain living and high thinking’ before he was a prophet, and would look with wondering and disgusted eyes at the wicked waste which he saw in Samaria. He begins with scourging the reckless security already referred to. These notables in Israel were ‘at ease’ because they ‘put far away the evil day,’ by refusing to believe that it was at hand, and paying no heed to prophets’ warnings, as their fellows do still and always, and as we all are tempted to do. They who see and declare the certain end of national or personal sins are usually jeered at as pessimists, fanatics, alarmists, bad patriots, or personal ill-wishers, and the men whom they try to warn fancy that they hinder the coming of a day of retribution by disbelieving in its coming. Incredulity is no lightning-conductor to keep off the flash, and, listened to or not, the low growls of the thunder are coming nearer.
With one hand these sinners tried to push away the evil day, while with the other they drew near to themselves that which made its coming certain-’the seat of violence,’ or, rather, ‘the sitting,’ or ‘session.’ Violence, or wrongdoing, is enthroned by them, and where men enthrone iniquity, God’s day of vengeance is not far off.
Then follows a graphic picture of the senseless, corrupting luxury of the Samaritan magnates, on which the Tekoan shepherd pours his scorn, but which is simplicity itself, and almost asceticism, before what he would see if he came to London or New York. To him it seemed effeminate to loll on a divan at meals, and possibly it was a custom imported from abroad. It is noted that ‘the older custom in Israel was to sit while eating.’ The woodwork of the divans, inlaid with ivory, had caught his eye in some of his peeps into the great houses, and he inveighs against them very much as one of the Pilgrim Fathers might do if he could see the furniture in the drawing-rooms of some of his descendants. There is no harm in pretty things, but the æsthetic craze does sometimes indicate and increase selfish heartlessness as to the poverty and misery, which have not only no ivory on their divans, but no divans at all. Thus stretched in unmanly indolence on their cushions, they feast on delicacies. ‘Lambs out of the flock’ and ‘calves out of the stall’ seem to mean animals too young to be used as food. These gourmands, like their successors, prided themselves on having dainties out of season, because they were more costly then. And their feasts had the adornment of music, which the shepherd, who knew only the pastoral pipe that gathered his sheep, refers to with contempt. He uses a very rare word of uncertain meaning, which is probably best rendered in some such way as the Revised Version does: ‘They sing idle songs.’ To him their elaborate performances seemed like empty babble. Worse than that, they ‘devise musical instruments like David.’ But how unlike him in the use they make of art! What a descent from the praises of God to the ‘idle songs’ fit for the hot dining-halls and the guests there! Amos was indignant at the profanation of art, and thought it best used in the service of God. What would he have said if he had been ‘fastened into a front-row box’ and treated to a modern opera?
The revellers ‘drink wine in bowls’ by which larger vessels than generally employed are intended. They drank to excess, or as we might say, by bucketfuls. So the dainty feast, with its artistic refinement and music, ends at last in a brutal carouse, and the heads anointed with the most costly unguents drop in drunken slumber. A similar picture of Samaritan manners is drawn by Isa 28:1 - Isa 28:29, and obviously drunkenness was one of the besetting sins of the capital.
But the darkest hue in the dark picture has yet to be added: ‘They are not grieved for the affliction {literally, the ‘breach’ or ‘wound’} of Joseph.’ The tribe of Ephraim, Joseph’s son, being the principal tribe of the Northern Kingdom, Joseph is often employed as a synonym for Israel. All these pieces of luxury, corrupting and effeminate as they are, might be permitted, but heartless indifference to the miseries groaning at the door of the banqueting-hall goes with them. ‘The classes’ are indifferent to the condition of ‘the masses.’ Put Amos into modern English, and he is denouncing the heartlessness of wealth, refinement, art, and culture, which has no ear for the complaining of the poor, and no eyes to see either the sorrows and sins around it, or the lowering cloud that is ready to burst in tempest.
The inevitable issue is certain, because of the very nature of God. It is outlined with keen irony. Amos sees in imagination the long procession of sad captives, and marching in the front ranks, the self-indulgent Sybarites, whose pre-eminence is now only the melancholy prerogative of going first in the fettered train. What has become of their revelry? It is gone, like the imaginary banquets of dreams, and instead of luxurious lolling on silken couches, there is the weary tramp of the captive exiles. Such result must be, since God is what He is. He has sworn ‘by Himself’; His being and character are the pledge that it will be so as Amos has declared. How can such a God as He is do otherwise than hate the pride of such a selfish, heartless, God-forgetting aristocracy? How can He do otherwise than deliver up the city? God has not changed, and though His mills grind slowly, they do grind still; and it is as true for England and America, as it was for Samaria, that a wealthy and leisurely upper class, which cares only for material luxury glossed over by art, which has condescended to be its servant, is bringing near the evil day which it hugs itself into believing will never come.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Fourth Address
The Fourth Address
1-3. False security of Judah and Israel.
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4-6. Carelessness and luxury.
7-11. Captivity, siege, death, ruin.
12, 13. Preposterous errors.
14. The coming of the avenger.
1, 2. Render, 'Woe to the easy-going in Zion and to the secure in the mountain of Samaria! Make the round of the foremost nations and come to them, O house of Israel. Pass over to Calneh and see, and from thence go to Hamath Rabbah: then, etc. Are you better than these kingdoms? or is your border,' etc., that you should be so favoured. The site of Calneh is uncertain. Hamath is the well-known city on the Orontes. 3. They refused to think of the coming retribution; they enthroned violence in their midst.
4. Reclining at meals was a custom introduced from the farther East: contrast 1Sa_20:24. The grandees now 'stretched themselves,' etc.: cp. Spenser's 'Poured out in loosnesse on the grassy ground'; luxury and idleness are implied. Eat the lambs, etc.] To a frugal shepherd the feeding up of beasts for food seemed shameful extravagance: 'Seldom the nomads eat other flesh than the meat of their sacrifices; but it be some beast that will not thrive, or is likely to die on their hands' (Doughty).
5. Chant] RV 'sing idle songs' is an improvement. The musicians were lazy triflers.
Invent to themselves, etc.] In the psalm which closes the Greek Psalter, David is made to assert: 'My hands fashioned an instrument, and my fingers fitted together a psaltery': see also 2Ch_29:26, 2Ch_29:27.
6. The goblet is not enough, they must have bowls to drink out of, bowls of costly material such as were generally used in divine service (Zec_9:15; Zec_14:20). The threatened ruin of the nation did not move these unpatriotic feasters to dispense with costly unguents, as men in trouble were usually ready to do (2Sa_14:2).
7. First in sin, first in punishment. The banquet, etc.] RV 'The revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away.' A play on sounds: Sar mirzach seruchim.
8. Excellency] i.e. the excellent things of which the nation was proud.
9. The city is besieged, and if there is a house in which the pestilence has left ten men alive their turn shall come.
10. And a man's uncle, etc.] RV is a little different: 'And when a man's uncle' (RM 'kinsman') 'shall take him up, even he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No; then,' etc. Taking this difficult v. as it here stands, we must remember that it was the duty of the next of kin to see to the disposal of the body, and that, whilst interment was the almost universal rule, cremation might be resorted to in special circumstances (1Sa_31:12). The plague-stricken man in the inner rooms of the house must not defile the Lord's name by uttering it in the immediate presence of death, as a Mohammedan may not say his prayers in an unclean spot. A simpler form of the v., suggested in part by LXX, would be: 'A remnant shall be left' (in the plague-swept house), 'and when men break through to bring out the bones from the house it shall be said to him who is in the recesses of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, None.'
12. Read, 'Shall horses run upon the cliff? Will a man plough the sea with oxen? 'No! but in moral and religious matters they will do things as absurd as these.
13. No alteration of the original is required to obtain the following: 'Ye which rejoice in Lo-Debar, which say, Have we not taken for us Karnaim by our own strength?' For Lo-Debar see 2Sa_9:4; 2Sa_17:27, and for Karnaim Gen_14:5; Deu_1:4; Jos_21:27; Joshua 1Ma_5:26 : both towns lay E. of the Jordan and may have been taken by Jeroboam II.
A great change had come over the fortunes of Israel during the reigns of Joash of Israel and his son, Jeroboam II. Israel had been reduced to a very low ebb in the time of Jehoahaz by the repeated and successful assaults of the Syrians (2Ki_13:7, 2Ki_13:22). With the advent of Joash all this was altered. He recovered ten cities which Hazael had taken, and gained three victories (2Ki_13:25). Jeroboam II carried these successes still further. 'He restored the border of Israel from the entering in of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah' (RV) and appears to have been uniformly victorious. This was largely due to the fact that he never came into collision with Assyria, whereas the power of Syria had been greatly reduced by the campaigns of Shalmaneser III and Assurdan.
Such a collision was, however, inevitable (Amo_6:14). The earliest contact between Israel and Assyria of which we have any record was when Ahab, as an ally of Hadadezer of Damascus, shared in the disastrous defeat inflicted on the Syrian king by Shalmaneser II at the battle of Karkar, 854 b.c. On the famous obelisk of black basalt, now in the British Museum, ambassadors from Jehu are represented bringing tribute to the same Assyrian monarch at Hamath, 842 b.c. Tiglath-pileser III, called in the Bible 'Pul,' marched against Northern Syria in 738 b.c. and Menahem gave the king a thousand talents of silver, 'that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand' (2Ki_15:19). In 732 b.c. Tiglath-pileser III invaded Israel, took a number of towns, including the whole district of Naphtali (2Ki_15:29), and compelled Pekah, king of Israel, to pay a considerable tribute. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed in the year, 722 b.c., when Samaria was taken by Sargon in the first month of his reign, after a siege which was begun by his predecessor, Shalmaneser IV, and had lasted three years.
14. The entering in of Hemath] the ideal northern boundary of the Holy Land (Num_13:21; 2Ki_14:25-28): it is the great depression between the N. end of Lebanon and the Nusariyeh mountains. The river of the wilderness] RV 'the brook of the Arabah,' the Wâdî-el-Ahsih, the southern boundary.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 (See Scofield "Psa 2:12").
trust
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 The Fourth Discourse
CHAPTER 6
The Fourth Discourse
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1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion (Amo 6:1-6)
2. The punishment announced (Amo 6:7-14)
Amo 6:1-6. This woe concerns the great men, the chiefs of the nation, who were sunk into a godless self-security, and dreamt on in their darkness, while the clouds of judgment were gathering above them. They were to go from Calneh to Hamath and then down to Gath of the Philistines. Calneh was built by Nimrod in the land of Shinar Gen 10:10; Hamath was the capital of a Syrian kingdom, and Gath the center of Philistia. These places were the places of vileness and corruption. But were the kingdoms of both Judah and Israel any better than these?
While some desired the day of the Lord others put it far off, they refused to believe that judgment was impending. It was so in Ezekiel’s time when the people said “The days are prolonged and every vision faileth” Eze 12:22. So it is in Christendom. The evil servant Mat 24:1-51 says “My Lord delayeth His coming, and as a result he acts outrageously. What were the results in Israel when the evil day was put far off? They committed violence; violence increased in the land. They lived luxuriously on beds of ivory and ate the best of the flock. They danced and made merry; they drank wine but none was exercised over the hurt of Joseph, the spiritual condition of the people.
Amo 6:7-14. They were now to go away as captives. There should be utter desolation. There would be a multitude of dead, so that they could not follow their ancient custom in burying them; they would have to burn them. Then the one who burns the corpses asks the last person in the house whether there is any one still with him, and the answer is No, but keep silence! For the name of the Lord is not to be invoked. It means that the speaker fears that the other one might mention the name of the Lord and in doing so bring down upon himself an additional judgment. Everything is to be smitten. What they had done could no more secure blessing and salvation than horses could run upon a rock and one plowing upon a rock with oxen. The nation which is announced in the last verse is the Assyrian.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 The People Guilty of Security and Luxury
The People Guilty of Security and Luxury
v. 1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, given to a false security, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, those who are apparently without a care as they occupy their mountain dwellings where they consider themselves safe, which are named chief of the nations, the most excellent heads of the chosen people in both Judah and Israel, to whom the house of Israel came, namely, for counsel and direction, for the decision of their controversies.
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v. 2. Pass ye unto Calneh, a city in Babylonia, on the river Tigris, and see, and from thence go ye to Hamath, the great, a district and city of Syria beyond the extreme northern boundary of Canaan; then go down. to Gath of the Philistines, so that they would visit some of the most powerful of the neighboring nations. Be they better than these kingdoms? that is, these two kingdoms were in no better condition than Judah and Israel, or their border greater than your border? Israel thus ranking at that time with the first of the nations, unexcelled by any of their heathen neighbors. But for this very fact, on account of their reliance upon their prosperity and power, the Lord pronounces a woe upon them.
v. 3. Ye that put far away the evil day, refusing to believe that a day of reckoning is near, and cause the seat of violence to come near, so that violence and oppression come ever nearer to them, that they become guilty of these transgressions with ever-increasing frequency. This ignoring of the Lord and His holy will was apparent particularly in their luxurious feasting;
v. 4. that lie upon beds of ivory, on costly couches, inlaid with ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, reclining, in luxurious self-indulgence, on the sofas of their dining-rooms, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall, in either case the choicest animals,
v. 5. that chant to the sound of the viol, in quavering and silly songs, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David, but only for the gratification of their own vanity and sensuality, instead of for the glory of God, as did David;
v. 6. that drink wine in bowls, out of sacrificial vessels, such as were used in worship, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, using only the finest grades for their purpose; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, literally, "the breach of Joseph," that is, the impending calamity, the destruction of the northern kingdom. This same fact stands out time and again in the history of nations, namely, that they indulge in wanton luxury even while their country is hastening to its ruin.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7 who are at ease
who are at ease
"who feel safe." The people are comfortable and not concerned that God will judge them.
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the notable men of the best of the nations
"the most important men of this great nation." Yahweh may be using irony to describe how these men think of themselves. AT: "the men who think they are the most important people in the best nation" (See: Irony)
the house of Israel comes
The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house. In this case it refers to Israel's descendants. AT: "the Israelites come" or "the Israelite people group comes" (See: Metonymy)
comes for help
Here "comes" can be stated as "goes." AT: "goes for help" (See: Go and Come)
Kalneh
This is the name of a city. (See: How to Translate Names)
Are they better than your two kingdoms?
The notable men use this question to emphasize that the kingdoms of Israel and Judah are better than those other kingdoms. AT: "Your two kingdoms are better than they are." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Is their border larger than your border?
The notable men use this question to emphasize that their kingdoms are larger than those other kingdoms. AT: "Their border is smaller than yours." or "Those countries are smaller than Judah and Samaria." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
woe
Zion
Samaria
nation
house
Israel
Hamath
Gath
Philistines
kingdom
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 On vv1–6 6:1 Jerusalem . . . Samaria: A message including…
6:1 Jerusalem . . . Samaria: A message including Jerusalem is unexpected, but it shows that God plays no favorites; whoever rebels against God will experience sorrow. The Hebrew text uses the terms Zion . . . Mount Samaria, indicating the citadels of the two cities. The people of both Judea and Israel were smug and self-important, believing that the fortresses of the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria were impregnable (see also 4:3). Relying on physical power instead of on God is sin.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.