Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
Parallel Translations
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Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
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Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
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Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: 'Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Amos 7:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 38:4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”
- 1 Kings 12:31-32 He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
- Jeremiah 26:8-11 When Jeremiah had finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You shall surely die! Why have you prophesied in Yahweh’s name, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant?’ ” All the people were crowded around Jeremiah in Yahweh’s house. When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to Yahweh’s house; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of Yahweh’s house. Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, “This man is worthy of death; for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”
- Matthew 21:23 When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
- Acts 24:5 For we have found this man to be a plague, an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
- 1 Kings 13:33 After this thing Jeroboam didn’t return from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. Whoever wanted to, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.
- Luke 23:2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
- Acts 5:28 saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.”
- Genesis 37:8 His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
- 1 Kings 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
- 2 Kings 14:23-24 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years. He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
- 2 Chronicles 13:8-9 “Now you intend to withstand the kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David. You are a great multitude, and the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods are with you. Haven’t you driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves according to the ways of the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of those who are no gods.
- Jeremiah 18:18 Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let’s strike him with the tongue, and let’s not give heed to any of his words.”
- Jeremiah 20:1-3 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in Yahweh’s house, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in Yahweh’s house. On the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “Yahweh has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib.
- Jeremiah 29:26-27 “Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahweh’s house, for every man who is crazy, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you,
- Jeremiah 37:13-15 When he was in Benjamin’s gate, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!” Then Jeremiah said, “That is false! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans.” But he didn’t listen to him; so Irijah seized Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
- Acts 7:54 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet here relates the device by which Satan…
The Prophet here relates the device by which Satan attempted to depress his mind, that he might not go on in the discharge of his prophetic office. He says, that Amaziah had sent to the king to induce him to adopt some severe measure; for he pretended that as Amos scattered words full of sedition, and made turbulent speeches, the affairs of the king could not be carried on, except the king in due time prevented him: and besides, the same Amaziah said, that nothing could be better for the Prophet than to flee into the land of Judah, as he might live in safety there; for he had incurred great danger in having dared to prophesy against the king. It hence appears that Amaziah was a perfidious and cunning man, but not so bloody as to attempt openly anything serious against the Prophet’s life; unless perhaps he thought that this could not be done, and gave this advice, not so much through his kindness, as that the thing was impracticable: and this second supposition is probable from the words of the passage.
For, in the first place the Prophet says, that Amaziah had sent to the king He then tried whether he could excite the king’s mind to persecute Amos. It may be that his design did succeed: hence he undertook what in the second place is related, that is, he called the Prophet to himself, and tried to frighten him, and drive him by fear from the land of Israel, that he might no longer be troublesome to them. But we must, in the first place, notice the motive by which this Amaziah was influenced, when he endeavored so much, by any means possible, to banish the Prophet from the kingdom of Israel. It is certainly not credible that he was influenced by what he pretended to the king, that there was a danger of sedition; but it was a pretense cunningly made. Amaziah then had a care for his own advantage, as we see to be the case in our day with cardinals and milted bishops who frequent the courts of princes, and do not honestly profess what their designs are; for they see that their tyranny cannot stand unless the gospel be abolished; they see that our doctrine threatens to become a cold and even an ice to their kitchens; and then they see that they can be of no account in the world, except they crush us. And what do they at the same time pretend? that our doctrine cannot be received without producing a change in the whole world, without ruin to the whole civil order, without depriving kings of their power and dignity. It is then by these malicious artifices that they gain favor to themselves. Such was the device of Amaziah, and such was his manoeuvre in opposing the Prophet Amos.
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Behold, he says to the king, he has conspired against thee קשר, kosher, is to bind, but, by a metaphor, it signifies to conspire: Conspired then has Amos against thee. But who speaks? Amaziah; and the Prophet omits not the title of Amaziah; for he says that he was the priest of Bethel He might have only said, “Amaziah sent to king Jeroboam”, but by mentioning that he was a priest, the Prophet shows that Amaziah did not strive for the peace of the public, as he pretended; and that this was therefore a fallacious pretense, for he fought for his own Helen, that is, he fought for his own kitchen, in short, for his living: for he would have been deprived, with disgrace, of his priesthood, and then reduced to penury and want, except he had driven away the Prophet Amos. Since then he saw that such and so great an evil was nigh him except Amos was banished, he had this object in view, and pretended another thing, and sent to the king and said, Amos has conspired; and he enhances the crime, In the midst of the house of Israel. “This is not done,” he says “in a corners or in some obscure place; but his doctrine is heard on all the public roads, whole cities are filled with it; in short, it burns like fire in the very bosom, in the very midst of the kingdom; and thou wilt soon find thy own house to be all in a flame, unless thou applies a remedy, yea, except thou extinguishest it.” We hence see how Amaziah acted, and the reason why he so earnestly persuaded the king to give liberty no longer to the Prophet Amos.
With regard to what follows, — that the land could no longer bear his words, the sentence admits of two probable meanings. The first is, that he said, that the people, being offended with his turbulent doctrine, did now of themselves hate and detest the Prophet Amos, as a seditious man. Kings are in our day stirred on in like manner, — “Why do you delay? Your subjects desire nothing so much as to extinguish this evil, and all of them will eagerly assist you: ye are in the meantime idle, and your people complain of your tardiness. They think the princes in power are unworthy of their station, since they thus suffer the ancient rites and ordinances of holy Mother Church to fall into decay.” So they speak: and we may imagine the words of Amaziah to have been in the same strain, — that he stimulated the king by this artifice — that the people were prepared to do their part. The other meaning is this, The land cannot bear his words; that is, “If he goes on here with full liberty to raise tumults, as he has begun, the whole kingdom will be on the verge of ruin, for many will follow him; and when an open sedition will arise, it cannot be checked without great difficulty. We must therefore make every haste, lest Amos should get the upper hand; for there is already the greatest danger.” As the Pharisees held a consultation, and said,
‘Lest the Romans come and take away our place and nation,’ (John 11:48)
so also Amaziah might have excited the king by causing him to fear, that the land, the country, or its inhabitants, had been disturbed by the words of Amos, and that therefore it was time to put a stop to him. Such was the message of Amaziah to the king.
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 That is, when Amos had prophesied that the king…
That is, when Amos had prophesied that the king should be destroyed: for the wicked Priest more for hatred he bare to the Prophet than for love toward the king, thought this accusation sufficient to condemn him, whereas none other could take place.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Amo 7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent…
Amo 7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
Ver. 10. Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel] Observing that the prophet had foretold a desolation, and not prayed as before that it might be averted; because he saw God was fully resolved, and their destruction determined.
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Amos hath conspired against thee in the land] Thus Elijah was the troubler of Israel, Jeremiah a seedsman of sedition, Christ an enemy to Caesar, Luther a trumpet of rebellion; all contra-remonstrants, anti-magistratical. As Athaliah cried, Treason, treason, when herself was the greatest traitor; and as in Nero’s days sedition was unicum crimen eorum qui crimine vacabunt (Lipsius), laid ordinarily to the charge of those that were most free from it, so was it here. "Amos hath conspired," &c., whereas Amos might well have said, as Latimer did, As for sedition, for aught that I know, methinks I should not need Christ, if I might so say. Religion is an utter enemy to rebellion; and as there are few conscionable Christians (prophets especially) that have not passed under this calumniation, so he cannot be rightly esteemed such a one that deserveth it. But Amaziah’s honour and incomes were now at stake; as he well perceived when he heard Amos say, Go not up to Bethel, &c., the high places of Isaac shall be destroyed; and hence his zeal against the prophet; like as Erasmus told the Elector of Saxony, that the Pope and his shavelings were therefore so sharp set against Luther because he lifted at the triple crown, and sought to bring down the monks’ fat paunches.
The land is not able to bear all his words] His burdensome prophecies, {Mal 1:1} {See Trapp on "Mal 1:1"} much less can I endure them, or any faithful servant of thine, true to his trust. Such a lying accusation we read of, Est 3:8, made by haughty Haman against the innocent Jews, that they kept not the king’s laws, and that therefore it were good policy to weed them out, as not to be longer endured. So Francis, King of France, desiring to excuse to the Protestant princes of Germany his cruel persecution of the Lutherans in his kingdom, wrote to them that he looked upon them all as Anabaptists, and as enemies to civil government; and therefore used such severity against them. This gave occasion to Calvin to write his admirable Institutions, to vindicate our religion from that foul aspersion (Saultet. Annal. 454). The like devilish policy was afterwards used to blanch over that horrid French massacre. For it was given out, that the Protestants had conspired against the king, the queen mother, the king’s brethren, the King of Navarre, and the princes of the blood. There was also coin stamped in memory of the matter, in the forepart whereof with the king’s picture, was this inscription, Virtus in rebelles; power on rebels, and on the other side, Pietas excitavit iustitiam: Piety hath stirred up justice. Here was a fair glove drawn upon a foul hand; and this they learned from the devil, who was first a slanderer and then a murderer; as those that have a mind to kill another man’s dog make the world believe he was mad first, that they may do it with the better pretext.
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 Then; after that Amos had expressly and peremptorily foretold…
Then; after that Amos had expressly and peremptorily foretold the ruin of idolatry and kingdom of Israel for their sins. Amaziah: it appears not what family he was of, nor is it much material we should know; it is probable he might be of some mean family, or possibly an apostate priest of the tribe of Levi.
The priest, by way of eminency; no common priest, but the chief priest.
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Of Beth-el; to the calf at Beth-el; and it is like he was prefect or governor for the king in the civil affairs of that city and country.
Sent; gave information by messengers sent.
To Jeroboam; the second of that name, of Jehu’s race: the third from Jehu.
King of Israel; at that time living, and on the throne of Israel.
Saying, Amos hath conspired against thee: he accused the prophet of high treason, and conspiring to raise war against his sovereign.
In the midst of the house of Israel; openly and publicly, or hath endeavoured to raise all Israel into sedition or rebellion against their own king.
The land is not able to bear all his woods: either thus, If what he threateneth should come to pass, it will be ruin and utter desolation to all: or thus, The people are incensed so much against this prophet for his harsh predictions, that he must be made an example to quiet and content them. What he saith will come, if it doth come, will certainly ruin all, high and low, and a well-ordered government may not bear such a prophet. Thus far the general accusation.
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 One would have expected, 1. That what we met…
One would have expected, 1. That what we met with in the former part of the chapter would awaken the people to repentance, when they saw that they were reprieved in order that they might have space to repent and that they could not obtain a pardon unless the did repent. 2. That it would endear the prophet Amos to them, who had not only shown his good-will to them in praying against the judgments that invaded them, but had prevailed to turn away those judgments, which, if they had had any sense of gratitude, would have gained him an interest in their affections. But it fell out quite contrary; they continue impenitent, and the next news we hear of Amos is that he is persecuted. Note, As it is the praise of great saints that they pray for those that are enemies to them, so it is the shame of many great sinners that they are enemies to those who pray for them, Psa 35:13, Psa 35:15; Psa 109:4. We have here,
I. The malicious information brought to the king against the prophet Amos, Amo 7:10, Amo 7:11. The informer was Amaziah the priest of Bethel, the chief of the priests that ministered to the golden calf there, the president of Bethel (so some read it), that had the principal hand in civil affairs there. He complained against Amos, not only because he prophesied without license from him, but because he prophesied against his altars, which would soon be deserted and demolished if Amos's preaching could but gain credit. Thus the shrine-makers at Ephesus hated Paul, because his preaching tended to spoil their trade. Note, Great pretenders to sanctity are commonly the worst enemies to those who are really sanctified. Priests have been the most bitter persecutors. Amaziah brings an information to Jeroboam against Amos. Observe, 1. The crime he is charged with is no less than treason: "Amos has conspired against thee, to depose and murder thee; he aims at succeeding thee, and therefore is taking the most effectual way to weaken thee. He sows the seeds of sedition in the hearts of the good subjects of the king, and makes them disaffected to him and his government, that he may draw them by degrees from their allegiance; upon this account the land is not able to bear his words." It is slyly insinuated to the king that the country was exasperated against him, and it is given in as their sense that his preaching was intolerable, and such as nobody could be reconciled to, such as the times would by no means bear, that is, the men of the times would not. Both the impudence of his supposed treason, and the bad influence it would have upon the country, are intimated in that part of the charge, that he conspired against the king in the midst of the house of Israel. Note, It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren to misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince and troublers of the land, when really they are the best friends to both. And it is common for designing men to assert that as the sense of the country which is far from being so. And yet here, I doubt, it was too true, that the people could not bear plain dealing any more than the priests. 2. The words laid in the indictment for the support of this charge (Amo 7:11): Amos says (and they have witnesses ready to prove it) Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive; and hence they infer that he is an enemy to his king and country, and not to be tolerated. See the malice of Amaziah; he does not tell the king how Amos had interceded for Israel, and by his intercession had turned away first one judgment and then another, and did not let fall his intercession till he saw the decree had gone forth; he does not tell him that these threatenings were conditional, and that he had often assured them that if they would repent and reform the ruin should be prevented. Nay, it was not true that he said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, nor did he so die (Kg2 14:28), but that God would rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword, Amo 7:9. God's prophets and ministers have often had occasion to make David's complaint (Psa 56:5), Every day they wrest my words. But shall it be made the watchman's crime, when he sees the sword coming, to give warning to the people, that they may get themselves secured? or the physician's crime to tell his patient of the danger of his disease, that he may use means for the cure of it? What enemies are foolish men to themselves, to their own peace, to their best friends! It does not appear that Jeroboam took any notice of this information; perhaps he reverenced a prophet, and stood more in awe of the divine authority than Amaziah his priest did.
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II. The method he used to persuade Amos to withdraw and quit the country (Amo 7:12, Amo 7:13); when he could not gain his point with the king to have Amos imprisoned, banished, or put to death, or at least to have him frightened into silence or flight, he tried what he could do by fair means to get rid of him; he insinuated himself into his acquaintance, and with all the arts of wheedling endeavored to persuade him to go and prophesy in the land of Judah, and not at Bethel. He owns him to be a seer, and does not pretend to enjoin him silence, but suggests to him,
1. That Bethel was not a proper place for him to exercise his ministry in, for it was the king's chapel, or sanctuary, where he had his idols and their altars and priests; and it was the king's court, or the house of the kingdom, where the royal family resided and where were set the thrones of judgment; and therefore prophesy not any more here. And why not? (1.) Because Amos is too plain and blunt a preacher for the court and the king's chapel. Those that wear silk and fine clothing, and speak silken soft words, are fit for king's palaces. (2.) Because the worship that is in the king's chapel will be a continual vexation and trouble to Amos; let him therefore get far enough from it, and what the eye sees not the heart grieves not for. (3.) Because it was not fit that the king and his house should be affronted in their own court and chapel by the reproofs and threatenings which Amos was continually teazing them with in the name of the Lord; as if it were the prerogative of the prince, and the privilege of the peers, when they are running headlong upon a precipice, not to be told of their danger. (4.) Because he could not expect any countenance or encouragement there, but, on the contrary, to be bantered and ridiculed by some and to be threatened and brow-beaten by others; however, he could not think to make any converts there, or to persuade any from that idolatry which was supported by the authority and example of the king. To preach his doctrine there was but (as we say) to run his head against a post; and therefore prophesy no more there. But,
2. He persuades him that the land of Judah was the fittest place for him to set up in: Flee thee away thither with all speed, and there eat bread, and prophesy there. There thou wilt be safe; there thou wilt be welcome; the king's court and chapel there are on thy side; the prophets there will second thee; the priests and princes there will take notice of thee, and allow thee an honourable maintenance. See here, (1.) How willing wicked men are to get clear of their faithful reprovers, and how ready to say to the seers, See not, or See not for us; the two witnesses were a torment to those that dwelt on the earth (Rev 11:10), and it were indeed a pity that men should be tormented before the time, but that it is in order to the preventing of eternal torment. (2.) How apt worldly men are to measure others by themselves. Amaziah, as a priest, aimed at nothing but the profits of his place, and he thought Amos, as a prophet, had the same views, and therefore advised him to prophesy were he might eat bread, where he might be sure to have as much as he chose; whereas Amos was to prophesy where God appointed him, and where there was most need of him, not where he would get most money. Note, Those that make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment themselves, are ready to think these the most powerful inducements with others also.
III. The reply which Amos made to these suggestions of Amaziah's. He did not consult with flesh and blood, nor was it his care to enrich himself, but to make full proof of his ministry, and to be found faithful in the discharge of it, not to sleep in a whole skin, but to keep a good conscience; and therefore he resolved to abide by his post, and, in answer to Amaziah,
1. He justified himself in his constant adherence to his work and to his place (Amo 7:14, Amo 7:15); and that which he was sure would not only bear him out, but bind him to it, was that he had a divine warrant and commission for it: "I was no prophet, nor prophet's son, neither born nor bred to the office, not originally designed for a prophet, as Samuel and Jeremiah, not educated in the schools of the prophets, as many others were; but I was a herdsman, a keeper of cattle, and a gatherer of sycamore-fruit." Our sycamores bear no fruit, but, it seems, theirs did, which Amos gathered either for his cattle or for himself and his family, or to sell. He was a plain country-man, bred up and employed in country work and used to country fare. He followed the flocks as well as the herds, and thence God took him, and bade him go and prophesy to his people Israel, deliver to them such messages as he should from time to time receive from the Lord. God made him a prophet, and a prophet to them, appointed him his work and appointed him his post. Therefore he ought not to be silenced, for, (1.) He could produce a divine commission for what he did. He did not run before he was sent, but pleads, as Paul, that he was called to be an apostle; and men will find it is at their peril if they contradict and oppose any that come in God's name, if they say to his seers, See not, or silence those whom he has bidden to speak; such fight against God. An affront done to an ambassador is an affront to the prince that sends him. Those that have a warrant from God ought not to fear the face of man. (2.) The mean character he wore before he received that commission strengthened his warrant, so far was it from weakening it. [1.] He had no thoughts at all of ever being a prophet, and therefore his prophesying could not be imputed to a raised expectation or a heated imagination, but purely to a divine impulse. [2.] He was not educated nor instructed in the art or mystery of prophesying, and therefore he must have his abilities for it immediately from God, which is an undeniable proof that he had his mission from him. The apostles, being originally unlearned and ignorant men, evidenced that they owed their knowledge to their having been with Jesus, Act 4:13. When the treasure is put into such earthen vessels, it is thereby made to appear that the excellency of the power is of God, and not of man, Co2 4:7. [3.] He had an honest calling, by which he could comfortably maintain himself and his family; and therefore did not need to prophesy for bread, as Amaziah suggested (Amo 7:12), did not take it up as a trade to live by, but as a trust to honour God and do good with. [4.] He had all his days been accustomed to a plain homely way of living among poor husbandmen, and never affected either gaieties or dainties, and therefore would not have thrust himself so near the king's court and chapel if the business God had called him to had not called him thither. [5.] Having been so meanly bred, he could not have the courage to speak to kings and great men, especially to speak such bold and provoking things to them, if he had not been animated by a greater spirit than his own. If God, that sent him, had not strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint, Isa 50:7. Note, God often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty; and a herdman of Tekoa puts to shame a priest of Bethel, when he receives from God authority and ability to act for him.
2. He condemns Amaziah for the opposition he gave them, and denounces the judgments of God against him, not from any private resentment or revenge, but in the name of the Lord and by authority from him, Amo 7:16, Amo 7:17. Amaziah would not suffer Amos to preach at all, and therefore he is particularly ordered to preach against him: Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord, hear it and tremble. Those that cannot bear general woes may expect woes of their own. The sin he is charged with is forbidding Amos to prophesy; we do not find that he beat him, or put him in the stocks, only he enjoined him silence: Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac; he must not only thunder against them, but he must not so much as drop a word against them; he cannot bear, no, not the most gentle distilling of that rain, that small rain. Let him therefore hear his doom.
(1.) For the opposition he gave to Amos God will bring ruin upon himself and his family. This was the sin that filled the measure of his iniquity. [1.] He shall have no comfort in any of his relations, but be afflicted in those that were nearest to him: His wife shall be a harlot; either she shall be forcibly abused by the soldiers, as the Levite's concubine by the men of Gibeah (they ravish the women of Zion, Lam 5:11), or she shall herself wickedly play the harlot, which, though her sin, her great sin, would be his affliction, his great affliction and reproach, and a just punishment upon him for promoting spiritual whoredom. Sometimes the sins of our relations are to be looked upon as judgments of God upon us. His children, though they keep honest, yet shall not keep alive: His sons and his daughters shall fall by the sword of war, and he himself shall live to see it. He has trained them up in iniquity, and therefore God will cut them off in it. [2.] He shall be stripped of all his estate; it shall fall into the hand of the enemy, and be divided by line, by lot, among the soldiers. What is ill begotten will not be long kept. [3.] He shall himself perish in a strange country, not in the land of Israel, which had been holiness to the Lord, but in a polluted land, in a heathen country, the fittest place for such a heathen to end his days in, that hated and silenced God's prophets and contributed so much to the polluting of his own land with idolatry.
(2.) Notwithstanding the opposition he gave to Amos, God will bring ruin upon the land and nation. He was accused for saying, Israel shall be led away captive (Amo 7:11), but he stands to it, and repeats it; for the unbelief of man shall not make the word of God of no effect. The burden of the word of the Lord may be striven with, but it cannot be shaken off. Let Amaziah rage, and fret, and say what he will to the contrary, Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. Note, it is to no purpose to contend with the judgments of God; for when God judges he will overcome. Stopping the mouths of God's ministers will not stop the progress of God's word, for it shall not return void.
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 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel,.... The Targum calls…
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel,.... The Targum calls him the prince or president of Bethel; and the word used signifies both a prince and a priest; and very probably this man had the care of the civil as well as religious matters in Bethel. Aben Ezra styles him the priest of Baal; he was one that succeeded the priests that Jeroboam the son of Nebat placed here, to offer sacrifices to the calf he set up in this place, Kg1 12:32; who hearing the above three visions of Amos delivered, and fearing that he would alienate the people from the idolatrous worship he was at the head of, and frighten them from an attendance on it, which would lessen his esteem with the people, and also his worldly gain and profit; and observing that Amos did not make any intercession for the averting of the judgment threatened in the last vision, as in the other two, and which particularly concerned the king's family: he
sent to Jeroboam king of Israel; either letters or messengers, or both; who, it seems, was not at this time at Bethel, but at some other place; perhaps Samaria, which was not a great way from hence:
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saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the land of Israel; he speaks of Amos as if he was well known to the king, and perhaps he might be, having long prophesied in the land of Israel, and near the court; and represents him as a seditious person, not as affecting the crown and kingdom himself, but as stirring up a spirit, of rebellion among the people; taking off their affections from their prince, and them from their allegiance to him, by representing him as a wicked person that would in a little time be cut off; and this he did not privately, and in a corner, but publicly, in the midst of the land, and before all the people of Israel; and this was no new and unusual thing to represent good man, and especially ministers of the word, as enemies to the civil government, when none are truer friends to it, or more quiet under it:
the land is not able to bear all his words; either to withstand the power of them; they will have such an influence upon the people, if timely care is not taken, as to cause them both to reject the established religion and worship at Dan and Bethel, and to rise up in arms against the civil government, and dethrone him the king; such terrible things he says to the people, as will frighten them, and put them upon taking such measures as these: or else the prophet's words were so intolerable, that his good subjects, the inhabitants of the land could not bear them; and if he did not give orders himself to take away his life, they would rise up against him, and dispatch him themselves.
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 In the midst - Openly, and publickly, endeavouring to…
In the midst - Openly, and publickly, endeavouring to stir up Israel to sedition or rebellion. The land - The people cannot bear all his harsh predictions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Amaziah the priest of Beth-el] The idolatrous…
Verse 10. Amaziah the priest of Beth-el] The idolatrous priest who had been established by the king to maintain the worship of the golden calves which Jeroboam the elder had set up at this place.
Amos hath conspired against thee] This was truly a lying prophet; there is not one word of truth in this message which he sent to Jeroboam. Amos had not conspired against the king-had not said that Jeroboam should die by the sword-and had not said that Israel should be carried away captive, though this last was implied in God's threatening and afterwards delivered by this prophet; see Am 7:17.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Amo 7:10-11. Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent…
Amo 7:10-11. Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam — This was a priest not of the tribe of Levi, but such a one as those were whom Jeroboam I. had consecrated to perform the idolatrous services at Beth-el: see 1Ki 12:31. Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst, &c. — That is, in an open and barefaced manner. He represents the prophet as exciting sedition, because he denounced destruction against the kingdom, and threatened the house of Jeroboam. The same crime was objected to Jer 26:9-10; to Christ, Luk 23:2; and to St. Paul, Act 24:5. The land is not able to bear all his words — The friends of the government cannot patiently hear his words, and the enemies of it will take advantage from them to make some disturbance. If he proceed to speak in this manner, the inhabitants will be moved to take up arms against each other. For Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword — This was a perverting of the prophet’s words; for he did not prophesy against the king himself, but against his family, or posterity.
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 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel - Was probably the…
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel - Was probably the high priest, in imitation of the high priest of the order of Aaron and of God’s appointment. For the many high places around Bethel required many idol-priests; and a splendid counterfeit of the ritual at Jerusalem, which should rival it in the eyes of Israel, was part of the policy of the first Jeroboam. Amaziah was at the head of this imposture, in a position probably of wealth and dignity among his people. Like “Demetriers the silversmith” Acts 19, he thought that the craft whereby he had his wealth was endangered. To Jeroboam, however, he says nothing of these fears. To the king he makes it an affair of state. He takes the king by what he expected to be his weak side, fear for his own power or life. “Amos hath conspired against thee.” So to Jeremiah “the captain of the ward” said, “Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans” Jer 37:13.
And the princes; “Let this man be put to death, for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt” Jer 38:4. And of our Lord they said to Pilate, “If thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king, is an enemy to Caesar” Joh 19:12. And of the Apostles; “these men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans” Act 16:20-21; and, “these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also - and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus” Act 17:6-7. And so the pagan, who were ever conspiring against the Roman Emperors, went on accusing the early Christians as disloyal to the Emperors, factious, impious, because they did not offer sacrifices for them to false gods, but prayed for them to the True God . Some doubtless, moved by the words of Amos, had forsaken the state-idolatry, reformed their lives, worshiped God with the prophet; perhaps they were called in contempt by his name, “Amosites” or “Judaizers,” and were counted as “his” adherents, not as the worshipers of the one true God, “the God of their fathers.” Whence Amaziah gained the plea of a “conspiracy,” of which Amos was the head. For a “conspiracy” cannot be of one man. The word, by its force, signifies “banded;” the idiom, that he “banded” others “together against” 1Sa 22:8, 1Sa 22:13; 1Ki 15:27; 1Ki 16:9, 1Ki 16:16; 2Ki 10:9; 2Ki 14:19; 2Ki 15:10, 2Ki 15:15, 2Ki 15:25; 2Ki 21:23 the king. To us Amaziah attests the power of God’s word by His prophet; “the land,” that is, the whole people, “is not able to bear his words,” being shaken through and through.
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 Words. Nothing could be more unfounded. Amos had indeed…
Words. Nothing could be more unfounded. Amos had indeed denounced many judgments; but he was not wanting in respect to the king. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain AMAZIAH'S CHARGE AGAINST AMOS: HIS DOOM FORETOLD. (Amo 7:10-17)
AMAZIAH'S CHARGE AGAINST AMOS: HIS DOOM FORETOLD. (Amo 7:10-17)
priest of Beth-el--chief priest of the royal sanctuary to the calves at Beth-el. These being a device of state policy to keep Israel separate from Judah. Amaziah construes Amos words against them as treason. So in the case of Elijah and Jeremiah (Kg1 18:17; Jer 37:13-14). So the antitype Jesus was charged (Joh 19:12); political expediency being made in all ages the pretext for dishonoring God and persecuting His servants (Joh 11:48-50). So in the case of Paul (Act 17:6-7; Act 24:5).
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in the midst of . . . Israel--probably alluding to Amos' own words, "in the midst of . . . Israel" (Amo 7:8), foretelling the state's overthrow to the very center. Not secretly, or in a corner, but openly, in the very center of the state, so as to upset the whole utterly.
land is not able to bear all his words--They are so many and so intolerable. A sedition will be the result. The mention of his being "priest of Beth-el" implies that it was for his own priestly gain, not for the king or state, he was so keen.
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 The experience of Amos at Beth-el, Amo_7:10-17.
The experience of Amos at Beth-el, Amo_7:10-17.
The account of the fourth vision is separated from that of the third by an historical section, in which is recorded the experience of Amos at Beth-el. The incident related is closely connected with the vision immediately preceding. In connection with the latter Amos made startling announcements concerning the destiny of Israel and of the ruling dynasty. These aroused the resentment of the chief priest, who accused Amos of treason and sought to drive him from Beth-el. Amos refuses to go, however, and justifies himself and his message by an appeal to the divine call which impelled him to enter upon the prophetic career. Fearlessly he repeats the previous denunciations and adds a personal woe upon Amaziah and his family.
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10-13. The opposition.
Then — When Amos had uttered the startling announcements contained in Amo_7:9.
Amaziah the priest — Probably the chief priest at the sanctuary of Bethel. Nothing is known of him otherwise.
Jeroboam — See Introduction, p. 195.
Conspired — Not, has entered into conspiracy with others, but, his words are such as will result in conspiracy against the throne. Under normal conditions denunciation of the government and the prediction of the overthrow of the national institutions may rightly be considered treason; and to an unspiritual politician the words of Amos must have seemed treasonable, but the priest, a representative of Jehovah, should have understood the attitude of the prophet. In reality the latter was the only one who did not betray the best interests of the nation. It was only because he considered it essential to the welfare of the people that he was willing that the nation should be exiled and the dynasty overthrown, if only a pious remnant could be preserved to form a nucleus of a new kingdom of God.
In the midst — At the very center of the national life; that is, at Beth-el, which was the religious center.
Not able to bear — The message is so revolutionary, the priest means to say, that it will surely lead to serious disturbances. To prove his case he sends to the king a summary of Amos’s message.
Jeroboam shall die by the sword — Not an exact reproduction of the words of Amos (Amo_7:9). The manipulation may have been caused by a desire to arouse more readily the king’s resentment.
Shall surely be led away captive — This the prophet had asserted repeatedly (Amo_5:5; Amo_5:27; Amo_6:7).
Also Amaziah said — Nothing is said of Jeroboam’s attitude. Hence Amaziah’s attempt to silence Amos has been variously interpreted. Some think that Jeroboam took no notice of the priest’s message, or that the reply was not satisfactory, and that, therefore, Amaziah, who had reason to fear for his own position (Amo_7:9), endeavored, on his own authority, to drive out Amos. Others think that it was at the king’s command that Amaziah bade Amos flee, though the authorization is not mentioned. Still others interpret the priest’s words as a friendly advice to the prophet to leave the country before the wrath of the king should be felt by him. The last interpretation is shown to be impossible by Amos’s reply in 14-17. It is, perhaps, best to suppose that Amaziah addressed Amos as soon as he had dispatched the messenger to the king. Having made an appeal to Jeroboam, he thought himself in a position to rid the country, in any manner whatever, of this “troubler of Israel.”
Seer — According to 1Sa_9:9 (where a different word, though identical in meaning, is used), this is an older designation of the men called in later days prophets; here the word is used probably with a touch of sarcasm — visionary, fanatic.
Land of Judah — The home of Amos (Introduction, p. 191).
Eat bread — Make a living. The early seers made their living in much the same way as modern clairvoyants (1Sa_9:7-8); and even among later prophets there were those who prophesied “for a reward” (Mic_3:5; Mic_3:11; 1Ki_22:13), who followed the adage, “Whose bread I eat, his song I sing.”
Such a one Amaziah took Amos to be.
Prophesy there — In his own country Amos might say anything he pleased; Beth-el needed no prophet, its spiritual interests were well cared for.
The king’s chapel — R.V., “sanctuary.”
The king’s court — R.V., “a royal house.” From the time of Jeroboam I the sanctuary at Beth-el enjoyed the royal patronage (1Ki_12:29; 1Ki_12:32), and it is quite likely that the king had a palace there.
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 10. Amos hath conspired, &c.] Amos had not, as…
10. Amos hath conspired, &c.] Amos had not, as a matter of fact, done this: he had not himself spoken treasonably against the king, or made any attempt upon his life, nor had he incited others to rebel against him. But he had foretold disaster for the house of Jeroboam, and threatened Israel generally with exile; hence disaffected spirits might readily have supposed that his words merely gave expression to his wishes, and that in acting so as to give them effect, they were but promoting the purposes of Providence. He seemed, consequently, in Amaziah’s eyes, to be guilty of constructive treason; and this formed a colourable pretext for making a representation to the king, which Amaziah hoped would be followed by an order for his immediate expulsion from the country.
in the midst of the house of Israel] where his influence would be the greatest: an aggravation of his offence.
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the land is not able to bear (lit. contain) all his words] They are too numerous, and too monstrous, to be tolerated.
10–17. A historical episode, intimately connected with the preceding visions, and arising out of them. In particular, Amos, in explaining the last of these visions, had spoken so unambiguously, even, in appearance, threatening the person of the king, that Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, denounces him to Jeroboam II., upon a charge of conspiracy; and upon the king’s taking no notice of the accusation, takes it upon himself to bid the prophet leave Israel and return to his own country. Amos replies that he has been commissioned by Jehovah to speak as he has done, and re-affirms, with even greater emphasis, his former prediction, with reference in particular to the fate in store for Amaziah’s own family and possessions.
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 (10) There follows a brief historical interlude of much…
(10) There follows a brief historical interlude of much interest. It shows that the effect of the preaching of the Judæan prophet had been felt in the sanctuary at Bethel and the palaces at Samaria. The chief priest of the Temple, with the characteristic exaggeration of fear and anger, accuses Amos of treason against the house of Jeroboam.
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 Vers. 10-17. This bold prophecy, no longer conceived in…
Vers. 10-17. This bold prophecy, no longer conceived in general terms or referring to distant times, but distinct and personal, arouses the animosity of the priestly authorities at Bethel, who accuse Amos before the king, and warn him to leave the country without more words, or to fear the worst.
Amaziah the priest of Bethel. Amaziah ("the Lord is strong"), the chief of the idol priests at Bethel, a crafty and determined man, hearing this prophecy against the royal house, takes it up as a political matter, and makes a formal accusation against Amos with the view of silencing him. Hath conspired against thee. Probably some of the Israelites had been convinced by the prophet"s words, and had joined themselves to him; hence Amaziah speaks of "a conspiracy" (1Sa_22:8, 13 1Ki_15:27) against the king. Or very possibly the story was fabricated in order to accentuate the charge against Amos. In the midst of the house of Israel. In the very centre of the kingdom, where his treasonable speeches would have the greatest effect. The land, personified, cannot endure such language, which is calculated to disturb its peace, and is quite contrary to its ideas and hopes.
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Vers. 10-17. Machination foiled by fearless candour.
Amos had deserved well of Israel. He took a more practical interest in their welfare than any other man from the king down. He saw their sin, and lamented it; their impending ruin and would have averted it; their one way of escape, and pressed its adoption strenuously. Had they not been as blind as besotted, they would have revered him as a national benefactor. But the reformation he preached meant the abandonment of rooted habits and the harassing of vested interests in sin, neither of which would be so much as named. Accordingly, Amos anticipated the experience of all reformers since, in being assailed by a policy of falsehood, backed by force. We have here
I A MEDDLING PRIEST. "The priest of Bethel" was the chief idol priest at the sanctuary of the golden calf there. His position and functions were in profane mimicry of those of the high priest at Jerusalem. In making this charge:
He appeals to force. The tyrant Jeroboam was the embodiment of irresponsible power in Israel. Idolatry is the religion of brute force. Its appeal to the strong arm as the only argument worth using is characteristic. Error eschews argument. The kingdom of darkness instinctively fears the light. What is an outrage on reason takes its shelter fitly behind a sword. "My kingdom is not of this world;" "The weapons of your warfare are not carnal." The true religion makes its appeal to truth. The religion that appeals to the sword is prima facie false.
He is prompted by jealousy. He had a vested interest in the national idolatry. To abolish it would be to take the bread out of his mouth. Like the chief priests and scribes with Christ, and the Ephesian silversmiths with Paul, Amaziah was striking for his livelihood. "He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." Conflicting self-interest, actual or supposed, is a constant and effective obstacle in the way of the religious life. It is the preliminary necessity of leaving all in act or spirit that makes the followers of the Lord so few.
He makes a lying accusation. (Ver. 11.) Amos had not really made either statement. That applied to Jeroboam had been made about Jeroboam"s house. That about Israel had been accompanied by a call to repentance, and a conditional promise of escape, which modified its character altogether. The charge, therefore, consists of a lie and a half-truth, and is an attempt to work on the king"s personal fears, by construing into a conspiracy against his kingdom and life what Amos did to save both. For this now stale device persecutors in all ages have shown a characteristic predilection. Christ was calumniously accused of speaking against Caesar. (Luk 23:2Jo Luk_19:12 Mat_22:21) Paul was falsely charged with "doing contrary to the decrees of Caesar," and "stirring up sedition among the Jews". (Act_17:7 Act_24:5) And often since has the assertion of liberty of conscience been construed into rebellion against the civil power. Falsehood and violence are the traditional propaganda of the kingdom of darkness.
He judges the prophet"s morals by the standard of his own. (Ver. 12.) His relation to his own office was utterly sordid. He held the office of priest for the "bit of bread" it secured him. And he assumes that Amos is like himself. It is thus that the saint "judges the world, yet himself is judged of no man." Forming an estimate of the righteous, the wicked leave conscience out of the computation, and so vitiate the finding.
He condemns idolatry by the argument he uses in its defence. (Ver. 13.) "The king"s sanctuary," set up and consecrated by the king, maintained by his authority, and subordinated to his purposes. The national idolatry was a creature of the king. Its claim to be a religion was no stronger than his claim to be a god. For religious ordinances state authority is so inadequate as only to expose them to suspicion the suspicion of adjustment to a state policy rather than to the Word and glory of God.
II A FAITHFUL PROPHET. Like every true man, Amos was:
Humble. (Ver. 14.) He remembers and confesses his lowly origin. He asks no respect but such as might be due to his native condition. He treats the prophetic office as an entirely unmerited dignity. His exercise of it was disinterested. He was neither a professional prophet nor the son of one. His prophesying was an incident, and the trust of Divine grace. The man whom office spoils was unfit for it. The religion that is puffed up by employment in God"s work was never intelligent, or of a high order.
Loyal to his Divine commission. (Ver. 15.) In a believing life God is all. His will is the supreme interest and exclusive rule. God has chosen the man, and that means unconditional consecration. God has commissioned him, and he makes the fact the basis of his whole life programme. "I must work the works of him that sent me." That is a comprehensive life maxim. In the spiritual circle nothing is held supremely important but that God"s work be done.
Zealous. Amos made the salvation of Israel a personal concern and his life effort. He could think, speak, be active about nothing else. "The land could not bear his words," so vehement were they and so persistent. The advocacy that will take no refusal, that must be either yielded to or silenced, is that which alone beseems the stupendous importance of the cause of God. "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." If this is not an all-absorbing passion, it is not after the one Example.
Bold. (Vers. 16, 17.) Prohibition is treated as a challenge. It only leads him to repeat and emphasize. There is no bravado in this, but only a supreme regard for the principle, "We ought to obey God rather than men." The King"s messenger, on the King"s business, must brook obstruction from none. The best soldier is the boldest. Perfect devotion to and faith in his Captain speaks in absolute fearlessness in his service.
Explicit. (Ver. 17.) The heathen oracles always "paltered in a double sense." After the event their deliverances could be reconciled with whatever happened. But the prophet, delivering God"s message, is sure of his ground. He specifies details with confidence, for no jot or tittle of the Divine Word can fail. As in other cases, the fulfilment of this particular detail of the prophecy is not recorded, (Isa_22:17, 18 Jer_29:22) nor could it be expected to be in the condensed account of the Scripture narrative. "Scripture hath no leisure to relate all which befalls those of the viler sort." Yet the broad fact of the Captivity and exile, accompanied by all the horrors of Oriental warfare, forms a constructive record of the events.
III A HARROWING PICTURE. (Ver. 17.) These are the horrors born of idolatry. When Amaziah came to suffer them in his family he would know practically what his chosen idolatry was, and made of men.
Family dishonour. "Wife dishonoured," etc. A common atrocity, (Isa_13:16 Zec_14:2) and to all concerned the most diabolically cruel conceivable. Between this crime and idolatry there are analogies, and probably affinities, in virtue of which the one is figuratively called by the name of the other. (Jer_3:9 Eze_23:37) The patron of the one is fitly punished by being made the victim of the other. The conduct of Turkish troops in recent wars, in respect to this matter, is a commentary on the assertion that Mohammedanism is a valuable protest against idolatry.
Family impoverishment. A Hebrew"s property is inalienable. If he lost it by mismanagement, it reverted to his family at the jubilee. But the Assyrian would know nothing of jubilees. The chance of disgorgement was small when he had eaten up the inheritance.
Family extermination. We all like to perpetuate our name and family. The Hebrew had this feeling in almost unparalleled strength. To die childless was with him the sum of all disaster. What more appropriate than that it should wait on idolatry, "the sum of all sin"?
Dishonoured death. Dying in a strange country, both Jacob and Joseph made provision for being buried in their own land. (Gen_47:30 Gen_50:25 Heb_11:22) No Jew could die happy expecting burial in a heathen country. Exposure to such a fate would cap the climax of Amaziah"s wretchedness.
Exile for all Israel They had polluted their land, and were unworthy longer to remain in it. They had become assimilated to the heathen in their character and ways, and would be associated with them yet on closer terms. It was a holiday heathenism they were in love with, and they would be cured of their penchant by a sight of it in its working dress.
IV A CLENCHING ARGUMENT. "The word of Jehovah." It was Amos who spoke it; but the word was God"s. And it cannot be broken. The Divine truth is pledged to it. The Divine energy is lodged in it. The Divine purpose is couched in it, The thing it affirms is potentially a fact.
Vers. 10-17. The conventional and the genuine priests of a people.
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam King of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words," etc. In these words we have types of two classes of priests who are ever found amongst the people.
I THE CONVENTIONAL PRIEST OF A PEOPLE. Amaziah was the recognized, authorized, conventional priest of Bethel the chief priest of the royal sanctuary of the calves at Bethel. He was the recognized religious teacher a kind of archbishop. We find this man doing three things which such conventional priests have done in all ages, and are doing now.
He was in close intimacy with the king. He "sent to Jeroboam King of Israel." Conventional priests have always an eye upward, always towards kings and those in authority; they have generally proved ready to obey their behests, study their caprices, and wink at their abominations. In their prayers they will often insult the Omniscient by describing their royal masters, whatever their immoralities, as "our most religious," "our most gracious sovereign." As a rule, they are the mere creatures of kings.
He seeks to expel an independent teacher from the dominion of the king. He seeks to do this in two ways.
(1) By appealing to the king. He does this in a spirit that has ever characterized his class by brining against Amos the groundless charge of treason. "Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words." By a base slander he endeavours to influence the king against the true teacher. He does this:
(2) By alarming the prophet. "Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: but prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king"s chapel, and it is the king"s court." It does not appear that the king took any notice of the message which this authorized religious teacher had sent him concerning Amos; hence, in order to carry out his malignant purpose, he addresses the prophet and says, "O thou seer, go, flee thee away." Not imagining that Amos could be actuated by any higher principle than that of selfishness, which reigned in his own heart, the priest advised him to consult his safety by fleeing across the frontier into the kingdom of Judah, where he might obtain his livelihood by the unrestrained exercise of his prophetical gifts. Here, then, we have, in this Amaziah, a type of many so called authorized religious teachers of a country. Two feelings inspire them a miserable servility towards their rulers, and a cruel envy towards their religious rivals. They want to sweep the land of all schismatics. Thank God, the days of the Amaziahs, through the advancement of popular intelligence, are drawing to a close!
II HERE WE HAVE THE GENUINE PRIEST OF A PEOPLE, Amos seems to have been a prophet not nationally recognized as such. He was no professional prophet. Observe three things concerning the prophet.
He is not ashamed of his humble origin. "I was no prophet that is, "I am not a prophet by profession, was I a prophet"s son." By the son of a prophet he means a disciple or pupil. He had not studied in any prophetic college. On the contrary, "I am nothing but a poor labouring man herdsman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit." No true prophet is ever ashamed of his origin, however humble. As a rule, the greatest teachers of the world have struggled up from the regions of poverty and obscurity. From the lower grades of social life the Almighty generally selects his most eminent servants; "not many mighty does he call.
He is conscious of the Divinity of his mission. "The Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." Amos seems to have had no doubt at all as to the tact that the Lord called him. How he was called does not appear. When God calls a man to work, the man knows it. No argument will convince him to the contrary. The conventional teacher may say, "You are unauthorized, unrecognized, unordained; you have intruded yourself into the holy calling." But the true teacher knows when he is divinely called, and under this impression he carries on his work. "The Lord took me as I followed the flock,
In the name of Heaven he denounces the conventional priest. In return for this rebellion against Jehovah, Amos foretells for the priest the punishment which will fall upon him when the judgment shall come upon Israel, meeting his words, "Thou sayest, Thou shalt not prophesy," with the keen retort, "Thus saith Jehovah." The punishment is thus described in ver. 17, "Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city," i.e. at the taking of the city she will become a harlot through violation. His children also would be slain by the foe, and his lauded possessions assigned to others, viz. to the fresh settlers in the land. He himself, viz. the priest, would die in an unclean land, that is to say, in the land of the Gentiles; in other words, would be carried away captive, and that with the whole nation, the carrying away of which is repeated by Amos in the words which the priest had reported to the king (ver. 11) as a sign that what he has prophesied will assuredly stand (Delitzsch).
CONCLUSION. To which class of teachers dost thou belong, my brother? That represented by Amaziah, who, though recognized by his king and country as the true teacher, was nevertheless destitute of loyalty to the one true God and the spirit of true philanthropy and honest manhood; or that represented by Amos, who although a poor labourer, unrecognized by his country as a true teacher, yet was called of God and manfully fulfilled his Divine mission? Heaven multiply in this country and throughout the world religions teachers of this Amos type! 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 Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of…
Amo_7:10-17
Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel.
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The conventional and the genuine priests of a people
I. The conventional priest. Amaziah was chief priest of the royal sanctuary of the calves at Bethel.
1. He was in close intimacy with the king.
2. He seeks to expel an independent teacher from the dominion of the king.
(1) By appeal to the king. By bringing against Amos the groundless charge of treason. By a base slander he endeavours to influence the king against the true teacher. He does this--
(2) By alarming the prophet. Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: but prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the kings chapel, and it is the kings court. It does not appear that the king took any notice of the message which this authorised religious teacher had sent him concerning Amos; hence, in order to carry out his malignant purpose, he addresses the prophet and says, O thou seer, go, flee thee away. Not imagining that Amos could be actuated by any higher principle than that of selfishness, which reigned in his own heart, the priest advised him to consult his safety by fleeing across the frontier into the kingdom of Judah, where he might obtain his livelihood by the unrestrained exercise of his prophetical gifts. Thank God, the days of the Amaziahs, through the advancement of popular intelligence, are drawing to a close!
II. Here we have the genuine priest of a people. Amos seems to have been a prophet not nationally recognised as such.
1. He is not ashamed of his humble origin. I was no prophet, that is, I am not a prophet by profession, neither was I a prophets son. By the son of a prophet he means a disciple or pupil. He had not studied in any prophetic college. No true prophet is ever ashamed of his origin, however humble. As a rule the greatest teachers of the world have struggled up from the regions of poverty and obscurity.
2. He is conscious of the Divinity of his mission. The Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel. Amos seems to have had no doubt at all as to the fact that the Lord called him. How he was called does not appear. When God calls a man to work, the man knows it. No argument will convince him to the contrary.
3. In the name of heaven he denounces the conventional priest. In return for this rebellion against Jehovah, Amos foretells for the priest the punishment which will fall upon him when the judgment shall come upon Israel, meeting his words, Thou sayest, Thou shalt not prophesy with the keen retort, Thus saith Jehovah. The punishment is described in verse 17. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Amo_7:10.] The prophet opposed at Bethel on account of…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Amo_7:10.] The prophet opposed at Bethel on account of these predictions. Conspired] Heb. banded, implying that others joined. There is a charge of conspiracy and sedition; insinuates that Amos prophesies for bread (Amo_7:10-11), and in pretended courtesy advises him to remove. Say nothing against the king, let us alone in our customs, or we will suppress you by force.
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Amo_7:14. Said] Indignantly repudiated the charge against himself. He was no scholar; as a herdsman he was content with a little, did not seek a mere livelihood, but as the messenger of God he spoke with dignity and authority.
Amo_7:17. Therefore] in return for this opposition Amaziah must bear his own doom. Wife] will be violently taken by the enemy. The city] publicly and openly: she would be dishonoured at the storming of the city. Land] possessed or assigned to others. Sons] Children slain by the foe; he himself would die in exile among the heathen, and the whole nation would be carried away into captivity.
THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN PRIEST AND PROPHET.—Amo_7:10-17
These verses contain an interesting episode, and present the prophet of God undaunted in danger. We see the issue of his preaching and the requital for his pains. Amaziah, the idolatrous priest of Bethel, is greatly incensed, resolves by force and fraud to get rid of Amos.
I. The conduct of the priest. Amaziah must be viewed as representative of the system of which he was no doubt the ecclesiastical head.
1. He seeks to silence the prophet by civil power. He seems to have been intimate with the king, pretends great kindness to him, when really he consulted his own interests. If Amos prevailed, his gods would starve, and Jerusalem would have all the custom. False teachers prove most cruel persecutors. Their authority is based on the patronage of the great and the support of the state. They are uncharitable in feeling and impotent in power. Flattery may find friends, but truth alone will stand.
2. He brings false charges against the prophet’s conduct. Every word has weight, like so many daggers, to stab the prophet.
(1) He makes false accusation against the character of the prophet. He was the proud pompous hierarch of a popular religion, a system upheld by prestige and patronage. Amos in his estimation was a needy vagrant, a contemptuous “seer.”
(2) He makes false accusation against the motives of the prophet. He insinuates Amos to be a mean, self-interested person, plying his vocation to “eat bread.” Self-interested persons, worldly priests, measure others by their own motives. Those who make godliness a gain, and are governed by hopes of preferment and wealth, understand not the aims of God’s servants, and think to rule others by inducements which influence them.
(3) He makes false accusation against the conduct of the prophet. He charges him with conspiracy. “Amos hath conspired against thee.” This was a most dangerous accusation, in the unsettled condition of the kingdom. This spirit has characterized a false priesthood in every age. Prophets and apostles, martyrs and reformers, and Christ himself, were all subject to the same persecution—the same artful and malicious design to excite the temporal power against them.
3. He brings false charges against the prophet’s preaching. In whatever spirit Amaziah reports the words of the prophet, he keeps back or perverts the truth. He artfully frames the language to establish his charge. He makes a base slander. The prophet had uttered the downfall of the house of Jeroboam, but not in a spirit of rebellion and treason. “Amos hath conspired against thee.” This was done openly at Bethel—think of that! “In the midst of thy people Israel.” “Commotions of the people are dangerous, O king! The people resent this. If thou dost not act they will”. “The land is not able to bear all his words.” God’s people have often been represented as enemies to the state and disloyal to princes. The true power of Christian character has been felt and hated. But “unable to resist the wisdom and the spirit” with which servants of God have spoken, recourse has been had to illegal methods, and men have not dared to appeal to reason and the word of God (Act_6:10). “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.”
4. He advises the prophet to consult his own safety. “Flee thee away.” As a seeming friend he requests him to flee away from danger.
(1) He urges him in the language of terror. It is not safe to prophesy here against the king. This is Bethel, the centre of worship and the seat of government. He could expect no encouragement or sanction in the court. He was too blunt, too faithful, to be heard. Go to Judah.
(2) He urges him in the language of threats. As a haughty prelate he assumes authority. “Prophesy not again any more,” in my parish and jurisdiction. We have enough of schism and sedition. I am resolved to suspend and silence thee. Prohibition from man will not destroy the authority of God. Peter and John were forbidden to preach, Luther and Knox were threatened, but they could not but speak. “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
II. The behaviour of the prophet. Amos was too deeply impressed with a sense of duty to be swayed by arguments like these.
1. He repudiates the personal charge. “I was no prophet,” &c. He was a humble shepherd, neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet by profession. Content to cultivate and gather figs, he would never have thrust himself into office. He was a labouring man, neither ashamed of his origin nor employ. Others may boast of rank and authority, but God chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty.
2. He asserts his Divine commission. “The Lord took me.” What the priest forbade, God commanded. “Go, prophesy.” Amaziah was in direct rebellion against God, Amos was acting in obedience to God. God often calls men from flocks and herds to stand before priests and princes. They may not be recognized by the learned scribe, the proud prelate, and the king’s court: but they are conscious of a Divine mission, and are determined to fulfil it.
3. He refuses to leave the path of duty. Amaziah might be influenced by the fear of man, Jonah may escape from Nineveh, but Amos fears not the wrath of a king. God sent him to Israel, not to Judah, and from Israel he would not go. If we are conscious of God’s sanction we shall be supported in trial and courageous in danger. This made Amos resolute against Amaziah; Nathan free with David; Elijah bold with Ahab; John faithful with Herod; and the apostles confident before the world. One prophet sent by God shall overcome the hosts of Baal, though backed by the power of king and queen. “Should such a man as I flee?”
4. He repeats his solemn message. He is not terrified by priest or king. Though forbidden to prophesy, he desists not, but denounces God’s words and bids the priest attend to the awful sentence.
(1) His wife would be dishonoured. She would be openly and publicly insulted at the storming of the city.
(2) His children would be slain by the sword. He had trained them up, and God would cut them off, in idolatry.
(3) His lands would be taken by the enemy. They would be allotted to others by line (Deu_32:9; 2Sa_8:2; Psa_16:6). Thus he would lose his heirs and his inheritance also.
(4) He would die a captive in a foreign land. He who now gloried in priesthood and position should become an exile and die in a land polluted by idols. The greatest misery that could happen to one expecting a grave in the land of promise.
(5) The kingdom itself would be destroyed. “And Israel shall surely go into captivity.” The prediction is in the very words of the priest himself (Amo_7:11), and a warning to all who oppose the servants and abuse the gifts of God. If we pollute the people of God, we shall be dishonoured ourselves. Wicked parents and ungodly ministers reap what they sow and bring a curse upon posterity. Sinners and seducers can never make void the threatening of God. The most haughty and powerful cannot defy judgments which offend them. Opposition may provoke God to contend with them as individuals, and bring ruin upon their families and estates, upon body and soul, for time and eternity.
A POLITICAL PRIEST AND A TRUE PROPHET
Let us view the transactions of this high priest, and we shall find a complete character of a false prophet, or the perfect picture of a politician.
1. They use to flatter and delude great ones, making them to believe that none are their friends but such as say as they say, do whatever they would have them do, and humour them in their sins;—that they are their foes that, like Amos, deal faithfully and plainly with them; and this is no small part of great men’s misery, that they have few about them that dare or will deal faithfully with them. They may use the Litany (in this sense) with that alteration which the poor curate used, when he saw his lord come into the Church, O God the Father of Heaven, have mercy upon us Right Honourable sinners. Their state is worse (in this respect) than that of inferior persons, who are plainly and truly told of their sins, when these are soothed up to their destruction.
2. They calumniate and belie the true prophets. They observe the rule of Machiavel—Lie lustily, somewhat will stick though it be never so false.
3. They labour with might and main to suppress and silence the true prophets. They know that their kingdom cannot long stand, if once the faithful ministers of Christ be countenanced; light and darkness, the ark and Dagon, Christ and Belial, can never subsist together. This made Amaziah use both force and fraud to rid the land of Amos
4. They labour to suppress good men before they can be heard. They must not speak nor dispute the case. Thus Amaziah clandestinely accuseth Amos to the king, when he could make no defence for himself.
5. They usually mingle some truth with their lies. As fowlers do mix some wheat with their chaff, to catch the birds the sooner; so did Amaziah mix some truth with his lies. Amos hath said Jeroboam shall die by the sword (that was false), and Israel shall surely go into captivity (that was true) [Hall].
Let us now view the true prophet of God. He is the very opposite of a timeserving, conventional priest.
1. He is Divinely called to his work. He is no mere professional servant. He does not assume office for his own interests, nor does he run before he is sent. He does not always belong to the regular order of prophets, nor is he always qualified by human learning, but God has appeared to him and uttered the word, “Go prophesy to my people.”
2. He is often persecuted and opposed in his work. He predicts judgments which some cannot bear. He is called an enthusiast and “a mover of sedition,” denounced, reproached, and hindered in his work. If open violence does not answer, secret fraud is devised (Jer_11:19; Jer_12:6). Hence men display their personal spite and vile ingratitude. But they will find it perilous to fight against God and persecute his servants.
3. He is always faithful in doing his work. Truthful men are valiant. Cowards fear and creep behind. God’s servants stand their ground and are faithful to their trust. They are not deterred by false friends nor threatening foes. Fidelity to conscience and God often costs them their life. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
The sins of Amaziah.
1. Contradicting God’s command. “Prophesy not against Israel”
2. Slanderous report of God’s servant. “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.”
3. Frustrating God’s purpose. (a.) In seeking to crush the truth, (b.) In tempting the messenger to flee from duty. The prophet’s defence proved the nature of the charge. Amaziah hears his doom, like Peter telling Ananias, “Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
Amo_7:10. Not able to bear all his words. Truth often an offence—always a power in the land. The world is compelled to confess their impotence against it.
Amo_7:12. Worldly advice to God’s servants. “Flee,” &c. This given by Pharisees to Christ (Luk_13:31). It is folly to declare alarming truths before the great; impiety to oppose established customs and eminent dignitaries; and insolent to preach the gospel in king’s chapels. Smooth things and popular heresies must pass current with some, and royalty must pass undisturbed to destruction.
This was fit advice for the priest of Bethel. Carnal men do not rise above carnal motives; but true prophets consult not flesh and blood, have higher motives than safety, bread, &c. Apostles, Reformers, and Missionaries took no counsel with advisers like Amaziah. Duty before temporal interests. Pray for help to discharge it. This advice proves—
1. Selfishness,
2. Timidity, and
3. Disobedience.
Amo_7:13. Observe, this priest of Bethel claims honour for it, not because it is the Lord’s sanctuary, but because it is the king’s sanctuary, and not because it is the house of God, but the house of Jeroboam. All claims of reverence for a Church simply and merely as a national establishment, independently of Divine institution, are no better than these assertions of Amaziah. The first royal propounder of what is now called Erastianism, as far as we know, was Jeroboam I.; the first priestly advocate of it, as far as we know, was Amaziah [Wordsworth].
Amo_7:14. Herdman. One of that class to which Abraham, and Moses, and David had belonged; but not rich in fields and herds, in men-servants and maid-servants, like the first; nor learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, like the second; nor with any, the most distant, intimations that he might one day be the shepherd of a people, like the third [F. D. Maurice].
1. God loves to appear to men diligent in their calling. Moses keeping sheep, David following the ewes, and Saul seeking the asses, &c.
2. When God calls we must be ready to forsake all. Amos leaves his herds, disciples their nets, and Abraham his country. Grace makes men able to do and willing to suffer what God commands.
3. The sphere must be left with God to appoint. Whatever the lot may be, we must be satisfied. Other places may seem better, but God knows best.
4. When once the place is fixed we must not quit it without Divine guidance. Nothing warrants unlawful fear in the performance of duty or neglect of it. Providence must never be construed to sanction flight or withdraw us from our work. We may apparently do little good, be permitted to prophesy in another place and be more successful. But we must abide in our calling, never give way to corrupt principles, and shun not to declare the whole counsel of God.
Amo_7:17. Opposers of God’s word examples of his justice and indignation. Amaziah led God’s people into idolatry, and his wife is an harlot in the city. He destroyed the souls of the people, and his own family fall by the sword. Given to the world, he was the chief cause why Israel was despoiled of their inheritance, and his land is divided among the conquerors. He was the chief cause of Israel’s exile, and would not let them believe it, the threatening was verified upon himself, and without recovery died in a polluted land [Hutcheson].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 7
Amo_7:10-11. Latimer spoke his mind before Henry VIII. and was complained of by his enemies. One of them kneeled before the king and accused him of seditious doctrines. Latimer turned first to his accuser and asked, “What form of preaching would you appoint me to preach before a king?” No answer was given to this and several other questions. Then he turned to the king, confessed his unworthiness to preach, declared that he was called to it, but would give way to his betters. “But if your Grace allow me for a preacher, I would desire your Grace to discharge my conscience, give me leave to frame my discourse according to mine audience.” The king was pleased with Latimer’s words, who was congratulated by his friends, and told with tears in their eyes that they looked for nothing but confinement in the Tower for him [Whitecross].
Amo_7:14. Herdman. In Palestine at the present day none but the very poor consent to be herdmen, and only such gather sycamore fruit or use it [The Land and Book].
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Prophet at Bethel
The Prophet at Bethel
v. 10. Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, the high priest in charge of the sanctuary of idolatry at Bethel, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel, in its religious center, namely, by announcing the coming punishment of the Lord without fear or favor; the land is not able to bear all his words. This is a common charge against the teachers of truth to this day, that their preaching creates a disturbance in the land.
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v. 11. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, for this was actually included in the statement of verse 9, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Amaziah purposely stated the threat of the Lord in its severer form in order to provoke the king’s wrath.
v. 12. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah and there eat bread, earning some sort of a livelihood, and prophesy there,
v. 13. but prophesy not again any more at Bethel, where his words naturally made it very uncomfortable for Amaziah; for it is the king’s l, a sanctuary established by the king, and it is the king’s court, the chief place for the cult ordained by the king for his entire kingdom. His argument was that for this reason it was altogether improper for Amos to continue his threatening sayings.
v. 14. Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, in defending himself against the high priest’s insinuations, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son, that is, he was not born to that honor nor did he attend any school of the prophets, but I was an herdman, a shepherd of humble position, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, that is, of the sycamore-fig-tree;
v. 15. and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, giving him a direct call, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel.
v. 16. Now, therefore, bear thou the word of the Lord, Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel and drop not thy word, Cf Eze 21:2-7; Mic 2:6-11, against the house of Isaac.
v. 17. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, dishonored by the enemies at the storming of the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, in the slaughter of the same attack, and thy land, his own landed possession, shall be divided by line, allotted to the invaders, and thou shalt die in a polluted land, as a prisoner among the heathen; and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. With people who are unwittingly caught in the meshes of a false religion one may have patience, but the leaders of false religions must be rebuked with all severity, for it is their leadership which results in the loss of souls, and the leaders are rightly held responsible.
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 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel
Possible meanings: 1) Amaziah was the only priest at Bethel or 2) Amaziah was the leader of the priests at Bethel.
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Amaziah
This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)
Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel
Here "house" represents "people." AT: "Amos is right here among the Israelites, and he is planning to do bad things to you" (See: Metonymy)
The land cannot bear all his words
Here "land" represents "people." Disrupting the peace is spoken of as if Amos's words were a heavy object that the land could not carry. AT: "What his is saying disturb the peace among the people" or "His message will cause trouble among the people" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
Jeroboam will die by the sword
Here "sword" represents the enemies. AT: "Enemies will kill Jeroboam" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
priest
Bethel
Jeroboam
king
Israel
Amos
house
sword
exile
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 7:10-17 This section graphically depicts the corruption of the…
7:10-17 This section graphically depicts the corruption of the priesthood, reinforcing the point of the visions on either side of it, that judgment is inescapable.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.