Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?” says Yahweh. “Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
Parallel Translations
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Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?” says Yahweh. “Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
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Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
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Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Amos 9:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 47:4 because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains; for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.
- Deuteronomy 2:23 Then the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.)
- 2 Kings 16:9 The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.
- Jeremiah 9:25-26 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their flesh: Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab, and all who have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness, for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
- Amos 1:5 I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir,” says Yahweh.
- Amos 2:10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
- Isaiah 20:4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
- Isaiah 22:6 Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.
- Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
- Hosea 12:13 By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.
- Exodus 12:51 That same day, Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
- Isaiah 43:3 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet shows here to the Israelites that their…
The Prophet shows here to the Israelites that their dignity would be no defense to them, as they expected. We have indeed seen in many places how foolish was the boasting of that people. Though they were more bound to God than other nations, they yet heedlessly boasted that they were a holy nation, as if indeed they had something of their own, but as Paul says, they were nothing. God had conferred on them singular benefits; but they were adorned with the plumes of another. Foolish then and absurd was their glorying, when they thought themselves to be of more worth in the sight of God than other nations. But as this foolish conceit had blinded them, the Prophet says now, “Whom do you think yourselves to be? Ye are to me as the children of the Ethiopians I indeed once delivered you, not that I should be bound to you, but rather that I should have you bound to me, for ye have been redeemed through my kindness.” Some think that the Israelites are compared to the Ethiopians, as they had not changed their skin, that is, their disposition; but this view I reject as strained. For the Prophet speaks here more simply, namely, that their condition differed nothing from that of the common class of men: “Ye do excel, but ye have nothing apart from me; if I take away from you what is mine, what will you have then remaining?” The emphasis is on the word, to me, What are ye to me? For certainly they excelled among men; but before God they could bring nothing, since they had nothing of their own: nay, the more splendidly God adorned them, the more modestly and humbly they ought to have conducted themselves, seeing that they were bound to him for so many of his favors. But as they had forgotten their own condition, despised all the Prophets and felicitated themselves in their vices, he says, Are ye not to me as the children of the Ethiopians, as foreign and the most alien nations? for what that is worthy of praise can I find in you? If then I look on you, what are ye? I certainly see no reason to prefer you even to the most obscure nations.”
He afterwards adds, Have I not made to ascend, or brought, Israel from the land of Egypt? Here the Prophet reminds them of their origin. Though they had indeed proceeded from Abraham, who had been chosen by God four hundred years before their redemption; yet, if we consider how cruelly they were treated in Egypt, that tyrannical servitude must certainly appear to have been like the grave. They then began to be a people, and to attain some name, when the Lord delivered them from Egypt. The Prophet’s language is the same as though he had said, “Look whence the Lord has brought you out; for ye were as a dead carcass, and of no account: for the Egyptians treated your fathers as the vilest slaves: God brought you thence; then you have no nobility or excellency of your own, but the beginning of your dignity has proceeded from the gratuitous kindness of God. Yet ye think now that ye excel others, because ye have been redeemed: God has also redeemed the Philistines, when they were the servants of the Cappadocians; and besides, he redeemed the Syrians when they were servants to other nations.”
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Some take קיר, kir, to mean Cyrene; but as this is uncertain, I pass it by as doubtful. Whatever it was, there is no ground of dispute about the subject itself; for it is certain that the Israelites are here compared with the Philistines as well as with the Syrians, inasmuch as all had been alike redeemed by the Lord, and this favor was common to all of whom he speaks. As God then pitied in former ages other nations, it was certainly not peculiar to the race of Abraham, that they had been freed by God, and by means of extraordinary miracles: “Even the Philistine will say the same, and the Syrians will say the same; but yet ye say that they are profane nations. Since it is so, ye are now divested of all excellency, that is, there is nothing of your own in you, that ye should exalt yourselves above other nations.” This is the meaning. 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 Am I more bound to you than to the…
Am I more bound to you than to the Ethiopians, or black moors? yet have I bestowed upon you greater benefits.
Read Jer. 47:4.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Amo 9:7 [Are] ye not as children of the…
Amo 9:7 [Are] ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
Ver. 7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me] The emphasis lieth in this last word, "unto me," who am no respecter of persons, "but in every nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him," Act 10:35. Unto yourselves indeed you seem some great business, because Israelites; "to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants," Rom 9:4. To others also you seem a great nation, yea, a wise and understanding people, as having God so nigh unto you and so set for you, Deu 4:6-7; Deu 33:29. But tell me, Quis te discrevit? Who made you to differ? and what have ye more than others that ye have not me to thank for? You look upon the Ethiopians with scorn, as an ignoble and servile people; as likewise upon the uncircumcised Philistines and unhallowed Syrians. But wherein are you beyond them, if you look back to your original, and consider my dealings with them and you? It is nothing else but self-love that maketh you thus insolent; and teacheth you to turn the glass to see yourselves bigger, others lesser than they are. You foolishly set up your counter for a thousand pound; and are in some sense like those Ethiopians, or Negroes, so much slighted by you; of whom it is said they paint the devil white, as being a colour contrary to their own. But much more to blame are you, that being God’s peculiar people, and partakers of such great privileges, you do no more change your evil manners than the Ethiopians do their black hue, Jer 13:23, you are nowhere white but in your teeth, as they; good a little from the teeth outward. I am near in your mouths, but far from your reins, Jer 12:2. Such a one was that stigmatic Cush the Benjamite, mentioned in the title of the seventh Psalm (perhaps Saul, the son of Kish the Benjamite, is intended), non tam cute quam corde Aethiopicus, of black and ill conditions; and therefore to God no better than an Ethiopian, or any other Pagan people.
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Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt] q.d. I grant I have; and you glory very much in it; whereas you should rather glorify me much for it, and walk worthy of such a deliverance; for every blessing is a binder, and every new deliverance a new tie to obedience. But what singular thing have I herein done for you more than for Philistines and Syrians, whom yet you look upon as dogs and outcasts!
Have not I also brought up the Philistines from Caphtor] i.e. from Cappadocia (called an island, Jer 47:4, because it bordered upon the sea), or, as some will have it, from Cyrus, a rich island, called therefore Macariah, that is, blessed.
And the Syrians from Kir] Syros e Ciro, from Cyrene, a country of Asia, as Beroaldus thinketh. It is mentioned, Isa 22:6, as subject to the king of Assyria; and thither the Syrians were resettled by Tiglathpileser, 2Ki 16:9, but when either these or the Philistines were brought back again to their own countries, we read not in Scripture or elsewhere at this day. "These are ancient things" (as it is said in another case, 1Ch 4:22), and are here alleged as well known to the Israelites, who are nipped on the crown, as they say, and pulled from that perilous pinnacle of self-exaltation, whereupon they had unhappily perked themselves.
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Are ye not, who glory in your descent from…
Are ye not, who glory in your descent from Abraham, and are in truth the natural descendants of Israel, and think very highly of yourselves on this account, slighting all other nations, and presuming that God neither will nor can, because of his covenant, destroy you, whatever prophets say,
as children of the Ethiopians? not that remote nation beyond Egypt, but those of Arabia Petrea, a wild, thievish, and servile nation, such as now inhabit those parts; base, bloody, and thievish Arabs, hated and despised of all their neighbours, and so by the Israelites their neighbours accounted at that day.
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Unto me; I did make them as you, they are my creatures as you; wherein soever you excel them you owe it to me, who made you both as creatures, and have distinguished you by my free mercy and rich grace, giving most to you, of which you boast, and giving less to them, for which you despise them.
Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and whereas you boast my kindness to you, bringing you out of Egypt, and thereupon conclude God cannot leave you whom he hath so redeemed; you argue amiss, for these things aggravate your sin, and render you less capable of hoping or obtaining mercy since you abuse such grace. Remember Amo 3:2. You think I cannot, must not now root you out of your land, because I brought you out of Egypt, as if you were the only people that ever were brought out of bondage; but Moses tells you the Philistines were captivated by the Caphtorims, who dwelt in their land; yet the Philistines were restored, and you found them in the land when you came to possess it. Their expulsion you read Deu 2:23, though I remember no particular mention of their deliverance in any history, yet this hint is enough to assure us of the matter of fact. And the Assyrians, an ancient people, inhabiting a large country, and known by several distinct names,
from Kir; conquered by some potent enemies, probably the ancient Assyrians, and sent away to Kir, a city or country of Media, yet delivered at last. Should these nations, as you do, argue themselves to be out of danger of Divine justice and severe punishments, because I had done this for them? Certainly you would not allow such argument in them, nor will I allow it in you.
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John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto…
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord,.... And therefore had no reason to think they should be delivered because they were the children of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; since they were no more to God than the children of the Ethiopians, having behaved like them; and were become as black as they through sin, and were idolaters like them; and so accustomed to sin, and hardened in it, that they could no more change their course and custom of sinning than the Ethiopian could change his skin, Jer 13:23; The Ethiopians are represented by Diodorus Siculus (b) as very religious, that is, very idolatrous; and as the first that worshipped the gods, and offered sacrifice to them; hence they were very pleasing to them, and in high esteem with them; wherefore Homer (c) speaks of Jupiter, and the other gods, going to Ethiopia to an anniversary feast, and calls them the blameless Ethiopians; and so Lucian (d) speaks of the gods as gone abroad, perhaps to the other side of the ocean, to visit the honest Ethiopians; for they are often used to visit them, and, as he wittily observes, even sometimes without being invited. Jarchi suggests the sense to be, that they were as creatures upon the same foot, and of the same descent, with other nations; and paraphrases it thus,
"from the sons of Noah ye came as the rest of the nations.''
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Kimchi takes the meaning to be this,
"as the children of the Ethiopians are servants so should ye be unto me.''
The Targum is very foreign from the sense,
"are ye not reckoned as beloved children before me, O house of Israel?''
the first sense is best:
have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and therefore it was ungrateful in them to behave as they have done; nor can they have any dependence on this, or argue from hence that they shall be indulged with other favours, or be continued in their land, since the like has been done for other nations, as follows:
and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? that is, have I not brought up the one from the one place, and the other from the other? the Philistines and Caphtorim are mentioned together as brethren, Gen 10:14; and the Avim which dwelt in the land of Palestine in Hazerim unto Azzah were destroyed by the Caphtorim, who dwelt in their stead, Deu 2:23; from whom, it seems by this, the Philistines were delivered, who are called the remnant of the country of Caphtor, Jer 47:4. Aben Ezra understands it as if the Israelites were not only brought out of Egypt, but also from the Philistines, and from Caphtor: others take these two places, Caphtor and Kir, to be the original of the Philistines and Syrians, and not where they had been captives, but now delivered: so Japhet,
"ye are the children of one father, God, who brought you out of Egypt, and not as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir, who were mixed together;''
and R. Joseph Kimchi thus,
"from Caphtor came destroyers to the Philistines, who destroyed them; and from Kir came Tiglathpileser, the destroyer, to the Syrians, who carried them captive there.''
Of the captivity of the Philistines, and their deliverance from the Caphtorim, we nowhere read; the captivity of the Syrians in Kir Amos prophesied of, Amo 1:5; and if he speaks here of their deliverance from it, he must live at least to the times of Ahaz; for in his times it was they were carried captive thither, Kg2 16:9. Caphtor some take to be Cyprus, because it seems to be an island, Jer 47:4; but by it the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Arabic versions understand Cappadocia; and the Cappadocians used to be called by the Greeks and Persians Syrians, as Herodotus (e) and others, observe. Bochart (f) is of opinion that that part of Cappadocia is intended which is called Colchis; and the rather since he finds a city in that country called Side, which in the Greek tongue signifies a pomegranate, as Caphtor does in Hebrew; and supposes the richness of the country led the Caphtorim thither, who, having stayed awhile, returned to Palestine, and there settled; which expedition he thinks is wrapped up in the fable of the Greek poets, concerning that of Typhon out of Egypt to Colchis and from thence to Palestine; and indeed the Jewish Targumists (g) every where render Caphtorim by Cappadocians, and Caphtor by Cappadocia, or Caphutkia; but then by it they understand a place in Egypt, even Pelusium, now called Damiata; for the Jewish writers say (h) Caphutkia is Caphtor, in the Arabic language Damiata; so Benjamin of Tudela says (i), in two days I came to Damiata, this is Caphtor; and no doubt the Caphtorim were in Egypt originally since they descended from Mizraim; but Calmet (k) will have it that the island of Crete is meant by Caphtor; and observes, theft, the Philistines were at first called strangers in Palestine, their proper name being Cherethites, or Cretians, as in Eze 25:16; as the Septuagint render that name of theirs; and that the language, manners, arms, religion and gods, of the Philistines and Cretians, are much the same; he finds a city in Crete called Aptera, which he thinks has a sensible relation to Caphtor; and that the city of Gaza in Palestine went by the name of Minoa, because of Minos king of Crete, who, coming into that country, called this ancient city by his own name. The Targum and Vulgate Latin version render Kir by Cyrene, by which must be meant, not Cyrene in Africa, but in Media; so Kir is mentioned along with Elam or Persia in Isa 22:6; whither the people of Syria were carried captive by Tiglathpileser, as predicted in Amo 1:5; and, as the above writer observes (l), not certainly into the country of Cyrene near Egypt, where that prince was possessed of nothing; but to Iberia or Albania, where the river Kir or Cyrus runs, which discharges itself into the Caspian sea; and Josephus (m) says they were transported into Upper Media; and the above author thinks that the Prophet Amos, in this passage, probably intended to comprehend, under the word "Cyr" or "Kir", the people beyond the Euphrates, and those of Mesopotamia, from whence the Aramaeans in reality came, who were descended from Aram the son of Shem; and he adds, we have no certain knowledge of their coming in particular out of this country, where the river Cyrus flows; and, upon the whole, it is difficult to determine whether this is to be understood of the origin of these people, or of their deliverance from captivity; the latter may seem probable, since it is certain that the prophet speaks of the deliverance of Israel from the captivity of Egypt; and it is as certain that the Syrians were carried captive to Kir, and, no doubt, from thence delivered; though we have no account of the Philistines being captives to Caphtor, and of their deliverance from thence; however, doubtless these were things well known to Amos, and in his times, he here speaks of. In some of our English copies it is read Assyrians instead of Syrians, very wrongly; for "Aram", and not "Ashur", is the word here used.
(b) Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 143, 144. (c) Ibid. 1. l. 423. (d) In Jupiter Tragaedus. (e) Clio, sive l. 1. 72. Terpsichore, sive l. 5. c. 40. & Polymnia, sive l. 7. c. 72. Vid. Strabo. Geograph. l. 22. p. 374. (f) Phaleg. l. 4. c. 32. col. 291, 292. (g) Targum Onkelos, Jon. & Jerus. in Gen. x. 4. & Ben Uzziel in Jer. xlvii. 4. & in loc. (h) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Cetubot, c. 13. sect. 11. (i) Itinerarium, p. 125. (k) Dictionary in tile word "Caphtor". (l) Dictionary, in the word "Cyrene". (m) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 12. sect. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The Arabians - A wild, thievish, and servile nation.…
The Arabians - A wild, thievish, and servile nation. Have not I brought - And whereas you boast my kindness to you, bringing you out of Egypt, and thereupon conclude, God cannot leave you whom he hath so redeemed; you argue amiss, for this aggravates your sin. From Kir - Conquered by some potent enemies, and sent away to Kir, a country of Media, yet at last delivered. Should these nations, argue themselves to be out of danger of divine justice, because I had done this for them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. Children of the Ethiopians] Or Cushites. Cush…
Verse 7. Children of the Ethiopians] Or Cushites. Cush was the son of Ham, Ge 10:6; and his descendants inhabited a part of Arabia Petraea and Arabia Felix. All this stock was universally despised. See Bochart.
The Philistines from Caphtor] The island of Crete, the people of which were the Cherethim. See, 1Sa 30:14; Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5.
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The Syrians from Kir?] Perhaps a city of the Medes, Isa 22:6. Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son of Shem, Ge 10:22. Part of his descendants settled in this city, and part in Aram Naharaim, "Syria of the two rivers," viz., Mesopotamia, included between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
The meaning of the verse is this: Do not presume on my having brought you out of the land of Egypt and house of bondage, into a land flowing with milk and honey. I have brought other nations, and some of your neighbours, who are your enemies, from comparatively barren countries, into fruitful territories; such, for instance, as the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.
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 9:7. Are ye not as the children of…
Amo 9:7. Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians, &c. — The prophet, to take away from the Israelites their false confidence, that the Lord was too much interested in their preservation to permit their total ruin, says, that in consequence of their idolatry and other sins, they were no more esteemed by him than the Ethiopians, a barbarous and cruel race of people: as if he had said, You have rendered yourselves unworthy the name of my people; you have renounced, by your idolatry, the privileges of my covenant; you have given up me, and I give you up in my turn. You may think my former kindness in delivering you out of the Egyptian bondage, and giving you the land of Canaan, obliges me still to continue to be your protector. But I have showed the like favour to other nations, particularly to the Philistines, who had their original from Caphtor, and afterward dispossessed the old inhabitants of Palestine, and dwelt in their stead; and to the Syrians, whom I brought from Kir; and yet against these very nations have I denounced my judgments for their sins.
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 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto…
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel! - Their boast and confidence was that they were children of the patriarch, to whom God made the promises. But they, not following the faith nor doing the deeds of Israel, who was a “prince with God,” or of Abraham, the father of the faithful, had, for “Bene Israel,” children of Israel, become as “Bene Cushiim, children of the Ethiopians,” descendants of Ham, furthest off from the knowledge and grace of God, the unchangeableness of whose color was an emblem of unchangeableness in evil. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil” Jer 13:23.
Have I not brought up - (Did I not bring up) Israel out of the land of Egypt? Amos blends in one their plea and God’s answer. God by bringing them up out of Egypt, pledged His truth to them to be their to protect and preserve them. True! so long as they. retained God as their God, and kept His laws. God chose them, that they might choose Him. By casting Him off, as their Lord and God, they cast themselves off and out of God’s protection. By estranging themselves from God, they became as strangers in His sight. His act in bringing them up from Egypt had lost its meaning for them. It became no more than any Other event in His Providence, by which He brought up “the Philistines from Caphtor,” who yet were aliens from Him, and “the Syrians from Kir,” who, He had foretold, should be carried back there.
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This immigration of the Philistines from Caphtor must have taken place before the return of Israel from Egypt. For Moses says, “The Caphtorim, who came forth from Caphtor” had at this time “destroyed the Avvim who dwelt in villages unto Gazah, and dwelt in their stead” Deu 2:23 An entire change in their affairs had also taken place in the four centuries and a half since the days of Isaac. In the time of Abraham and Isaac, Philistia was a kingdom; its capital, Gerar. Its king had a standing army, Phichol being “the captain of the host” Gen 21:22; Gen 26:26 : he had also a privy councillor, Ahuzzath Gen 26:26. From the time after the Exodus, Philistia had ceased to be a kingdom, Gerar disappears from history; the power of Philistia is concentrated in five new towns, Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, Gath, Ekron, with five heads, who consult and act as one (see above, the note at Amo 1:6-8).
The Caphtorim are in some sense also distinct from the old Philistines. They occupy a district not co-extensive with either the old or the new land of the Philistines. In the time of Saul, another Philistine clan is mentioned, the Cherethite. The Amalekites made a marauding inroad into the south country of the Cherethites; 1Sa 30:14; which immediately afterward is called “the land of the Philistines” 1Sa 30:16. Probably then, there were different immigrations of the same tribe into Palestine, as there were different immigrations of Danes or Saxons into England, or as there have been and are from the old world into the new, America and Australia. They, were then all merged in one common name, as English, Scotch, Irish, are in the United States. The first immigration may have been that from the Casluhim, “out of whom came Philistim” Gen 10:14; a second, from the Caphtorim, a kindred people, since they are named next to the Casluhim Gen 10:14, as descendants of Mizraim. Yet a third were doubtless the Cherethim. But all were united under the one name of Philistines, as Britons, Danes, Saxons, Normans, are united under the one name of English. Of these immigrations, that from Caphtor, even if (as seems probable) second in time, was the chief; which agrees with the great accession of strength, which the Philistines had received at the time of the Exodus; from where the Mediterranean had come to be called by their name, “the sea of the Philistines” Exo 23:31 : and, in Moses’ song of thanksgiving, “the inhabitants of Philistia” are named on a level with “all the inhabitants of Canaan” Exo 15:14-15; and God led His people by the way of Mount Sinai, in order not to expose them at once to so powerful an enemy Exo 13:17.
A third immigration of Cherethim, in the latter part of the period of the Judges, would account for the sudden increase of strength, which they seem then to have received. For whereas heretofore those whom God employed to chasten Israel in their idolatries, were Kings of Mesopotamia, Moab, Hazor, Midian, Amalek, and the children of the East Judg. 3–10:5, and Philistia had, at the beginning of the period, lost Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron Jdg 1:18, to Israel, and was repulsed by Shamgar, thenceforth, to the time of David, they became the great scourge of Israel on the west of Jordan, as Ammon was on the east.
The Jewish traditions in the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and three Targums, agree that Caphtor was Cappadocia, which, in that it extended to the Black Sea, might be callad “I, seacoast,” literally, “habitable land, as contrasted with the sea which washed it, whether it surrounded it or no. The Cherethites may have come from Crete, as an intermediate resting place in their migrations.
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Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Ethiopians. That is, as black as they, by your…
Ethiopians. That is, as black as they, by your iniquities. (Challoner) Chus was father of the Scythians, Arabs, &c. Yet none of these nations were under the peculiar protection of God. The Israelites depended too much on this prerogative, (Calmet) which they deserved to lose by their sins. (Haydock) --- God brought them out of Egypt. But he also took the Philistines from Caphtor, (Calmet) and enabled them to settle in the country. (Haydock) --- Cappadocia. Cyprus, (Genesis x. 14.) or rather Crete, 1 Kings. (Calmet) --- Cyrene, (Symmachus) "wall," (Theodotion) or "pit." (Septuagint) Theglathphalassar took Aram or the people of Damascus into captivity. (Calmet) --- Their future return is represented as already past. (Vatable; Mercer.)
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 unto me--however great ye seem to yourselves. Do not…
unto me--however great ye seem to yourselves. Do not rely on past privileges, and on My having delivered you from Egypt, as if therefore I never would remove you from Canaan. I make no more account of you than of "the Ethiopian" (compare Jer 13:23). "Have not I (who) brought you out of Egypt," done as much for other peoples? For instance, did I not bring "the Philistines (see on Isa 14:29, &c.) from Caphtor (compare Deu 2:23; see on Jer 47:4), where they had been bond-servants, and the Syrians from Kir?" It is appropriate, that as the Syrians migrated into Syria from Kir (compare Note, see on Isa 22:6), so they should be carried back captive into the same land (see on Amo 1:15; Kg2 16:9), just as elsewhere Israel is threatened with a return to Egypt whence they had been delivered. The "Ethiopians," Hebrew, "Cushites," were originally akin to the race that founded Babylon: the cuneiform inscriptions in this confirming independently the Scripture statement (Gen 10:6, Gen 10:8, Gen 10:10).
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 JEHOVAH NOT A RESPECTER OF PERSONS, Amo_9:7-10.
JEHOVAH NOT A RESPECTER OF PERSONS, Amo_9:7-10.
Once before (Amo_3:1-2) Amos attempted to correct the misapprehension that Jehovah was partial to Israel, and that his choice of the nation could be regarded as a guarantee of its safety (see introductory remarks on Amo_3:1 to Amo_4:3). A false confidence, based upon this misapprehension, might destroy the effect of the message in Amo_9:1-6. To avoid this the prophet emphasizes once more the truth that Jehovah is interested in all the nations of the earth, and that any special favors granted to the Israelites must have their justification in the latter’s moral superiority. Since they have shown themselves a “sinful kingdom” they are unworthy of special favors; on the contrary, Jehovah is compelled to proceed against them in judgment. Nevertheless, he will “not utterly” destroy them; a faithful remnant will be preserved.
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7. The universality of Jehovah’s government the prophet illustrates from the past history of several representative nations. The divine hand could be seen in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Amo_2:9-10); but it was not less visible in the movements of the other peoples.
Children of the Ethiopians — Hebrew, “of the Cushites.” Cush was a district in Africa, immediately south of Upper Egypt (see on Zep_2:12; Nab. Amo_3:9). The inhabitants of this region, despised, perhaps, also on account of their color (Jer_13:23), are, in a sense, as dear to Jehovah as Israel.
Philistines — See on Joe_3:4 (compare Amo_1:6-8). The reference to the Philistines would be startling. Could Jehovah care for Israel’s enemies?
Caphtor — Mentioned also in other passages as the original home of the Philistines (Deu_2:23; Jer_47:4). Opinions still differ concerning the identification of Caphtor. Of the three most important locations suggested, the coast of the Nile Delta, the south coast of Asia Minor, and the island of Crete, the last named is the most probable, but it is quite possible that the other districts also were occupied, at some period, by people of the same race. In favor of this identification is the name Cherethites, applied to the Philistines in 1Sa_30:14 (compare Zep_2:5), because this name contains the same consonants as the word Crete.
Kir — See on Amo_1:5.
After shattering the false hope of the people Amos repeats, in his own words, the threat of 1-6, but with an essential modification; he now holds out hope to a remnant, whereas before he announced complete annihilation.
The eyes… are upon — Or, against (see Amo_9:4; compare Psa_34:16).
The sinful kingdom — Jehovah must punish every sinful kingdom, but the use of the article indicates that the prophet has in mind one particular nation, namely, Israel. On account of its wickedness it must be wiped from the face of the earth.
Saving that I will not utterly destroy — As a kingdom and people Israel had forfeited the divine favor, but there always had been (1Ki_19:18) and there still was within the nation a “holy seed,” a remnant that continued faithful to Jehovah, out of which he might form a new people and kingdom of God. The divine righteousness and justice demanded the salvation of this remnant (compare on Amo_5:15).
House of Jacob — Not Judah, as distinguished from Israel, or the whole nation, as distinguished from the northern kingdom, but a poetic variant for “house of Israel” (Amo_9:9; Amo_5:3-4; Amo_5:25, etc.), and “house of Joseph” (Amo_5:6), identical with “the sinful kingdom.”
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 7–10. An objection met. The Israelites were only too…
7–10. An objection met. The Israelites were only too ready to argue (cf. Amo_3:2; Jer_7:1-15) that Jehovah, after the many marks of favour which He had bestowed upon His people, would never cast them off, as He had now declared that He would do (Amo_9:1-6). He replies, Is Israel, merely as Israel, apart from moral qualifications, more to Me than other nations? It is true, I led Israel out of Egypt, and gave them a home in Palestine: but I directed similarly the migrations of other nations, the Philistines, for example, and the Syrians: the sinful kingdom, whether it be Israel or any other nation, will perish before Me, the only limitation being that I will not absolutely annihilate the house of Jacob.
Are ye not as the sons of the Kushites unto me?] The Kushites, or Ethiopians, are mentioned as a distant people, far removed from the grace and knowledge of God, despised on account of their dark colour (cf. Jer_13:23), and perhaps also on account of slaves being often drawn from them. Degenerate Israel is no more in Jehovah’s eyes than these despised Kushites. Kush is often named in the O.T. (e.g. Gen_10:6-7; Isa_11:11; Isa_18:1; Isa_20:3-5; Isa_37:9; Isa_43:3): it was the name (in Egyptian Inscriptions Késh) borne by the people inhabiting the region to the south of Egypt (corresponding generally to the modern Soudan, i.e. the country of the Blacks (Arab, aswad, “black”). Their capital was Napata, on the Nile.
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Did I not bring up Israel out of the land of Egypt?] cf. Amo_2:10.
and the Philistines from Caphtor] guiding them therefore not less than I guided Israel. Caphtor is in all probability Crete[200]. It is named elsewhere as the original home of the Philistines; see Deu_2:23 and Jer_47:4 (where the Philistines are called “the remnant of the isle [or coast-land] of Caphtor”). These passages make it probable that in the ethnographical table of Genesis 10, in Amo_9:14, “and the Casluhim, from whom the Philistines came forth, and the Caphtorim,” the clause respecting the Philistines is misplaced, and should be transposed to follow Caphtorim. A connexion with Crete is also rendered probable by the name Kerçthim, which in other passages (Eze_25:16; Zep_2:5; cf. 1Sa_30:14) is that of a tribe closely associated, if not (Zep_2:5) identical, with the Philistines.
[200] Sayce formerly, with Ebers, identified it with the coast-land of the Delta; but he now (Academy, Apr. 14, 1894, p. 314) regards this view as untenable.
and Aram from Kir] See on Amo_1:5.
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 (7) Ethiopians.—Israel had presumed on the special favour of…
(7) Ethiopians.—Israel had presumed on the special favour of Jehovah. The prophet asks them whether, after all, they are better or safer than the Ethiopians, whom they despised. He who led Israel from Egypt also brought the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir. Caphtor is mentioned in the table of races, Gen_10:14 (where the clause referring to the Philistines should probably be placed at the end of the verse). The LXX. followed by the Targums and Peshito interpret Caphtor as Cappadocia, probably from resemblance in form. R. S. Poole, art. “Caphtor,” in the Dictionary of the Bible, compares the Egyptian Kebtu or Koptos, and places the Caphtorim in Upper Egypt, while Ebers holds that they had their settlements in the Nile delta. But the identification of Caphtor with Crete is most probable. So Rosenmüller, Ewald, Dillmann, &c. On Kir, probably E. of the Euphrates, see Note on Amo_1:5.
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 Israel"s election to be God"s people should not save…
Israel"s election to be God"s people should not save them, unless their conduct corresponded with God"s choice. If they opened not, they were no better in his eyes than the heathen, their delivery from Egypt had no more significance than the migration of pagan nations. Here is a contrast to Amo_6:1, etc. The children of Israel were now no dearer than the children of the Ethiopians (Cushites) The Cushites are introduced as being descendants of the wicked Ham, and black in complexion, (as Jer_13:23) the colour of their skin being considered a mark of degradation and of evil character. The Philipstines from Caphtor; from Cappadocia (LXX and Vulgate). This rendering is mistaken. The immigration spoken of took place before the Exodus (see Deu_2:23; Jer_47:4) and Caphtor is either Crete (see Dillman on (Gen_10:14) or the coast land of the Delta, "which was occupied from an early period by Phoenician colonists, and thus came to be known to the Egyptians as Keft ur, or "greater Phoenicia, Keft being the Egyptian name of Phoenicia" (Monthly Interpreter, 3:136). Medieval Jewish writers identified it with Damiette (Conder, "Handbook to the Bible," p. 237). The Syrians (Arum, Hebrew) from Kir; tourouv ejk boqrou, "the Syrians out.of the ditch" (Septuagint); Syros de Cyrene (Vulgate); see note on Amo_1:5. "Aram" here probably means the Damascenes, Damascus shortly before the time of Moses having been occupied by a powerful body of immigrants from Armenia (Ewald, "Hist. of Israel," 1:286, 311, Eng. transl.).
Vers. 7-10.
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The exalted brought low.
not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father." And yet the blind and infatuate Israel were always saying it. They said it in view of every imminent catastrophe. They said it in abbreviation of all argument. They said it in lieu of fit and seasonable action. They made it an amulet to hang around their neck when they rushed purblind into rebellious action. They ran into it as into an intellectual joss house, where any absurdity was raised to the dignity of a god. This last support of their false security the prophet in this passage knocks away. They had acted altogether out of character, and now
I APOSTATE ISRAEL CAN ONLY TAKE RANK WITH THE HEATHEN IN GOD"S ESTIMATION. National election was, no doubt, a pledge of national preservation, but only in connection with national faithfulness; for:
1. A spiritual relation with the unspiritual is impossible. "What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?" It is a moral impossibility. They are moral opposites and incompatible in the nature of things. Becoming assimilated to the heathen, Israel contracted themselves out of the covenant, and became "afar off," even as they.
2. A relation, when it is repudiated on either side, virtually terminates. Israel had said, "We will not have this Man to rule over us;" and the relation of favour on the one side and fealty on the other could not survive the step. God must cease to be their God when they ceased to be his people. "God chose them that they might choose him. By casting him off as their Lord and God, they cast themselves off and out of his protection. By estranging themselves from God, they became as strangers in his sight" (Pusey).
3. Acts done because of a spiritual relation existing lose their meaning when it is broken off. "Have I not brought Israel," etc.? They might think that, after bringing them out of Egypt, God Could never disown them, however unfilial and unfaithful. But had not the circumstances of their idolatry and corruption altered the ease? Theirs was not the only exodus. He had brought "the Philistines out of Caphtor, and the Syrians out of Kir;" yet these nations were aliens, and to be destroyed. (Amo_1:5) If Israel conformed itself to these in character and way, then Israel"s exodus would lose its significance, and be no more than events of a like kind in their distant past. What the father did for the son is no binding precedent for the case of the prodigal.
II ACCORDINGLY, ISRAEL SHALL FARE AS THE HEATHEN DO WHO FORGET GOD. Grouping Israel like to like with heathen, God"s attitude must be the same to both. They shall be treated:
1. As the objects of Gods displeasure. He is angry with the wicked every day. He is angrier with those of them who sin against light and privilege. He is angriest with the spiritual renegades whose disaffection is guilty in proportion to the strength of the ties it sets aside.
2. As the victims of his destroying judgments. (Ver. 8.) "And I will destroy it off the face of the earth." Strange words from a God visibly in covenant. But the covenant was broken. The theoretically "holy nation" was actually a "sinful kingdom." Israel"s character was not the character to which covenant promises referred. Heathenish in corruption, what but the bolts forged for their pagan kin could fall upon their heads?
3. This in the character of defiant transgressors. (Ver. 10.) "Not because they sinned aforetime, but because they persevered in sin until death" (Jerome, in Pusey). Sin may be forgiven, but impenitence never. The unpardonable sin is unforsaken sin.
III THE JUDGMENT THAT SHALL DESTROY THE WICKED MASS SHALL LEAVE A. RIGHTEOUS REMNANT. (Ver. 8.) "Except that I shall not utterly destroy the house of Jacob." God ordains no indiscriminate destruction. His bolts strike his enemies. Of his friends:
1. Not one shall perish. "Not even a little grain falls to the ground." The Divine nature, of which the righteous are partakers, is indestructible. The life of the saint is a living Christ within him. (Gal_2:20) Christ "is alive forevermore", (Rev_1:18) and says to all in whom he is as their life, "Because I live, ye shall live also." In a mixed community the righteous sometimes die for the fault of the wicked; but their death is precious in God"s sight, (Psa_116:15) and "not a hair of their head shall perish.
2. They shall be sifted out of the mass. (Ver. 9.) In these graphic words the righteous minority are corn, and the corrupt masses the chaff. The nations are the sieve, and the Divine judgments the shaking of it. The result is not destruction of the grain, but separation between it and the chaff. "In every quarter of the world, and in well nigh every nation in every quarter, Jews have been found. The whole earth is, as it were, one vast sieve in the hands of God, in which Israel is shaken from one end to the other.... The chaff and dust would be blown away by the air; but no solid corn, not one grain, should fall to the earth" (Pusey). So in other cases. God"s judgments winnow men, discerning clearly between clean and unclean. When the storm is over, the seaworthy vessels are easy of identification, for they alone survive.
3. Their own sinfulness shall be sifted out of them. "What is here said of all God doth daily in each of the elect. For they are the wheat of God, which, in order to be laid up in the heavenly garner, must be pure from chaff and dust. To this end he sifts them by afflictions and troubles" (Pusey). Suffering is not purifying per se. But the suffering of the righteous is. (Heb_12:11; 1Co_4:17) It subdues the flesh, deepens our sense of dependence on God, spiritualizes our thoughts, and tests, and by testing strengthens, faith. (1Pe_1:7) In the night of suffering come out the stars, guiding, consoling, irradiating the soul.
Then fear not in a world like this, And thou shalt know ere long Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong.
National pride and presumption.
It is usual for nations to boast of their history, their position, their great qualities, their good fortune, their invincibility. We know this from our own observation of the nations of modern times. And in this respect all ages seem alike. There were, no doubt, very peculiar grounds for self-confidence and boastthlness on the part of the Jews. Yet such dispositions and habits were again and again censured and condemned by the inspired servants of Jehovah.
I IT IS A BROAD GENERAL FACT THAT THE MOVEMENTS OF NATIONS ARE UNDER THE GUIDANCE OR SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY RULER. Amos is directed to point out that what was true of Israel in this respect was equally true of the Cushites, the Philistines, and the Syrians. In the case of all these nations there had been remarkable migrations and settlements. The hand of God is recognized in one as much as in the other. The Hebrews are sometimes charged with narrowness and vanity in their interpretations of Divine providence. Doubtless many of them may be justly so charged. But the language of Amos is a proof that the enlightened Jews took a far wider view. There is no contradiction between general and special providence. The nations of men, because they are men, are subject to the control and direction of God. Not one tribe is unworthy of his regard. In what manner, and to what extent, the great Ruler interposes in the political affairs of peoples it is not for our limited wisdom to decide. But the petty notion that one favoured nation enjoys the protection and guidance of Heaven, whilst other nations are neglected and uncared for, is utterly inconsistent with the teaching of the text.
II THE GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION WHICH NATIONS HAVE ENJOYED IN THE PAST IS NO GROUND OF EXEMPTION FROM THE OPERATION OF THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD. There were those in Israel who deemed it incredible that a nation so favoured as theirs had been could possibly be called upon to experience defeat, conquest, captivity, disaster. But the fact is that great privileges simply place men upon a higher level of responsibility. To whom much is given, of them will much be required. Unfaithfulness is the one great ground of censure, condemnation, punishment. Israel had sinned in separating from Judah, in setting up rival altars at Dan and Bethel, in introducing an alien religion, idolatrous sacrifices and worship, in giving way in times of prosperity to luxury, pride, covetousness, and ambition. All the mercies accorded to their forefathers could not release the Israelites from the obligation to maintain the pure religion of Jehovah, and to keep his laws and ordinances. Nor could they be a ground for exemption from the action of those laws of Divine government which are universal in their operation, and disciplinary and morally beneficial in their tendency. The Captivity and the dispersion were conclusive proofs that there is no favouritism in the administration of God"s rule; that his laws are not to be defied with impunity by the most privileged of nations. Presumption is irrational and foolish, and is the sure, swift road to destruction. 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 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto…
Amo_9:7-10
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel?
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Sin dissolving the union between God and His people
1. These verses strike at the root of all Israels fancied security. They were the people of God, whom He had brought from Egypt and planted in Canaan, whose whole life had been passed under His peculiar guardian care. They thought that God would never execute final judgment on them, because He had so often spared them and blessed them. But sin dissolved this union at last.
2. The reason why this union was dissolved is given in the following verse. They are the sinful kingdom. Gods purpose had failed. No union between God and man can stand in the presence of sin--repeated and unrepented sin.
3. The effect of this separation between God and His people. They were destroyed off the face of the earth; every sinner perished by the sword.
(1) No relations are more blessed than those which exist between God and His people. His covenant is established with them, and it is a covenant of life and blessing. Providential help in all the forms that man may need: grace and truth to save the soul and to prepare for that home into which nothing unclean can enter. These are Gods gifts to His people.
(2) Sin is the only power which can sever this union. In the face of all persecution and trouble the good man can say with St. Paul: I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, etc.
(3) The results of the separation for us will be more fatal than for Israel. (J. Telford, B. A.)
And the Syrians from Kir.
Migrations from Kir
The most competent authorities teach us to conceive of successive waves of population issuing from the mountainous country near the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris, to which the narrative of Genesis points as the cradle of the human race, and to which the Mosaic accounts of the Deluge bring us back as the centre from which the children of Noah went forth again to people the earth. Of all the migrations from the land of Kir, to the regions that lay south-west of it, that which is of the greatest importance in the history of man, is undoubtedly the one which the Bible connects with the name of Terah. But this was so far from being the first of the movements in this direction, that it is much more likely to have been the last. The anthropomorphic language Of the Mosaic record is certainly not intended to hinder us from the quest of second causes for the change of abode, which it ascribes to the direct command of Deity. It was probably partly in consequence of the barrenness of the upper valley of the Euphrates, that rendered it little fitted for the home of a pastoral tribe; partly from the establishment of a powerful non-Semitic empire upon the banks of the Tigris, leading, according to an old tradition, which may be accepted in its general meaning, even if its details bear the stamp of later invention, to the persecution of those who clung to the purer faith, that the family of Abraham found its way into the more fertile and peaceful land of Canaan. But the same causes which had urged him on we may believe to have been powerful with kindred tribes. All evidence that we have confirms the supposition that, long before the days of Abraham, Semitic tribes had pressed along the path by which the Divine guidance was to lead him, to the land that should afterwards be possessed by his descendants, as the sand that is by the seashore for multitude. (A. S. Wilkins, M. A.)
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 And now we are come to the part where,…
3. THE VOICES OF ANOTHER DAWN
Amo_9:7-15
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And now we are come to the part where, as it seems, voices of another day mingle with that of Amos, and silence his judgments in the chorus of their unbroken hope. At first, however, it is himself without doubt who speaks. He takes up the now familiar truth, that when it comes to judgment for sin, Israel is no dearer to Jehovah than any other people of His equal Providence.
"Are ye not unto Me, O children of Israel-tis the oracle of Jehovah-just like the children of Kushites?" mere black folk and far away! "Did I not bring up Israel from Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?" Mark again the universal Providence which Amos proclaims: it is the due concomitant of his universal morality. Once for all the religion of Israel breaks from the characteristic Semitic belief that gave a god to every people, and limited both his power and his interests to that peoples territory and fortunes. And if we remember how everything spiritual in the religion of Israel, everything in its significance for mankind, was rendered possible only because at this date it broke from and abjured the particularism in which it had been born, we shall feel some of the Titanic force of the prophet, in whom that break was achieved with an absoluteness which leaves nothing to be desired. But let us also emphasize that it was by no mere method of the intellect or observation of history that Amos was led to assert the unity of the Divine Providence. The inspiration in this was a moral one: Jehovah was ruler and guide of all the families of mankind, because He was exalted in righteousness; and the field in which that righteousness was proved and made manifest was the life and the fate of Israel. Therefore to this Amos now turns. "Lo, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the ground." In other words, Jehovahs sovereignty over the world was not proved by Israels conquest of the latter, but by His unflinching application of the principles of righteousness, at whatever cost, to Israel herself.
Up to this point, then, the voice of Amos is unmistakable, uttering the doctrine, so original to him, that in the judgment of God Israel shall not be specially favored, and the sentence, we have heard so often from him, of her removal from her land. Remember, Amos has not yet said a word in mitigation of the sentence: up to this point of his book it has been presented as inexorable and final. But now to a statement of it as absolute as any that has gone before, there is suddenly added a qualification: "nevertheless I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob-tis the oracle of Jehovah." And then there is added a new picture of exile changed from doom to discipline, a process of sifting by which only the evil in Israel, "all the sinners of My people," shall perish, but not a grain of the good. "For, lo, I am giving command, and I will toss the house of Israel among all the nations, like" something "that is tossed in a sieve, but not a pebble shall fall to earth. By the sword shall die all the sinners of My people, they who say, The calamity shall not reach nor anticipate us."
Now as to these qualifications of the hitherto unmitigated judgments of the book, it is to be noted that there is nothing in their language to lead us to take them from Amos himself. On the contrary, the last clause describes what he has always called a characteristic sin of his day. Our only difficulties are that hitherto Amos has never qualified his sentences of doom, and that the change now appears so suddenly that the two halves of the verse in which it does so absolutely contradict each other. Read them again, Amo_9:8 : "Lo, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are on the sinful nation, and I will destroy it from off the face of the ground-nevertheless destroying I shall not destroy the house of Jacob: tis the oracle of Jehovah." Can we believe the same prophet to have uttered at the same time these two statements? And is it possible to believe that prophet to be the hitherto unwavering, un-qualifying Amos? Noting these things, let us pass to the rest of the chapter. We break from all shadows; the verses are verses of pure hope. The judgment on Israel is not averted; but having taken place her ruin is regarded as not irreparable.
"In that day"-the day Amos has threatened of overthrow and ruin-"I will raise again the fallen but of David and will close up its breaches, and his ruins I will raise, and I will build it up as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations upon whom My Name has been called"-that is, as once their Possessor-"tis the oracle of Jehovah, He who is about to do this."
"The "fallen but of David" undoubtedly means the fall of the kingdom of Judah. It is not language Amos uses, or, as it seems to me, could have used, of the fall of the Northern Kingdom only. Again, it is undoubted that Amos contemplated the fall of, Judah: this is implicit in such a phrase as the whole family that brought up from Egypt." {Amo_3:1} He saw then "the day" and "the ruins" of which Amo_9:11 speaks. The only question is, can we attribute to him the prediction of a restoration of these ruins? And this is a question which must be answered in face of the facts that the rest of his book is unrelieved by a single gleam of hope, and that his threat of the nations destruction is absolute and final. Now it is significant that in face of those facts Cornill (though he has changed his opinion) once believed it was "surely possible for Amos to include restoration in his prospect of ruin," as (he might have added) other prophets undoubtedly do. I confess I cannot so readily get over the rest of the book and its gloom; and am the less inclined to be sure about these verses being Amos own that it seems to have been not unusual for later generations, for whom the daystar was beginning to rise, to add their own inspired hopes to the unrelieved threats of their predecessors of the midnight. The mention of Edom does not help us much: in the days of Amos after the partial conquest by Uzziah the promise of "the rest of Edom" was singularly appropriate. On the other hand, what interest had so purely ethical a prophet in the mere addition of territory? To this point we shall have to return for our final decision. We have still the closing oracle-a very pleasant piece of music, as if the birds had come out after the thunderstorm, and the wet hills were glistening in the sunshine.
"Lo, days are coming-tis the oracle of Jehovah when the ploughman shall catch up the reaper, and the grape-treader him that streweth the seed." The seasons shall jostle each other, harvest following hard upon seed-time, vintage upon spring. It is that "happy contention of seasons" which Josephus describes as the perpetual blessing of Galilee. "And the mountains shall drip with new wine and all the hills shall flow down. And I-will bring back the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build" the "waste cities and dwell" in them, "and plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof, and make gardens and eat their fruits. And I will plant them on their own ground; and they shall not be uprooted any more from their own ground which I have given to them, saith Jehovah thy God." Again we meet the difficulty: does the voice that speaks here speak with captivity already realized? or is it the voice of one who projects himself forward to a day, which, by the oath of the Lord Himself, is certain to come?
We have now surveyed the whole of this much-doubted, much-defended passage. I have stated fully the arguments on both sides. On the one hand, we have the fact that nothing in the language of the verses, and nothing in their historical allusions, precludes their being by Amos; we have also to admit that, having threatened a day of ruin, it was possible for Amos to realize by his minds eye its arrival, and standing at that point to see the sunshine flooding the ruins and to prophesy a restoration. In all this there is nothing impossible in itself or inconsistent with the rest of the book. On the other hand, we have the impressive and incommensurable facts: first, that this change to hope comes suddenly, without preparation and without statement of reasons, at the very end of a book whose characteristics are not only a final and absolute sentence of ruin upon the people, and an outlook of unrelieved darkness, but scornful discouragement of every popular vision of a prosperous future; and, second, that the prophetic books contain numerous signs that later generations wove their own brighter hopes into the abrupt and hopeless conclusions of prophecies of judgment.
To this balance of evidence is there anything to add? I think there is; and that it decides the question. All these prospects of the future restoration of Israel are absolutely without a moral feature. They speak of return from captivity, of political restoration, of supremacy over the Gentiles, and of a revived Nature, hanging with fruit, dripping with must. Such hopes are natural and legitimate to a people who were long separated from their devastated and neglected land, and whose punishment and penitence were accomplished. But they are not natural to a prophet like Amos. Imagine him predicting a future like this! Imagine him describing the consummation of his peoples history, without mentioning one of those moral triumphs to rally his people to which his whole passion and energy had been devoted. To me it is impossible to hear the voice that cried, "Let justice roll on like waters and righteousness like a perennial stream," in a peroration which is content to tell of mountains dripping with must and of a people satisfied with vineyards and gardens. These are legitimate hopes; but they are the hopes of a generation of other conditions and of other deserts than the generation of Amos.
If then the gloom of this great book is turned into light, such a change is not due to Amos.
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 Amo_9:7. As children] No longer highly favoured Israelites, but…
HOMILETICS
CRITICAL NOTES.]
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Amo_9:7. As children] No longer highly favoured Israelites, but acting like Cushites. Their election of no avail. They had become like the heathen, accursed as Ham, black as Ethiopians, whose skin symbolized spiritual darkness (Jer_13:23). Brought up] Israel’s deliverance from Egypt no more than the bringing of Assyrians out of former dwelling-places.
Amo_9:8.] Election therefore will not save the idolatrous nation. God’s eye turned upon them, watched in order to punish them (Psa_34:14). Not utterly] Threatening is mitigated; grace saves a few.
GOD’S COVENANT DOES NOT INVALIDATE HIS WORD.—Amo_9:7-8
In these words Amos confirms the certainty of punishment. Israel were a sinful nation, and neither pious ancestors nor covenant relations could prevent their destruction.
I. God’s covenant may be undervalued and violated. Israel professed to be God’s people, and boasted of descent from holy progenitors. A noble ancestry is of no worth unless we follow their example. The piety of predecessors does not justify, but aggravates our sin. With good patterns before them men should live better. But they degenerate into heathens and idolaters. God values them no more than the most contemptible nations of the world. Their sins had made them like other people. The gold becomes dim; the children of Israel become children of the Ethiopians. We may boast of our election, and be esteemed by others for our profession; but if we break God’s covenant, we cannot expect God’s protection. What the Apostle says of circumcision applies to election. It is a benefit to none but those who keep the law (Rom_2:25). It will not avail us to say “Abraham is our Father,” unless we do “the works of Abraham” (Joh_8:39; Rom_9:7-8).
II. God’s special providences in fulfilling his covenant may be abused. The plea was that God would not cast off his people; for he delivered them from bondage and pledged himself to be their God. True, God chose them that they might love him, and so long as they kept his law he protected and saved them. Special favours do not exempt from Divine justice. They lay us under greater obligation to obey; for those who have much will be punished more severely for their sins, and from them much will be required. Special deliverances may become common providences. Redemption from Egypt was no more to Israel than the leading of the Philistines and Syrians out of their former into their present dwelling-places. Those who neglect or abuse their privileges are guilty—
1. Of great ingratitude.
2. Of great rebellion. When men abuse their mercies, and despise the God of mercy, it is only just with him to strip them of their honours and visit their sins.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
1. External privileges no ground for boasting before God. Others may possess them. They may be taken from us. What was designed as a favour may lose its result by our conduct.
2. External privileges do not preserve from degenerate conduct. Israel lost their character and were esteemed as heathens. Conventional Christians and corrupt Churches are as bad as Infidels and Turks.
3. External privileges are no guarantee against punishment for sin. God accounts sin under such circumstances all the baser. Instead of hiding the guilty, such gifts abused expose them to greater condemnation. If we live not up to the obligation of God’s mercies, we forfeit the honour of them.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Amo_9:7. Ethiopians. Inconsistency has been execrated in every age, as the assassin of religious character and peace, introducing anarchy and confusion into the repose of Christian Churches, casting stains upon garments which ought to be kept unspotted from the world, and by evil influence directly and bad example indirectly, throwing a reproach upon the cause of Christianity, and making the tongues of its enemies to blaspheme [W. S. M.].
“Like—but oh! how different” [Wordsworth].
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Are you not like the people of Cush to…
Are you not like the people of Cush to me, people of Israel?
Yahweh uses a question to emphasize that the people of Israel are no more special to him than the people of Cush. AT: "You people of Israel, you are certainly now no more important to me than the people of Cush." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated these words in Amos 2:11. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
Did I not bring up Israel out of the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Crete, and the Arameans from Kir?
Yahweh uses a question to emphasize that the people of Israel are no more special than the Philistines or the Arameans. AT: "Yes, I brought the people of Israel from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Kir
See how you translated the name of this place in Amos 1:5.
the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom
Here "eyes" represents seeing. Also, Yahweh speaks of himself in third person. AT: "I, the Lord Yahweh, see that the people of this kingdom are very sinful" (See: Metonymy and First, Second, or Third Person)
I will destroy it from the face of the earth
The idiom "from the face of the earth" means "completely." AT: "I will completely destroy this kingdom" (See: Idiom)
the house of Jacob
Here "house" represents a family. And, "Jacob" represents his descendants. AT: "the descendants of Jacob" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
people group
Ethiopia
Israel
Philistines
Crete
Aram
sin
kingdom
house
Jacob
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 9:7 the Ethiopians (literally the Cushites): Cush (see Gen…
9:7 the Ethiopians (literally the Cushites): Cush (see Gen 10:6-7) was south of the Second Cataract of the Nile (cp. Isa 18:1) and was often linked with Egypt, its neighbor to the north. • Israel’s exodus out of Egypt is compared to two other ancient migrations: the Philistines from Crete (see also Jer 47:4) and the Arameans out of Kir (cp. Amos 1:5; 2 Kgs 16:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.