Annotations for Amos

1:1—2:16 The words of Amos. The Lord sent Amos, a Judean, to Bethel to prophesy of coming judgment on Israel. But in Bethel, Amos faced a hostile audience. Israel’s first king, Jeroboam I, had made the town a center of pagan worship. Because the temple in Jerusalem was in Judah and not in the nation of Israel, Jeroboam had encouraged the Israelites to worship at Bethel instead of Jerusalem. Thus the Israelites who gathered at Bethel would regard Amos, a Judean, with suspicion. Yet Amos bravely condemned there the sins of Israel’s neighbors. He also points to the iniquity of Israel and Judah. They both had rejected the God who had covenanted with them.

1:1 Tekoa. This town was about ten miles south of Jerusalem, in a region well suited for raising sheep and goats.

1:3 For three . . . and for four. This stylistic device indicated the exhaustion of God’s patience—the Syrians had continued to sin, again and again. This device is repeated as Amos speaks God’s words against nation after sinful nation. Gilead. This was the region on the east side of the Jordan from the Yarmuk River to the Dead Sea.

1:4 I will send a fire . . . which shall devour the palaces. Fire in an ancient city was a real threat. Cities were crowded with houses close together on very narrow streets; there was too little water to effectively fight them.

1:5 the bar. This was a large timber that barred the city gate from the inside. If it was broken, the city would lose its security and could be captured easily.

1:6 Gaza. This was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines.

1:11 Edom. This nation was located southeast of the Dead Sea. It controlled important caravan trade routes, and thus was deeply involved in commerce. Its citizens were descendants of Esau.

1:13 Ammon. The nation of Ammon was located east of Gilead on the edge of the desert. Its people were descended from one of the sons of Lot (Gen. 19:36–38).

2:1 burned the bones. This act was believed to desecrate the remains of a deceased person, a great dishonor to the person’s memory.

2:6 sold the righteous for silver. In His law, God had instructed the Israelites to work off their debts through indentured service—administered humanely and for a strictly limited time (Lev. 25:39–43; Deut. 15:12). By Amos’s day, those in power in Israel were taking advantage of the courts to sell debtors as slaves, termed “the righteous” here because they were the innocent victims of the corruption of the courts. for a pair of shoes. This means for little or nothing.

2:7 meek. Those without power or influence should have been able to depend on the justice due them. Instead, justice was denied them. As a result, their lives were turned to poverty, oppression, and insecurity.

2:8 clothes laid to pledge. Clothing taken as security for a loan was supposed to be returned in the evening so that it could be used as bedding for the poor (Ex. 22:26–27). The powerful in Israel were spreading the clothes out as beds for themselves beside the altars, in a show of empty, merciless piety.

2:9 Yet destroyed I. This emphatic statement underscores the fact that God had been Israel’s champion, and the nation’s success had not been its own doing. the Amorite. This refers to the previous inhabitants of the land of Canaan.

2:13 I am pressed under you. This is a powerful metaphor of the burden of Israel’s sin on the Lord. This is the same God Isaiah describes as measuring the waters of the earth in the hollow of His hand, measuring the heavens with the span of His hand, and weighing the mountains in His balance (Is. 40:12).

3:1 the whole family which I brought up. This phrase emphasizes the personal, intimate relationship that God had with Israel.

3:2 You only have I known. God’s relationship with Israel was not only intimate, it was exclusive. God had been faithful to Israel, yet Israel had not been faithful to God. For this reason, the nation would be judged.

3:2 Selection of Israel—The selection of Israel as a special nation to God was part of God’s plan (Rom. 11:2). Historically, the selection of Israel began with the Lord’s promise to Abraham, “I will make of thee a great nation” (Gen. 12:2). The name Israel actually comes from the new name which God gave to Abraham’s grandson Jacob when they fought at the ford of Jabbok (Gen. 32:28). This fact explains why his descendants are often called the children of Israel.

The motivation for the Lord’s choice of Israel as His select nation did not lie in any special attraction the nation possessed. Its people were, in fact, the least in number among all the nations (Deut. 7:6–8). Rather, the Lord chose them because of His love for them and because of His covenant with Abraham. This fact does not mean that God did not love other nations, because it was through Israel that He blessed all nations in Christ.

3:3–6 Can two walk together. This series of rhetorical questions illustrates the seriousness, certainty, and righteousness of God’s impending action against Israel. Each question is framed so as to require a resounding “no” as its answer.

3:11 An adversary there shall be even round about the land. This verse pictures a formal sentencing of Israel in the presence of the witnesses whom God had called (v. 9). Sapping Israel’s strength was exactly what Assyria did in the years following Amos’s prophecies, finally putting an end to the nation in 722 B.C.

3:12 As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion. The hired shepherd was responsible to the owner for the safety of the sheep. He had to make good any loss, unless he could prove it was unavoidable. A lion taking a sheep was an unavoidable loss, but the shepherd had to prove that the lion had taken it. A couple of small bones or a piece of an ear was sufficient; the owner would recognize the lion’s work. As complete as the destruction of a sheep by a lion would be the destruction of Israel that God would bring.

3:15 the great houses shall have an end. The four houses mentioned here were all symbols of oppression. Many small inheritances had been stolen to form the large estates of the wealthy and powerful, where they built their opulent houses.

4:1 kine of Bashan. Sometimes translated cows, this phrase refers to the well-fed women of Samaria. Bashan, the region east and northeast of the Sea of Galilee, was a prime grassland area renowned for its cattle.

4:3 breaches. These were a symbol of the thoroughness of the destruction of the city and the homes that the people held so dear. In an undamaged city, the usual way in and out was the one main gate. But Samaria would be so ruined that the deportees would be driven straight through the breaches in the walls of their houses and their city.

4:6–11 have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. This passage describes a series of five calamities that God had already sent upon the Israelites in an effort to drive them to repentance. A striking feature of this narrative is God’s emphatic claim that the Israelites had brought these disasters on themselves. They had repeatedly failed to understand the implications of the disasters.

4:10 after the manner of Egypt. This fourth calamity suggests that God was reminding Israel of the ten plagues that preceded their exodus from Egypt; these included epidemic diseases and other disasters.

4:11 ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. This refers to a stick snatched from a fire with one end already ablaze. Here it was a vivid metaphor for God’s last-minute rescue of most of Israel from the fate He brought upon some of its cities and territories.

4:12 prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Because Israel had not returned to God through these five calamities, it would have to meet God Himself. To be confronted—inescapably—by the God it had scorned and rejected would be a fate more terrible than Israel could imagine.

5:2 The virgin of Israel. This term depicts the nation as a young maiden, cut off from her life before it had really begun. upon her land. This is a reminder that the land had been God’s gift to Israel. By their faithlessness, the people had turned God’s gift into the place of their death and burial.

5:6 in the house of Joseph. This phrase refers to the whole nation.

5:8 the seven stars. This refers to a cluster of stars within the constellation Taurus, one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac. One of Israel’s idolatries was astral worship. Far from being deities, Amos asserted, the constellations also were God’s creations. Orion. This is a reference to a prominent constellation in the southern sky in the shape of a hunter.

5:10 the gate. This was the location of the town court, where justice was to be upheld in all legal proceedings whether civil or criminal.

5:11–15 God’s Justice—The Israelites in Amos’s day had lost sight of God’s commands to treat the poor compassionately. There is no record that Israel ever practiced the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:11) that is part of Old Testament law, for instance.

As many of the prophets did, Amos called on the Israelites to practice justice and see to it that the poor were not abused. He made it clear that the rich in his day were taking advantage of the poor. The justice system was ineffective because of rampant bribery. The prophets repeatedly made the point that the sacrifices were not enough. The sacrificial process needed to be connected with a response in behavior. God’s justice demanded more than the sacrifices. It demanded obedience.

Amos teaches us to be observant about where this injustice is being practiced. He teaches us to look for movements, forces, or programs that can work against the accumulation of power and unjustly gained wealth.

One of the first things the Jerusalem church did when it formed was to put in place a system of some kind to care for the widows and orphans (Acts 6:1–4). Belief in God included an understanding of His desire for justice and the believer’s need to act on it.

5:11 and ye take from him burdens of wheat. To take grain taxes from the poor was to put them at risk of starvation if the harvest had not been bountiful. Yet the rich and powerful had sufficient resources to build luxurious houses for themselves. God promised that the rich would not enjoy their luxury stolen from the lifeblood of the poor and powerless.

5:12 your mighty sins. Israel’s leaders did not sin incidentally or furtively; they sinned brazenly and habitually, as though God had never revealed Himself and His standards of justice and mercy.

5:18 the day of the LORD. The popular theology of Amos’s time apparently looked forward to this day as the time of Israel’s restoration to military, political, and economic greatness, perhaps to the greatness of the reigns of David and Solomon. Amos declared such hopes futile, even pitiable. What the people looked forward to as a day of light and triumph would rise upon them instead as a day of darkness and ruin.

5:19 bear . . . serpent. These images evoke the terror that follows when a person escapes a terrible danger and is exhausted and relieved, only to find a worse danger so close at hand that it is inescapable.

5:21–23 feast days . . . solemn assemblies. By stating He would no longer accept Israel’s sacrifices or listen to them, God was rejecting Israel’s worship as hypocritical, dishonest, and meaningless.

5:25 Have ye offered unto me. This verse is a rhetorical question with “yes” as the expected answer.

6:3 Ye that put far away the evil day. This refers to those who insisted that Israel was too strong for destruction to fall upon the nation any time soon.

6:4–6 lambs . . . calves. This passage describes the extravagant living indulged in by the rich and paid for with the wealth stolen from the poor. Meat was a luxury for most families of the ancient Middle East, consumed only on special occasions. Meat on a daily basis was the privilege only of the rich and powerful. The upper classes of Israel were so engrossed in their own privileges and luxuries that they cared nothing for the affliction of their fellow Israelites, though it was their transgressions that had caused it.

7:1 the king’s mowings. These words imply that the king took the first harvest of hay as a tax. Thus a swarm of locusts devouring the late crop would leave the people with nothing for themselves, inflicting a crippling economic blow.

7:2–3 by whom shall Jacob arise? If God carried out the threatened punishment, Jacob (the nation of Israel) might be destroyed. One function of the prophet was to serve as intercessor for the people before God. Amos prayed that the vision decreed in heaven might be halted before it was accomplished on earth. The basis of Amos’s petition lay in the true assessment of Israel’s position. They were not large and strong, as they thought; rather they were small and weak. In response to Amos’s intercession, and out of His own love for Israel, God stayed His decree.

7:7–9 a plumbline. This apparatus is a string with a weight tied to one end, used to establish a vertical line so that a wall can be built straight. what seest thou. Unlike the first two visions of natural disasters, the visions of the plumb line and the basket of summer fruit were not self-explanatory. God asked Amos what he saw, then explained the visions’ meaning. Also unlike the first two visions, God did not give Amos opportunity to intercede, nor did He relent. These judgments would be executed. the house of Jeroboam. This is a metaphor for the nation.

7:10–11 Amaziah. Amaziah was the priest in charge of the temple at Bethel, who informed the king about the prophet who was making threats against the king’s house. Amaziah was reacting to Amos’s third vision which ended with God’s promise to bring the sword against the house of Jeroboam. Amaziah regarded Amos’s words as a political threat, and reported them not as a prophecy from God, but as Amos’s call to revolt.

7:14–17 neither was I a prophet’s son. Amos’s answer to Amaziah came in two parts. First, he denied being a prophet by profession. He did not come from a family of prophets, nor had he been trained in prophecy. Amos made it clear that he had neither desired nor sought his prophetic task. Thy wife shall be an harlot. The only way the spouse of an important official like Amaziah would be reduced to prostitution would be if all her family and all her resources were taken away and she were left to fend entirely for herself.

8:1–3 a basket of summer fruit. The fruits that came at the end of the harvest in late summer included grapes, pomegranates, and figs. The end is come. Amos could not have discerned the meaning of this vision until God’s pronouncement. Israel’s wickedness was about to result in a harvest of judgment.

8:5 making the ephah small. This was a way of cheating the customer of value received for price paid. shekel. This was a unit of money so making it “great” was also a way of cheating.

8:12–13 sea to sea. This meant from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean. the fair virgins and young men. This refers to those who are most vigorous to survive.

8:14 Dan . . . Beer-sheba. This was a phrase that indicated the limits of the Israelite territory. In Amos’s day, Beersheba was in the kingdom of Judah. Israel could swear oaths by the Lord, claiming they loyally worshiped Him from the extreme north to the extreme south of His land, but that would not relieve the famine of God’s word.

9:2 hell . . . heaven. In this imagery, Israel’s fugitives from God’s judgment could escape neither up nor down; God would find them no matter where in the universe they fled.

9:3 top of Carmel. This peak represented the highest point on earth. Whether as high as that, or as low as the bottom of the sea, the earth would provide no escape.

9:8 the sinful kingdom. This is Israel. I will not utterly destroy. This was a glimmer of hope in a long passage of judgment and doom. God’s judgment would be thorough, but a remnant would survive.

9:9 as corn is sifted in a sieve. Sifting grain was the final operation in cleaning it before gathering it into storage. In winnowing, all the chaff was blown away; only pebbles and small clumps of mud remained with the grain. The sieve was constructed with holes that were sized so debris were retained in the sieve.

9:13 the plowman shall overtake the reaper. For this to happen it would mean such an abundant harvest that it would last all summer and would not be gathered until the plowing had started again. Grapes were harvested from mid-summer to early fall. The grain crop was sown after the plowing in late fall.

9:15 plant them upon their land. God does not abandon His promises or His covenant, nor does He leave His people without hope. God’s punishment is certain, but His restoration is just as certain. The word of hope for God’s people of old is valid also for God’s people of today.