TEXT [Commentary]

  B.   Judgment against Israel (2:6-16)

6 This is what the LORD says:

“The people of Israel have sinned again and again,

and I will not let them go unpunished!

They sell honorable people for silver

and poor people for a pair of sandals.

7 They trample helpless people in the dust

and shove the oppressed out of the way.

Both father and son sleep with the same woman,

corrupting my holy name.

8 At their religious festivals,

they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security.

In the house of their gods,[*]

they drink wine bought with unjust fines.

9 “But as my people watched,

I destroyed the Amorites,

though they were as tall as cedars

and as strong as oaks.

I destroyed the fruit on their branches

and dug out their roots.

10 It was I who rescued you from Egypt

and led you through the desert for forty years,

so you could possess the land of the Amorites.

11 I chose some of your sons to be prophets

and others to be Nazirites.

Can you deny this, my people of Israel?”

asks the LORD.

12 “But you caused the Nazirites to sin by making them drink wine,

and you commanded the prophets, ‘Shut up!’

13 “So I will make you groan

like a wagon loaded down with sheaves of grain.

14 Your fastest runners will not get away.

The strongest among you will become weak.

Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves.

15 The archers will not stand their ground.

The swiftest runners won’t be fast enough to escape.

Even those riding horses won’t be able to save themselves.

16 On that day the most courageous of your fighting men

will drop their weapons and run for their lives,”

says the LORD.

NOTES

2:6 Israel. This became the name of the northern kingdom after the split of the Hebrew united monarchy upon the death of Solomon (c. 930 BC). The kingdom of Israel was comprised of the 10 Hebrew tribes that settled north of Jerusalem and east of the Jordan River. The total number of tribes comprising the northern kingdom of Israel varies depending upon how the half-tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim and the northern Danites are enumerated. The rival kingdom of Israel was established by God through the prophet Ahijah as a punishment for Solomon’s sin of idolatry (1 Kgs 11:29-39). The kingdom of Israel endured as a geopolitical entity from c. 930–722, when the Assyrians conquered the nation and annexed the territory into their empire (cf. 2 Kgs 17:7-23).

2:8 clothing their debtors put up as security. Amos refers here to the abuse of Mosaic laws that permitted Hebrews to take clothing from their neighbors as a security deposit for a loan (Exod 22:25-27; Deut 24:10-12).

unjust fines. Amos refers here to the abuse of Mosaic laws that permitted fines intended as compensation for misconduct (Exod 21:22; Deut 22:19).

2:9 Amorites. Broadly understood, the Amorites were various West Semitic people groups inhabiting Syria–Palestine since before the time of Abraham (Gen 15:16). More specifically, the name refers to the indigenous peoples of the hill country of Canaan and surrounding regions that the Israelites encountered after their Exodus from Egypt (Deut 1:7). The post-Exodus victories of the Hebrews over the Transjordan city-states of the Amorite kings Sihon and Og were a significant first step in the Israelite conquest of Canaan (Num 21:21-31; Deut 3:1-11).

2:11 Nazirites. The word nazir [TH5139, ZH5687] signifies a “consecrated one” or a “devoted one.” The Nazirite is one who has taken a vow to be separated unto the Lord. Such a vow may be taken by a Hebrew man, woman, or even a slave—but not a Gentile (Num 6:1-21). A parent could make such a vow for a child (cf. Judg 13:5; 1 Sam 1:11). The vow consisted of three important abstentions: refraining from all products associated with the grapevine, never cutting one’s hair, and avoiding any contact with the dead. The Nazirite vow might be taken for a specific time period (e.g., a month or a year), or it may be made as a lifetime vow (Judg 13:7).

COMMENTARY [Text]

The repetition of the pronoun “you” in 2:10 identifies the true “target” audience of the prophet’s message—the nation of Israel (i.e., the northern Hebrew kingdom). Smith and Page (1995:61) rightly observe that Amos’s oracles against the nations were intended to bring a theological message to the political and religious leaders of the kingdom of Israel, namely: God is sovereign over the nations and all kingdoms are accountable to him; God is equally patient with those nations in rebellion against him (implied in the formulaic expression “sinned again and again” prefacing each of the oracles); and God’s judgment of the nations is certain and impartial (i.e., divine punishment will match the crime whether meted out against the Hebrews or the Gentiles).

The more comprehensive indictment of the sin of the kingdom of Israel also indicates Amos has this nation in his “prophetic sights.” The catalog of crimes charged against Israel included: selling people into slavery (2:6b), oppressing the poor (2:7a), engaging in illicit sex (2:7b), perverting justice (2:8a), drunkenness (2:8b), and irreverent treatment of Nazirites (2:12). All of these offenses are dealt with in more detail in the subsequent messages proclaimed by the prophet.

The primary sin of Israel is the abuse and oppression of the poor, prompting Andersen and Freedman to note that “it is in the domestic scene, not the international stage, that Israel’s crimes are exposed” (1989:308). The nation of Israel was guilty of the same breach of covenant as her sister nation Judah, rejecting the laws of the Lord (cf. 2:4). Specifically, Amos accused Israel of flagrantly violating covenant stipulations designed to protect the socially disadvantaged (see notes on 2:8). Like the neighboring nations, Judah and Israel are reminded that God is holy and he will bring righteous judgment against sinners—“he never lets the guilty go unpunished” (Nah 1:3).

The link between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel as the one people of God is further established in Amos’s reference to the two great acts of divine deliverance experienced by the ancestors of Judah and Israel when they were a single people emerging from Egyptian captivity (2:9-10). The references to the destruction of the Amorites (2:9) and to the Exodus from Egypt (2:10) hearken back to the ratification of the covenant charter that established the Hebrews as the singular people of God—a unified “kingdom of priests” unto the Lord (Exod 19:4-6). The message of Amos foreshadows the work of God in restoring the unity of Judah and Israel as one nation in the eschaton (Jer 50:4; Ezek 36:15ff). This restored unity of the nation of Israel anticipates the New Testament teaching on the church as the one body of Jesus Christ (Eph 4:4-6; cf. John 17:21).

The prophet’s reference to “the house of their gods” (2:8) hints at the sin of idolatry that plagued the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos addresses the issue more explicitly in a later message (5:5, 26). Like his counterparts in prophetic ministry, Amos knew that God is the only true God and that he is a jealous god—he will not give his glory to another (Deut 5:9; Isa 42:8; 45:18, 21; Ezek 39:25).

This initial message against Israel does not end with the judgment formula “I will send down fire” like the other oracles against the nations (1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14; 2:2, 5), but it does end with a declaration of judgment (2:13-16). (A similar judgment formula does, however, close Amos’s second oracle against Israel; cf. 3:13-15.) According to Smith and Page (1995:61), this change is deliberate in order to heighten the impact of the announcement of divine punishment: “By changing the conclusion from the expected to the unexpected, Amos’s words were heard more clearly than otherwise.” The ominous tone of the message also signifies that God’s judgment is imminent; the threat of Assyrian exile was only one generation removed from Israel when Amos preached in Bethel. God warns his people of impending doom out of his great compassion—he does not delight in the death of anyone (Ezek 18:23, 32).