TEXT [Commentary]

  E.   How Terrible for Those Who Lounge in Jerusalem and Samaria (6:1-14)

1 What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem,[*]

and you who feel secure in Samaria!

You are famous and popular in Israel,

and people go to you for help.

2 But go over to Calneh

and see what happened there.

Then go to the great city of Hamath

and down to the Philistine city of Gath.

You are no better than they were,

and look at how they were destroyed.

3 You push away every thought of coming disaster,

but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.

4 How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds

and lounge on your couches,

eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock

and of choice calves fattened in the stall.

5 You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp

and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David.

6 You drink wine by the bowlful

and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions.

You care nothing about the ruin of your nation.[*]

7 Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives.

Suddenly, all your parties will end.

8 The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, says:

“I despise the arrogance of Israel,[*]

and I hate their fortresses.

I will give this city

and everything in it to their enemies.”

9 (If there are ten men left in one house, they will all die. 10 And when a relative who is responsible to dispose of the dead[*] goes into the house to carry out the bodies, he will ask the last survivor, “Is anyone else with you?” When the person begins to swear, “No, by . . . ,” he will interrupt and say, “Stop! Don’t even mention the name of the LORD.”)

11 When the LORD gives the command,

homes both great and small will be smashed to pieces.

12 Can horses gallop over boulders?

Can oxen be used to plow them?

But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison

and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness.

13 And you brag about your conquest of Lo-debar.[*]

You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim[*] by our own strength?”

14 “O people of Israel, I am about to bring an enemy nation against you,”

says the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies.

“They will oppress you throughout your land—

from Lebo-hamath in the north

to the Arabah Valley in the south.”

NOTES

6:1 What sorrow. The interjection (hoy [TH1945, ZH2098]) continues the woe oracles begun in 5:18. (See note on 5:18.)

Jerusalem . . . Samaria. The capital cities of the Hebrew kingdoms of Judah and Israel respectively. (See notes on 2:5 and 3:9.)

6:2 Calneh. An Aramean city-state, probably the Kullani of Assyrian records, located some eight miles northwest of Aleppo in Syria (cf. Calno, Isa 10:9; Canneh, Ezek 27:23).

Hamath. A fortress city on the Orontes River located on one of the southern trade routes from Asia Minor (modern-day Hama in Syria). Hamath was considered the northern boundary of Israel (according to Num 13:21; Josh 13:5). Calneh and Hamath were Aramean city-states under Israelite control, perhaps as a result of Jeroboam II’s northern campaign (2 Kgs 14:28). The two cities are sometimes mentioned together since they were the major cities of eastern Aram or Syria (cf. Isa 10:9).

Gath. One of the five principal city-states of the Philistines, located nine miles east of Ashdod and six miles south of Ekron.

6:5 trivial songs. The prophet condemned vain entertainment and the lavish use of wine and perfumes (6:6) as symptomatic of self-interest that compromised national interests.

6:8 sworn by his own name. This divine oath is an unusually strong introduction to a judgment oracle. The expression may be rendered “by his own life” (nepesh [TH5315, ZH5883]) and signifies the certainty of Yahweh’s judgment—he “will stake his very life on the fulfillment of this deadly promise” (Hubbard 1989:195).

6:10 dispose of the dead. Or, “to burn the dead” (so NLT mg). The expression proves difficult because the ancient Israelites did not practice cremation, an act Amos condemned earlier (cf. 2:1). Burning was reserved for notorious criminals or cases of plague (e.g., Lev 20:14; 21:9; 1 Sam 31:12). On a more pragmatic note, however, the burning of corpses in the aftermath of military campaigns may have been practiced both to simply deal with the number of dead and to effectively address the potential threat of disease and plague after such a catastrophic event. The LXX emends the text and translates “and they will strenuously exert themselves to carry their bones from the house.” English versions have attempted to solve the problem with suggested readings like “the one who anoints him for burial” (ESV); “embalmer” (NEB); “undertaker” (NASB); or omitting the phrase altogether (so NJB). Hubbard’s (1989:197) solution to read the word in question (mesarepo; from sarap [TH5635, ZH6251]) as a synonym of “close relative” (dod [TH1730, ZH1856]) is a reasonable alternative: “And when a person’s near relative, whether on his father’s side or his mother’s side, shall carry him to bring his corpse out of the house.” The NLT interprets the clause “to burn the dead” to refer more broadly to the task of “disposing” of the large number of corpses left in the wake of the enemy invasion.

the bodies. Lit., “bones” (‘atsamim [TH6106, ZH6795]), here understood as corpses.

6:11 homes both great and small. Perhaps a reference to the “winter mansions” and “summer houses” mentioned previously by the prophet (cf. 3:15).

6:12 Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? The rhetorical questions serve as an analogy for Israel on the principle of reductio ad absurdum, because their “actions are completely the opposite of what is proper” (Stuart 1987:364).

6:13 Lo-debar. A border town in Gilead (between the tribes of Gad and East Manasseh) located east of the Jordan River and south of the Sea of Galilee (although the site has not been identified with certainty).

Karnaim. A Transjordan city and regional center for the Arameans that was located about halfway between Samaria and Damascus. Along with Lo-debar the city was probably reclaimed from the Arameans by Jeroboam II (2 Kgs 14:28). Amos mocked Israel’s pride in its military accomplishments by punning, choosing the sites of Lo-debar (meaning “nothing”) and Karnaim (meaning “double-horned” or “doubly strong”). These supposed “trophies” were really of “no consequence at all” (Hubbard 1989:199).

6:14 enemy nation. Though unnamed, there is little doubt that Amos had the nation of Assyria in mind (cf. 5:27).

Lebo-hamath. Lit., “the entrance to Hamath.” Probably the southern boundary of the territory controlled by the city-state of Hamath (recognized as the northern boundary of Canaan in Num 13:21; 34:8).

Arabah Valley. Possibly a reference to the Wadi Arabah or the Wadi Qelt. The Arabah Valley generally is the Jordan River valley between the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea, and on to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Taken together the two sites, Lebo-Hamath and the southern Arabah, represented the northern and southern boundaries of the kingdom of Israel (cf. 2 Kgs 14:25), thus emphasizing the total defeat of the nation (Stuart 1987:365).

COMMENTARY [Text]

The interjection “What sorrow” or “Woe” (hoy [TH1945, ZH2098]) marks the beginning of three rhetorical units (5:18-27; 6:1-3; 6:4-14). The two so-called “woe oracles” against Israel (5:18-27 and 6:1-14) complete the five messages of Amos that comprise the middle portion of the book (chs 3–6). The characteristic features of the woe-cry are found in Amos, including the interjection of woe (e.g., 6:1), verbs in participle form describing God’s grievances (e.g., 6:3-4), and the word of divine judgment (e.g., 6:7). The woe-cry is a harsh form of prophetic speech and indicates that while individuals may yet respond to the threat of divine punishment by turning to God in repentance, Yahweh’s judgment against the nation is irrevocable.

The oracle addressed to the people of Israel (5:1-17) is the third of five messages delivered by Amos that comprise the middle section of the book (chs 3–6). Whether one understands this middle section of the book as one of woe and warning rather than doom and judgment (see commentary on 5:1-17), the situation for the northern kingdom of Israel is dire. The prophet’s sense of urgency arises from his awareness that the critically ill “patient” is about to have the life-support system “removed.”

Amos’s denouncement of the “arrogant” (6:8) suggests that he was familiar with Hebrew wisdom tradition. His theological understanding was informed by precepts that taught that God despises and punishes the proud (Prov 15:25; 16:5). The psalmist lamented the seeming injustice of the proud boasting of their oppression of the poor and God’s apparent unresponsiveness to the plight of the helpless (Ps 10:2-4). Yet in the end, the psalmist also knew that God would rescue the humble and humiliate the proud (Ps 18:27). The other Old Testament prophets echo this same theme of divine judgment against the proud (e.g., Isa 2:12; Jer 13:9, 17; Ezek 7:11).

But not only does God resist and destroy the proud, he shows favor to the humble (Prov 3:34). This is a word of great hope for the righteous in the Old Testament because the humble will see their God at work and be glad (Ps 69:32), and he will crown the humble with salvation (Ps 149:4). The New Testament affirms that these same truths are to inform our relationships with God and each other in the church of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 5:6). All of this is in keeping with the instruction of Jesus, who came with the humility of a servant (Matt 11:29) and taught that “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).