‏ Amos 3

Summary for Amos 3:1-5:17: 3:1–5:17  ^a Amos directs the three prophetic messages in this section against Israel, indicting them for a false understanding of their status as God’s chosen people. The messages show a progression toward judgment.
Summary for Amos 3:1-2: 3:1-2  ^b The first message from the Lord warns Israel that its status as God’s elect will not excuse them from God’s judgment. Instead, they will be held to a higher standard than the surrounding nations. 3:1  ^c Amos begins with a reference to God’s goodness to Israel when he rescued them from Egypt (see 2:10  ^d).
3:2  ^e The word translated been intimate indicates personal and experiential knowledge that often extends beyond mere intellectual awareness. It can indicate formal recognition and acknowledgment (Exod 1:8  ^f; 5:2  ^g), personal experience (Gen 2:17  ^h), or sexual relations (Gen 4:1  ⁱ). This word is frequently used of God’s relationship with Israel (Hos 5:3  ^j) and of Israel’s ideal relationship with God (Hos 2:20  ^k). Because of Israel’s privileged status, God would hold them accountable for all their sins, not just some of them. God holds people accountable in terms of what has been given them (Luke 12:47-48  ^l).
Summary for Amos 3:3-6: 3:3-6  ^m Amos explains his call to prophesy with a series of rhetorical questions that must be answered in the negative. But the metaphorical language carries deeper meaning than is implied in the questions themselves. 3:3  ⁿ Amos’s walk with God was evidence that his message was in accord with the direction of God’s plans for Israel’s judgment.
3:4  ^o Amos’s messages have God behind them: What he says would, in fact, happen to Israel. God is the lion who roars, and he has already found his victim—the people of Israel who are ready for judgment.
3:5  ^p The trap pictures the consequences of Israel’s sin. Israel fully deserved the judgment that Amos proclaimed.
3:6  ^q disaster ... the Lord has planned: God sends both the good and pleasant, and the harmful and painful (Isa 45:7  ^r; Lam 3:38  ^s; see Deut 28  ^t; Job 2:10  ^u).
3:8  ^v God, the lion, has roared from Mount Zion (1:2  ^w) and compelled Amos to prophesy (see 7:14-16  ^x).
3:9  ^y The prophet now turns to two of Israel’s enemies, Philistia (Hebrew Ashdod, one of the key cities of Philistia) and Egypt. He invites them to surround Samaria (the capital of the kingdom of Israel) to see its chaos and oppression. Israel appeared strong from the outside, but it was rotten within, rife with class struggles. The enemies would take advantage of Israel’s internal weakness (see 3:11  ^z).
3:10  ^aa Israel’s rich people acquired their wealth through their neglect and brutal treatment of the poor and helpless (see 2:6-8  ^ab).
3:11  ^ac The real enemy was not Egypt or Philistia, but Assyria, the only superpower in the region.
3:12  ^ad A shepherd who tries to rescue: The people of both Israel and Judah believed that, because of their chosen status, God would intervene to rescue them and never let them perish. The prophet’s words are ironic: Their rescue would be like a shepherd who arrives too late to save the sheep, and who can pull only two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion.

• So it will be ... reclining on couches: Some have interpreted this statement to mean that only the fabric of a few couches would survive the Assyrian siege of Samaria. Accordingly, the last two lines of this verse could be translated So it will be when the Israelites in Samaria are rescued / with only a broken bed and a tattered pillow.
3:13  ^ae The Lord’s message is to go to all Israel (literally the house of Jacob). Jacob was the ancestor of both Israel and Judah.

• The witnesses who are told to listen could be the nations summoned in 3:9  ^af, the inhabitants of Samaria, or bands of prophets.

• Lord God of Heaven’s Armies: This title, traditionally “Lord God of Hosts” (also in 4:13  ^ag; 5:14-16  ^ah, 27  ^ai; 6:8  ^aj), portrays God as commander of the heavenly armies; this is the true God of the universe, not a local deity (see also Exod 15:3  ^ak).
3:14  ^al pagan altars at Bethel: The shrine at Bethel, built by Jeroboam I shortly after his inauguration (1 Kgs 12:26-33  ^am), continued through the dynasty of Jehu (2 Kgs 10:29  ^an), from whom Jeroboam II descended. This shrine merged worship of Yahweh (the Lord) with the pagan symbol of a bull. When the altars were destroyed, the Bethel shrine, the king’s official sanctuary (Amos 7:13  ^ao), and the northern kingdom would also be ruined.
3:15  ^ap Ivory represents the immense, ill-gotten wealth of the rich. Archaeologists have found some of these ivory inlays in the ruins of Samaria.

‏ Amos 4

Summary for Amos 4:1-3: 4:1-3  ^aq In this message Amos holds Samaria’s wives accountable for urging their husbands to perform ruthless acts in order to provide them with money for their parties. 4:1  ^ar you fat cows (literally you cows of Bashan): Bashan was famous for its fierce, fat bulls (Ps 22:12  ^as; Ezek 39:18  ^at). Amos uses the feminine form (cows) to paint a picture of Israel’s upper class wives, who cared little for the poor. Their only concern was to extract enough wealth from the needy to support their own consumption.
4:2  ^au has sworn this by his holiness: Holiness speaks of God as existing outside of and independent of creation; his nature is wholly other than what he has created. The oath is similar to 6:8  ^av; 8:7  ^aw.

• hooks: The Assyrians were known for their inhumane treatment of war captives (see 2 Chr 33:11  ^ax; cp. 2 Kgs 19:28  ^ay). A stela (stone pillar with an inscription) discovered in northern Syria shows the Assyrian king Esarhaddon holding cords that pass through the lips of two war captives. A recent scholar has suggested that hooks referred to the rings inserted into the noses of cattle to manage them.
4:3  ^az The wall of Samaria that these women trusted for security could not protect them.
Summary for Amos 4:4-5: 4:4-5  ^ba The prophet’s sarcasm shows how far Israel had strayed from God’s ways. Israel had plenty of religion but no reverence for God. 4:4  ^bb Amos lampoons the Israelites’ worthless piety.

• Bethel, the site of Jacob’s famous vision of the ladder with angels descending and ascending (Gen 28:11-22  ^bc), was the southern seat of the religion established by Jeroboam I (see Amos 3:14  ^bd; 1 Kgs 12:28-29  ^be). Gilgal, Israel’s campsite after they crossed the Jordan (Josh 4:19–5:9  ^bf), had become a popular shrine by the time of Amos and Hosea (Hos 4:15  ^bg; 9:15  ^bh; 12:11  ^bi).

• sacrifices each morning ... tithes every three days: Israelite males were to appear before the Lord at the sanctuary three times each year (Exod 23:14-19  ^bj; 34:23  ^bk; Deut 16:16-17  ^bl). Tithes were typically paid annually (Deut 14:22-29  ^bm), with a special tithe paid every three years (see Deut 14:28  ^bn; 26:12  ^bo). Amos is making the point that the Israelites were religious to the point of absurdity, but they balked at being godly (Amos 5:15  ^bp; Hos 6:6  ^bq; Mic 6:8  ^br; see Luke 11:42  ^bs).
4:5  ^bt Leavened bread (that is, sourdough fermented by wild yeast) was for daily consumption. The more primitive unleavened bread (made without yeast) became a sacred symbol, commemorating Israel’s affliction as slaves in Egypt (Deut 16:3  ^bu), the Passover (Exod 12:17-20  ^bv), and their hasty departure from that land (Exod 12:34  ^bw, 39  ^bx). Unleavened bread thus became altar bread (Lev 6:17  ^by; 7:12  ^bz). However, bread made with yeast could accompany a peace offering of thanksgiving (Lev 7:13  ^ca).
Summary for Amos 4:6-11: 4:6-11  ^cb God sent natural disasters to bring his people to repentance, but each time they failed to respond in any sincere manner. Amos ends the account of each disaster with the refrain, “But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.
4:10  ^cc God had used plagues to convince Egypt to let Israel go (Exod 7:14–12:30  ^cd; 9:2-3  ^ce; Ps 91:6  ^cf; Hab 3:5  ^cg); he promised to bring the plagues of Egypt on Israel if they continued to turn away from him to worship pagan gods (Deut 28:27  ^ch, 60  ^ci).
4:11  ^cj As with the plagues on Egypt (4:10  ^ck), the plagues on Israel increased in magnitude and intensity (cp. 4:12  ^cl).

• as I destroyed: The thought that God would treat his own people in the same way as he had treated Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24-25  ^cm) was shocking to their theology.
4:12  ^cn This is one of the two great thematic verses in Amos (the second is 5:24  ^co). Since Israel would not repent, it must meet ... God in judgment.
4:13  ^cp This verse appears to be a hymn fragment, possibly sung by the worshipers at Bethel (for other hymn fragments, see 5:8-9  ^cq; 9:5-6  ^cr). Israel had been treating God as a baal—a local god with limited power. But the God they professed to worship and whom they would face in judgment is all-powerful.

‏ Amos 5:1-17

Summary for Amos 5:1-3: 5:1-3  ^cs The charges against Israel had been filed (3:1-2  ^ct; 4:1-3  ^cu); now it was time for judgment. Amos made this point clear by singing a funeral song for Israel, as though the nation were already dead. 5:1  ^cv funeral song: The Hebrew word (qinah) describes a special rhythm (3+2 beats) used for funeral dirges (most of the book of Lamentations is written in qinah). The ominous significance was clear: Israel had already died and now awaited burial.
5:2  ^cw When used to describe political powers, virgin refers to a state of being unconquered by a foreign power (e.g., Babylon, Isa 47:1  ^cx; Jerusalem, Lam 2:13  ^cy; cp. Lam 1:1  ^cz).
5:3  ^da This verse is a reversal of the promises made in Lev 26:8  ^db.
5:4  ^dc Come back to me and live implies a condition: In order to live, Israel should seek the Lord (also in 5:6  ^dd). Otherwise, the funeral song (5:1-2  ^de) would become Israel’s death sentence.
5:5  ^df Beersheba was another site (see study note on 4:4) with ties to the patriarchal era (e.g., Abraham, Gen 21:33  ^dg; 22:19  ^dh) that had been made into a shrine.

• Gilgal ... exile: A wordplay using alliteration (Hebrew hagilgal galoh yigleh).
5:6  ^di The northern kingdom of Israel (literally the house of Joseph) was dominated by the tribes of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (see study note on 5:15; see Hos 5:3  ^dj, 5  ^dk).
Summary for Amos 5:8-9: 5:8-9  ^dl Amos quotes a second hymn fragment (see 4:13  ^dm; 9:5-6  ^dn). Once again, the prophet emphasizes the contrast between the cosmic God and the local gods.

• Stars, celestial bodies, and constellations such as Pleiades and Orion were regarded as deities in the ancient world. Not so, says Amos; the Lord made them and placed them in the sky.

• water: The ancients had observed a process that they did not understand (evaporation and condensation). However, the Lord understands and controls natural processes that seem mysterious to humans.
5:10  ^do Amos resumes the thought begun in 5:7  ^dp. Israel’s courts, controlled by the wealthy, depended on corrupt judges and hired witnesses. They had no use for what was true, but only for what was expedient to their own cause (5:12  ^dq).
5:11  ^dr stone houses: Again, Amos targets the rich. The houses of peasants were built of mud brick. Cut stone, the result of laborious handwork, was very expensive.
5:13  ^ds Witnesses pleaded that they saw and heard nothing. Truthfulness had become a liability (5:10  ^dt) and might endanger the one who spoke it.
5:14  ^du Amos makes his earlier hints (5:4  ^dv, 6  ^dw) more explicit: Israel must do what is good and right in order to survive.
5:15  ^dx the remnant of his people: The Hebrew text uses the remnant of Joseph to refer to the northern kingdom, who were still God’s people despite their rebellion and idolatry.
Summary for Amos 5:16-17: 5:16-17  ^dy crying ... mourning ... wailing: Grief would result from the widespread and certain destruction that lay ahead (5:1-2  ^dz). 5:16  ^ea farmers ... professional mourners: This expression is a graphic way of describing that everyone would grieve.