Amos 4:1-3
Summary for Amos 4:1-3: 4:1-3 a 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 b you fat cows (literally you cows of Bashan): Bashan was famous for its fierce, fat bulls (Ps 22:12 c; Ezek 39:18 d). 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 e 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 f; 8:7 g.
• hooks: The Assyrians were known for their inhumane treatment of war captives (see 2 Chr 33:11 h; cp. 2 Kgs 19:28 i). 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 j The wall of Samaria that these women trusted for security could not protect them.
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