Amos 6
6:1 a Jerusalem ... Samaria: A message including Jerusalem is unexpected, but it shows that God plays no favorites; whoever rebels against God will experience sorrow. The Hebrew text uses the terms Zion ... Mount Samaria, indicating the citadels of the two cities. The people of both Judea and Israel were smug and self-important, believing that the fortresses of the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria were impregnable (see also 4:3 b). Relying on physical power instead of on God is sin.6:2 c Calneh and Hamath were Aramean city-states under Israelite influence (see 2 Kgs 14:28 d). Calneh fell to Assyria in 738 BC, and Hamath was forced to pay tribute shortly thereafter. Uzziah had broken down the wall of Gath (2 Chr 26:6 e), but it also fell to Assyria in 711 BC.
• You are no better: Israel itself fell in 722 BC.
6:3 f day of judgment (literally seat of violence): By this phrase, Amos either meant that Israel’s behavior hastened the violence of the Assyrian conquest, or that the people encouraged everyday violence against the poor by pushing the thought of coming disaster from their minds.
6:4 g Meat was typically used to honor distinguished guests. The common food was bread, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products. The everyday use of meat shows the opulence of the wealthy classes.
Summary for Amos 6:5-6: 6:5-6 h These verses provide a picture of drunken revelry.
6:6 i wine by the bowlful: The word translated bowl (Hebrew mizraq) is related to a verb meaning sprinkle or splash (Hebrew zaraq; see Exod 24:6 j); the same word identified the basins used for sprinkling blood or water in religious ceremonies (see 2 Kgs 12:13 k; 25:15 l), adding a sense of sacrilege to this description of their drunkenness.
• of your nation: The Hebrew text reads of Joseph, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; see study note on Amos 5:6.
6:8 m The most solemn oath the Lord could pronounce was by his own name (see also Gen 22:16 n; Jer 51:14 o; cp. Amos 4:2 p; Ps 110:4 q; Heb 6:13-14 r).
• arrogance of Israel (literally pride of Jacob; see study note on Amos 8:7): Jacob can mean cheat (Gen 27:36 s), whereas Israel means he struggles with God (Gen 32:28 t). Amos uses Jacob to express the obstinate arrogance that so often characterized the people of Israel.
Summary for Amos 6:9-10: 6:9-10 u These verses graphically picture the wholesale slaughter by military conquest promised in 6:8 v.
6:10 w to dispose of the dead: Or to burn the dead. Cremation was very uncommon in the ancient Near East (see study note on 2:1), so some interpret this phrase to mean burn a memorial fire (see Jer 34:5 x). Others take it to mean dispose of the remains, rather than perform a cremation. Yet the context—the need to dispose of multiple bodies to avoid putrefaction and disease (Amos 6:9 y; see 8:3 z)—supports the idea that it means cremation.
6:12 aa It would be foolish to run horses ... over boulders, because unshod horses cannot run on rocks without serious damage to their hooves. It is also obvious that oxen cannot plow rocks. A slight adjustment to the word division of the Hebrew text yields plow the sea with oxen, an equally absurd suggestion.
• that’s how foolish you are: The point of the comparisons now becomes obvious, as Israel’s own absurdity surfaces in the moral realm.
• you turn justice into poison: The people perverted what is just and right, turning it into something toxic and bitter (see also 5:7 ab).
6:13 ac Lo-debar and Karnaim that were part of the territory regained from the Arameans by Jeroboam II (2 Kgs 14:25-28 ad). Amos makes puns on their names (see NLT textual footnote).
6:14 ae Lebo-hamath marked the northern border of Solomon’s influence (1 Kgs 8:65 af) and of the land recovered by Jeroboam II. The Dead Sea (called the sea of the Arabah; see footnote on 2 Kgs 14:25 ag) marked the southern border of Jeroboam’s recovered territory. The irony was clear: All of this recovered land would be oppressed by the enemy nation (Assyria).
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