{"commentary":{"id":"adam-clarke","name":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"92e28c9363c876d215e296f2fe04abb3ab7e34a2aacebdf06bd62ae79c6e3dba","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":57,"totalNumberOfChapters":854,"totalNumberOfVerses":13318,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"AMO","commentaryId":"adam-clarke","name":"Amos","commonName":"Amos","introduction":"Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Amos Amos, the third of the minor prophets, was, it is said, of the little town of Tekoa, in the tribe of Judah, about four leagues southward of Jerusalem. There is no good proof, however, that he was a native of this place; but only that he retired thither when he was driven from Beth-el, which was in the kingdom of the ten tribes. It is very probable that he was born within the territories of Israel, and that his mission was directed principally to this kingdom. As he was prophesying in Beth-el, where the golden calves were, in the reign of Jeroboam the second, about the year of the world 3217; before the birth of Jesus Christ, 783; before the vulgar era, 787; Amaziah, the high priest of Beth-el, accused him before King Jeroboam, saying, \"Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.\" Amaziah said therefore unto Amos, \"O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.\" Amos answered Amaziah, \"I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock; and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now, therefore, hear thou the word of the Lord; Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.\" After this the prophet retired into the kingdom of Judah, and dwelt in the town of Tekoa, where he continued to prophesy. He complains in many places of the violence offered him by endeavoring to oblige him to silence, and bitterly exclaims against the disorders of Israel. He began to prophesy the second year before the earthquake, which happened in the reign of King Uzziah; and which Josephus, with most of the ancient and modern commentators, refers to this prince's usurpation of the priest's office, when he attempted to offer incense to the Lord. The first of his prophecies, in order of time, are those of the seventh chapter. The others he pronounced in the town of Tekoa, whither he retired. His two first chapters are against Damascus, the Philistines, Tyrians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the kingdom of Judah, and that of the ten tribes. The evils with which he threatens them refer to the times of Shalmaneser, Tiglath-pileser, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar, who did so much mischief to these provinces, and at last led the Israelites into captivity. He foretold the misfortunes into which the kingdom of Israel should fall after the death of Jeroboam the Second, who was then living. He foretold the death of King Zechariah; the invasion of the lands belonging to Israel by Pul and Tiglath-pileser, kings of Assyria; and speaks of the captivity of the ten tribes, and of their return into their own country. He makes sharp invectives against the sins of Israel; against their effeminacy and avarice, their harshness to the poor, the splendor of their buildings, and the delicacy of their tables. He reproves the people of Israel for going to Beth-el, Dan, Gilgal, and Beer-sheba, which were the most famous pilgrimages of the country; and for swearing by the gods of these places. The time and manner of his death are not known. Some old authors relate that Amaziah, priest of Beth-el, whom we have spoken of, provoked by the discourses of the prophet, had his teeth broken in order to silence him. Others say that Hosea, or Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, struck him with a stake upon the temples, and knocked him down, and almost killed him; that in this condition he was carried to Tekoa, where he died, and was buried with his fathers. This is the account these authors give us. On the contrary, it is the opinion of others, that he prophesied a long time at Tekoa after the adventure he had with Amaziah: and the prophet taking no notice of the ill treatment which he is said to have received from Uzziah, his silence is no argument that he suffered nothing from him. St. Jerome observes, that there is nothing great and sublime in the style of Amos. He applies these words of St. Paul to him, rude in speech, though not in knowledge. He says farther, that as every one chooses to speak of his own art, Amos generally makes use of comparisons taken from the country life wherein he had been brought up. St. Austin shows that there was a certain kind of eloquence in the sacred writers, directed by the spirit of wisdom, and so proportioned to the nature of the things they treated of, that even they who accuse them of rusticity and unpoliteness in their way of writing, could not choose a style more suitable, were they to have spoken on the same subject, to the same persons, and in the same circumstances. Bishop Lowth is not satisfied with the judgment of St. Jerome. His authority, says the learned prelate, has occasioned many commentators to represent this prophet as entirely rude, void of eloquence, and wanting in all the embellishments of style; whereas any one who reads him with due attention will find him, though a herdsman, not a whit behind the very chiefest prophets; almost equal to the greatest in the loftiness of his sentiments; and not inferior to any in the splendor of his diction, and the elegance of his composition. And it, is well observed, that the same heavenly Spirit which inspired Isaiah and Daniel in the palace, inspired David and Amos in their shepherds' tents; always choosing proper interpreters of his will, and sometimes perfecting praise even out of the mouths of babes: at one time using the eloquence of some; at another, making others eloquent to subserve his great purposes. See Calmet and Dodd. Archbishop Newcome speaks also justly of this prophet: \"Amos borrows many images from the scenes in which he was engaged; but he introduces them with skill, and gives them tone and dignity by the eloquence and grandeur of his manner. We shall find in him many affecting and pathetic, many elegant and sublime, passages. No prophet has more magnificently described the Deity; or more gravely rebuked the luxurious: or reproved injustice and oppression with greater warmth, and a more generous indignation. He is a prophet on whose model a preacher may safely form his style and manner in luxurious and profligate times.\"","order":30,"numberOfChapters":9,"sha256":"3246692cd16239378a852dbf4f21e7af925b86c37bcd58dce68cc3a8872f81a9","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/AMO/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"AMO","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":9,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/AMO/9.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"AMO","chapter":9},"totalNumberOfVerses":133},"chapter":{"number":6,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["Wo to them that are at ease in Zion - For השאננים hashshaanannim, \"who dwell at ease,\" it has been proposed to read השעננים hashshaanannim, \"who confidently lean,\" the two words differing only in one letter, an ע ain for an א aleph. They leaned confidently on Zion; supposing that, notwithstanding their iniquities they should be saved for Zion's sake. Thus the former clause will agree better with the latter, \"leaning upon Zion,\" and \"trusting in the mountain of Samaria.\" Those that are at ease may mean those who have no concern about the threatened judgments, and who have no deep concern for the salvation of their own souls. Houbigant would read, \"Go to them who despise Zion, and trust in Samaria.\" So the Septuagint, reading שנאים soneim, hating, instead of שאננים shaanannim, being at rest, tranquil Calmet first proposed this conjecture; Houbigant follows him.\nAre named chief - Newcome renders, \"That are named after the chief of the nations;\" and observes, that the Hebrew word נקבי nekubey is an allusion to marking a name or character by punctures. See on Isa 44:5 (note). They call themselves not after their ancestors, but after the chief of the idolatrous nations with whom they intermarry contrary to the law.\nPerhaps the words here rather refer to the mountains and their temples, than to the people. The mountain of Zion, and the mountain of Samaria, were considered the chief or most celebrated among the nations, as the two kingdoms to which they belonged were the most distinguished on the earth. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["Pass ye unto Calneh - This is, says Calmet, the Ctesiphon on the river Tigris.\nHamath - The same as Emesa. Hamath was a city on the Orontes, in Syria.\nGath - A well-known town, and head of one of the five seignories of the Philistines.\nBe they better - You have no more reason to expect exemption from the consequences of your sins than they had. They have been punished; so shall you. Why then will ye trust in their gods, that could not save their own cities? \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["Ye that put far away the evil day - Wo to you who will not consider the day of approaching vengeance; but continue in your iniquity, and harden your hearts. Ye bring your iniquities nearer, and still suppose your punishment to be at a greater distance. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["That lie upon beds of ivory - The word הוי hoi, wo, is understood at the beginning of each of the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth verses. The beds mentioned here may be either sofas to recline on at table, or beds to sleep on; and these among the ancients were ornamented with ivory inlaid. They were called lectos eburatos by Plautus, lectos eburnos by Horace, \"ivory beds.\" Probably those ornamented with shells, or mother-of-pearl, may be intended. Several works of this kind may be still seen in Palestine and other places. I have before me a cross brought from Jerusalem, incrusted all over with mother-of-pearl, and various figures chased on it.\nThere must have been a great deal of luxury and effeminacy among the Israelites at this time; and, consequently, abundance of riches. This was in the time of Jeroboam the second, when the kingdom had enjoyed a long peace. The description in the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses, is that of an Asiatic court even in the present day. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["And invent to themselves instruments of music, like David - See the note on Ch1 23:5; and see especially the note on Ch2 29:25 (note). I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the Divine worship of which we read, and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solemnly reprehended by this prophet; and I farther believe that the use of such instruments of music, in the Christian Church, is without the sanction and against the will of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion, and that they are sinful. If there was a wo to them who invented instruments of music, as did David under the law, is there no wo, no curse to them who invent them, and introduce them into the worship of God in the Christian Church? I am an old man, and an old minister; and I here declare that I never knew them productive of any good in the worship of God; and have had reason to believe that they were productive of much evil. Music, as a science, I esteem and admire: but instruments of music in the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the abuse of music; and here I register my protest against all such corruptions in the worship of the Author of Christianity. The late venerable and most eminent divine, the Revelation John Wesley, who was a lover of music, and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instruments of music being introduced into the chapels of the Methodists said, in his terse and powerful manner, \"I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither Heard nor Seen.\" I say the same, though I think the expense of purchase had better be spared.\nThe word הפרטים happoretim, which we render chant, and the margin quaver, signifies to dance, to skip, etc. In the sight of such a text, fiddlers, drummers, waltzers, etc., may well tremble, who perform to excite detestable passions. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["That drink wine in bowls - Perhaps the costliness of the drinking vessels, more than the quantity drank, is that which is here reprehended by the prophet. Drinking vessels of the most costly materials, and of the most exquisite workmanship, are still in use; and as to precious ointments and perfumes among the Jews, we have a proof that the contents of one small box was worth three hundred denarii, at least seven pounds ten shillings sterling. See the case in the Gospel, Joh 12:5 (note), and the note there. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["With the first that go captive - The house of Israel shall be carried into captivity before the house of Judah. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["The Lord God hath sworn by himself - בנפשו benaphsho, by his soul, his being, existence. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["Ten men - they shall die - All shall be cut off by the sword, or by captivity, or by famine. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["A man's uncle shall take him up - Bp. Newcome says, this obscure verse seems to describe the effects of famine and pestilence during the siege of Samaria. The carcass shall be burnt, and the bones removed with no ceremony of funeral rites, and without the assistance of the nearest kinsman. Solitude shall reign in the house; and if one is left, he must be silent, (see Amo 8:3), and retired, lest he be plundered of his scanty provision! Burning the body, and then collecting the ashes, and putting them into an urn, was deemed the most honorable mode of burial. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["He will smote the great house with breaches - The great and small shall equally suffer; no distinction shall be made; rich and poor shall fall together; death has received his commission, and he will spare none. Horace has a sentiment precisely like this, Carm. Lib. i., Od. iv., 5:13.\nPallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum\nTabernas, Regumque Turres.\nWith equal pace impartial fate\nKnocks at the palace as the cottage gate.\nBut this may refer particularly to the houses of the poor in Eastern countries; their mud walls being frequently full of clefts; the earth of which they are built seldom adhering together because of its sandiness. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["Shall horses run upon the rock - First, they could not do it, because they were unshod; for the shoeing of horses with iron was not then known. Secondly, If they did run on the rock, it would be useless to their owner, and hurtful to themselves. Thirdly, And it would be as useless to plough on the rock with oxen; for there it would be impossible to sow with any advantage. Fourthly, Just as useless and injurious would it be to put gall in the place of judgment, and hemlock in the place of righteousness. You have not only been laboring in vain for yourselves, but you have also been oppressive to others; and for both ye shall suffer. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught - In your idols: for an idol is nothing in the world.\nHave we not taken to us horns - We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: - \nVina parant animos: tum pauper cornua sumet.\n\"Wine repairs our strength, and furnishes the poor with horns.\"\nAt such times they think themselves as great as the greatest. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["I will raise up against you a nation - The Assyrians under Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who subdued the Israelites at various times, and at last carried them away captive in the days of Hosea, the last king of Israel in Samaria.\nFrom the entering in of Hamath (on the north) unto the river of the wilderness - Besor, which empties itself into the sea, not far from Gaza, and was in the southern part of the tribe of Simeon.\n\n"]}],"introduction":"The prophet reproves his people for indulging themselves in luxurious ease, and forming alliances with their powerful idolatrous neighbors, Amo 6:1. He asks if their lands or their lot be better than their own, Amo 6:2, that they should choose to worship the gods of the heathen, and forsake Jehovah. Then follows an amplification of the sin which the prophet reproves, Amo 6:3-6; to which he annexes very awful threatenings, confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, Amo 6:7, Amo 6:8. He next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by pestilence, Amo 6:9-11; by famine, or a drought that should harden the earth so that it could not be tilled, Amo 6:12; and by the sword of the Assyrians, Amo 6:14. \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/AMO/6.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"AMO","chapter":6},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/AMO/7.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"AMO","chapter":7},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/AMO/5.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"AMO","chapter":5},"numberOfVerses":14}