Amos 3 · ESV Study Bible

Judgment on Judah

Judgment on Israel

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

AMOS 3 [†] j Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

2[^] k “You only have I known

of all the families of the earth;

l therefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities.

3[†] “Do two walk together,

unless they have agreed to meet?

4 Does a lion roar in the forest,

when he has no prey?

Does a young lion cry out from his den,

if he has taken nothing?

5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,

when there is no trap for it?

Does a snare spring up from the ground,

when it has taken nothing?

6 m Is a trumpet blown in a city,

and the people are not afraid?

n Does disaster come to a city,

unless the LORD has done it?

7 “For the Lord GOD does nothing

o without revealing his secret

to his servants the prophets.

8[^] The lion has roared;

who will not fear?

p The Lord GOD has spoken;

who can but prophesy?”

9[†] Proclaim to the strongholds in q Ashdod

and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,

and say, “Assemble yourselves on r the mountains of Samaria,

and see the great tumults within her,

and s the oppressed in her midst.”

10[^] “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD,

t “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

11Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

u “An adversary shall surround the land

and bring down [1] your defenses from you,

and v your strongholds shall be plundered.”

12[^][†]Thus says the LORD: w “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, x so shall the people of Israel y who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part [2] of a bed.

13[†] “Hear, z and testify against the house of Jacob,”

declares the Lord GOD, a the God of hosts,

14[†] “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,

b I will punish the altars of Bethel,

and c the horns of the altar shall be cut off

and fall to the ground.

15[†] d I will strike e the winter house along with f the summer house,

and g the houses of ivory shall perish,

and the great houses [3] shall come to an end,”

declares the LORD.

AMOS—NOTE ON 3:1–2 Hear this word introduces the first three messages (3:1; 4:1; 5:1). The God of Israel is the Creator who spoke the world into existence and who is characterized from first to last as the God who speaks (Isa. 45:18–19; John 1:1; Rev. 22:18–19). It seems clear that Israel and Judah believed that their role as the chosen people of God would protect them from harm (see note on Amos 5:18–20). Amos says that the very opposite is true. It is precisely because God has known them as he has known no other nation that they are being judged according to a higher standard (see Luke 12:48).

AMOS—NOTE ON 3:14 Bethel was not only associated with the patriarch Jacob and his vision (Gen. 28:10–22), it also stood close to the border between Israel and Judah. Thus, Jeroboam I chose it as the site of one of his two golden calves (1 Kings 12:25–33). It was not by accident that this was the place where Amos chose to deliver his prophecies (Amos 7:12–13). It represented the corruption of the true religion (4:4–5). Far from appeasing God’s anger against Israel, the religious practices carried out there would seal that anger. See also Hosea 10:5, where “Beth-aven” (house of iniquity) is substituted for “Beth-el” (house of God). The horns of the altar were short vertical projections at the four corners of the top of the altar (Ex. 27:2). They had ritual significance as places where God’s protection was available (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28), but the horns of Bethel’s altar would provide no protection whatsoever.

AMOS—NOTE ON 3:1–6:14 Detailed Announcements of Judgment on Israel. Four oracles (3:1–15; 4:1–13; 5:1–17; 5:18–6:14) move from the general to the specific, leaving no doubt that, unless there is true repentance, Israel cannot hope to escape destruction.

AMOS—NOTE ON 3:15 All of Israel’s social injustice is represented by the sin of amassing property (see also Isa. 5:8). This was a violation of the covenant that said a family’s land was a trust from God to be held in perpetuity by that family. There were legal fictions to get around this, but those fictions did not impress God. Here Amos does not condemn wealth in itself, but wealth accompanied by injustice toward the poor (Amos 4:1), fraudulent business practices (5:7, 11, 12; 8:4–6), and living in luxury without care for the needy (5:12; 8:4–6), without concern for sin and evil in the land (6:4–6), and without genuine religious faith (5:21–23). Archaeological excavations at Samaria have uncovered fragmentary remains of rich ivory objects, attesting to the luxury built upon the backs of the poor.

AMOS—NOTE ON 3:1–15 An Oracle of Warning. The sins for which Israel is to be judged are touched upon but not detailed here. Rather, God is simply warning Israel through Amos that judgment is surely coming. The prophet has heard the roar of the lion just as he launches himself on his prey (vv. 4, 8). What can the prophet do but tell what he has heard?