Amos 7:16

16 So now, hear what ADONAI says: 'You say, "Don't prophesy against Isra'el, don't lecture the people of Yitz'chak."'

Amos 7:16 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 7:16

Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord
Which I have from him concerning thee, and which he has pronounced upon thee and thy family: thou sayest, prophesy not against Israel;
when God has bid me prophesy: and drop not [thy word] against the house of Isaac;
say nothing against it, though in ever so soft and gentle a manner: it designs the same thing as before, only in different words; and is a prohibition of the prophet to prophesy against the ten tribes that descended from Isaac, in the line of Jacob. So the Targum paraphrases it,

``thou shalt not teach against the house of Isaac;''

or deliver out any prophecy or doctrine that is against them, or threatens them with any calamity. Jarchi says the phrase is expressive of prophecy; see ( Deuteronomy 32:2 ) ( Ezekiel 21:2 ) .

Amos 7:16 In-Context

14 'Amos gave this answer to Amatzyah: "I am not trained as a prophet, and I'm not one of the guild prophets - I own sheep and grow figs.

15 But ADONAI took me away from following the flock, and ADONAI said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Isra'el.'

16 So now, hear what ADONAI says: 'You say, "Don't prophesy against Isra'el, don't lecture the people of Yitz'chak."'

17 Therefore ADONAI says this: 'Your wife will become a whore in the city, your sons and daughters will die by the sword, your land will be parcelled out with a measuring line, you yourself will die in an unclean land, and Isra'el will certainly be exiled from their land.'"