Amos 9:2

2 If they dig down to Sh'ol, my hand will haul them out; if they climb up to heaven, I will bring them down.

Amos 9:2 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:2

Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them,
&c.] That is, they that endeavour to make their escape from their enemies, though they seek for places of the greatest secrecy and privacy; not hell, the place of the damned; nor the grave, the repository of the dead; neither of which they chose to he in, but rather sought to escape them; but the deepest and darkest caverns, the utmost recesses of the earth, the very centre of it; which, could they get into, would not secure them from the power and providence of God, and from their enemies in pursuit of them, by his permission: though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down;
the summit of the highest mountains, and get as near to heaven, and at as great a distance from men, as can be, and yet all in vain. The Targum is,

``if they think to be hid as it were in hell, from thence their enemies shall take them by my word; and if they ascend the high mountains, to the top of heaven, thence will I bring them;''

see ( Psalms 139:8 ) .

Amos 9:2 In-Context

1 I saw Adonai standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the columns until the thresholds shake! Smash them to pieces on the heads of all the people! Those who remain I will kill with the sword; not one of them will succeed in fleeing, not one of them will escape.

2 If they dig down to Sh'ol, my hand will haul them out; if they climb up to heaven, I will bring them down.

3 If they hide themselves on the top of the Karmel, I will search them out and capture them there; If they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will order the serpent to bite them there.

4 If their enemies herd them into exile, I will order the sword to kill them there. I will fix my gaze on them for harm and not for good."

5 For Adonai ELOHIM-Tzva'ot is the one who can melt the earth with his touch, and make all who live on it mourn. It will all rise, just like the Nile, and then subside, like the Nile in Egypt.