Amos 4

Amos 4:1-13 . DENUNCIATION OF ISRAEL'S NOBLES FOR OPPRESSION; AND OF THE WHOLE NATION FOR IDOLATRY; AND FOR THEIR BEING UNREFORMED EVEN BY GOD'S JUDGMENTS: THEREFORE THEY MUST PREPARE FOR THE LAST AND WORST JUDGMENT OF ALL.

1. kine of Bashan--fat and wanton cattle such as the rich pasture of Bashan (east of Jordan, between Hermon and Gilead) was famed for ( Deuteronomy 32:14 , Psalms 22:12 , Ezekiel 39:18 ). Figurative for those luxurious nobles mentioned, Amos 3:9 Amos 3:10 Amos 3:12 Amos 3:15 . The feminine, kine, or cows, not bulls, expresses their effeminacy. This accounts for masculine forms in the Hebrew being intermixed with feminine; the latter being figurative, the former the real persons meant.
say to their masters--that is to their king, with whom the princes indulged in potations ( Hosea 7:5 ), and whom here they importune for more wine. "Bring" is singular, in the Hebrew implying that one "master" alone is meant.

2. The Lord--the same Hebrew as "masters" ( Amos 4:1 ). Israel's nobles say to their master or lord, Bring us drink: but "the Lord" of him and them "hath sworn," &c.
by his holiness--which binds Him to punish the guilty ( Psalms 89:35 ).
he will take yon away--that is God by the instrumentality of the enemy.
with hooks--literally, "thorns" (compare 2 Chronicles 33:11 ). As fish are taken out of the water by hooks, so the Israelites are to be taken out of their cities by the enemy ( Ezekiel 29:4 ; compare Job 41:1 Job 41:2 , Jeremiah 16:16 , Habakkuk 1:15 ). The image is the more appropriate, as anciently captives were led by their conquerors by a hook made to pass through the nose ( 2 Kings 19:28 ), as is to be seen in the Assyrian remains.

3. go out at the breaches--namely, of the city walls broken by the enemy.
every cow at that which is before her--figurative for the once luxurious nobles (compare "kine of Bashan," Amos 4:1 ) shall go out each one right before her; not through the gates, but each at the breach before him, not turning to the right or left, apart from one another.
ye shall cast them into the palace--"them," that is, "your posterity," from Amos 4:2 . You yourselves shall escape through the breaches, after having cast your little children into the palace, so as not to see their destruction, and to escape the more quickly. Rather, "ye shall cast yourselves into the palace," so as to escape from it out of the city [CALVIN]. The palace, the scene of the princes riots ( Amos 3:10 Amos 3:15 , 4:1 ), is to be the scene of their ignominious flight. Compare in the similar case of Jerusalem's capture, the king's escape by way of the palace, through a breach in the wall ( Ezekiel 12:5 Ezekiel 12:12 ). GESENIUS translates, "Ye shall be cast (as captives) into the (enemy's) stronghold"; in this view, the enemy's stronghold is called "palace," in retributive contrast to the "palaces" of Israel's nobles, the store houses of their robberies ( Amos 3:10 ).