Amos 9:6

6 1who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; 2who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth-- 3the LORD is his name.

Amos 9:6 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:6

[It is] he that buildeth his stories in the heaven
The three elements, according to Aben Ezra, fire, air, and water; the orbs, as Kimchi, one above another; a word near akin to this is rendered "his chambers", which are the clouds, ( Psalms 104:3 Psalms 104:13 ) ; perhaps the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, which are three stories high, may be meant; we read of the third heaven, ( 2 Corinthians 12:2 ) ; and particularly the throne of God is in the highest heaven; and the "ascents" F25 to it, as it may be rendered. The Targum is,

``who causeth to dwell in a high fortress the Shechinah of his glory:''
and hath founded his troop in the earth;
this Kimchi interprets of the three above elements. So the words are translated in the Bishops' Bible in Queen Elizabeth's time,
``he buildeth his spheres in the heaven, and hath laid the foundation of his globe of elements in the earth.''
Aben Ezra interprets it of animals; it may take in the whole compass of created beings on earth; so Jarchi explains it of the collection of his creatures; though he takes notice of another sense given, a collection of the righteous, which are the foundation of the earth, and for whose sake all things stand. Abarbinel interprets it of the whole of the tribe of Israel; and so the Targum paraphrases it of his congregation or church on earth: he beautifies his elect, which are "his bundle" {z}, as it may be rendered; who are bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord their God, and are closely knit and united, as to God and Christ, so to one another; and perhaps is the best sense of the words {a}: he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon
the face of the earth, the Lord [is] his name;
either to drown it, as at the general deluge; or to water and refresh it, as he does by exhaling water from the sea, and then letting it down in plentiful showers upon the earth; (See Gill on Amos 5:8); now all these things are observed to show the power of God, and that therefore there can be no hope of escaping out of his hands.
FOOTNOTES:

F25 (wytwlem) "ascensiones suus", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Tigurine version, "gradus suo", Vatablus, Drusius, Cocceius.
F26 (wtdga) "fasciculum suum", Montanus, Munster, Mercerus, Vatablus, Drusius, Burkius.
F1 Schultens in Observ. ad Genesin, p. 197, 198, observes, that <arabic> "agad", with the Arabs, signifies primarily to "bind", and is by them transferred to a building firmly bound, and compact together; and so may intend here in Amos the Lord's building, the church, which he hath founded in the earth; and so <arabic> with Golius and Castellus is a building firmly compacted together. (tdga) is used for a bunch of hyssop, Exod. xii. 27. and in the Misnic language for a handful or bundle of anything; see Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. rad. (dga) .

Amos 9:6 In-Context

4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good."
5 The Lord GOD of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth-- the LORD is his name.
7 "Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?" declares the LORD. "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," declares the LORD.

Cross References 3

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.