Amos 9:4

4 And [even] if they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it will kill them, and I will fix my eyes on them for harm and not for good."

Amos 9:4 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 9:4

And though they go into captivity before their enemies
Alluding to the manner in which captives are led, being put before their enemies, and so carried in triumph; see ( Lamentations 1:5 ) ; though some think this refers to their going voluntarily into a foreign country, in order to escape danger, as Johanan the son of Kareah with the Jews went into Egypt, ( Jeremiah 43:5-7 ) ; in whom Kimchi instances: thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them;
or them that kill with the sword, as the Targum; so that though they thought by going into another country, or into an enemy's country of their own accord, to escape the sword of the enemy, or to curry favour with them, yet should not escape: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good:
this is the true reason, why, let them be where they will, they cannot be safe, because the eyes of the omniscient God, which are everywhere, in heaven, earth, hell, and the sea, are set upon them, for their ruin and destruction; and there is no fleeing from his presence, or getting out of his sight, or escaping his hand. The Targum is,

``my Word shall be against them.''

Amos 9:4 In-Context

2 If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will take them, and [even] if they climb up [to] heaven, from there I will bring them down.

3 And [even] if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search and will take them, and [even] if they hide from before my eyes at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the sea serpent and it will bite them.

4 And [even] if they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it will kill them, and I will fix my eyes on them for harm and not for good."

5 And [thus will do] the Lord Yahweh of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all of those living in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and it sinks down like [the] Nile of Egypt,

6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth--Yahweh is his name.