Amos 6:1-11

``Those at Ease in Zion"

1 ¹Woe to those who are at ease in Zion And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria, The ²distinguished men of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.

2 Go over to ³Calneh and look, And go from there to ⁴Hamath the great, Then go down to ⁵Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is their territory greater than yours?

3 Do you ⁶put off the day of calamity, And would you ⁷bring near the seat of violence?

4 Those who recline on beds of ivory And sprawl on their ⁸couches, And ⁹eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall,

5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have composed ¹⁰songs for themselves,

6 Who ¹¹drink wine from sacrificial bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils, Yet they have not ¹²grieved over the ruin of Joseph.

7 Therefore, they will now ¹³go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the ¹⁴sprawlers' banqueting will pass away.

8 The Lord GOD has ¹⁵sworn by Himself, the LORD God of hosts has declared: "I ¹⁶loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his ¹⁷citadels; Therefore I will ¹⁸deliver up the city and all it contains."

9 And it will be, if ¹⁹ten men are left in one house, they will die.

10 Then one's uncle, or his ²⁰undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, "Is anyone else with you?" And that one will say, "No one." Then he will answer, "²¹Keep quiet. For the name of the LORD is ²²not to be mentioned."

11 For behold, the LORD is going to ²³command that the ²⁴great house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments.

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Amos 6:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 6

This chapter seems to be directed both to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the ten tribes of Israel, under the names of Zion and Samaria, and to the principal men in both; who are reproved and threatened for their carnal security and self-confidence, being in no fear of the evil day, though they had no reason for it no more than other people, Am 6:1-3; are charged with wantonness, luxury, intemperance, and want of sympathy with those in distress, Am 6:4-6; therefore are threatened to be carried captive first, and their city to be delivered up; which, for the certainty of it, is not only said, but swore to, Am 6:7,8; and a great mortality in every house, and the destruction of all houses, both great and small, Am 6:9-11; and since a reformation of them seemed impracticable, and not to be expected, but they gloried in their wealth, and boasted of their strength, therefore they should be afflicted by a foreign nation raised against them, which affliction should be general, from one end of the country to the other, Am 6:12-14.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 24

1. Isaiah 32:9-11; Zephaniah 1:12; Luke 6:24
2. Exodus 19:5; Amos 3:2
3. Genesis 10:10; Isaiah 10:9
4. 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 18:34; Isaiah 10:9
5. 1 Samuel 5:8; 2 Chronicles 26:6
6. Isaiah 56:12; Amos 9:10
7. Amos 3:10
8. Amos 3:12
9. Ezekiel 34:2, 3
10. 1 Chronicles 15:16; 1 Chronicles 23:5; Isaiah 5:12
11. Amos 2:8; Amos 4:1
12. Ezekiel 9:4
13. Amos 7:11, 17
14. 1 Kings 20:16-21; Dan 5:4-6, 30
15. Genesis 22:16; Jeremiah 22:5; Jeremiah 51:14; Amos 4:2; Amos 8:7
16. Leviticus 26:30; Deuteronomy 32:19; Psalms 106:40; Amos 5:21
17. Amos 3:10, 11
18. Hosea 11:6
19. Amos 5:3
20. 1 Samuel 31:12
21. Amos 5:13; Amos 8:3
22. Jeremiah 44:26; Ezekiel 20:39
23. Isaiah 55:11
24. 2 Kings 25:9; Amos 3:15; Amos 5:11

Footnotes 12

[a]. Or "you"
[b]. Or "invented musical instruments"
[c]. Lit "sprinkling basins"
[d]. Or "cultic feasts"
[e]. Lit "turn aside"
[f]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
[g]. Lit "hate"
[h]. Lit "its fullness"
[i]. Or "beloved one"
[j]. Lit "one who burns him"
[k]. Lit "say"
[l]. Lit "not to make mention of the name of"