Amos 6:8-14

8 Adonoi Hashem hath sworn by Himself, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os: I abhor the ga’on Ya’akov, and hate his fortresses; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.

9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain asarah anashim in one bais, they shall die.

10 And a man’s relative shall take him up, and he that burieth him, to carry out the bones out of the bais, and shall say unto him still hiding inside, Is there yet any with thee? And he shall say, Not one. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue; for the Shem Hashem is not to be invoked.

11 For, hinei, Hashem commandeth, and He will strike the bais hagadol into ruins, and the bais hakaton into pieces.

12 Do susim run upon the rock? Do men plow there with oxen? For ye have turned mishpat into poison, and the p’ri of tzedakah into wormwood;

13 Ye which rejoice over what is worthless, which say, Have we not taken to us horns [i.e., symbols of military resources] by chazekeinu (our own strength)?

14 But, hineni, I will raise up against you a Goy (Nation), O Bais Yisroel, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os; and they shall afflict you from the territory of Chamat unto the Wadi of the Aravah. T.N. Notice in the next chapter that Amos refuses to be intimidated by an apostate religious leader who dares to war against Scripture. Amos gives a prophetic prediction that this chalatan will be defrocked by Hashem by being dragged off to an unclean heathen land.

Amos 6:8-14 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.