Amos 3:10

10 For they know not to do right," saith the LORD, "who store up violence and robbery in their palaces."

Amos 3:10 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 3:10

For they know not to do right, saith the Lord
What is just and fight between man and man, no, not in one single instance; they did not regard it, or advert to it; they were under no concern about it; and were so much under the power of their lusts, that they knew not how to do it; and had used themselves so long to such wicked and unjust ways, that they had lost at least the practical knowledge of doing justice; they knew what was right in the theory, but not in the practice; bribes blinded their eyes; for this seems to design judges, civil magistrates, such who had the administration of justice and the execution Of the laws in their hands. The Targum is,

``they know not to execute the law;''
see ( Jeremiah 4:22 ) ; who store up violence and robbery in their palaces;
treasured up riches in their palaces, gotten in a violent way, by oppression and injustice; and which was no other, nor better, than robbery. This shows that persons in power and authority, that lived in palaces, in great splendour and grandeur, are here meant.

Amos 3:10 In-Context

8 The lion hath roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD hath spoken! Who can but prophesy?
9 Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, "Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right," saith the LORD, "who store up violence and robbery in their palaces."
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: "An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be despoiled."
12 Thus saith the LORD: "As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out, that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed and in Damascus on a couch.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.