Amos 5:7

7 ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth!"

Amos 5:7 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 5:7

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood
This seems to be spoken to kings and judges, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe; in whose hands is the administration of justice, and who often pervert it, as these did here addressed and complained of; that which was the most useful and salubrious, and so the most desirable to the commonwealth, namely, just judgment, was changed into the reverse, what was as bitter and as disagreeable as wormwood; or "hemlock", as it might be rendered, and as it is in ( Amos 6:12 ) ; even injustice: and leave off righteousness in the earth;
leave off doing it among men: or rather, "leave [it] on the earth" ^F3; who cast it down to the ground, trampled upon it, and there left it; which is expressive not only of their neglect, but of their contempt of it; see ( Daniel 8:12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (wxynh) "in terram prosterunt", Piscator; "justitiam in terram reliquerunt, i.e. humi prosternitis et deseritis", Mercerus; "collocantes humi", Junius & Tremellius.

Amos 5:7 In-Context

5 but seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel--

7 ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth!"

8 Seek Him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night, who calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is His name,

9 who strengtheneth the despoiled against the strong, so that the despoiled shall come against the fortress.