Amos 2:3

3 And I shall lose a judge of the midst thereof, and I shall slay with it all the princes thereof, saith the Lord. (And I shall destroy their judge, or their ruler, in their midst, and I shall kill all their leaders along with him, saith the Lord.)

Amos 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 2:3

And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof
Either from the midst of Moab, the country in general; or from Kerioth in particular, so Kimchi; meaning their principal governor, their king, as Aben Ezra; for kings sometimes have acted as judges, took the bench, and sat and administered justice to their subjects: and I will stay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord;
the king, and the princes of the blood, and his nobles; so that there should be none to succeed him, or to protect and defend the people; the destruction should be an entire one, and inevitable, for the mouth of the Lord had spoken it. This was fulfilled at the same time as the prophecy against the children of Ammon by Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem ^F15, which is next threatened.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. Vid. Judith i. 12.

Amos 2:3 In-Context

1 The Lord God saith these things, On three great trespasses of Moab, and on four, I shall not convert it, for it burnt the bones of the king of Idumea till to ashes. (The Lord God saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Moab, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, for they burned the bones of the king of Edom unto ashes.)

2 And I shall send fire into Moab, and it shall devour the houses of Kerioth; and Moab shall die in sound, in the noise of a trump (and Moab shall die amid the sound of trumpets).

3 And I shall lose a judge of the midst thereof, and I shall slay with it all the princes thereof, saith the Lord. (And I shall destroy their judge, or their ruler, in their midst, and I shall kill all their leaders along with him, saith the Lord.)

4 The Lord saith these things, On three great trespasses of Judah, and on four, I shall not convert him, for he hath cast away the law of the Lord, and kept not the commandments of him; for their idols, after which the fathers of them went, deceived them. (The Lord saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Judah, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, for they have thrown away the Law of the Lord, and they did not obey his commandments; for they were deceived by the same idols, which their forefathers served.)

5 And I shall send fire into Judah, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem.