Amos 7:16

16 And now hear thou the word of the Lord. Thou sayest, Thou shalt not prophesy on Israel, and thou shalt not drop (thy word) on the house of idol. (And so now hear the word of the Lord. Thou hast said, Thou shalt not prophesy against Israel, and thou shalt not drop thy word against the house of Isaac.)

Amos 7:16 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 7:16

Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord
Which I have from him concerning thee, and which he has pronounced upon thee and thy family: thou sayest, prophesy not against Israel;
when God has bid me prophesy: and drop not [thy word] against the house of Isaac;
say nothing against it, though in ever so soft and gentle a manner: it designs the same thing as before, only in different words; and is a prohibition of the prophet to prophesy against the ten tribes that descended from Isaac, in the line of Jacob. So the Targum paraphrases it,

``thou shalt not teach against the house of Isaac;''

or deliver out any prophecy or doctrine that is against them, or threatens them with any calamity. Jarchi says the phrase is expressive of prophecy; see ( Deuteronomy 32:2 ) ( Ezekiel 21:2 ) .

Amos 7:16 In-Context

14 And Amos answered, and said to Amaziah, I am not a prophet, and I am not [the] son of a prophet; but an herder of neat I am, drawing up sycamores. (And Amos answered, and said to Amaziah, I am not a prophet, and I am not the son of a prophet; but I am a herdsman, and a gatherer of the figs of the sycamores.)

15 And the Lord took me, when I followed the flock; and the Lord said to me, Go, and prophesy thou to my people Israel.

16 And now hear thou the word of the Lord. Thou sayest, Thou shalt not prophesy on Israel, and thou shalt not drop (thy word) on the house of idol. (And so now hear the word of the Lord. Thou hast said, Thou shalt not prophesy against Israel, and thou shalt not drop thy word against the house of Isaac.)

17 For this thing the Lord saith these things, Thy wife shall do fornication in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by sword, and thy land shall be meted with a little cord; and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel (taken) captive shall pass from his land. (For this thing the Lord saith these things, Thy wife shall go a whoring in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be measured with a little cord; and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and the people of Israel shall be taken away captive from their own land.)